Deaf

UNITED STATES—A new app is hitting the age of technology with the capability of following conversations in real time and captioning the words. Crafted by University of San Francisco and Berkley graduate students, the Transcence app utilizes the microphones in the smart phones of the people conversing to caption and assign each speaker a colored bubble. This lets the user...

SAN FRANCISCO—Deaf Women United (DWU) will be holding a fundraiser for the DWU Conference in 2015 at Mozzeria in San Francisco on September 29. The event is a private dinning gala and is limited to a party of 12 people. The DWU held an earlier fundraiser on August 23 with an admission cost of $10 that allowed anyone to attend in Fremont....

SACRAMENTO—The California State Assembly was silent as they watched Assemblyman James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, present Senate Bill 210 simultaneously in American Sign Language (ASL) and English at the September 3 meeting.  “I’m a little rusty in my ASL, so bear with me,” Gallagher began with a laugh. “This bill will help establish language benchmarks for Deaf kids from birth through five years old,”...

WOODLAND HILLS—In today’s society, there appears to be a gap between the Deaf community and medical professionals. Depending on the medical professional, there can be a gap or a bridge between the practitioner and the Deaf community. As claimed by a local elementary teacher of a D/HH class who wishes to remain anonymous, their audiologist, who comes to the school once a...

SAN FRANCISCO—“Pizza” is one of those words that countries around the world all recognize as decadent oven-baked bread slathered in tomato sauce and tossed with all sorts of wonderful toppings. In fact, according to Google Translate, the only languages that stray from the word “Pizza” are the languages that do not write with Roman letters. With word origins of...

WASHINGTON D.C.—Gallaudet University’s Theatre and Dance Program has launched a new play titled “Visible Language,” pitting Alexander Graham Bell against Edward Miner Gallaudet in a rendition of the cultural battle for Deaf Education in the 1890s. Bell, who was the inventor of the telephone, was also a supporter of Oralism, the practice of speaking and reading lips without the use...

SACRAMENTO—On Thursday, September 18, the California Association of the Deaf will hold the ASL Celebration at the state capital. According to a flyer for the event, the ASL Celebration recognizes the “human right to sign language.”   According to the ASL Celebration website, the event will kick off at 9:00 a.m. with an A.M. Capitol Tour/Greetings to Senators followed by local...

UNITED STATES—A friend of mine shared a link to a video that really disturbed me over the weekend. It involved a deaf woman who was denied service at a Dunkin’ Donuts establishment in Encino, California. The woman posted a tearful video sharing her tale of just feeling defeated and frustrated that a place that she frequently visited denied her...

STUDIO CITY—On October 12, Stephen R. Schultz died at the age of 67. Schultz was born deaf and was an avid supporter of the Deaf community. He was considered a trailblazer of his time, successfully arguing his right to attend public high school in his home state of New York. Schultz later became an Assistant Professor at National Technical Institute...

VENTURA—Barnes & Noble has much to offer customers, not only books. The business reaches out to the community with events such as: Weekly Storytimes, Book Groups, children’s activities, etc. Barnes & Noble will be hosting ASL Storytime in Ventura, California. This happening is a partnership with Tri-County GLAD to bring more awareness and inclusion to the deaf and hearing...