Deaf President Now: A News Footage Perspective

VIDEO: (American Sign Language) - Deaf President Now: A News Footage Perspective.



On August 24, 1987, Gallaudet's 6th president, Dr. Jerry Lee, announced that he would be leaving the presidency of Gallaudet University. It prompted new (or rekindled) discussion among the Deaf community that it is time for Gallaudet to have a Deaf president leading the one and only Deaf university in the world. The search committee narrowed down from 67 applicants to 3 finalists: Dr. Harvey Corson (Deaf), Dr. Elizabeth Zinser (hearing), and Dr. I. King Jordan (Deaf).



On March 6, 1988, it was expected that the board would announce the new 7th president in the field house at 8:30 pm. Instead of making a formal announcement, the audience was told that "a news release had been hastily distributed two hours earlier" revealing that Dr. Elizabeth Zinser has been selected as first 7th president of Gallaudet University.

Video by Joey Baer



The reaction to the news was "met with shock, anger, disbelief, and, in some cases, tears" because every effort were made to the Gallaudet Board of Trustees with strong urgency that it is time for Gallaudet to have a Deaf president to lead the university. Upon the selection of Dr. Zinser, the birth of the now well-known Deaf President Now (DPN) protest officially began.



Visit www.JoeyBaer.com for more informations.

Deaf Woman's Body Found in Drum in NYC

Watch Video: Turnto10.com - Providence woman's body found in drum in NYC.



NEW YORK CITY - A young woman from Providence was the victim of a gruesome murder in New York City.



The body of 19-year-old Francis Alfonso Pellerano was found in a 55-gallon drum inside a Harlem apartment over the weekend.



"I always knew that something was going to happen to her. I wasn't sleeping at night," the victim's father, Manuel Alfonso, told NBC 10 News through a translator.



Pellerano was Deaf and could not speak. She was a student at the Rhode Island School for the Deaf on and off for about five years, until she left the school late last year.

Family members said she went to New York with a young man she met on Facebook. He is also Deaf.



Media outlets in New York reported that Pellerano may have been planning to leave the boyfriend. Pellerano's body was found in the barrel by the boyfriend's grandmother, who smelled a foul odor.



There have been no arrests. The boyfriend is under psychiatric care in a New York hospital.



"I want justice because I know he's not crazy. He cleaned all the blood after he killed her," Alfonso said.



The Rhode Island School for the Deaf is planning a memorial for Pellerano. SOURCE: http://www.turnto10.com/story/21552695/providence-womans-body-found-in-drum

Deaf People With Mental Illness Need Culturally Sensitive Treatment

VIDEO: Deaf people with mental illness need culturally sensitive treatment.



Examiner.com - Medical practitioners need to provide culturally sensitive treatment to members of the Deaf community with psychiatric disorders to ensure they are diagnosed correctly and receive appropriate treatment, says Wolters Kluwer Health.



The report was published in the March Journal of Psychiatric Practice. The authors reviewed the limited research literature available about the mental health care of Deaf patients who communicate via American Sign Language (ASL) or gestures.



Communication strategies: Communication is challenging for Deaf people who communicate in sign language or in gestures.



"Deaf individuals comprise a cultural and linguistic minority group within the United States, and culturally and linguistically appropriate psychiatric treatment must reflect these differences," according to Sarah A. Landsberger, PhD, and coauthors of the Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis.

There are approximately 1.2 Americans with profound hearing loss. Some Deaf people are unable to hear most sounds, even with assistive listening devices such as hearing aids.



Some Deaf people identify themselves as part of the Deaf community, with a unique language – sign – and culture. Sign language is complex and complete with its own syntax, grammar and vocabulary. These deaf people do not think of their hearing loss as a disability. ...READ MORE: http://www.examiner.com/article/deaf-people-with-mental-illness-need-culturally-sensitive-treatment

Mothers of Deaf Children Want Insurance Companies To Pay For Hearing Aids

Jacksonville.com - Mothers of Deaf children want insurance companies to pay for hearing aids.



ATLANTA - A handful of mothers with Deaf children urged legislators Tuesday to require health insurance companies to provide hearing aids.



The women estimated there are fewer than 400 children needing the devices which can run as much as $6,000 for a pair every five years. Medicaid, the state’s insurance for the poor, already provides them, but most private insurance companies don’t because, unlike devices such as pacemakers, they aren’t necessary for survival.



The mothers, who formed LetGeorgiaHear.org, argue that spending $40,000 on hearing aids during a child’s youth avoids tenfold costs for special education.



