Hearing Loss News and Articles

August 2, 2008

Malawi needs more sign language interpreters

Malawi National Association of the Deaf (MANAD) says the country needs more sign language interpreters to abate challenges deaf and speech impaired persons are facing in their day to day livelihood.

Speaking to Nyasa Times, officials from the deaf community in the country disclosed that currently, estimates show that Malawi has over 50,000 hearing impaired people against only eleven sign language interpreters.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 2:29 AM

June 30, 2008

Deaf Teacher Finds Connection with ESL students

The small classroom where John Kuhlman teaches English to immigrants is a far cry from the large lecture halls and auditoriums where he used to lead 1,000 students in lessons on economics.

He no longer teaches on a platform, but sits just inches from his students, intensely concentrating to understand what they are saying.

Thirty-five years ago, while a professor at the University of Missouri, Kuhlman lost his hearing. A cochlear implant, lip reading and sheer dedication now allow him to spend five days and 21 hours a week teaching 15 immigrants how to read, write and speak in English.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 7:35 AM

June 12, 2008

Kids Learn To Sign To Reach Out To Deaf Classmate

Getting fifth-graders to skip lunch and recess to study is no easy task. But a local student managed to inspire her classmates to do just that.

NewsCenter 5's Bianca de la Garza reported that the students spent the extra time learning Michaela Borstel's language: American Sign Language.

"I feel really welcomed here," Borstel said of the Governor Winslow School in Marshfield.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 9:42 AM

March 13, 2008

Sign-language interpreters in demand

In response to growing national and international demand, the University of Alberta and Lakeland College are launching a new program to train sign-language interpreters.

The diploma program, which will begin this fall, will be the first such course in Alberta and the fifth offered at a Canadian postsecondary institution.

"Alberta, like every other province in this country, has a critical shortage of sign-language interpreters and so the demand for interpreters far outweighs the supply," said Debra Russell, director of the Western Canadian Centre of Studies in Deafness, which is based at the U of A, and a consultant for the program.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 8:50 AM

December 28, 2007

Video relay center for the deaf planned for Frederick County

Video relay call centers planned for Frederick and Baltimore counties will offer another communication alternative for people who are deaf and hard of hearing.

Viable Inc., a provider of video relay services for deaf and hard of hearing people, recently opened a call center in Ellicott City, which is a few miles from the Columbia campus of the Maryland School for the Deaf.

Viable Relay Services plans to open a center in Frederick County in early 2008. The new center will employ 12 people initially.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 8:51 AM

Interpreting services for deaf now available here

A new office for walk-in, onsite interpreting services to help individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing is now open in Murfreesboro.

The site marks the fourth satellite office for the League for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, a not-for-profit agency based in Nashville. The Rutherford County office is located at the Linebaugh Public Library, Second Floor Board Room, 105 West Vine.

The office is open each Wednesday from 3:30-7:30 p.m. No appointments for interpreting services are necessary.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 8:45 AM

Schools’ deaf interpreter standards to change

A deaf student’s parents sometimes have a difficult time finding a high-quality interpreter in West Virginia.

Officials from two state agencies who work with deaf and hard of hearing students realize a sea change is on the way, and one that’s expected to make it even more difficult to nail down a qualified interpreter who’s up to par.

By July, state education officials will require that school interpreters be graded on their skill level. The state Board of Education agreed that interpreters must reach a score of 3.0 on the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment (EIPA) by July 1. Skill levels on the EIPA range from zero to 5.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 8:40 AM

Students find sign language skills useful

American Sign Language is, by some estimations, the third-most spoken language in the United States. And students in Montville High School's ASL classes have found multiple opportunities to use their skills.
more stories like this

Mary Perkins, a senior, said she helped translate for a deaf couple who frequented the restaurant she used to work at, using finger spelling when she didn't know the signs for a food. Senior Brooke Forbes said she and another student translated for a parent who was deaf at a back-to-school night.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 8:38 AM

New thumb comes with new language for a deaf 4-year-old girl

The halls leading to the children's classrooms of the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf in Edgewood are adorned with the artwork of youngsters. Tiny paper hands, the colorful outlines traced in crayon and cut with scissors, bear the carefully scrawled names of the children who created them.

The hands speak to you.

Dr. Nancy Benham, coordinator for the parent-infant program at the school, walks down a hall into the classroom where her 4-year-old daughter, Grace, is learning American Sign Language.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 8:37 AM

November 5, 2007

Passaic course teaches sign language

Some teachers might worry if their students are always silent in class. Not Alma Simakowicz, who teaches American Sign Language at Passaic High School. Talking is just not part of her lesson plan.

Simakowicz teaches five classes of sign language to about 57 students at the Paulison Avenue school. Unlike other languages that require mastering accents and communicating through letters -- written, spoken and read -- sign language students have to retrain their brains to think in images, not words, Simakowicz said. But for many of the students tackling that task this year, the challenge is a welcome one because it opens them not only to a new language but also to a new community as well.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 4:32 AM

November 1, 2007

Signing Chimp Washoe Broke Language Barrier

A world-famous chimpanzee believed to be the first animal to learn a human language died at Central Washington University in Ellensburg Tuesday night.

Washoe, who was 42 years old, could use about 250 distinctive American Sign Language signs, said Deborah Fouts, director of the university's Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute, where Washoe lived.

Fouts said Washoe was continuing to communicate on the day of her death.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 4:01 AM

Interpreter Served as Lifeline to Deaf Community During Fires

For those who've watched fire coverage on television in San Diego this week, one woman's face was seen at every county press conference...but even though she was ever present, she never uttered a word. That woman is Joane Cosentino -- a sign language interpreter. KPBS Border Reporter Amy Isackson shares her story .

Joane Cosentino estimates she signed for at least twenty hours straight during the fires, translating emergency information for San Diego County's more than 35,000d deaf and hearing impaired.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 3:58 AM

Students sign awareness; Event focuses on sign language

Absolutely no talking was allowed during a recent event at Desert Ridge High School, 10045 E. Madero Ave.

The rule of silence was not aimed at keeping students under control, but offered them a real sense of what a deaf person goes through each day.

For the school’s fourth-annual “It’s a Deaf, Deaf World,” which was held Oct. 23 in the school’s gym, students in the American Sign Language II class set up mock stores that other students were required to visit.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 3:56 AM

October 19, 2007

Local sign language interpreter gets big job

Sam Parker's mother faithfully attended his school plays — even though she couldn't hear a word.

She was deaf.

Back then, even until the mid-1980s, theaters didn't provide sign language interpreters.

"I remember how my mother would sit and just watch, not knowing the story unless I had told her beforehand," Parker, 45, recalls.

Parker, who teaches at UNCG, is not deaf himself. But the experience instilled in him a passion to make theater accessible for the deaf.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 8:48 AM

October 9, 2007

Troy University gets $250,000 grant to train deaf interpreters

Troy University officials announced today with Gov. Bob Riley a $250,000 grant from the Alabama State Department of Education that will be used to fund an undergraduate Interpreter Training Program.

The program will be aimed at increasing the number of interpreters for the deaf and hearing impaired.

Riley said the program at Troy will set a national standard.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 3:55 AM

August 16, 2007

Judge Spotlights Shortage of Interpreters for the Deaf

The prevailing custom in the New York courts is for sign language interpreters to work in tandem: one translates the rapid-fire arguments of courtroom life, while the other gets to rest weary hands.

There is, however, a shortage in the courts of sign language interpreters, so this buddy system does not always work, according to court officials. Yesterday, a judge in Queens took note of the shortage, writing a memorandum that explained why he had awarded an interpreter who was forced to work alone twice his daily rate of pay.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 2:49 AM

June 19, 2007

A Sign of the Times

American Sign Language (ASL) is arguably the 4th most commonly used language in the United States. Enrollment in ASL classes is greater than ever, with many high schools and colleges allowing ASL to satisfy foreign language requirements. Kingwood College offers both credit and non-credit options.

