Students, administrators at Rochester School for the deaf react to budget changes

Posted on April 1, 2011 by admin

Governor Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders struck a tentative state budget deal Sunday, but extensive negotiations are still going on, including how much funding will be restored to schools, and whether or not it will be enough to avoid teacher layoffs.

News 10NBC talked to the superintendent of the Rochester School for the deaf today, and he is overjoyed that funding to their school has been restored.

The joy has not eased nervousness over the fine details, however, and administrators want to know more.

The school was facing big cuts because of the budget, and they didn’t take it lightly; they went to Albany to fight for their money.

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Justice Department Settles Americans with Disabilities Act Lawsuit

Posted on April 1, 2011 by admin

The Justice Department has reached a settlement with Inova Health System to ensure effective communication with individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing in the provision of medical services. The agreement, under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act, resolves a complaint that Inova failed to provide sign language interpreters to an expectant mother and others who are deaf and need interpreters to communicate effectively with health care providers.

The department’s lawsuit, filed yesterday with a consent decree in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, alleged that Inova Health System violated the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act by failing to provide appropriate auxiliary aids and services, including sign language interpreter services, to deaf individuals at Inova Fairfax Hospital. Because of the hospital’s failure to provide sign language interpreter services, deaf individuals were denied the benefit of effective communication with hospital staff, the opportunity to effectively participate in medical treatment decisions, and the full benefit of health care services provided by Inova Fairfax Hospital, according to the complaint.

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Video Calls – Breakthrough in Communication for Deaf People

Posted on April 1, 2011 by admin

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and thus making video calls via services like Skype or Google Talk are already a well established standard in the tech community. According to a variety of reports it now looks as if video calls make their way into the mainstream. The iPhone 4 and Facetime give it another boost at the moment.

In online education, start-ups built around video lessons were the first on the market in late 2007. Most of them had a clear focus on language learning. It made a lot of sense as it is the easiest thing to realize. Connect a student with a native speaking teacher from the other end of the globe using video chat and later on the so called virtual classroom, a web meeting where student and teacher can work together using slides and writing tools. Interestingly, nearly all of the platforms missed a very interesting customer group that is now becoming more and more active in the video call space, deaf people.

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‘Exposure’ performance sheds light on Deaf culture

Posted on March 31, 2011 by admin

The “Exposure” show, put on by UR’s American Sign Language performance group, Sign Language Associated Performers (S.L.A.P), accomplished precisely what it set out to do: Educating the University community about deaf culture in a humorous, entertaining and visually captivating manner.

Calling the show a hit would be an understatement. Within four minutes of the doors opening, the Drama House was packed, and students had to be turned away. It was evident that members of the community at large were also present at the show, a mark of the program’s true outreach and success.

Co-directed and written by junior Mel Balzano and sophomore Sura Lutvak, “Exposure” integrated popular songs into an overarching story line in a “Moulin Rouge”-esque manner, with the added, or rather integral, element of ASL. The story line was basic- — a mere narrated backdrop to the dramatic and musical scenes presented by members of TOOP, Vocal Point and After Hours. Some of the music was piped in to accommodate the pre-existing set lists of the a cappella groups.

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Deaf Pub looks back on a successful first year

Posted on March 31, 2011 by admin

A regular event for deaf people, held in South Oxhey, is celebrating after a successful first year.

The “Deaf Pub”, a night out for people with a hearing disability, takes place every two months in the Ox Pub.

The event is organised by Teresa “Terry” Peacock and Clive Young, who have both lived in South Oxhey for six years.

Ms Peacock said: “We asked the staff at the pub and they agreed with the idea and we started to organise the event by advertising it on facebook.

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Two deaf, blind dogs to move to foster home on Peninsula

Posted on March 31, 2011 by admin

Peninsula Friends of Animals has found a foster home for Frosty and Snowman, two deaf and blind Lhaso apso-Shih Tzu mix dogs.

There’s only one potential dogleg in the 2-year-old brothers’ road to a permanent home: The foster couple willing to care for them has six cats.

“This will be a foster situation with the intention of adopting, if their six cats are kind to the pups,” said Nancy Campbell, operations manager for Peninsula Friends of Animals, which has taken care of Frosty and Snowman for several weeks.

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The University welcomes guest in celebration of Deaf History Month

Posted on March 31, 2011 by admin

Both the state of Vermont and the University have worked to continue the trend of acceptance with the appreciation of diversity through the representation of deaf culture for Deaf Awareness Month.

Jeffrey Levi Palmer held a lecture in the Davis Center on Thursday, March 17, offering up a dynamic view into the culture of sign language locally and beyond.

Palmer, who grew up in Vermont, has studied and researched American Sign Language (ASL) extensively. As a child of deaf parents, he currently works as a professional interpreter.

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Sound decision: Boys opt for cochlear implants

Posted on March 31, 2011 by admin

It was a regular tune-up but 9-year-old Trystan Mort had his audiologist in tears — he was hearing so well.

Trystan and his brother Taylor are deaf, but the two had cochlear implants in mid-February — a surgery that is somewhat controversial in the deaf community.

A cochlear implant consists of two parts. The first is a magnetic implant screwed onto the inside of the skull that shoots electrodes into the cochlea. The second is a piece that hooks behind the back of the ear.

Personal choice

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Lack of qualified interpreters negatively impacting deaf students

Posted on March 31, 2011 by admin

Many deaf students in the state of Indiana rely on interpreters. Right now, though, there is no standard for interpreters in the Hoosier state. Interpreters don’t have to prove that they can sign before being put into a school.

Learning in a classroom when you have no way to hear what’s going on is the fate many students face. Many deaf students in the state of Indiana rely on interpreters. Right now, though, there is no standard for interpreters in the Hoosier state. Interpreters don’t have to prove that they can sign before being put into a school.

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State help for deaf is casualty of fund cuts

Posted on March 31, 2011 by admin

Born with congenital aphasia, Patti Scott’s hearing is impaired, her speech garbled. Unable to communicate with much of the world, she lived in frustrated, angry silence.

“I was alone and, really, I was depressed,” Scott, 60, said recently through a signing interpreter.

Fourteen years ago, that changed. Scott joined DEAF Options, a mental health agency in Redford Township that serves the deaf. Counselors took her to doctor appointments, visited her apartment and introduced her to other deaf clients.

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