“It’s going to be hard. It’s not a very popular concept,” admits Kelly Jenkins, one of the group’s co-founders and the mother of 3-year-old Sloane who was fitted with hearing aids before she could walk.



Comer Yates, executive director of the Atlanta Speech School, said 90 percent of Deaf children are born to hearing parents, so they are unlikely to learn sign language from their parents at an age when other children are developing their vocabulary.



“Early exposure to language determines a child’s pathway in life,” he said.



Rep. Ed Lindsey, R-Atlanta, is the sponsor of House Bill 74 that would mandate hearing-aid coverage for children. ...READ MORE: http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2013-03-12/story/mothers-deaf-children-want-insurance-companies-pay-hearing-aids

Rescued 70 Deaf Chinese From Human Trafficking

Shanghaidaily.com - 360 arrested for enticing deaf-mutes to commit crime in China.



BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) - Chinese police have arrested 360 suspects for their involvement in enticing deaf-mute to engage in robbery or burglary, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said on Tuesday.



Police in 21 provincial regions have uprooted 61 such criminal gangs and rescued 70 Deaf people during a recent joint campaign, according to a statement released by the MPS.



The suspects deceived the students from Deaf schools via social networks on the pretext of offering job opportunities or going traveling, when in fact the purpose of the approach was to force them to commit crimes such as robbery or burglary, the statement said.



Yang Erdu, a most-wanted suspect, together with other prime suspects, was captured by police during the campaign, according to the statement.



China issued an action plan for fighting human trafficking (2013-2020) last week, urging greater measures to crack down on abduction-related crimes and appropriately relocate the victims of human trafficking. SOURCE: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.asp?id=130458

Facebook Opens Worlds For The Deaf

VIDEO: (Subtitles) - Facebook opens worlds for the Deaf.



Nbcbayarea.com - One billion people use Facebook around the world. Its reach is undisputed and unparalleled, but its impact on one specific community has opened up doors to a new world for the Deaf.



Christina Teani, 34, of South San Francisco is a teacher for special needs students. She understands putting in that extra bit of effort because she was born with what she calls “an invisible disability” unable to hear without wearing a hearing aid.



“You can often feel like that sometimes you are not good enough, you don’t feel like you’re part of a group,” Teani explained. “Human relationships are all about intimacy, getting to know people, feeling like you belong in a group and if you’re not able to connect, you emotionally feel left out.”



But her life has changed, much like it has for her Deaf friend, Sarah McBride of Palo Alto.



“With Facebook, I’m able to communicate with my friends through chat,” she said.

These women say the social media site has opened up a whole new world to them, offering up not only quick chats with friends, but the ability to share memories through pictures and videos especially satisfying for them because it’s one of the first times they’ve been able to communicate the same way the hearing community does.



So when the opportunity came up to visit the company that made it happen, they didn’t hesitate. Together with friends, they took tour of Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park to celebrate the changes they’ve experienced in their lives.



“That’s what I like about Facebook," Teani said. "We’re all on the same playing field we haven’t had before.” ...READ MORE: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Facebook-IOpens-New-World-For-Deaf-186194282.html

Anti-Bullying Policies at Florida School for the Deaf

VIDEO: (Captioned) - Florida School for the Deaf and Blind takes anti-bullying stand.



Firstcoastnews.com: ST. JOHNS COUNTY, FL - Since the implementation of the Jeffrey Johnston "Stand up for All Students" Act, which was passed in 2008, all schools in the state are required to have anti-bullying policies in place.



The Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine is just one district working to eliminate bullying. Students from elementary through high school are learning about the importance of being respectful, responsible and cooperative.

Video by fsdbvideos



"She was teasing me like 'I didn't know the words, I didn't know the English language," said student Julia Kadzis.



"In my last school, I had no friends. No one would talk to me really," explains freshman Gracie Delong.



"I've had lots of experiences with bullying here and in the world, and I've tolerated it," said senior D.J. Snell.



Students at FSDB recall their own personal experiences with bullying. "They kept bullying me because I'm a Deaf person," Snell said.



"No one would talk to me really, no one would sit next to me at the lunch table," said Delong. "And the same group of girls would bully me because they didn't think I could see certain things." ...READ MORE: http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/article/302077/3/FSDB-takes-anti-bullying-stand

Library Purchases Ohio School for the Deaf Property

Dispatch.com - Buying old Deaf School won’t hinder library upgrades with levy money, Columbus library sticking with plan for new branches.

The old Asylum/Deaf School at 400 East Town St

COLUMBUS, OH - The Columbus Metropolitan Library’s decision to buy the former Ohio State School for the Deaf won’t interfere with planned renovation or replacement of almost half of its branch libraries.