There is not an official statistic on how many persons with hearing loss or deafness live in this country; the U.S. Census Bureau stopped including deaf demographics in 1930. Individual surveys are rarely conducted, and they are not done on a large enough scale, however, the National Center for Health Statistics reported in 1991 that there were as many as "4.81 million deaf and hard of hearing people in America."

FULL STORY

Posted @ 9:33 AM

April 25, 2007

Students help classmate with sign language spelling bee

Jesse Cobb didn’t have much to say about his classmates’ help Tuesday, except deciding that it was “cool.”

His buddy Kaleb Brown, though, was up to the “challenge” of spelling a different way to help Jesse get ready for a state spelling bee next week.

“Challenge” was one of the words Kaleb spelled correctly as he and other Jefferson Elementary School fifth graders used sign language to spell. It was all to help Jesse and another hearing-impaired student, Brandon Tingley, qualify for next week’s Statewide Deaf Fingerspelling Bee in Springfield.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 5:25 AM

February 24, 2007

Talk, talk, talking ... with their hands

The deaf community has its own culture even though it’s not assigned to a particular geographic area, a local educator says.

“The deaf community has a culture that goes along with it,” said Joe Moore, director of the International Cultural Center that’s housed at Tiffin Middle School. “The deaf culture exists in small communities and small pockets around the world.”

FULL STORY

Posted @ 5:46 AM

Sign language on mobile phones could help the deaf

Washington state researchers harness Windows Mobile Platform phones with open source video encoders to send sign language over the airwaves

While text messaging has helped give deaf people access to mobile communications, those who rely primarily on American sign language (ASL) have been left behind by cell phone technology. That could change, thanks to the MobileASL project at the University of Washington.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 5:27 AM

January 17, 2007

Cuba creates language multimedia for the deaf

Special school´s teachers from the eastern province of Las Tunas created the first bilingual digital dictionary of the Cuban Sign Language (LSC), local press media highlighted Sunday.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 8:33 AM

January 10, 2007

Technology makes sign language interpreter easily available

Hospital emergency rooms, businesses, law enforcement and other social and health assistance agencies are frequently confounded by an inability to communicate with a hearing-impaired or deaf person.

Representatives of those agencies now have an alternative.

The Betty and Leonard Phillips Deaf Action Center of Louisiana, in Shreveport, recognizes the difficulty of learning sign language and the seemingly eternal shortage of interpreters.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 5:59 AM

January 7, 2007

First deaf basketball referee clinic in Sweden

The Deaf International Basketball Federation (DIBF) is arranging the first deaf referee clinic ever in any deaf sports. Dates are 16-18 March and is arranged in Stockholm, Sweden. Conductor and leader of the clinic is FIBA Commissioner mr Orjan Engberg, Stockholm, and coordinators of the event are DIBF Secretary General mr Kjell Gunna and mr Pelle Pilstrom, Stockholm. The clinic is supported economically and administratively by the Stockholm Basketball Organisation.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 5:00 AM

December 18, 2006

CSD announces new spin-off venture known as CSDVRS

On Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2006, Communication Service for the Deaf, Inc. (CSD), a private, non-profit organization based in South Dakota, announces its newest venture or spin-off known as CSDVRS. The new entity incorporates all aspects of CSD’s former Video Relay Services (VRS) and related products. Due to a thriving industry and interest generated through investment capital groups, CSD has joined with other investors to galvanize CSDVRS, offering customers cutting edge technology and unparalleled services.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 8:12 AM

Relay service helps businesses connect with deaf, hard of hearing

Ordering pizza, calling information or making an appointment are all routine tasks for most of us. But for the hearing or speech impaired, placing a simple phone call can be a slow, arduous task, especially when the person on the other end hangs up.

The Virginia Relay Partner program is opening the lines of communication by connecting businesses with deaf or hard-of-hearing customers trying to reach them.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 8:09 AM

November 5, 2006

Deaf students benefit from increase in interpretors

In a classroom with a teacher more animated than most, it is so quiet one could hear a pin drop. The teacher paces around the room, fielding individual queries from students while teaching the principles of a dependant clause — all while not making a sound.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 12:34 PM

October 2, 2006

New professor adds to ASL program

At the onset of the 2006-07 academic year at Goshen College, many changes were made within the administration and faculty. While some people transferred to different jobs, others were hired to new positions. Among these fresh members is Julie White Armstrong, a nationally certified ASL/English interpreter since 1993.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 10:01 AM

August 28, 2006

Interpreting with new technology

Interpreting Online, I.O., is the sign language interpreting mode of the future. The Ohio Alliance of Community Centers for the Deaf is introducing an easy to use sign language interpreting service that no longer requires an on-site interpreter.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 9:01 AM

August 18, 2006

Driving schools must hire interpreters for deaf students

Five driving schools in central Minnesota must provide and pay for sign language interpreters for deaf students, a federal judge has ruled.

Five teenage students and their families sued the schools in the St. Cloud area earlier this year, charging a violation of federal and state human rights laws in their failure to to provide American Sign Language interpreters.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 5:27 AM

Interpreter service keeps the lines open for deaf patients

There are times when you can use technology to solve a problem and times when humans might be able to do it better. But what about those applications in which technologies can empower humans to get the job done?

Bob Fisher, of Mt. Lebanon-based DT Interpreting (formerly Deaf-talk), figured how to use technology to get an important human job done -- providing translation services for deaf patients who walk into hospitals with a problem.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 5:25 AM

July 6, 2006

Team learns sign language to communicate with deaf player

Baseball players at Fermi High School have found a new way to boost team spirit. To communicate better with Douglas Giaccone, the Enfield school's only deaf student who joined the baseball team this past spring, the team's practice has included one hour each week learning sign language.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 12:38 AM

June 21, 2006

Interpreting the early signs of RSI

Repetitive strain injury is sweeping through the ranks of interpreters for the deaf. So common is the complaint and the risk of injury so great that interpreters now work in pairs as a preventative measure.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 10:01 AM

UMBC to phase out ASL courses in 2007

The Modern Languages and Linguistics (MLL) department recently announced their decision to cease all American Sign Language (ASL) instruction at UMBC. According to MLL department chair Dr. Judith Schneider, the faculty of the MLL department decided to phase out instruction in ASL classes over the summer 2006, fall 2006, and spring 2007 semesters.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 9:58 AM

June 8, 2006

State board recognizes American Sign Language

The Nebraska State Board of Education adopted a policy Wednesday recognizing American Sign Language as a national language that can be offered in elementary through high school classes.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 7:43 AM

June 5, 2006

Blues signer translates for blues singers

Blues Fest regulars who attend the show year after year probably would recognize Nancy Verdier if she passed them on the street, but they might not immediately be able to place her. Unless, that is, she was moving her hands.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 4:59 AM

May 24, 2006

Babies sign needs

It may be simple words -- such as milk, eat, more, crackers, ball, dog and cat -- but babies as young as 5 months old are learning to communicate with their parents before they learn to talk.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 11:00 AM

May 4, 2006

He communicated without talking

Jason Dean Jensen never talked, but his loving heart spoke volumes. Jensen died April 25 of pneumonia complications. He was 23. He had a loving family. He also had cerebral palsy. He couldn’t talk. He could move just his left arm and hand.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 7:04 PM

May 2, 2006

A common language

Hayden Orr bounds off his school bus and heads for the main hallway. The 8-year-old looks the part of a typical grade school student. Blond bangs frame his brown eyes. He's wearing a navy blue pullover with a windsurfer logo and totes a large, moss-green book bag on his back.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 1:25 AM

April 18, 2006

New club focuses on sign language

"Talk with your hands, listen with your eyes, and communicate with your hearts," was the quote written on the blackboard at the Ohio University Sign Language Club's kick-off meeting Thursday night. "We found that we are lacking a sign-language club at OU, so it's a good year to start one," said Liz Yazbek, one of the student organizers. "We want to help the sign-language program and bridge the gap between hearing and deaf people."

