Sign Language Blog

Marlee Matlin Speaking at Starr’s 95th Anniversary

webmaster — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:01:14 +0000

Through American Sign Language and the assistance of her personal interpreter, Matlin will address the audience of students, staff, families and friends of Starr Commonwealth as the organization celebrates its 95th anniversary.

Matlin is an Academy Award winner for her role in “Children of a Lesser God,” which also happened to be her film debut. She is the first deaf actress to receive the Academy Award and one of only four distinguished actresses to do so with her film debut. Along with her Oscar, Matlin has won a Golden Globe and has been nominated numerous times for Emmy and People’s Choice awards for her television roles, including “Seinfeld,” “The Practice” and more. Guest star roles on “The West Wing,” “My Name is Earl” and “Desperate Housewives” have contributed to Matlin’s stardom and celebrity status.
A mother of four and deeply passionate about children, Matlin has hosted several educational and children’s programs and appeared in Disney’s “Adventures in Wonderland,” Nickelodeon’s “Blues Clues” and “Baby Wordsworth,” part of the “Baby Einstein” series aimed at teaching sign language to infants and toddlers. She is also the author of a series of children’s books.

Matlin also is a close personal friend of Henry Winkler, last year’s celebrity speaker, who has been supportive of Matlin and her career since her childhood.

“Marlee Matlin certainly has taken what some might perceive as a disability and has spoken volumes with her courage and tenacity,” said Starr Commonwealth President and CEO Martin Mitchell. “She is such an inspiration to her fans and people around the world. We are very fortunate to host Ms. Matlin during our 95th anniversary.”

Founder’s Day is held the first Sunday of every October at Starr Commonwealth’s Albion campus. The event is free and is open to the public. It marks the anniversary of founder Floyd Starr, his family and 13 boys moving into Gladsome Cottage on Oct. 3, 1913.

Starr Commonwealth is a nationally recognized children and family services nonprofit licensed by the States of Michigan and Ohio and accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Services for Families and Children. The organization serves more than 4,000 children, families and professionals through strength-based residential and community-based programs in Albion, Battle Creek and Detroit, Michigan, and Van Wert and Columbus, Ohio. Services range from specialized treatment programs, treatment foster care, day treatment, mental health therapy, substance abuse and private therapeutic residential treatment. Starr also offers a variety of training for professionals working with youth.

“Please save the date of Oct. 5 on your calendars and plan to join us for what is going to be another exceptional Founder’s Day,” President Mitchell said.

For more information, please call 800-937-5591 or visit www.starr.org.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/Starr_Commonwealth/Marlee_Matlin/prweb1178374.htm

Music, Story and Poetry in Motion

webmaster — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:33:21 +0000

What does happiness look like?

How about musical rhythm?

Or poetry that you can’t see on the page or hear spoken?

Katherine Fager, Janesville, has spent the past week struggling with those esoteric questions, but by Saturday afternoon she’ll have all the answers.

Fager is a sign language interpreter. At 2 p.m. Saturday, she’ll be providing sign language interpretation for the SpotLight on Kids/footlights productions musical, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

Her job is to translate the dialogue, music and energy of the show. It’s not like translating a couple written paragraphs from English into another language.

That would be a cakewalk compared to this.

“American Sign Language (ASL) is a language of its own, with its own idioms,” Fager explained.

Certainly, an English word can be spelled out in sign, but ASL signs can be either a words or concepts.

Then there’s the music, with its rhythms, emotion and lyrics.

How does she do it?

For the past week, Fager has been rehearsing with the 70-member cast, studying the script and perfecting her timing.

“I’ve been working on the scrip to make it as ASL as possible,” said Fager. “The lyrics are like poetry—and that’s a whole craft in itself.”

For example, in the opening song, Joseph describes a dream he had. It begins with, “I closed my eyes, drew back the curtain.”

Fager looked for the literal meaning of the words—”I’m going to sleep and having a wonderful dream”—and the emotional feeling of them. Then she picked an ASL sign that displayed “I’m going to sleep and there’s a wonderful dream coming.”

Throughout the week, Fager performed such translations on more than 20 short songs. To give deaf audience members a sense of tempo and energy, she changes the rhythm of her signing.

Expression is crucial for meaning, too.

“Part of the language is facial; my face is part of the grammar,” Fager said.

Another challenge is timing:

“I want to make sure everyone in the audience is laughing at the same time,” Fager said.

This is the second year Spotlight has employed a sign language interpreter for its summer show.

Last year, one of the girls in the show “Honk!” had deaf parents, so an interpreter was hired.

Although the actress didn’t return this summer, SpotLight’s board members decided it was something they needed to do.

“It’s part of our mission to make theater accessible to everyone,” said Stacy McNall, board director and show director. “We all agreed that it was a way of opening up a theater opportunity.”

http://gazettextra.com/news/2008/jul/18/music-story-and-poetry-motion/

Signing with Your Young One Looks Promising

webmaster — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:30:53 +0000

Communicating is one of the most difficult skills for toddlers to learn — yet one of the most rewarding.

