Deaf News Today

Leaving students behind in the rush to go online
Deaf News Today Digital Trends reports "The rapid migration to virtual classes has forced disabled students into using websites and apps that were never designed to accommodate them." Read the full story here. Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Sun, Mar 29 2020

Texas Deaf school Preps for Distance Learning
Deaf News Today Austin's Texas School for the Deaf typically has hundreds of students from around the state on campus at this time. But that's changed with quarantining for the pandemic. Last week was spring break and this week was preparation for moving classes online--starting this Monday. KVUE-TV takes a look a how the Texas School for the Deaf and the Texas School for the Blind a...
Sat, Mar 28 2020

NY Gov add Terp to Daily Briefing
Deaf News Today New York's governor has added a sign-language interpreter to his daily coronavirus briefing in response to an outcry from the Deaf community. While the state offered closed captioning for Gov. Andrew Cuomo's updates, it was often inaccurate and ASL is the first language for many people. David Wantuck, a community engagement specialist for Deaf Access Services, was one...
Sat, Mar 28 2020

What Marlee Matlin Did In Quarantine
Deaf News Today Oscar-winner Marlee Matlin is so bored In quarantine she pulled out the dress she wore to that fateful 1987 Oscars ceremony and tried it on again. Read what happened here. Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Wed, Mar 25 2020

Outrage: No terp at White House briefings
Deaf News Today Many in the Deaf community are outraged by the fact that there's no ASL interpreter at President Trump's coronavirus briefings. Even TMZ picked up on the issue here. The National Council on Disability has sent a letter to the White House asking for this access, saying in part, "There is no doubt that the Coronavirus brings with it significant added concerns for people...
Sat, Mar 21 2020

Competent Terps Critical Now
Deaf News Today The Iowa Association of the Deaf says interpreter competency is critical during the coronavirus outbreak. ASL interpreters are being used at news briefings across the country to communicate the latest developments surrounding the disease. KWWL reports on the issue in Iowa here. Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Fri, Mar 20 2020

Big Challenges For Deaf Students Being Forced To Leave...
Deaf News Today Students at Gallaudet University are facing extra challenges after being forced to leave campus. Read more from BuzzFeed News here. Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Thu, Mar 19 2020

How Deaf Advocates Won the Battle for Closed Captioning
Deaf News Today "It wasn’t until March 16, 1980 — 40 years ago this Monday — that the network TV channels ABC, NBC and PBS debuted closed-captioned television shows, in which the show’s dialogue and soundtrack appeared as text on-screen as the action proceeded..But getting there was a fight, and that battle still continues today." Read more about the battle for closed caption...
Tue, Mar 17 2020

Recent Articles of Interest about the Virus
Deaf News Today Recent Articles of Interest about the Virus here. Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Fri, Mar 13 2020

This day in history: DPN
Deaf News Today image from Gallaudet University  It was 32 years ago today (March 13, 1988) that the Deaf President Now movement succeeded when I King Jordan became the first deaf president of Gallaudet University in Washington, DC. Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Fri, Mar 13 2020

Implant contest winner from Washington
Deaf News Today image from Ideas4Ears contest video An 8-year-old Washington state girl won the grand prize in an international contest sponsored by her cochlear implant maker, Med-El. Kenzi Cayton and her mom made a short video with her mom which was chosen from the 171 ideas submitted by more than 2000 children in nearly 30 countries,  Her idea for the  Ideas4Ears competition is...
Sat, Mar 07 2020

The search for a new superintendent in Montana
Deaf News Today A public forum was held last night about the search for a new superintendent to lead The Montana School for the Deaf & Blind. Read more about the search here. Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Fri, Mar 06 2020

Longtime Gally Prof dies at the age of 98
Deaf News Today Image: dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net Donald Padden, a leader in the deaf community, has died at the age of 98 in Frederick, Maryland. He taught physical education classes at Gallaudet University for 42 years and led a popular summer camp in northern Minnesota. His daughter, Carol Padden, is dean of social sciences at the University of California at San Diego. Read mor...
Thu, Mar 05 2020

Deaf Indiana wrestler began life as a child slave in Ghana
Deaf News Today Jacob Linky endured abuse in his native Ghana as a slave to his biological father. The Associated Press tells the story of how this deaf wrestler made his way to America here. Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Wed, Mar 04 2020

