Posts published in March 2020

DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – March 30, 2020

— hearing aid dealers not considered essential business

Because of Covid-19, many non-essential businesses have
been closed. One of these businesses is hearing aid
dealers. Many ASL speaking deaf people wear hearing
aids and they rely on this device. When hearing aids
break down, it becomes a problem for them. Very sad.

— Nexstar hints that hearing first, deaf last

Some time back, the local WIVB (Buffalo, NY) TV station
did not caption an emergency announcement. This station
is one of the Nexstar local affiliates. A high ranking
Nexstar executive responded to the deaf viewer’s written
complaint – but the comments were vague. Anyway Nexstar
said that deaf people can access these delayed captions
much later, via other ways, after hearing people heard
about it first. This is a hint that deaf people are
last and hearing people are first. And to add insult to
injury, the deaf person, who is a male, was addressed
as a female in the letter, despite the male first name!

— same stamp design, two different-looking stamps

Helen Keller and her aide, Anne Sullivan, were pictured
in one stamp design. Yet, the Keller stamp from Brazil was
different from the Keller American stamp – though both
came from that same design. Shocking? No, according to
a person that knows much about stamps, it happens
from time to time with different nations.

Deaf jobs – latest update
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03/29/20 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
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DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – March 27, 2020

— Beethoven’s hates

Beethoven is the world’s greatest musical
composer. He had two hates in life – people
that would praise him and music that went
wrong! This was a comment in a web site
today.

— Pandemic causes high number of relay calls

Not sure if pandemic is causing high number of
relay calls in USA, but Relay Missouri said
volume of their calls have been higher than
normal. Just hope that these state relay
services are able to handle these calls
normally. Relay calls are very important
to the deaf.

— blank-faced interpreter

All interpreters have to interpret these
unexpected bad, horrible and terrible news.
One interpreter told DeafDigest editor that
when she hears these bad news that she has
to interpret, she works very hard to keep
a blank face even when her stomach boils
inside her. For that reason she has always
been regarded as the best interpreter among
her peers.

Deaf jobs – latest update
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03/22/20 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
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DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – March 26, 2020

— wearing a cape or not

An interpreter said:

Not all heroes wear capes

This is an unusual comment; many
people, including interpreters, work
in important professions, but we do
not always consider them heroes. These
heroes are those that jump into burning
buildings to save lives. Interpreters
do not jump into burning buildings.
They interpret important things the
deaf people need to know.

— movies involving Deaf Smith

Steve Baldwin, who is deaf and is the
nation’s #1 authority on Deaf Smith,
said there were about 10 movies that had
Deaf Smith roles. And these “Deaf Smith”
actors were either terrible or phonies.
The best Deaf Smith actor was in the
movie – Texas Rising. Those that want to
know all about Deaf Smith can go to
https://www.txssn.org/Page/522, courtesy
of Steve Baldwin.

— deaf denied a job in prison industry administration

The California Prison Industry Authority
oversees over 100 industries in 35 state
prisons. A deaf person applied for an
administrative job and was turned dwon because
of his deafness. They said it is a dangerous
work environment for a deaf person. He filed
a lawsuit and won and the prison industry
group promised not to let it happen again.

Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/

03/22/20 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
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DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – March 25, 2020

— the deaf and the money

A financial advisor, who is not deaf, said:

The deaf need savings, credit, insurance,
and investments

We do have a few financial advisors that
are deaf. It is not enough, unfortunately
to cover these national deaf communities.
As a result, many deaf people go to hearing
financial advisors, and even with
interpreters, they leave the financial
offices somewhat unsatisfied!

— interpreters’ 20 minutes

Normally interpreter team members rotate
every 20 minutes. Always that way? An
interpreter said – it all depends. Some
speakers are slow paced, making it easier
on interpreters; the same goes for people
in the audience being slow paced. Yet –
there is a limit and one hour is the absolute
limit.

— cannot copy Deaf Smith

Deaf Smith is well known for having a Texas
county named after him. He fought for Texas
in the Mexican revolt during the 1830’s.
There have been movies about Deaf Smith,
and the funny thing is that actors playing
the deaf hero do not have to look the
same as him! And there has never been
a deaf actor playing a Deaf Smith role.
It was always hearing actors.

Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/

03/22/20 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
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DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – March 24, 2020

— the interpreter and the hearing person

Many hearing people have never seen an interpreter
perform and/or also have never met a deaf person
in the past. Some of them may make comments
such as:

why is the interpreter making so much noise?

this interpreter doesn’t seem to know sign language

interpreter signs don’t seem right to me.

What do interpreters have to say about these
negative comments? Occupational hazard is what
they would say!

— hearing aid vs eyeglasses

An advocate said many people, with hearing loss,
wear eyeglesses but many of them won’t wear hearing
aids. This may be true – but many people won’t
wear eyeglasses; instead they wear contact lenses!
DeafDigest editor had an uncle who suffered from
late hearing loss. Not just once in his life would
he ask DeafDigest editor for advice – captions,
CART, interpreters, flashing signalers, special
telephone devices, etc. He chose to isolate himself
from family members that loved him.

— special devices discriminate against the deaf

There was a posting today that said electronic assistive
devices discriminate against hearing – because of problems
undesrtanding accents and dialects. This posting also said
that devices such as Alexa and Sira do not provide captions
for the deaf – either incoming or outgoing commands.

Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/

03/22/20 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
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DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – March 23, 2020

— TV executive’s comment on commercials

A TV executive said that many ad agencies
do not create more ads that include sign
language. Either these agencies feel
deaf market is too small or are afraid
sign language ads would turn off TV
viewers that are hearing.

— deaf device in comic book about supervillains

Tartarus #2 is a comic book that covers evil
deeds of these supervillains. The deaf
device in that comic book story is a
sign to speech glove. Deaf? Well, the
character using the sign to speech glove
is not deaf!

— the deaf physicist and the interpreter

A deaf physicist was interviewed in a newspaper
story. He said that many interpreters, not familiar
physics, may mangle a phrase during interpretation.
As a result this deaf physicist would prefer
working with the intepreter at least a month
in advance to perfect these signs during
lectures, conferences and workshops. CART,
however was not mentioned in the interview!

— this just-in announcement

Eric Kaika is the new CEO of TDI. He replaces
long-time, and retiring CEO Claude Stout.

Deaf jobs – latest update
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03/22/20 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
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DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – March 20, 2020

— deaf that need disability benefits get no help

Not happening in USA, but in Great Britain. There have
been complaints of deaf applicants for disability
benefits not getting help for six weeks. The deaf helpline
was down and was not fixed.

— some complaints about interpreters with great facial expressions

Few days ago DeafDigest mentioned the need for interpreters
with great facial expressions. Already there have been
complaints about one interpreter with that great facial
expression – that it is too distracting and throws off
some deaf people that try to understand the message!

— a bad sign-language learning advice

Posted on the internet was an advice to kill time
while being quarantined because of Covid-19. It was
to learn sign language, and then when the pandemic
ends, to go out and practice the sign language with
the deaf. That easy to learn ASL? No way!

Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/

03/15/20 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
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DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – March 19, 2020

— COVID-19 deaf communications card

Do we have COVID-19 communications card to help
the deaf communicate with the medical people?
The New Jersey Division of the Hard of Hearing
has designed a new communication card. Just
hopefully it works because DeafDigest editor
looked at the card on-line and it looks quite
complicated. We may seem to need an easier-to
understand card.

— one million plus dollars on legal fees

Massachusetts Institute of Technology refused to
caption its videos and was slapped with a lawsuit.
This lawsuit is over and it has cost MIT over one
million dollars in legal fees. For MIT, one
million dollars is “nothing” because their
endowment fund is at $17.57 billion dollars.
Just a pocket change to them, but not to all of
us!

— Milwaukee’s official or unofficial interpreter

Does the city of Milwaukee have an official
interpreter? The updated information on COVID-19
was interpreted by Milwaukee Bucks (pro basketball
team) interpreter. Not sure why the city had to
depend on a pro team interpreter to provide this
vital update? Normally, important updates are
interpreted by a city or a state government
interpreter and not by an interpreter of a
privately-owned business.

Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/

03/15/20 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
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DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – March 18, 2020

— big reason for TV captions

A hearing man loves watching British police
mystery programs on American TV. He was able to
follow the plot thanks to captions – because
he had a hard time understanding British
accent by voice! Without captions he would
be badly lost.

— The drone and the deaf

Today, Popular Mechanics ran a story that said:

Police are using drones to yell at people for being outside

DeafDigest is worried that Police Drones could yell at
the deaf people who were outside, while they were
supposed to be inside? What would the police do
if it happens; it can be that scary!