The pure delight they show when they have made themselves understood is a treat to watch — but the frustration when they cannot is to be avoided at all costs!

That is why Sing & Sign is so good. It combines music and fun, while teaching your youngster how to make their needs and wants known.

I took Olivia when she was nine months old and I wish we’d started earlier. She loved every minute and still uses some of the signs now.

As part of typical development before speech is well established, babies naturally use a combination of gestures and sounds to help their parents understand them.

They may point, shake their heads, clap their hands and wave bye-bye.

Sing & Sign encourages extra gestures to help your little one communicate, so they can tell you: milk; more; change nappy; tired and a whole host more.

It is wonderfully rewarding and you will be amazed by what your baby is capable of telling you before being able to say the words.

Sarah Glover runs popular classes in Exeter and Honiton. She has eight sessions over three days and teaches more than 90 youngsters. Using nursery rhymes and action songs, she introduces signs that relate to those important first words in your baby’s world.

And not only is it really useful, but it is also great fun for you and your child.

Sarah, a mum of two, has been involved with Sing & Sign for three years and for her it is a dream come true.

Shortly after having her first child, Megan, six years ago, the family moved to Honiton.

Sarah looked around for something to do with her toddler but could not find anything she liked.

She then discovered Sing & Sign and realised there were no classes in the area.

“It all suddenly just started to fall into place. I knew sign language, loved singing and amateur dramatics and wanted to work with children,” she said.

“I contacted the national organisers, got the training and bought a franchise that runs from Axminster to Exeter and Exmouth.”

After giving birth to her second child, Jonny, three years ago, she started her classes and has not looked back since.

Sarah runs four sessions in Exeter on a Wednesday morning and two on Thursdays and Fridays in Honiton. The groups are small and informal and many parents go back again and again.

Sarah Rowe has been taking her two-year-old daughter Star to the Exeter classes for the past year.

She said: “It is fantastic fun and also very useful. Star picked up the signs really well and uses them. It helped with some of the frustrations when she was younger and did not have the vocabulary she has now.”

Steve Morely’s son, Luke, who is nearly two, has also been going to the sessions for some time.

“Luke loves the singing and the signing has really helped his communication. It has also been a good way for us to get to know other parents.”

Jo Kiddle has been taking her 18- month-old son William to the sessions for about a year.

“He loves the singing and musical instruments and Sarah is a great teacher,” she said.

Simon Greenwood said the sessions have helped his daughter, Sienna, aged 18 months, make herself understood. “It has stopped a lot of the frustration and really helped her vocabulary.”

For more details contact Sarah on 01404 548829 or www.singandsign. co.uk.

Online Video in American Sign Language Showcases Verizon Wireless’ Nationwide Messaging Plan

webmaster — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:29:22 +0000

Verizon Wireless, the wireless industry leader in customer-friendly policies, announced that the company now offers information about its Nationwide Messaging plans in online videos in American Sign Language (ASL) to better serve customers who are deaf or hard of hearing.

The videos feature Tom Boudrow of the Marlboro, Mass.-based Verizon Center for Customers with Disabilities, using American Sign Language to answer frequently asked questions about Verizon Wireless’ Nationwide Messaging plans. The video clips can be viewed at http://aboutus.vzw.com/accessibility/nationwide_faq.html.

“Verizon Wireless is always seeking new and innovative ways to use technology to make it easier for customers to do business with us,” said Jack Plating, chief operating officer of Verizon Wireless. “We are pleased to offer this important customer community an alternative and accessible way to learn more about a plan designed to serve their needs.”

The Nationwide Messaging plans from Verizon Wireless are available for use with most consumer handsets, select personal digital assistants (PDAs) and smartphones, including BlackBerry(R) devices. For $34.99 monthly access, the new Nationwide Messaging plans on consumer devices include unlimited text, picture, video and instant messaging; unlimited Mobile Web access and unlimited data usage. Customers can also make voice calls for an additional 40 cents per minute. Customers who sign up for the $34.99 monthly access plan have the option of adding Mobile Email to their accounts for an additional $5 per month.

Customers with BlackBerry devices or PDAs can sign up for the BlackBerry or PDA/Smartphone Nationwide Messaging Plan for $54.99 monthly access, which includes unlimited text, picture, video and instant messaging; unlimited e-mail; unlimited Web browsing and unlimited data usage. Customers can also make voice calls for an additional 25 cents per minute. The Nationwide Messaging plans are available for all BlackBerry devices, the Verizon Wireless SMT5800, the Verizon Wireless XV6800 and the MOTO(TM) Q 9c.