Deaf School President Retires
Deaf News Today image from FSDB website The president of the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind is retiring. Jeanne Glidden Prickett will end her tenure on July 31, 2020. She has served as the 17th president since May 1, 2012. Prickett said in a statement: It has been a privilege leading an FSDB team of highly dedicated and collaborative educators and staff members. Togethe...
Wed, Mar 04 2020

A TV first on this date
Deaf News Today It was on this date (March 4, 2013) an episode of Switched at Birth was aired that made history. The dialogue of the entire show was in ASL. Producers of the ABC Family program (now known as Freeform) say this was the first time a scripted series on mainstream television used only American Sign Language. Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Wed, Mar 04 2020

The Bible in ASL
Deaf News Today The Jehovah's Witnesses have completed an ASL translation of the Bible. There have been 60 million downloads of the free videos. Other Bible societies have been working on a similar goal such as Deaf Missions. Read more here. Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Tue, Mar 03 2020

On this date in history..
Deaf News Today On this date (March 3, 1887) Anne Sullivan arrived at the Keller's home in Alabama to work with their deaf and blind daughter, Helen. Through their work together, Helen Keller would go on to become one of the most influential people in history. Below is a video about Helen Keller from Biography.com. Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Tue, Mar 03 2020

What Do Cochlear Implants And Hearing Aids Sound Like?
Deaf News Today Science Friday has a lesson for middle school students about how hearing aids and cochlear implants including sample recordings of: "..what it’s like to hear sound through a hearing aid and a cochlear implant. Unless you wear one of these devices, it is impossible to know exactly what it is like to experience sound through them. In fact, people who have normal hear...
Mon, Mar 02 2020

Deaf Rapper Making History
Deaf News Today Deaf rapper Sean Forbes is close to making history--he's about to become the first deaf artist to break into the Billboard Top 200. He's already the first deaf musician to hit #1 on Amazon music list for all genres as well as #1 in the hip hop category both on Amazon and iTunes. His new release is called Little Victories. Fox-2 Detriot has a video interview with Forbe...
Sun, Mar 01 2020

School Apologizes for Decades of Abuse
Deaf News Today Leaders of The American School for the Deaf are apologizing to dozens of survivors of sexual abuse and physical abuse by former faculty and staff members. The abuse took place from the 1950s through the 1980s. The statement reads in part: On behalf of ASD and its Board of Directors, we apologize to the survivors of this abuse — this should not have happened to you...
Wed, Feb 26 2020

HoH College Basketball Player
Deaf News Today Kameron Hill is hard-of-hearing but that hasn't stopped the Austin College senior from playing a valuable role on the school's basketball team. KTEN-TV has a video report (or read the story here). KTEN.com - Texoma news, weather and sports Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Tue, Feb 25 2020

Cochlear implant recall
Deaf News Today Advanced Bionics is recalling some defective cochlear implants that were never implanted. The company will shell out more than $50 million in the recall. The recall involves the HiRes Ultra and Ultra 3D cochlear implant devices. There have been reports of decreased hearing performance by users in some of those cochlear implant devices. Read more here. Read More at Dea...
Sun, Feb 23 2020

Sexual and physical abuse at State Deaf School
Deaf News Today An investigation is underway into accusations of sexual and physical abuse at the American School for the Deaf in West Hartford, Connecticut. The allegations are coming from 40 former faculty and staff. The Hartford Courant has details here. Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Sat, Feb 22 2020

Deaf sexual abuse victims protest at the Vatican
Deaf News Today Victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests at a school for the deaf in Argentina staged a protest at the Vatican yesterday, reports Reuters. Two priests and a gardener have already been convicted and more will go on trial soon. Read more here. Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Sat, Feb 22 2020

Signing Black in America
Deaf News Today There's a new documentary called Signing Black in America. It's a half-hour look at how Black ASL has evolved. The film was put together by North Carolina State University’s Language & Life Project and it recently won a Midsouth Regional Emmy Award. There are details here about a free showing of the documentary at the school Monday night. There's a Washington Pos...
Sat, Feb 22 2020