— Interpreter’s facial expressions

How important are interpreter’s facial
expressions? Very important. Just one example –
a well known Washington, DC metro area
interpreter was not able to get a new
interpreting job – even though his ASL
skills were superior to other applicants.
Reason – he had no facial expressions; his
face was stone-blank even though he signed
beautifully. A spokesperson for an
interpreting agency said they look for
facial expressions in all interpreter
applicants.

Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/

03/15/20 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
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DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – March 17, 2020

— confession of a deaf-in-one-ear person

Deaf people would normally consider deaf-in-one-ear
persons as hearing because they would hear normally
out of their better ear. A deaf-in-one-ear person
said he has problems knowing where the sound and noise
came from. A cousin of DeafDigest editor is deaf
in one ear; she told him that she makes it a point
to always direct her ear to where the sound/noise
came from, and while she was dating her boyfriend
(before she married him) that he must always, and
yes, always, stand on the side of her better ear.
She taught regular classes in high school and said
she had no issues, even with disruptive hearing
students. Yes, she never knew ASL nor used it.

— noisy workplace enviroment

Anti-noise activists are always saying that workplace
noise is bad for everyone. Well, many deaf people
thrive in employment at noisy environments. Is it
something that anti-noise activists are aware of,
or not aware of – employment of the deaf?

— FCC orders providers to help the deaf

FCC, afraid that Coronavirus would disrupt the lives
of the deaf, has ordered the providers to continue
internet services for them, no matter if they have made
monthly payments or have not made monthly payments.
We shall see if FCC has kept its word. FCC is that
very political.

Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/

03/15/20 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
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DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – March 16, 2020

— making see-through Coronavirus mask

when interpreters wear Coronavirus masks,
it is not good for the deaf. Impossible to
lipread the mouth movements in sync with
sign language. An interpreter tried to create
a see-through mask, using plastic wrap.
She used anti-mist spray to disinfect it.
She said she is not 100 percent satisfied
but still working on a better solution.

— 3 things that helped establish TV closed captions

There was a story today that said:

How Deaf Advocates Won the Battle for Closed Captioning
and Changed the Way Americans Watch TV.

This story did not mention that in the late seventies
/early seventies, ABC, NBC and CBS refused to close
caption their programs

#1 – ABC agreed to close caption their programs,
thanks to an all-night drinking session at a
Manhattan bar! Julius Barnathan, the ABC engineer,
had the final say with captions on his programs.
Mac Norwood represented the federal government,
pushing for captions. They both loved to share
scotches. They got together at a bar to talk
this out – and eventually Barnathan said yes,
we will caption!

#2 – NBC was neutral; not wanting to caption,
but not opposed to captions. When ABC agreed
to caption, NBC then agreed.

#3 – CBS was stubborn; refused to caption at all.
Gene Mater was the CBS chief with the final say
on captions, and he hated captions. It took two
national rallies by the Deaf Community to try to
force CBS to caption. Mater still refused to
caption; in a heated argument, Mater invited
NAD CEO Al Pimentel to come to his office
to discuss this out. Pimentel told Mater –
no, you must come downstairs to discuss this
on the sidewalk. Eventually Mater was pushed
out of his job, and CBS eventually agreed
to caption.

Rest is history.

— Germany apparently does not want to help the deaf

Germany not wanting to help the deaf? Coronavirus
has caused panic everywhere, especially in Germany.
What didn’t the German government do? It would not
share information with the deaf, via interpreters
and captions these Coronavirus updates! Very
disappointing.

Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/

03/15/20 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
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DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – March 13, 2020

— movie with a strange title

There is a new movie with a strange title –
it is titled “How to Deaf”. It is about
how deaf people deal with life in hearing
world.

— blind cannot help the deaf in ADA

A group of blind people filed ADA lawsuit
against the city of Chicago, saying there
are no accommodations for them AND the
deaf while crossing the street intersections.
The federal judge said the blind can argue
for themselves and cannot involve the deaf!

— casting directors discriminate against non-ASL deaf actors

A deaf activist, who is an actor but doesn’t use ASL,
said casting calls which ask for deaf actors that
know ASL is discriminatory! Well, sigh, another
case for attorneys to argue.

Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/

03/08/20 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
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DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – March 12, 2020

— cancellation of Deaf Events

The annual Dummy Hoy baseball and softball tournament
was to take place next month at California School for
the Deaf at Fremont. Because of Coronavirus, the
tournament has been cancelled. DeafDigest is worried
about other deaf political and social events lined up
for the next few months.

also

Gallaudet upcoming athletic events cancelled

Gallaudet’s baseball, softball and men’s and women’s track and field
seasons are canceled, including spring break trips to Florida and North
Carolina.

No further competition and practices will take place for traditional and
non-traditional sports.

DeafDigest prays that Coronavirus will go away and everyone
will stay healthy.

— a flying machine deaf can fly, that hearing can’t believe

We have about 175 deaf pilots, just that they cannot
land at radio-controlled airports (these big city
airports). We have two known deaf helicopter pilots.
What about deaf pilots of seaplanes? Don’t know how
many but we have one – Robert Rademacher, Rochester, NY.
He said hearing people were shocked that a deaf person
can fly a seaplane. What is next? A deaf astronaut that
can fly to the moon! DeafDigest is not joking.

— deaf owner of fashion company

Gigi Caruso, who is deaf, owns a swimwear and activewear
fashion company which is called Gigi C. It is based
in Los Angeles and she is hoping the company will grow
big as years go by. DeafDigest thinks she functions
as a hearing person, not using ASL.

Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/

03/08/20 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
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DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – March 11, 2020

— A Deaf Utopia in the past, many years ago

Did we ever have a Deaf Utopia (perfect deaf
society) many years ago? A Martha’s Vineyard
history researcher said Deaf Utopia existed
on the island. Hearing people were fluid,
switching back and forth between voice and
sign language (even when there were no
deaf people around)! Not any more, though.

— comment by deaf critic about horror movies

A movie critic, who is deaf, was interviewed
about these horror movies. He said he is
tired of “mixed” horror movies, meaning
some hearing and some deaf family members.
He thinks horror movies would be better if
it was an all-hearing family, trying to
stay quiet or an all-deaf family struggling
not to make noise – but not “both.”

— many hearing people do not realize deaf can do things

A deaf studies lecturer said that many hearing
people do not realize that deaf people can do
things – driving cars, walking through the street
intersections, pointing to menu at restaurants,
making bank deposits, etc. Even some hearing
people are shocked that deaf people can read
and write. Even DeafDigest editor was asked
if he could read and write!

Deaf jobs – latest update
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03/08/20 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
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DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – March 10, 2020

— a strange word we never use

What is a palantypist? It is the same as
CART operator. DeafDigest editor learned
of that word today – but he will never use
that word in his future articles.

— these disbelieving hearing people

There are always hearing people that do not believe
a certain person is deaf. They will make such comments
like these:

you don’t look like a deaf person

or

you look too good to be a deaf person

— nickname cruel or not cruel

There was a comment few days ago about William Hoy being
cruelly nicknamed as Dummy because of his deafness.
Cruel or not cruel? Not considered cruel years ago;
many people, even the deaf, accepted it. A few complained;
Times have changed over the years and Dummy is very
cruel nowadays.

Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/

03/08/20 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
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DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – March 9, 2020

— a deaf coin now available

We have a new Deaf Coin – it honors the 250th birthday
of Beethoven. It is in 20 euro silver coins.

— a “Sign Buddy” app

There is a new app, Sign Buddy. An avatar
in that app will translate in signs what
characters in a movie is saying. This
app does not show captions, just ASL signs.

— hearing to deaf to hearing

A hearing woman became deaf as a young person;
but over the years, thanks to hearing aids and
CI, she “became” hearing. What does she
have to say about it? She felt being an
impostor! This is an interesting viewpoint.

Deaf jobs – latest update
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03/08/20 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
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DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – March 6, 2020

— deaf people do want to work

The National Deaf Center said that over 50
percent of the deaf are jobless and that they
rely on SSDI. Do they want to work? According
to a social services administrator at a local
deaf agency, they do but no one wants to
give the deaf a job. It is sad.

— tax payment system for the deaf

Everyone hates to pay taxes, both deaf
and hearing – but it is a necessary
evil. Anyway there was an announcement
that deaf people can use the Electronic
Federal Tax Payment System either
by phone or online. It has instructions
for the deaf to follow in order to make
the payment. DeafDigest is worried –
that it is not deaf-friendly. What
to do? Make the payment by mail!