FULL STORY

Posted @ 7:45 AM

April 17, 2006

Silent language seeks recognition

Linsay Darnall Jr. sat watching the conversation earlier this month among members of the state Board of Education and state Department of Education staff. In the face and gestures of interpreter Tanya Wendel, he saw their caution about accepting a proposal to make American Sign Language an official world language for the state’s K-12 schools.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 5:43 AM

April 15, 2006

Club aims to link speaking, signing

Emma Kreiner loves to talk with her hands. The freshman is one of many Ohio University students who came together to form a sign language club. With the mission of “building a bridge between those who can hear and those who can’t,” the club, which had its first meeting last night, hopes to encompass all types of people, regardless of their signing ability, Kreiner said.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 5:37 AM

April 13, 2006

Student's deafness inspires sign language club

Ruthie Bickel and her friend Ashley Barr had trouble communicating, even though both Lebanon High School students understand English. Ruthie said she sits behind Ashley in homeroom, but the 17-year-old juniors might as well have been miles apart. Ashley is deaf, and Ruthie didn't know sign language.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 3:10 AM

ASL poet combines unlikely themes with his hands

Described by L.A. Weekly as a performer “who incorporates the most elastic facial maneuvers this side of Robin Williams,” Peter Cook is regarded as one of the most talented American Sign Language (ASL) poets today. As an ASL poet, Cook, who is deaf, uses similarities in sign direction or quality of movement, hand configurations and facial expressions to “rhyme,” just as words with similar sounds and endings rhyme in poetry.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 3:05 AM

April 12, 2006

Actors sign their lines

The dress rehearsal was much like any other, with props being searched for, wardrobe malfunctions and scenery backdrops inexplicably rising and falling. "OK, guys, we're about to start," yelled an actress to the rest of the cast backstage at Olympia High School.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 3:09 AM

Annika Farris: a sign language success story

A lot of people may think, “Why would I teach my hearing child sign language? She’s not deaf.”
In the case of one local family there are many reasons why classes in American Sign Language (ASL) have helped. Helen Baggaley, a sign language instructor with Early Word Communications, said the main reason is that she doesn't just teach infants the signs and send them on their way.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 3:02 AM

April 11, 2006

Applying for a job with the Americans with Disabilities Act

Applying for a job is a challenging experience for most people. Now add disability to the mix. The Americans with Disabilities Act, however, tries to level the playing field. To be supported by the ADA, an applicant with a disability must otherwise meet the employer's requirements for the job, including education, training, prior employment experience and the like.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 5:06 AM

April 8, 2006

Club to offer sign language classes

The Central Illinois American Sign Language Club has formed after two years of planning to help deaf and hearing-impaired people socialize and introduce the deaf culture. "We want to show off the deaf population and promote that we are the same as everyone else," said member Jackie Cole. "We also want to get hearing people to see who we (deaf people) are."

FULL STORY

Posted @ 1:06 AM

Let their fingers do the talking

Pointing to a colorful flower, Tricia Campbell lifts her infant's soft, doughy hand, presses his fingers together and rapidly moves them from one side of his nose to the other as she sniffs loudly. ''Flower!'' she exclaims. Campbell repeats the gesture, sniffs and again says, ''Flower!''

FULL STORY

Posted @ 1:04 AM

April 7, 2006

How to assist disabled, and build dignity, respect

A professionally dressed woman sat with a cup of coffee, waiting to board a plane. Suddenly, a passer-by dropped a quarter into the cup, splashing her. Why did this happen? It may have been that she was in a wheelchair. Ironically, she was an attorney for a major disability rights organization.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 1:00 AM

March 31, 2006

Teachers develop new way to teach reading

Take a minute to remember when and how you learned to read. Chances are, that technique has changes. In Caruthersville, teachers use a new way of teaching phonics. It involves a road trip to Chicago, some chanting, and*even some sign language.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 8:05 AM

March 30, 2006

New technology helps students at RU

It's the high tech approach to helping students who are hearing impaired. Radford University student Taylor Walls, is the first on campus to use a special telecommunications system. It lets her know what the professor is saying without having a live interpreter.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 7:56 AM

March 29, 2006

Gallaudet University job announcement

Coordinator, Electronic Communications, Public Relations, salary range: $44,900 to $80,800. Oversees all on-line communications produced by the Office of Public Relations, including the University website, the websites of the Institutional Advancement units, the Daily Digest, the Alumni E-newsletter, the Family E-newsletter, Inside Gallaudet news site, and the Public Relations e-mail account, manages the University Web Team and reports to the Public Relations Director.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 6:09 AM

March 28, 2006

Before kids can talk, they can sign

Many parents know about using Dora the Explorer or Baby Einstein to help their children's development, but teaching them sign language is another avenue some area parents are exploring.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 7:15 AM

March 27, 2006

Signing opens worlds without sound

Sounds of chatter drift into Rebecca Cleary’s quiet classroom, where the silence is broken only by occasional laughter. Cleary’s students at Douglas Byrd High School can talk — they just don’t. They sign. Cleary teaches the only sign language class offered to hearing students in the Cumberland County schools.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 6:55 AM

March 25, 2006

Stores using sign language to converse with drivers

I love to read everything from newspapers to novels to the signs outside area businesses. The kind of signs I’m talking about are the ones where the words are formed with moveable letters that can be changed as often as the employees feel inspired. And, when they get inspired … watch out.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 6:38 AM

March 22, 2006

Sign language won't be foreign very long

Sign language will soon become an alternative choice for Baltimore County high school students looking for foreign language credits. The state board of education Feb. 28 unanimously approved recommendations by a special task force, the American Sign Language Work Group, to make sign language courses count the same as foreign language classes in all public high schools.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 4:55 AM

Elementary sign language proves popular with kids

When founders of a sign-language club at John Blacow Elementary School announced their first meeting in February, they hoped to draw interest from 20 pupils. They were pleasantly surprised when more than 40 signed up.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 4:47 AM

March 21, 2006

Deaf-friendly synagogues offer sign language interpreters

When Fern Reisinger, who is deaf, was growing up, she says she did not feel included while attending synagogue. "I never enjoyed temple. I never understood what was going on," she explained. "I went along with the group and just read. I lost out on being a whole Jewish person. I am familiar with general traditions, but do not have the true meaning of Judaism. That is a loss for me."

FULL STORY

Posted @ 4:48 AM

March 20, 2006

Silly talk? Baby says no

Jacqueline Smith likes cheese — a lot. But here's the thing, the cute-as-a-button 18-month-old is, well, 18 months old and sometimes saying the word "cheese" isn't as easy as it sounds. So, what's a gal to do when she's got a hankering for some dairy, but just can't seem to get the words out?

FULL STORY

Posted @ 2:33 AM

March 19, 2006

Silent tales enthrall children

Jodi Miller sat in the chair before nearly 20 tykes and animatedly told classic children's tales that delighted and enthralled, all without saying one word. The Central Illinois Center for Independent Living and Barnes and Noble co-hosted a "Sign Language Storytelling" hour at the bookstore Saturday afternoon that drew several families with deaf or hard-of-hearing children.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 2:51 AM

March 18, 2006

A sign of friendship

As young teenage girls, best friends Emma Stone and Allison Bohm like to talk. But instead of using their mouths, the two often talk through their hands. Having mastered sign language, the girls can carry on conversations without uttering a word. “It’s fun to be able to talk at school, and nobody knows what we’re saying,” Bohm, 13, said laughing. “And we can never get in trouble for being too loud.”