State's Deaf School May Move Locations
Deaf News Today The Indiana School for the Deaf has been in Indianapolis near the fairgrounds for more than 100 years. But that may soon change. A task force put together by the state legislature has recommended moving it--and the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired to a shared campus. The Indianapolis Business Journal reports "Some advocates, lawmakers and alumni wor...
Fri, Feb 21 2020

On this date in 1875.. a sports legend was born
Deaf News Today Luther "Dummy" Taylor Luther "Dummy" Taylor was born on this day (Feb. 21) in 1875. Taylor joined the Giant's pro baseball in 1900 when they played at New York's Polo Grounds before moving to the West Coast. He was on the team until 1908, helping the Giants win their first World Series in 1905. Taylor was 16-9 that season. Overall, Taylor had 115 wins and 103 losses ...
Fri, Feb 21 2020

Gallaudet Monument Restoration
Deaf News Today West Hartford, Connecticut has approved a proposal to restore the monument honoring Thomas H. Gallaudet that sits in front of the American School for the Deaf. Gallaudet co-founded the school. Read more about it here. Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Thu, Feb 20 2020

Settlement: MIT agrees to caption videos
Deaf News Today MIT (The Massachusetts Institute of Technology) has agreed to provide captions for more of its publicly available online videos. It's part of a settlement with the National Association of the Deaf over a lawsuit filed four years ago. Attempts by both Harvard and MIT to get the case dismissed failed. National Association of the Deaf CEO Howard Rosenblum said, “The se...
Thu, Feb 20 2020

State Deaf School being Reorganized
Deaf News Today The Superintendent of the Louisiana Special School District is reorganizing the Louisiana School for the Deaf. Critics say Ernest Garrett III is "dismissing experienced leaders and replacing them with people who are either unfamiliar to the community or lack the experience of their predecessors." Read more about the changes in WBRZ-TV website here. Read More ...
Tue, Feb 18 2020

Grey’s Anatomy adds Deaf Doctor to TV Series
Deaf News Today The ABC show Grey’s Anatomy introduced a new deaf character. The program titled Save the Last Dance for Me aired Thursday night. The role of Dr. Lauren Riley is played by Deaf actress Shoshannah Stern. Riley is a diagnostic expert who signs but communicates with hearing patients through a tablet. While ABC has promoted the series as "the first primetime television s...
Sun, Feb 16 2020

On this date in history...
Deaf News Today image from Green Party NZ  The New Zealand Parliament made history on this date (Feb. 15) in 2012. Mojo Mathers, the first deaf member of the body, gave her first speech. Since Mathers' speech was translated into sign language, the 13 other members of the Green party who spoke had their speeches translated into sign language as well. Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Sat, Feb 15 2020

ABC Show to feature ASL
Deaf News Today ABC’s 'The Good Doctor' will air an episode on Monday that features ASL. In this episode, the team treats a young boy-born without a fully formed trachea and unable to speak, so he uses ASL to communicate. The boy will be played by deaf actor Zade Garcia. KVUE-TV has a video profile of Zade below (or read the story here). Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Fri, Feb 14 2020

SignVote expands effort
Deaf News Today Communication Service for the Deaf is hoping to increase voter engagement in the deaf community through its SignVote campaign. SignVote spotlights accessible voter content and resources for ASL users. Watch the video below or read more about it here. Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Thu, Feb 13 2020

Deaf face uphill battle when searching for work
Deaf News Today "Many deaf individuals with higher education often aren’t given the same opportunity to get supervisory experience as their hearing peers, which can put them behind hearing job candidates." Read more about the difficulty the deaf face when searching for work in the Daily Herald here. Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Sun, Feb 09 2020

Nation's first robotics competition for deaf,...
Deaf News Today The Texas School for the Deaf is hosting the country's first robotics competition today. It features all deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Sat, Feb 08 2020

Children invented a new sign language
Deaf News Today In the 1980s deaf children in Nicaragua invented a completely new sign language of their own. Here's a BBC video about it. Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Sat, Feb 08 2020

"I performed at the Super Bowl: You might have missed...
Deaf News Today image from Christine Sun Kim TED talk Christine Sun Kim signed the National Anthem at the beginning of the Super Bowl—but the TV audience only saw a few seconds of it. Now Kim is calling out Fox Sports for the snub. A "bonus feed" on the Fox Sports website was supposed to be focused on Sun Kim entirely but it wasn't. In an article written for The New York Times, K...
Wed, Feb 05 2020