Other Services Available

Verizon Wireless offers customers with disabilities a number of other services. The Verizon Center for Customers with Disabilities — with offices in Marlboro, Mass., and Oxnard, Calif. — provides customers with disabilities tools and support specifically designed to meet their communications needs. In addition, Verizon Wireless provides 411 (directory assistance) free of charge to legally eligible customers with disabilities, as defined by federal law. The company also regularly enhances its corporate Web site to create a more user-friendly experience for visually- and physically-impaired individuals. Recent updates include improved global navigation, accessible online forms, and link and image descriptions — all making it easier for screen readers widely used by customers with disabilities to navigate the site.

For more information about the Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/200807210930PR_NEWS_USPR_____NYM016.htm

Deaf Teacher Finds Connection with ESL students

webmaster — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:27:25 +0000

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.

“This is my existence,” said Kuhlman, who has been volunteering at the Literacy Council of Buncombe County for four years. “There are so many ways to make the world better, even if it’s just one person at a time.”
Dedicated students

Every Friday, Laura Morales is Kuhlman’s student. The two work out of an English grammar workbook, going over exercises that have Morales correcting verb tenses, completing sentences and forming questions.

Eager to learn the language of her new home, Morales tries to study as much as she can. But finding time while raising her three children, including an 8-month-old, and cleaning offices 20 hours a week is hard. It’s that dedication, his students’ more than his own, that keeps Kuhlman returning to the literacy council.

Although her English isn’t perfect yet, Morales can clearly express how she feels about her instructor.

“He’s a very good teacher,” she said. “I am happy with him because he explains, and he listens to me, and he corrects me when I am wrong.”

The hearing loss prevents Kuhlman from teaching large groups. Instead he sees his students one at a time. He can no longer attend cocktail parties. Watching TV is hard. The words, without captions, are just noise, he said.

Rather than hindering him, though, his disability has perhaps enabled him to understand more fully where his students are coming from. He knows what it’s like to be hearing noise that you can’t understand.

“The hearing impaired and the Spanish speakers are very much alike,” he said. “Both are trying to sort through the noise and make some sense out of it.”
More than a teacher

The bond between him and his students is more than just one of shared experiences or circumstances, though. He and his wife served as witnesses when one of his students got married. They were at the baptism of that same couple’s child. One wall of his dimly lit classroom is lined with photos of past and present students.

He pointed at one and said, “This one is from Ecuador, been here for 25 years, been taking ESL for two years.” Pointing to another he said, “She started out cleaning houses then got a job in a bridal store as a seamstress, and now she and her husband manage an upscale bed and breakfast.”

He explains how one of his students graduated from technical school in Mexico and was a track hero but couldn’t find work here. A paper taped to the wall lists his students followed by their children. He likes to keep track of all his students’ children as they become frequent topics of conversation.

“It turns out I am like a small-scale confessor,” he said. “Not the priestly kind, but the kind that will listen.”

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008806300301

Kids Learn To Sign To Reach Out To Deaf Classmate

webmaster — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:27:06 +0000

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.

Borstel, 15, is deaf and works with interpreters in the classroom

“I’m really happy that all of my friends have learned sign and I’m able to communicate with them,” she said.

“There is no access unless the other children sign. People think you put an interpreter in and have to have a community full access — but not academically,” interpreter Annie McLaughlin said.

Borstel could have gone to a collaborative school a school where all of the students are deaf, but it was her choice to come to the Governor Winslow School.

McLaughlin said student involvement is crucial and was impressed to see other children form the Flying Finger Club to practice sign language during their lunches and recess.

“Everybody is different, but everyone is normal. They just consider signing part of their life here,” McLaughlin said.

“She is letting us accept her culture and we’re accepting her,” one student said.

“It’s nice getting to know different kind of people,” another student said.

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/education/16561637/detail.html

Sign Language Interpreters in Demand

webmaster — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:26:49 +0000

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.

Dr. Russell said demand is being driven by growing numbers of deaf students attending regular schools and universities, court decisions that compel hospitals to provide interpreters for deaf patients and increased use of video-relay technology for telephone calls involving deaf people.

Susan Main, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Hearing Society, said the service that provides interpreters in Ontario regularly gets more requests than it can fill. And while more training programs are clearly needed, she cautioned that they must be of extremely high quality.

“Interpreters become the voice of the deaf person and of the hearing person - they are the bridge. So if you have poor interpreting, you are going to have poor outcomes,” she said.

While estimates vary, about 10 per cent of the Canadian population have some form of hearing impairment, and approximately 1 per cent have profound hearing loss and use sign language.

The Alberta program, which will initially accept 16 students, will take two years. Applicants must be fluent in American Sign Language and have taken a deaf-studies program, such as the one offered by Lakeland, which has campuses in Vermilion and Lloydminster, Alta.

The course will mainly be offered online, though instructors and students will meet for infrequent seminars. Officials believe some applicants will come from outside Alberta and possibly outside Canada. Dr. Russell said some countries that don’t have interpretation programs have shown interest.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080313.DEAF13/TPStory/National

webmaster — Mon, 26 May 2008 10:00:04 +0000

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webmaster — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:00:05 +0000

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