ASL Interpreter takes New York By Storm

I was supposed to be in DC this week for a Project Directors meeting, but at the last minute decided to pay attention to this thing they were calling Frankenstorm and stayed home. Watching the news yesterday and today, I am so glad I decided not to go. My heart goes out to all the people dealing with it now.

Since I have family in Virginia and friends on the east coast, last night I was watching all the storm information and caught Mayor Bloomberg’s press conference. I noticed his ASL interpreter, Lydia Callis, was doing a great job. Then this morning I’m watching the news and it seems she has developed quite a following! Here is a snippet of her work I found on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_ktVn_86tw 

And here are a couple of other links about the impression she has created:

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/10/bloomberg-sign-language-interpreter-lydia-calas.html

http://signlanguagelady.tumblr.com/

The poster of this YouTube video labeled it “Michael Bloomberg Warns and Interpreter Entertains.”  She’s actually doing a great job, not just being entertaining. If you want to see an entertaining interpreter, here is the Spin City version of the Mayor of New York being interpreted:

Unfortunately, neither of these videos is captioned, although I did see that the emergency information was captioned on television. Can you imagine going through this storm without being able to get this emergency information? It has been only recently that it is required that emergency information on television be captioned.

Unfortunately, captioning for on-line video is still optional.  Try turning on YouTube’s automatic captioning feature (click on the CC) and see if you can understand anything that is being communicated in these videos. It simply isn’t adequate.  The Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness (GLAD) is suing CNN over their lack of captioning of news videos on the internet. CNN is claiming it is a violation of their first amendment rights to have to caption material before posting it. If CNN wins this argument, it will be devastating to the recent successes in captioning access.

Favorite Resources #1: YouTube Fun

This week’s post is to share some of my favorite video resources with you all and invite you to share your favorites with me. This group of videos make me laugh, give food for thought, and provide good material for discussion.

http://youtu.be/c593mFEoB4k Call Me Maybe ASL/VRS Version: There are a bunch of Call Me Maybe videos out there, and many are in American Sign Language. This video is one of my favorites because it incorporates making the call through a video relay interpreter. They really did a great job with this one! To turn on the captioning, click to play and then hover the mouse over the lower part of the video and click “cc”. There are several different caption tracks for it.

http://youtu.be/K3ai5IVfFdE Coming out Deaf: The sad thing is you only have to “come out” about things that society shames. This awared-winning video manages to put a humorous spin on it. It puts a new twist on denial and hidden disability. The son comes to his mother to tell her something he has been hiding from her, only it’s not what you expect. The flashbacks are perfect, and the twist at the end makes it even better.

http://youtu.be/us7nAFSfo1U Deaf Mugger: The reality is that interpreters often find themselves working in situations they wouldn’t normally place themselves, in this case, working with a deaf mugger. The interpreter explains to the victim how she came to be there.

http://youtu.be/VArCXBqArQY Read My Lips: This video from the New Zealand National Federation for the Deaf is about speech reading and very cleverly captions the video on the mouth that is speaking. They’ve also muddied the sound a bit to give the experience of a high frequency hearing loss.

http://youtu.be/1cqv84ywBSE A Few Minutes in the Life of a Sign language Interpreter, the Classroom: Every profession has its stresses that are commonly known among people in that profession. One way to work off the frustrations of the day is to make fun of the things causing the stress. This video is one that most interpreters can relate to. It has about every misconception they’ve heard except the offer of Braille to the Deaf student. I share this one with a little caution, because I don’t want to make fun of people who make these mistakes simply because they don’t know any better…and at the same time, I’m wondering where is the equivalent video for hard of hearing folks? I’m sure they have a few pet peeves they’d like to share!

That’s it for Favorite Resources #1. As the name implies, I’ll share more as I get them. So, what are your favorite videos? Leave a message below with a link to your favorite videos (doesn’t have to be YouTube!) and why you liked them. I’d love to add some more to my list!

Seabeck & WOU’s Deaf-Blind Service Learning Project

Western Oregon University is well known for its high quality American Sign Language/English Interpreting degree program as well as a bustling ASL Studies degree program. Many students of interpreting or ASL never venture into working with individuals who are deaf and blind because of lack of exposure to them and a lack of understanding of what might be involved. Service Learning is a valued part of the interpreting degree’s curriculum. One of our dedicated and creative instructors, CM Hall, saw an opportunity that would both get students the exposure and support they needed and provide a service to the Deaf-Blind community. This story is but one example of service learning, Western Oregon University students, and the impact they have on the lives of people around them.