FULL STORY

Posted @ 5:12 AM

March 17, 2006

Senate subcommittee passes sign language bill

High school students could earn foreign language credit by taking sign language classes under a bill that passed a Senate subcommittee Thursday. Bill supporters hope the measure will encourage students to learn sign language and increase deaf students' interaction with their peers.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 6:36 AM

March 15, 2006

Hands on ABCs

Envision a room full of little faces scrunched up in grimaces, eyes squinting and tiny hands with wiggling fingers posed in front of their bodies. There, you have it, 4-year-old students at Chisholm Elementary are practicing their new sign language word for the week, bears.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 5:10 AM

March 14, 2006

Ensemble's jazz is easy to access

Some jazz performances are said to be more accessible than others. But at the Wheelock Family Theatre on Thursday the multimedia ensemble JazzArtSigns took the concept to a whole other level, making jazz literally accessible to everyone.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 4:59 AM

DVD series spawns television series premiering across the country

Adding to a growing line of Signing Time! media that includes DVDs, CDs, books and a resource website, Two Little Hands Productions has announced that the Signing Time! television series has already been picked up by 68 television stations across the country including in 6 of the top 10 markets.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 4:55 AM

March 13, 2006

This lab promises hope for the hearing impaired

To connect with the human world, they speak with their expressions and gesticulate to make their speech coherent! Sign language — the only medium that connects a hearing impaired with the rest of the world. But not any longer, if one believes in the efforts of Shreelal Jha, Director Technical, Self-Financed R&D Consultancy for Impaired, Sardar Patel University

FULL STORY

Posted @ 4:47 PM

Doctors training in sign language

A specialist course is being offered during their medical training at Queen's University in Belfast. The course, which also includes training in deaf awareness, is being run in association with the Royal National Institute for the Deaf.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 4:42 PM

March 11, 2006

Deaf teacher incorporates culture into language class

As her Deer Valley High School students gestured at each other, their hands a flurry of concepts, words and letters, Jennifer Goins quietly patrolled her classroom. Silence predominated, save for a few voices reading aloud and the subtle sounds of hands moving in the air. Then one group called out, "Whoa. You skipped ahead."

FULL STORY

Posted @ 9:14 PM

Deaf teacher incorporates culture into language class

As her Deer Valley High School students gestured at each other, their hands a flurry of concepts, words and letters, Jennifer Goins quietly patrolled her classroom. Silence predominated, save for a few voices reading aloud and the subtle sounds of hands moving in the air. Then one group called out, "Whoa. You skipped ahead."

FULL STORY

Posted @ 9:14 PM

March 10, 2006

Singing Hands also support, heal

The members of “Singing Hands” are a little different from the traditional church choir: They don’t sing. At least, not with their voices. Instead, recorded music — spiritual standards like “The Lord’s Prayer” or cultural anthems like “Proud to be an American” — back up the performers, who sign the words.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 8:56 PM

March 9, 2006

Baby signing growing in popularity

Five mothers and five small children sit on colorful sheets on the classroom floor, surrounding a pile of stuffed animals, child-sized hats and fake fruit. “Kitty, kitty,” the mothers say, stroking the air near their faces. “Apple, apple,” they insist, rubbing their cheeks.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 8:33 PM

Bangor Discovery Museum to offer baby sign language class

You and your baby can learn to speak with your hands at the Maine Discovery Museum beginning March 21, said Jennifer Chiarell, marketing director. The museum will hold its first session of baby signing classes with Deaf, American Sign Language educator Carrie Pierce.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 8:32 PM

With signing, babies have gift of gab

All toddlers know sign language. Every parent can tell you the whining child standing at their feet with arms stretched straight up into the air is saying, "Pick me up!" Some babies and toddlers recently added a few more sign language words to their vocabulary at Tiny Signs, a one-time sign-language class for children 6 months to 5 years old at the Draper Library.

FULL STORY

Posted @ 8:29 PM

Business promotes sign language

After a career in marketing, a local woman decided to change the course of her life and opened her own business last November. The business, Sign Language Communications, is located along Brooktree Road in Wexford and teaches clients sign language and other subjects.

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Posted @ 8:28 PM

March 6, 2006

Seniors graduate from sign language class

Some Chattanooga senior citizens turn an every-day challenge into a proud accomplishment. Residents at the Alexian Grove retirement center graduated from sign language class today.

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Posted @ 10:49 PM

March 5, 2006

Students find sign language 'beautiful'

Sign language is a lot like life. The hand gestures that convey words and ideas range from the simple — touch a finger to the lips to say "red" — to the complex — a series of complicated, consecutive motions to illustrate a "daily activity."

FULL STORY

Posted @ 3:32 AM

March 4, 2006

Act of signing adds to the performance of ‘RATS!’

Rarely do the myriad elements of stagecraft — scenery, lighting, choreography, music and acting — melt into the realm of fairy tale with the fluidity of StageHAND’s performance of “RATS!” Thursday morning on the New Bern Civic Theatre stage.

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Posted @ 3:29 AM

March 3, 2006

Students learn sign language

Although the school day is done, a group of students sit attentively in the Herman Avenue Elementary School auditorium. The room is surprisingly quiet. Strangely, though, there is a flurry of motion and a sense that the room is not quiet at all. Made possible through an Auburn Education Foundation educator grant, the Sign Language Club introduces students to the basics of American Sign Language.

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Posted @ 12:32 PM

Sign language is changing

California State University, East Bay, changed its name more than a year ago. The highways leading to the Hayward campus, however, have become relics of the college's former, more local, identity. As of this week, signs on Interstate 880 and I-580, among others, still were telling motorists that California State University, Hayward, was nearby.

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Posted @ 12:18 PM

The sign for easing a family's frustration

Frantically, David Mikell tried to communicate to his parents what he wanted. The 5-year-old waved his hands once. Twice. Ten times. Finally, he walked to the freezer and grabbed what he'd wanted all along: a pizza. Then he walked out in a huff.

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Posted @ 12:17 PM

March 2, 2006

Her courage and work built a bridge of hope for the kids

Graciela Rascón and I sat at the rear of a classroom to watch a group of 4-and 5-year-olds during their lunch break. They placed a small tablecloth and plate on their little desks and then, very properly, placed their spoons next to the plate.

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Posted @ 10:18 PM

A visit from Helen Keller

February school vacation week gave West Roxbury and Roslindale children the opportunity to attend the re-enactment of Helen Keller's life at the West Roxbury Branch Library last Wednesday. Children's librarian Gwen Fletcher said that Keller's life serves as a role model in the children's lives.

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Posted @ 10:10 PM

Total communication in performance

Rats, swarms of them, are filtering through every nook and crevice of the aged and historic New Bern Civic Theater. And Alecia Melton couldn’t be happier. With two casts of children, weeks of rehearsal and a “total communication” production incorporating sign language, song and dance, bringing “RATS!” to the stage was no easy task. Of course, getting rid of them could be more challenging.

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Posted @ 2:59 AM

February 28, 2006

Sign language a handy skill for all ages, say teachers

As the coordinator of the parent-infant program at the Scranton School for the Deaf, Linda Hurwitz sees the benefits every day of teaching babies sign language. Except that the people she deals with are deaf or hearing impaired – they are not hearing parents interested in teaching their hearing children sign language. She works with parents who cannot hear, children who cannot hear, and in some cases both parent and child who cannot hear.

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Posted @ 4:21 AM

February 24, 2006

Nonverbal baby talk a sign of the times

While other infants and young toddlers let out a howl when they are hungry, 14-month-old Emmet Weisz simply brings his hands together at the heel and rotates the right hand over the left, making the hand-sign for his favorite food: cheese.

