DeafDigest Mid-Week edition, July 20, 2011
-- A hearing aid used for a very different purpose
A newspaper reporter, covering courtroom stories, in
New York City was deaf in one ear and used a hearing
aid to help him hear better with the deaf ear. But
when the jury was behind closed doors, he would
switch his hearing aid to his "hearing" ear and
standing close to the jury door, he would use it
as an "amplifier" to hear what the jury was saying.
He said it worked! This was according to a story on
the huffingtonpost.com!
-- A first-time ever Deaf Biker wedding
The Roar on the Shore bike rally on Lake Erie is a new
event, launched in 2007 as a fund raising program
to help raise funds for non-profit agencies. Approximately
50,000 bikers take part in that three-day event - rides,
bands, contests, showing off custom bikes, etc. One of the
participants is a deaf couple - Miles Cadwallader and Sarah
Ambler, both of Pennsylvania. On the spur of the moment, they
decided to get married at the rally, and was able to find a
judge, himself a biker, to perform the wedding. It was the first
such marriage in the rally's short history!
-- A people-reading deaf professional poker player
One of the best professional poker players in the world is
David Chiu. He is deaf, but functions as a hearing person.
He makes his full time living playing poker professionally
at big time tournaments. How does he win so much money?
He learned to read people's faces while working as a poker
dealer at a casino many years ago. Not only he reads faces
but players' hands - and he knows immediately if these
players have good or bad hands. So far, in 2011 it has been
a great Poker Year for him.
-- Hearing people that do not smile
There was an article in a newspaper in England about
hearing people that do not smile. Store clerks do not smile.
Bartenders do not smile. Police officers do not smile, etc,
etc. The writer is a Coda, and he said that his deaf parents
depend on facial expressions and when people do not smile,
they worry that something bad is going on!
-- The world's most visible interpreter
For a good reason, Jack Jason is the world's most
visible interpreter. Why? He is Marlee Matlin's
personal interpreter. He was recently interviewed for
a story that was posted on a web site. When Marlee
faced The Donald (Donald Trump) in a TV show, nearly
8.5 million viewers listened to the dialogue. And
the global audience also listened when Marlee gave
her speech after winning the Oscar. A Coda, he
had to adapt to the ways of the hearing world while
groowing up. And how many interpreters hold a doctorate?
Well, he has a doctorate in Educational Media. What about
The Donald and Ivanka? He said:
They never, ever seemed to have a problem understanding
what my role was and how to make it work
