Deaf Disempowerment and Today’s Interpreter

It’s safe to say you should just read the Street Leverage blog every week. I have posted quite a few articles from there because there’s just so much information on there for interpreters written and researched by other interpreters or Deaf community members. Here is the summary of today’s post: “Trudy Suggs presented, Deaf Disempowerment and Today’s Interpreter, at StreetLeverage – Live. Her talk examined how the choices sign language interpreters make while delivering communication access can, and often do, contribute to the economic and situational disempowerment of deaf people.”

Watch her presentation:

Read the written information at StreetLeverage

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Petition to Recognize ASL as a Community Language Reaches 25,000 Signatures

The White House EmblemWe the People, is a government website that allows more people to have a voice in government. The idea is that citizens can create petitions and collect signatures for the government to review. A petition has been going around aiming to have the U.S. Government recognize American Sign Language as a community language and a language of instruction in schools. This petition has recently reached over 25,000 signatures, the required amount for government review. To view or sign the petition visit the We the People site.

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Signing Science Article in the New York Times

There are a few great things about this article, first off it is published by a major mainstream new source, the New York Times. Additionally a shortened version of the article is interpreted into ASL. Sign examples are given and links to other resources, such as Gallaudet’s forum for science signs are included. I would love to see more articles about ASL that provide an interpreted version in order to provide access for all.

Click here to view the article in ASL
Click here to read the article in English


If you’re looking for more science signs the RIT NTID Science Sign Lexicon is a great place to start your research.

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Bapin’s Website

Thanks so much to Michelle for sharing her experience attending the Deaf-Blind Technology Workshop at WOU! After hearing about her experience I was inspired to find more information on Bapin and share it with you (it has been buried in my to do list until now!). There is so much amazing information on Bapin’s Website, his biography, articles published on him, information about his guide dogs and a lot more! Here is an article I found particularly amazing, written for the New York Times:

Flying Blind and Deaf but Not Alone
By ANINDYA BHATTACHARYYA
Published: August 30, 2005

WHEN you are deaf-blind, technology is an ever-present companion. I travel with a laptop for e-mail, phone and Internet access. I use a G.P.S.-equipped Braille Note note-taker to get information about my surroundings. To communicate with others, I have a Screen Braille Communicator with two sides: one in Braille, which I can read; the other an L.C.D. screen with a keyboard, for someone who is sighted.

Kirk Condyles for The New York Times
Anindya Bhattacharyya, technology supervisor at the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults. My other traveling companion is my guide dog, a yellow female Labrador retriever named Dinah.

But there is no substitute for the human touch. For example, printing letters on my palm is sometimes quicker and easier than the Screen Braille Communicator. And I still have to rely on other people – everyone from flight attendants, hotel clerks and cab drivers to the airline staff escort I need to get through security. Occasionally, I also turn to other travelers for assistance.

One of my most memorable experiences with a Good Samaritan happened a few years ago. My flight from Atlanta to New York had been canceled. The next flight was supposed to leave at 9 p.m., but by 8:45 p.m., we still hadn’t boarded. Someone finally came over to tell me the flight was now scheduled for 11 p.m. and that it would be a different flight, going to John F. Kennedy Airport instead of La Guardia. But 11 p.m. came and went, and I still didn’t know what was going on.

I started waving my arms to attract someone’s attention, and a man came over. I showed him my communication card and how to print on my palm. His name was Allen, and he told me we were delayed until midnight. He said he would sit with me on the plane. We finally boarded, and when we sat down, I realized we were in the first class because the seats were leathery and the armrests were wider.

I was so exhausted that I napped often during the flight. Allen became my interpreter, making sure I got any food or drink I wanted from the flight attendant. I figured they must have upgraded us because of the delay. I sometimes get bumped up if there are open seats because airlines don’t have much room for Dinah. I always try to get the bulkhead seat, but there have been times when my canine companion ends up sitting in the aisle. When we landed, Allen helped me find a bag and a cab to the Helen Keller National Center. I asked him how much it would cost me to get back to the office, and he traced on my palm with his forefinger “Don’t worry about it.”

A few days later, the executive director of the center, Joe McNulty, visited me. “Remember that guy Allen you met on the airline?” he asked. ” He called me to find out if you made it back here O.K. Do you know who he is?”” No,” I said. He was Allen Brill, the chief executive of Rolex USA.

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Video Introduction of Interpreters for Educators

This is a great video that helps teachers understand what having an interpreter in their classroom will look like. It also answers some common questions they may have. I will also be adding this to the new DHH blog under “Interpreting” so they (or we) can easily refer teachers to it.

http://crporegon.org/resources/videos/teacher-and-interpreter-orientation

Thanks Adelka for finding this!

 

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