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Posted @ 5:04 PM

February 23, 2006

Classes in American Sign Language put hearing students in touch with the deaf

Twenty-eight people fidget at the beginning of the immersion course. Although the teacher won't speak English to them, they understand the first direction immediately, "Come forward," to the front two rows of the auditorium. After that it gets harder, and because the room is silent, the sound of discovery whispers audibly through the room: "oohh ... She means 'paper.' "

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Posted @ 5:37 PM

Family tries sign language

Parents teach songs like "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "The Wheels on the Bus" with hand motions to help their young children remember the songs before they can sing along. The same idea can be applied to language skills using sign language at very young ages, Athol resident Kirsten Spencer said Wednesday.

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Posted @ 5:35 PM

New music program offers sign language

MA -- The Music Village in Cullowhee will offer a new Kindermusik music and sign language program called “Sign and Sing” beginning Tuesday, Feb. 28. This research-proven program is based on methods shown to speed language development in hearing children, ease frustration, and enhance long-term learning abilities.

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Posted @ 5:32 PM

Lawmakers tackle gangs, drunk driving and need for sign language interpreters

A Senate committee took on stricter laws related to driving under the influence. Under a bill introduced by Meridian Sen. Hal Bunderson, judges could impose longer sentences for repeat DUI offenders, and those who refuse blood alcohol tests would also face tougher penalties.

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Posted @ 1:55 PM

February 22, 2006

Signs of major growth

Sacramento State would become the second California State University campus – and third campus in the nation – to have a deaf studies major beginning fall 2007 if the CSU Board of Trustees and chancellor's office approves the university’s plan. There has been talk of a deaf studies major proposal for many years, but it was only recently that American Sign Language Professor Donald A. Grushkin decided it was the right time to introduce the idea.

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Posted @ 11:53 AM

February 21, 2006

Addison Mizner Elementary students sign and sing at Boca rehab center

Unlike the average fifth grader, Dylan Mersereau didn't say a word. Instead he moved his fingers, using sign language to covey a heartfelt message to residents at the Boca Raton Rehabilitation Center. Mersereau and his fifth-grade classmates from Addison Mizner Elementary School spent Valentine's Day singing and signing Martina McBride's "My Valentine" song to those residents.

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Posted @ 4:05 PM

February 20, 2006

Pupils discover sounds of silence

Not everyone can get the attention of a little boy or girl without saying a word. But for Carrie Pierce, doing so on Sunday afternoon was child's play. There was lots of play going on Sunday at the Maine Discovery Museum in Bangor, with many children squealing, crawling, squirming, climbing and giggling throughout the three floors of exhibits at the downtown building.

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Posted @ 6:15 PM

Sign language interpreting a rare profession in N.D.

After eight years, Lindsey Solberg still comes across people who don’t understand that she gets paid to do her job. It’s just one of the many misconceptions she deals with in her unique – and mostly silent – career. Solberg is a sign language interpreter at Fargo’s Ben Franklin Junior High. It’s a rare profession in North Dakota and one that lacks qualified candidates nationwide.

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Posted @ 6:13 PM

Teen expresses hymns through hands

Tiffany Ramsey has brought a new worship medium to First Christian Church: sign language. Tiffany, 17, a member of the FCC worship team, accompanies the group’s traditional singing with sign language. During worship team presentations, Tiffany, while singing, will step forward and sign the words to a song.

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Posted @ 6:11 PM

February 19, 2006

How sweet the sound

Founded in the struggle for black civil rights, Sweet Honey in the Rock has flourished for more than three decades, through shifting political currents, evolving musical styles and numerous personnel changes. But in the past two years, the celebrated all-women African American a cappella ensemble has faced perhaps its biggest test, finding its way after the retirement of the group's charismatic founder Bernice Johnson Reagon.

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Posted @ 1:14 PM

February 18, 2006

Club sponsors signing courses

One of the primary beneficiaries of the money that Quota International of Cambridge raises each year at its Derby Day event is the Educational Assistance Committee and those that it helps. In 2005-06, the Committee assisted a non-traditional student returning to college to gain career skills needed to help support a family. The student is pursuing a Business Management degree and is caught in the situation where, because he has a job, he is unable to quality for government assistance programs.

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Posted @ 8:34 AM

Teen teaches sign language to help others speak, hear

New Matamoras -- When Sam Kidd selected the first hearing aids for his daughter he carefully chose flesh-colored aids, worried that Whitney wouldn’t want to call attention to her deafness, or that she would be mocked by her classmates. But when Whitney got her chance to choose the colors, she chose bright red, purple and blue.

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Posted @ 8:33 AM

Signing amounts to less chaos in infant room at YMCA Childcare Center

When meals are served in the infant room of the YMCA Childcare Center, something is missing — eardrum-breaking noise. The typical crying, squawking, grunting and clatter of bowls being thrown overboard that one would expect in a room with half a dozen pre-toddlers had been a daily occurrence until a couple years ago. That’s when the teachers in the infant room began teaching the children simple sign language to communicate their needs.

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Posted @ 8:18 AM

February 17, 2006

New program designed to assist autistic pre-kindergarteners

Fixated on the blades of a plastic helicopter, Dillon Corcoran didn't seem to notice as Jeanne Jones took one of his hands and pressed it against a board that changes color with heat. Again and again, Jones pointed to the magical appearance of five fingers on the board, counting them as she compared the image to the identical features on Dillon's hand.

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Posted @ 11:13 AM

February 16, 2006

Show me a sign

Debbie Pampalone learned sign language before she could talk. Her deaf parents taught her the basics, like "milk" and "hungry" from the start. Pampalone, an interpreter from Merrillville-based Deaf Services, returned the favor Wednesday to a slightly older group of children during a talk at Hayes Leonard Elementary School. Her presentation was part of a districtwide initiative to raise diversity awareness.

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Posted @ 8:15 AM

Study of sign language drastically increasing

For UNCG sophomore Beth Zimmerman, the spark was getting to know a friend in high school who was deaf. David Payne, another sophomore, wasn't sure what he wanted to major in, but after taking a sign language class, he was hooked. And by making the decision to study American Sign Language, both Payne and Zimmerman have joined a growing trend.

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Posted @ 8:13 AM

Lending their voices to Easter Seals

As a parent it's difficult to know what a crying infant wants. Is he hungry? Is she tired? Does he want a toy? By age 2, most children are babbling two- or three-word sequences and eating by themselves. Traci Snyder and husband Timothy, from Pen Argyl, can only hope that one day their 2-year-old twins, Grace and Gabriel, can do the same.

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Posted @ 8:09 AM

February 14, 2006

Campus handicap accessible despite hills

Aside from the occasional tricky sidewalk and parking space thief, some disabled students said campus is fairly “friendly” toward students with disabilities. Melanie Woodward, a junior from Fayetteville with muscular dystrophy, said she is satisfied with the campus’ accessibility and resources for students with disabilities.

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Posted @ 7:53 AM

Sign language for babies 'gives you a glimpse into their world'

Imagine being dropped into a foreign land where no one spoke your language. You couldn't get food or something to drink and it was often so frustrating, all you could do is scream. Now imagine what it's like for a baby who hasn't learned to talk yet. For Stephanie Hadley, those thoughts were going through her head when she was pregnant with her second child last year with husband Layvon.

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Posted @ 7:47 AM

February 12, 2006

Enhancing parent-deaf child link

When Lorna Davidson-Connelly hears a student object to a day off from school, she doesn't take it lightly. As a counselor for deaf and other hearing-impaired students, Davidson-Connelly said the unusual complaint could be a signal that the student's family has difficulty communicating with the child at home. ''I can't tell you how many times my students will say, ''We don't want vacation to happen, we don't like weekends," she said. ''They don't like it because they don't have anybody to communicate with."