He was the First President of Gallaudet
Deaf News Today Edward Miner Gallaudet  Edward Miner Gallaudet served as president (1864–1910) of the school that would become Gallaudet University. He died on this date (Sept. 26) in 1917. Edward was the youngest of eight children born to Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. When plans were made to change the name of the school from the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf ...
Wed, Feb 05 2020

Missouri lawmakers are considering a new law to punish...
Deaf News Today Missouri lawmakers are considering a new law to punish people using fake service animals. It's Senate Bill 644 and it's being debated in committee this week. If it passes, violators could face misdemeanor charges, punishable by up to 15 days in jail. Read more about it the from St. Louis Post-Dispatchhere. Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Tue, Feb 04 2020

National Anthem Super Bowl Signing
Deaf News Today image from NADvlogs Christine Sun Kim signed the National Anthem at Sunday's Super Bowl while Demi Lovato sang the spoken English version of the son. If you missed the Berlin-based American sound artist, here's the video from the NAD. Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Mon, Feb 03 2020

How 11 Deaf Men Helped NASA Leave Earth
Deaf News Today Why were 11 deaf men selected by NASA to help it understand space sickness? The key here was how each of these men lost their hearing, according to Discover Magazine. These men ultimately played a significant role in getting the first astronauts off the ground in the 1960s. Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Mon, Feb 03 2020

The first deaf woman to row across the Atlantic Ocean
Deaf News Today image from ReSound video A woman from the UK is the first deaf person to row across the Atlantic Ocean. Mo O'Brien is a 60-year-old pharmacy worker who took 49 days to row from the Canary Island of La Gomera to the Caribbean island of Antigua. Her daughter and a friend made the trip with her. The trio arrived this past Thursday. Read more about her adventure from the...
Sun, Feb 02 2020

BBC Captioning History
Deaf News Today 1979 - A documentary is the first program to be subtitled on the BBC  1986 - Blue Peter becomes the first live program to be subtitled on the BB  1990 - The first live BBC broadcast is captioned by a stenographer  1990 - The BBC begins subtitling its news  2001 - Respeaking is used for subtitling for the first time by the BBC Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Sun, Feb 02 2020

On this Date... Murder at Gally
Deaf News Today It was on this day in 2001 (Feb 1), Joseph Mesa, Jr. murdered Benjamin Varner in his Gallaudet dorm room. Mesa stabbed his classmate more than a dozen times. This wasn't Mesa's first fatal attack. A few months earlier, Mesa beat Eric Plunkett to death in his dorm room as well, leaving the school's campus shaken. Mesa turned himself into police 10 days after the Varner...
Sat, Feb 01 2020

Was Beethoven HoH instead of Deaf?
Deaf News Today Kent State researchers say Ludwig van Beethoven was not completely deaf as is commonly believed. The theory is that "the composer still had hearing in his left ear until shortly before his death in 1827. Theodore Albrecht, professor of musicology at Kent State University, told the Observer: Not only was Beethoven not completely deaf at the premiere of his Ninth Symp...
Sat, Feb 01 2020

Helen Keller video
Deaf News Today Here is a Newsreel showing Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan recorded in 1928 with open captions and audio descriptions. Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
Sat, Feb 01 2020

Bank opens Branch for Deaf/HoH
Deaf News Today The largest bank in the U.S. has opened its first branch designed to serve the Deaf and hard of hearing community. The JPMorgan Chase branch is located in Washington, DC near Gallaudet University and offers features like on-demand video, remote interpreting, T-loop Bluetooth technology, and digital screens with captions. Six of the branch’s nine employees are ASL f...
Thu, Jan 30 2020

On this date: A deaf man helps to stop a bank robbery
Deaf News Today A deaf bank customer helped stop a bank robbery on this day (Jan 30) in 2003. A bank teller in Rochester, New York tipped off the man as he was going through the drive-through. The robber had entered a branch of HSBC yelled that he was robbing it, then jumped on a counter and pistol-whipped a teller. Another teller at the drive-up window just happened to be helping a ...
Thu, Jan 30 2020