A teacher’s assistant and ex-student of the California School for the Deaf in Fremont, California, Brandon Duran, has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting multiple students after many came forward to report his crimes. The 25-year-old Deaf man faces serious allegations after several students reported incidents of abuse that happened between early July and mid-July in Fremont and Livermore, California. Duran was charged with multiple offenses related to unlawful sexual conduct with minors and taken into custody to be held at Santa Rita Jail with a bail set at $190,000. After his arraignment on Monday, August 26th, he was released after paying his bail. 

Vietnam is facing a severe lack of schools and educational programs to support Deaf students to learn effectively. In Vietnam, there are approximately 1,200,000 Deaf people, many of whom have journeyed through the barriers of low or inaccessible education. One example is an 11-year-old boy named Pit Van Nuong, who lives in a small village in Vietnam. He has faced major barriers in his education because there is little support for Deaf children. Nuong has finished fourth grade but still cannot read or write properly and is considered 1 to 2 years behind in grade for his age. Nuong has one sibling, a younger hearing brother who can read and write. While Nuong struggles with literacy due to the lack of accessibility, his brother has been able to progress in his education due to his ability to hear. 

For the first time, the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS) is offering courses in Deaf Studies and Kurdish Sign Language (KuSL). Deaf individuals in Kurdistan-Iraq often face severe social, economic, and political isolation due to the lack of accessible language and educational resources. Kurdish Sign Language is not commonly used in public schools, and education for Deaf Kurdish children is limited to special schools only up to the sixth grade. Many Deaf children, especially in rural areas, use minimal "home sign" systems that only facilitate communication within their families. This leaves them with very limited interaction with others. There are also fewer than five sign language interpreters across the Kurdistan region in Iraq.

Dr. Anthony Chong works for an advocacy group, DAWN (Deaf Advocacy and Well-being National Organization, Malaysia). DAWN is a human-right national organization that provides advocacy education and support to all Deaf and hard-of-hearing people in Malaysia. Mr. John Ong Ing Cheong works as a Grab 
driver. A security guard assaulted him so he went to the police station to make a report. He was offered compensation if the case would be closed. Mr. Ong approached Dr. Chong for assistance. Both talk about it in this interview.