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Posted @ 5:27 AM

Baby steps in communication

While instructor Brenda Rowland made a sign for a cat by stroking imaginary whiskers under her nose, 15-month-old Kayley Cooke toddled around the library room. Kayley, attending a "sign language for babies" class at the West County branch of the Anne Arundel Public Library, didn't seem to be paying much attention, but her grandmother, Jane Cooke, said the lessons are sinking in.

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Posted @ 5:26 AM

Sound in silence

Silence fills the the chapel. Faces uplifted, a handful of worshippers pray, sing and recite liturgy — without speaking. Words and phrases come in flourishes of hand, body and facial expression, animated and mesmerizing. This silent service takes place the first Thursday of each month at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Mason City.

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Posted @ 5:22 AM

February 10, 2006

Signs of understanding

To deal with the inevitable challenges of toddlerhood, many new parents are using American Sign Language with their pre-verbal babies. American Sign Language, or ASL, is the primary language among deaf and hearing-impaired people in the United States and Canada. ASL also has been shown to be an effective communications tool for young children who can hear, and its popularity among new parents is on the rise.

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Posted @ 10:43 AM

Student asks for support on sign language bill

The state should recognize sign language as an official language, said James Hulstein, the student senator liaison for Faculty Senate. Hulstein took the podium Wednesday at the monthly Faculty Senate meeting, and let the faculty members know about a few issues of concern in UNO's Student Government.

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Posted @ 10:35 AM

Community Living's youngest volunteer

Sometimes people get involved with volunteer organizations because they simply want references to pad their resumes. It’s only with time that the experience becomes an end in itself. But for17-year-old volunteer Stacey Bateman, helping others is its own reward — one that hasn’t lost its novelty over time. "Her heart is in this direction," says Judy Endecott, of Community Living Toronto, one of the many places at which Bateman volunteers.

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Posted @ 10:33 AM

February 9, 2006

Southridge teacher inspires silence

Name: Tom Wills Age: 42 Job and school: American Sign Language teacher at Southridge High School Signing as world language: The hum of fluorescent lights echoes throughout the classroom, where students sit in stony silence, eyes fixed on Wills' constant flow of hand gestures. In Wills' class, a "voices off" policy means only occasional giggles punctuate the silence, and even side conversations are signed.

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Posted @ 6:59 AM

Family entertainer David Parker is glad you’re here

Before his audience ever gives him a hand, family entertainer David Parker gives them one. Then two. Then both — simultaneously — as his lets his fingers do the talking, spelling out his congenial message of brotherhood and friendship in a montage of music and motion and make-believe. The popular performer, who has become broadly known as ‘‘the pied piper of sign,” said touring takes him to 150 stages around the U.S. and Canada each year, playing for everyone from the family crowd to corporate events.

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Posted @ 6:46 AM

Words lose meaning for those who can't hear

In a recent Times-News column, Vince Staten wrote about a teacher who shared with her students the 10 most beautiful words in the English language. With his permission, I am looking at these 10 words from a different perspective. I agree they are all beautiful-sounding words. I am sensitive to words that are meaningful to those with normal hearing, and especially sensitive to those who may never experience the true meaning of these words due to hearing loss.

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Posted @ 6:42 AM

February 7, 2006

Use your hands to communicate with baby before he learns to talk

John Michael Rhodes contented himself with the sound of his own voice. Happy though he was gnawing on a book, the yabbering was about to get to his mom, Kate Rhodes, intent on learning a new language to help her better communicate with her 6-month-old. "Shush!" she twinkled at her son.

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Posted @ 8:35 AM

Brains built for grammar: study

The properties of grammar may be be hard-wired in our brains, according to a study of people who are deaf and isolated from conventional language. Young children normally learn language through exposure to a spoken or signed language, as well as their innate abilities to acquire certain types of language patterns.

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Posted @ 8:29 AM

Scientists find ability for grammar hardwired into humans

Researchers have long wondered why certain fundamental characteristics of grammar are present in all languages, and now a team of scientists at the University of Rochester has found evidence that these properties are built into the way our brains work. The report, recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examines deaf individuals who have been isolated from conventional sign, spoken, and written language their entire lives, and yet still developed a unique form of gesture communication.

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Posted @ 8:24 AM

February 5, 2006

Device bridges gap for hearing impaired

It's a phone set with a small screen attached and cables that connect to a computer. Each unit costs approximately $250 — but those who are getting ready to use it say the device is priceless. A video remote interpretation system, about to be launched by a local nonprofit group, will allow people who are deaf and hard of hearing to receive simultaneous interpretation at off-site locations without the physical presence of an interpreter.

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Posted @ 6:30 AM

February 4, 2006

By sight and by sound

Sometimes when Stephanie Richards gets excited about something she's teaching, she starts using sign language while she talks. Her students quickly get her attention by saying, "Miss Richards, you're signing again." But Richards can't help it. Though the fifth-graders she's currently working with as a student-teacher at Vinson-Bynum Elementary School are not hearing-impaired, that is the area she's training in at Barton College.

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Posted @ 7:47 AM

February 3, 2006

Studies further understanding of culture of silence

High school junior Terah Harns likes to talk — and she hates when she can't get her point across. That's why last fall, Harns registered to take a sign language class at Great Falls High School. "I'm a really talkative person by nature, and I could see the deaf kids walking through the halls and I wanted to talk to them," she said.

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Posted @ 7:37 AM

Waiting to be `heard'

Madan Vasishta from the Gallaudet University is working on a common Indian Sign Language for the hearing impaired. When Madan Vasishta lectures his PG or PhD class at Gallaudet University, Washington DC, the students watch. He signs his lessons in American Sign Language to his mixed class of hearing and hearing impaired graduates. He sometimes calls two interpreters — one to voice what he says and the other to sign to him their questions. Vasishta has 120 db bilateral hearing loss and "cannot hear even jet planes."

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Posted @ 4:33 AM

Mother wants new sign for son's safety

You might want to pay even closer attention to your surroundings the next time you're driving through the city of Pekin. The mother of an 11 year-old boy says not enough is being done to keep her son safe and it could only be a matter of time before he gets hurt. It takes a special note from a doctor to get a handicapped sign put near your home.

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Posted @ 4:31 AM | Comments (1)

Playgroup teaches sign language for babies

Connecticut -- Do you get frustrated because your baby is trying to tell you something but you don’t know what? Has your baby started talking, but still says things you can’t understand? Baby Signs® has created a six-week program for babies with their caregivers to learn some simple signs which are useful in day to day life.

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Posted @ 4:27 AM

February 1, 2006

Opening lines of communication

Not all of Whitney Kidd’s classmates at Frontier High School can communicate with her, but soon, Kidd herself will be stepping up to teach them how. Kidd, a junior at Frontier, is deaf and will begin teaching free sign language classes Thursday at the New Matamoras Branch of the Washington County Public Library along with Frontier senior Brianna Beaver.

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Posted @ 2:59 PM

American Sign Language the fourth most commonly used language in the country

Beth Arnold and her husband decided before their baby's birth to take American Sign Language classes. They wanted a way to help their child communicate earlier with them without whining or crying. ittle did they know then that their son, Samuel, would be diagnosed as deaf when he was 2 months old.

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Posted @ 12:43 PM

Deaf students feel at home with sign language Bible study

They sprawl on the overstuffed leather couches in the college’s Cromer Center, catching up on each other’s news while they wait. They talk about homework, upcoming exams, an intramural softball injury and wait. Soon, the lobby door jerks open and the Rev. Andrew Weisner, campus pastor at Lenoir-Rhyne College, bolts into the room, waving and apologizing for arriving late for the weekly Bible study.