— the deaf pilot mystery

Last week DeafDigest mentioned Chuck Patterson,
a deaf man, that made a living as a pilot,
making deliveries for UPS in Louisville, KY.
How was this possible? Deaf pilots normally
are not allowed to fly into radio-controlled
airports. In that case, how was he able to
make deliveries for UPS? Did he fly into
small town airports (not radio-controlled)
to make these UPS deliveries? Or is it
same thing as deaf truckers saying they
have been driving trucks for years even
though Department of Transportation been
saying deaf cannot drive trucks?

Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/

03/01/20 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
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DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – March 5, 2020

— Coronavirus announcements not captioned

In Western New York, two local TV stations
did not caption Coronavirus announcements
by an ABC affiliate and by CBS affiliate.
The angry deaf viewer has filed a formal
complaint with the FCC. Will not be surprised
if FCC takes its sweet little time investigating
both complaints. Take a look at two pictures at:

http://deafdigest.com/medical-emergency-announcements-not-captioned/

— article suggests a prevention for hearing loss

An article ran a list of preventions for hearing
loss. One of these suggestions was lip reading!
DeafDigest is not sure how would lip reading
help prevent hearing loss?

— asking the deaf and the disabled to help

Angela Rayner, who is not deaf nor disabled, has
asked a group of deaf and disabled individuals to
help advise her on how to solve discrimination
against them. Backtrack a bit, she is running
for election as deputy leader in UK’s Labor
Party, and she has realized that her political
party is guilty of discrimination. Would
we see that happen in USA that leaders of
our political parties ask the deaf to help
them? Very probably not!

Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/

03/01/20 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
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DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – March 4, 2020

— the deaf and the transportation issues

There are deaf people that say they have transportation
issues because they cannot hear the PA announcements.
Again there are deaf people that have no transportation
issues – they just look at arrival/departures screens
and figure it out from there. Some hearing people do
have transportation issues despite being able to hear
the PA announcements and see the arrival/departures screens.
Keep in mind, when there are accidents, there are hearing
people just as confused as the deaf!

— Census and the deaf

The Census will be providing ASL guides. Just hope it
works because despite sign language, there will always
be people that just don’t understand these Census
questions. Always difficulties for hearing people, too.

— Sinn Féin contacts and the deaf candidate

John Bosco Conama, who is deaf, is a candidate for
a seat in the national legislative body of
Northern Ireland. He has the support of the Sinn
Féin. It is a political party that has been accused
of extremism and terrorism in Nothern Ireland. Scary
or not scary for John Bosco Conama? We shall see.

Deaf jobs – latest update
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03/01/20 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
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DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – March 3, 2020

— inventions by the deaf for the deaf

There was an article today that said disabled
people invent things for themselves better
than what non-disabled could do. Examples
were the internet, the typewriter and
the phonograph.

— reason everyone fights ADA laws

Why is there continued fighting over ADA laws?
Attorneys don’t agree on the language. The same
goes for courts; Third, Sixth, Ninth, and
Eleventh Circuits disagree with other circuits!
The Department of Justice also has its own
opinions. Is ADA a mess? Not really, but no
one agrees on what the whole language says.

— hearing aid table

What is a hearing aid table? Do not know but
The Michigan City Women’s Democratic Club
is hosting an event, and has reserved a
table that is called Hearing Aid table.
What is that supposed to mean? Loops on
the table for the hard of hearing? Or
captioned videos on the table for the
deaf? Or an interpreter for the deaf?
Or is it “loaner” hearing aids for
those that need to hear the speakers?
So vague!

Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/

03/01/20 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
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DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – March 2, 2020

— these ASL podcasts

DeafDigest was asked to post a link to an
ASL podcast. DeafDigest editor uses ASL
all the time, but turned it down – because
it was not captioned! Many deaf people do not
know nor use ASL and these non-captioned
podcasts are so unfair to them.

— not telling the truth on job application forms

Two out of three young deaf people do not honestly
write down “deaf” or “deafness” on their job
applications. This was a survey ran by a deaf
social service agency.

— Race Across the World involving a deaf runner

Rob, whose last name is not known, will be the
only deaf participant in the big Race Across the World
race that will be on TV. Unfortunately it is
British TV not USA TV.

Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/

03/01/20 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
http://deafdigest.com/newsletters/