 Meet Ryan Bondroff. Ryan lives in Seattle. He earned his MSW from Gallaudet University. He is fully deaf-blind and uses tactile American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate. He serves on the board of the Washington State Deaf-Blind Citizens. The ability to move about freely in our everyday lives is something that we as hearing-sighted individuals take for granted. As a deaf-blind American, Ryan utilizes Support Service Providers (SSPs) for many common tasks. SSPs are trained individuals who facilitate communication,  relay visual and environmental information, and act as sighted guides for individuals who are deaf-blind. While this service is a lifeline for many deaf-blind individuals making every day activities like grocery shopping possible, they are generally only provided for a few hours a month, if at all (for more information on this, see http://www.aadb.org/information/ssp/ssp_brief.html).

Every year Ryan applies to attend Seabeck.  Seabeck is a fully accessible vacation retreat hosting 60-80 deaf-blind adults. The Deaf-Blind Retreat at Seabeck allows deaf-blind individuals a week of the independence we take for granted. Through the assistance of trained Support Service Providers, campers at Seabeck enjoy reunions with old friends and meet new ones, they have the opportunity to ride a bike, go intertubing off the back of a boat, shop at a local mall, sightsee at a county fair, or window shop in downtown Seattle on a day trip.

When Ryan applies, his name goes into a lottery to attend—either for a full week or for a half-week. Some years he has been wait-listed because the number of skilled volunteers to work with campers like Ryan is limited. For every Deaf-Blind person, the camp requires three SSPs who rotate in shifts. There are not enough sighted guides willing and able to donate a week of their time to ensure Deaf-Blind adults get an accessible vacation, so Ryan never knows if this will be the year he gets to go on vacation with his friends.

Meet the Seabeck 2011 Alumni Group from Western Oregon University.  These 12 students shared a transformative experience that made it possible for four more campers to attend. 2011 was the fourth year that Western Oregon University students have volunteered as SSPs at Seabeck. In preparation to become independent sighted guides, Western’s Seabeck participants spend over 80 total hours gaining familiarity and understanding of the diverse communication styles and modes Deaf-Blind people use: visual, tactile, tracking, signing in a restricted field of vision, as well as amplified sound. These students are trained to be versatile and professional, upholding Western Oregon University’s reputation for training skilled interpreters.

“The idea of communicating through touch is amazing. I didn’t really think about that idea until I was describing tactile sign language to my mother and father. You take away two major senses and what’s left? Touch and smell and taste. So you communicate through touch. Simply amazing.”

“I was matched with a close vision camper and I was describing a blue heron near the water. He pulled out his camera and with full zoom, he was able to see the bird. Just as he found it through the camera, the heron got a fish out of the water. The camper teared up because he was able to see that and I got to be a part of that.”

 “I also was able to gain perspective into who I am and what I want to do for my future….My identity, my ideas, views of the world, and overall self was shaken and changed into what I hope makes me a better person to all in the future.”

In the Pacific Northwest, the cultural mecca for the Deaf-Blind community is Seattle, Washington, about five hours from Monmouth and WOU. Multiple van trips to meet, mingle and sharpen one’s interpreting and guiding skills, adds up. If you are interested in supporting the Seabeck Service-Learning experience, you can make your tax-deductible gift online and designate the gift to Seabeck under “Other.” https://www.applyweb.com/public/contribute?wouf Small contributions can add up to make a big difference!

If you are interested in finding out more information about WOU’s Interpreting program, go to http://www.wou.edu/interpreting.

Seabeck needs skilled volunteers so that Deaf-Blind campers like Ryan can participate in this annual event. If you want to find out what is required to volunteer, go to http://www.deafblindlh.org/seabeck/volqual.html

This post was contributed by CM Hall, Ed.M., NIC Advanced, EIPA Ed K:12. She is the Project Coordinator for the Western Region Interpreter Education Center, a collaborative endeavor of Western Oregon University and El Camino College, and a member of the National Consortium of Interpreter Education Centers. She is also an adjunct faculty in the ASL/English Interpreting Program and can be reached  at hallcm@wou.edu.