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Posted @ 12:39 PM

January 31, 2006

Signing before speaking

Like many new parents, John Donnelly and Denise Gale-Donnelly had trouble figuring out what was wrong when their 8-month-old daughter, Sabbia, woke up wailing in the middle of the night. "You're going, 'Is it it her teeth? Is she hungry?' " says Gale-Donnelly, who lives in White Plains. So when she spied a DVD at Borders that claimed parents could teach babies to use sign language, she grabbed it.

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Posted @ 5:17 PM

Kids use hands, voices to learn languages

Denali Wilkinson may be only 10 months old, but she recognizes KidzPlex when her mother carries her through the door. She perks up right away, said mom Sarah Wilkinson, because she knows she’s on her way to a Kindermusik class. Last week, Denali and eight other toddlers crawled, stood, played and sang (in their own special way) during a Kindermusik Sign & Sing class on the second floor of KidzPlex, 609 Road 25.

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Posted @ 5:14 PM

Parents turning to sign language for toddlers

Nora Dexter isn’t even 2 years old, yet she already knows two languages: English and American Sign Language. Nora’s mom, Katie, has taught sign language to both of her daughters. Emma, now 5 years old, started when she was just 7 months old. Katie explained, "With Emma, when I taught her colors she learned them in one sitting. She learned the colors of the rainbow just like that!"

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Posted @ 5:09 PM

KSD sign language classes growing in popularity

Many people take their ability to communicate verbally for granted. Unfortunately, many Danville residents do not have that luxury. Because Danville is home to Kentucky School for the Deaf, the city has a large deaf community that relies on their hands for communication. Unfortunately, it is often hard for these two groups to effectively communicate because of the general public's lack of basic sign language skills.

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Posted @ 5:05 PM

January 29, 2006

Hospital translators help non-English speaking patients get the care they need

Irma Melendez's daughter, Selena, was born May 16. Within a few weeks, the joy of having a new baby was replaced by fear. Selena wasn't gaining weight. She wasn't eating. Melendez speaks little English and her fear for her daughter was intensified as she tried to explain the problem to her doctor and understand his responses. She panicked when she couldn't figure out what exactly he wanted and worried that she wasn't understanding his instructions.

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Posted @ 8:47 PM

January 27, 2006

Toddlers learn to communicate through signing

Instead of trying to decipher the various cries of an infant, some local parents are teaching their babies to communicate through sign language. Speech pathologist Shannon Thorn said signing with a baby reduces parental helplessness and frustration. "Every parent has been there -- 'What? What do you want?'" Thorn said. "When your child is able to tell you they're hurting, they need medicine, they want to play with this toy and not that one, it's empowering for the parent."

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Posted @ 5:43 AM

College provides help to hearing impaired

The resource lab in Room 005 of Nail Technical Center is a quiet zone. Voices are not allowed. “Listening” must be done with the eyes. This is a new interactive environment for deaf students and interpreter training students to practice signing. Sara Filippone, lab technician said, “We welcome deaf students to come so the hearing students can interact (and) converse. It helps them learn.”

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Posted @ 5:41 AM

Augie adds interpreting program

Augustana College is expanding. The college announced Thursday it will partner with Communication Service for the Deaf to offer a four-year degree for sign language interpreters. The Bachelor of Arts program will be the first of its kind in Sioux Falls. Augie President Bruce Halverson says it will give students some valuable training.

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Posted @ 5:39 AM

January 26, 2006

Students experience challenges of being disabled

Many of the students at Del Mar Heights Elementary performed their lessons blindfolded yesterday. From sorting clothes by color and getting dressed to traversing an obstacle course with objects found in any living room, students gained a sense of what it might be like to do the most basic tasks in life without sight. The children also discovered the wide range of visual impairments, from a loss of peripheral vision to total blindness.

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Posted @ 2:59 PM

Grandma learns the new ways to raise children

When I received an e-mail from Tammy at the Clermont County Public Library announcing upcoming story time sessions for toddlers and preschoolers (Call your local branch for details.), I felt a little proud -- maybe I should say, "Grandma smug." My 6-month-old granddaughter, Gia (short for Giovanna), and her mama, Shari, have been attending Babes in Storyland at their Northern Kentucky library since Gia was 3 months old. In fact, Gia has her own library card, and her daddy, Bryan, built her a bookcase that covers one wall of her nursery and is crammed with enough books to fill a library shelf.

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Posted @ 2:57 PM

Bridging the gap

It’s 2 a.m. and you, a new parent, have been blessed with the high-pitched screams of your baby for 30 straight minutes. You’ve checked your baby’s diaper but it didn’t need to be changed. You put the baby down to sleep but the baby won’t sleep and you fed the baby but the baby won’t eat. So why on earth is the baby still crying? Most parents empathize with the frustration of playing the guessing game when it comes to baby’s crying.

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Posted @ 2:54 PM

January 25, 2006

Police have difficulty communicating with rape victim

An accused rapist is behind bars. When a hearing-impaired woman tells police the man forced her into sex, they ran into another problem at the scene. It's a problem that some say $100,000 in federal money should have solved. News 4 WOAI's Leila Walsh broke the story Tuesday. The San Antonio Police Department made history last year when it became the first police agency in the country to provide new services for the deaf. The department has one officer trained in American sign language.

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Posted @ 1:27 PM

January 24, 2006

A joyful noise from Shores Deaf Church

The Rev. Ronald Dettloff helped found the Shores Deaf Church in 1987 to spread the word of God in a language that hearing-impaired people could understand. What he didn't foresee was how that language would change in the next 20 years. What sets the St. Clair Shores church apart from the 10 or so other deaf churches in metro Detroit is the extent to which it uses SignWriting, a series of printed symbols that represent signed languages, in this case American Sign Language.

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Posted @ 1:17 PM

Sign of the times

San Diego State University now has something in common with movies like "King Kong" and "Lord of the Rings" — the university is using similar 3-D computer motion tracking technology that brought characters like Gollum and Kong to life to study how the human mind processes signed languages.

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Posted @ 1:13 PM

January 23, 2006

Teacher knows sign language can save lives

She's a sign language teacher. While Molinari illustrates the significance of sign language in our everyday lives, she also stresses its link to public safety. A sign language teacher at the Conant Community Center in Bridgewater, her class is geared mostly toward EMTs and paramedics, with a focus on communication during emergency situations being her biggest concern at hand.

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Posted @ 11:57 AM

District says all signs indicate new language a hit with pupils

Robin Iaione's class cheered wildly but not a sound could be heard. That's because the fourth-grade students were using American Sign Language, a skill they're learning for the state's world language requirement. After many frustrations finding Spanish teachers, the Mansfield Township School District switched this year to American Sign Language, which officials say has proven successful.

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Posted @ 11:54 AM

January 21, 2006

Silent praise

Brandon Primm, 24, blends dance and the divine to bring Scriptures to life. Primm, also known as Minister Mime, uses his gifts of interpretative dance and mime to minister to others. "People are just floored by the mime interpretation and later tell me that they understood what I shared, although I haven't said a word," said the Nashville native, a student at National College of Business on Nolensville Pike.

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Posted @ 11:45 AM

January 20, 2006

Baby talk, with tiny fingers

"Babies are so smart," said Mt. Lebanon mom Heidi Covey, who attended a free Sign Language for Tots class last week at the public library in Brentwood. "The classes stimulate their brains," she said of the half- hour sessions each Wednesday featuring stories, songs and signs.

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Posted @ 10:42 AM

January 19, 2006

Sign language lab

Researchers at San Diego State University will be using technology that helped create movie magic in Hollywood blockbusters like "King Kong" and "Lord of the Rings" to gain insights into how the human mind processes signed languages. The new Laboratory for Language and Cognitive Neuroscience will be using a host of high tech methods -- including 3-D computer imaging -- to help answer questions about the universal nature of human languages.

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Posted @ 12:03 PM

He talked with his hands

When William J. Huston was growing up in the 1950s on his family's farm in Yoder, Ind., never a word was spoken. Hand gestures and taps on shoulders were the way Huston and his five siblings communicated with their mother and grandparents, who shared the 69-acre farm. Due partly to a quirk in genetics and partly to illnesses, Huston's mother and grandparents, as well as almost 50 other members of his extended family, were deaf.

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Posted @ 12:01 PM

January 17, 2006

Language of love

Advocates say that teaching babies sign language also boosts their verbal skills later. Just because babies are unable to speak doesn't mean they have nothing to say. They are always trying to express their needs, and unfortunately, the most accessible form of language is to babble incoherently or to wail, loudly.

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Posted @ 11:02 AM

A little sign language can go a long way

There are TTY telephones and closed captioning on T.V...both designed to make life easier for the hearing impaired. But, sometimes it can difficult for a deaf person to read a letter. They may know American sign language, but not English and there is a difference.

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Posted @ 11:01 AM

January 15, 2006

The story of today's game likely to be told in sign language

As with the discovery of oil, the development of the no-huddle offense came almost by accident. The scheme the Indianapolis Colts will use to defuse the Steelers' aggressive defense came to life in Buffalo, N.Y., in 1990. A quarterback from Western Pennsylvania was smack in the middle of it.

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Posted @ 8:56 AM

January 14, 2006

Cornell students to learn sign language

Cornell School District middle and high school students will soon have the opportunity to learn sign language through a new club initiated by speech and language pathology teacher Michelle Sanner.

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Posted @ 8:51 AM

January 13, 2006

Sign language may help parents 'talk' with infants

Babies seem to have a language all their own, but sometimes it would help to know what they're trying to say. KMBC's Kelly Eckerman reported that baby sign language is getting popular. Collin is Joey Ford's first child, and she is anxious for more two-way communication with him, so she is introducing baby signs.

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Posted @ 8:48 AM

January 12, 2006

Sign language class helps babies communicate

If you've seen a baby wave bye-bye, it shouldn't surprise you that babies can use their little fingers to communicate before they can speak. Monica Butche of Duluth taught her son American Sign Language and now teaches parents and their hearing babies. Two 10-month-old babies - one with his mom and dad and another with her mom and grandmother - attended a recent Baby Sign Language class at Trinity Lutheran Church in Dulut

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Posted @ 8:47 AM

January 10, 2006

Students learn sign language

Ryan Starner and Christopher Wilson are buddies. During math class at Salisbury Middle School, the pair help each other out. Outside the classroom, the two sixth-graders grin at each other sometimes, sharing an inside joke. And when Ryan needs to explain something to Christopher, he doesn't even need to talk -- he just uses his hands.

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Posted @ 7:54 AM

District 150 now using ASL interpreters

Even as Renda Gauwitz communicated the content of the District 150 board meeting to people in attendance and to central Illinois residents who watched the televised meeting Monday night, she never said a word. Gauwitz, a certified American Sign Language interpreter and a member of the Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission, was seated while she mouthed and signed the words of board and audience members, her hands moving in different directions.

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Posted @ 7:52 AM

Silent language can break sound barriers

As a girl Sandi Smigel was intimidated, and even a little scared of her neighbor’s niece. The problem was a lack of communication because the girl was deaf. Smigel’s intimidation turned into interest and compassion over the years, and led her to pursue an education as a primary school teacher for the hearing impaired.

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Posted @ 7:51 AM

January 9, 2006

ASL in Canada

American Sign Language is starting to receive recognition at the post-secondary level here in Canada, but it hasn't translated to high schools yet, says Campbell McDermid, a professor of ASL English Interpreter programs at George Brown College.

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Posted @ 6:05 AM

January 8, 2006

Sign of the times

Eleven-month-old Paige Saubert of Manitowoc can probably sign more words than she can speak. Paige is not hard of hearing, but she is one of a growing number of toddlers nationwide whose parents are learning the benefits of sign language in a child's early development.

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Posted @ 6:00 AM

January 7, 2006

Lawmaker pushes to recognize sign language as foreign language

Sign language has seen increased visibility in recent years in movies, on TV and at public events, including political speeches and church services. Now, one state senator wants sign language to be officially recognized as a foreign language in Nebraska's schools.

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Posted @ 7:48 PM

January 6, 2006

Symbols speak volumes in Henry's 'Sign Language' exhibit

"Sign Language" is a sweet little show that effortlessly demonstrates the depth of the Henry Art Gallery's photography collection. Organized by assistant curator Sara Krajewski, it explores the sea of signs that enlighten and/or assail us in the built environment.

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Posted @ 6:24 AM

January 3, 2006

Baby time

Cache County’s first newborn of ’06 doing well despite scary start to life. For Cache County’s first newborn of 2006, the first hours of life were a little scary, but all was well by the afternoon.

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Posted @ 2:05 PM

December 29, 2005

Hands-on education

When 11-month-old Sophia Nowlen wants more milk, she doesn't have to cry. She just asks for it. Tapping her tiny fingers together in the American Sign Language gesture for "more," the doe-eyed, blond-haired baby from Culver City uses her hands to express what her vocal cords cannot yet speak.

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Posted @ 1:01 PM

Helping hands

Neyshkady Melendez's grandmother speaks mostly Spanish. Her grandfather speaks English and Spanish. And Neyshkady, who is 12, speaks neither.

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Posted @ 12:39 PM

December 28, 2005

A sign of the times

In basketball, or any team sport really, communication is the key to success. The importance of teammates trusting each other, being able to rely on and communicate with each other is immeasurable.

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Posted @ 12:42 AM

December 27, 2005

Court interpreters in demand

The legal vocabulary of judges and lawyers is complicated enough for people who speak English as a native language. But as Brown County's population becomes more diverse — with many residents' native tongues a language other than English — the challenge is to make sure everyone understands what's going on if they're faced with legal problems and potential penalties.

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Posted @ 9:11 AM

Hospital has need for interpreters

In the moments surrounding a medical diagnosis, understanding what the doctor is saying can be tough. Medical information sometimes sounds like a foreign language, even when it is presented in your native tongue.

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Posted @ 9:10 AM

December 26, 2005

Film’s sign language use is story within story

The future writer and director of “The Family Stone” was a student at New York’s Parsons School of Design when he had one of those little epiphanies that make it into a movie script, a unique touch that gives a film a special zing.

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Posted @ 1:25 PM

911 call: ‘My mommy needs help’

Ruby Comeau's little fingers dance around her face. Right hand jiggling over her left index finger signals helicopter, she giddily explains. Fingers together while rotating her wrist in half-circles is the sign for the color blue.

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Posted @ 1:24 PM

Signing not only language, but also culture

When Jennifer Labbe’s sister was in first grade, the class included a deaf student. All the children learned fingerspelling and the basics of American Sign Language, which migrated home to Labbe herself.

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Posted @ 1:21 PM

December 25, 2005

‘Silent Night’ is beautiful in sign language, too

Debbi Gahard, of Bettendorf, picked "Silent Night" as her favorite Christmas carol because of a time when she "heard" it with no words or melody at all.

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Posted @ 10:55 AM

Karate, sign language open 6-year-old's world

Pressing his glasses intently to his nose and balling his fists in determination, Jason Thoune of Flint gazes at the expectant faces of his peers at King's Karate.

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Posted @ 10:53 AM

Hands offer good sign

Two Chesaning parents are the non-verbal talk of the town. Kent and Laura Greenfelder host weekly sign language classes where family and friends learn to communicate without speaking.

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Posted @ 10:51 AM

December 22, 2005

Following the signs