“These are the libraries that we are committed to,” said Pat Losinski, library director



Two years ago, facing cuts in state funding, Columbus Metropolitan and other libraries cut staff, froze pay and closed doors on Sundays.



But with the passage of a 2.8-mill permanent operating levy in November 2010, the 21-library Columbus system quickly restored services and started planning upgrades of out-of-date or overcrowded branches.



The library makeover has been aided by near-record-low interest rates, said Steve Prater, the library’s director of property management. The library recently issued bonds totaling $98 million.



“That’s allowing us to accelerate the work,” Prater said.



Library officials on Wednesday announced plans to purchase the former Deaf school, allowing access to a parking lot that would be converted into an outdoor patio along the rear of the Main Library.



Renovation costs of up to $11 million, in addition to the $2.1 million purchase price, would be necessary if the library moves its administrative offices into the turn-of-the-century building. More likely, the library would sell the Deaf school portion of the property, possibly to a school. ... READ MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/01/27/buying-old-deaf-school-wont-hinder-upgrades.html

A rendering of tentative plans for an expansion of the Columbus Metropolitan Library's main downtown branch shows how it would use the former Deaf School property.

Deaf Prisoner Advocacy: Lobbing The FCC For Change

VIDEO: Deaf Prisoner Advocacy Lobbying the FCC for Change: Discrimination Against Deaf, Hard of Hearing & Signin. (Captioned, American Sign Language)



HEARD interns Rita Torres & Alexandre Dubsky explain how the Community can support equal communication access for all Deaf, hard of hearing, speech impaired prisoners and their family members.



On December 28, 2012, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to address the long-standing issue of high prison telephone rates. Hearing prisoners' telephone calls can cost their family members as much as $17 for just 15 minutes of time. These excessive rates prevent families from maintaining contact with loved ones.

Video by BEHEARDDC



Deaf, hard of hearing, Deaf-Blind, speech impaired, and hearing prisoners with Deaf family members endure an even greater financial burden with respect to telephone rates due to a number of factors, including (1) telephone rates being applied evenly to TTY and regular voice phone calls, the former of which is much more time-consuming; (2) failure of prisons to install videophones and captioned telephones; (3) security measures that either prevent Deaf prisoners from calling relay operators or cause them to incur additional fees by requiring relay services; and (4) security measures that require Deaf prisoners to only place collect calls.



The FCC has requested public comments on whether prisoner phone rates should be reduced and capped and on Deaf & disabled prisoner telecommunications access. This video explains some of the inequities that persist for Deaf, signing & speech impaired prisoners and their families with regard to rates for and access to telecommunications in prison. Please follow the directions in the document to submit a comment to the FCC. http://www.fcc.gov/

Medical Research: Rise in Abortions of Deaf Babies

Dailymail.co.uk - Prenatal testing prompts rise in abortions of Deaf babies. Hearing loss can be a curse if it's linked to a revelation as heart-breaking as this.



According to a survey conducted by Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram hospital, a majority of would-be parents would opt for an abortion if knew they are going to have a hearing-impaired child.



The study was published in a recent issue of American Journal of Medical Genetics.



The research-based study was conducted for four years - 2005 to 2009 - on at least 51 families with a history of congenital hearing loss.



"Around 93 per cent of the couples expressed high interest in prenatal diagnosis, while 73 per cent considered termination if the foetus was affected," Dr Ishwar C Verma, chairman, department of genetics, Sir Ganga Ram hospital, said.



The result in cases of hearing couples, in whom genetic anomalies were identified, was even more disheartening.



"All of them opted for prenatal diagnosis. On testing, all the foetuses were found to be affected and the hearing parents elected to terminate the pregnancies," Dr Verma said.



In developing countries such as India, there is an increasing awareness and interest in prenatal testing because genetic disorders of all types, including hereditary deafness, which lead to significant social and economic burden on families due to poor support structure. During the study, doctors found that around 68 per cent would be parents opted for genetic testing. ... READ MORE: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2280183/Prenatal-testing-prompts-rise-abortions-deaf-babies.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Deaf Pennsylvanians Lawsuit Welfare for Lack of Interpreters

Pennlive.com - Deaf of Pennsylvanians lawsuit welfare for lack of interpreters: U.S. judge eyeing deal to aid state's Deaf, intellectually disabled human service system clients.



HARRISBURG - A federal judge is being asked to approve a settlement of a class-action lawsuit that would ramp up the state's responsibility to individuals who are Deaf and intellectually disabled.



A key provision of the proposed deal U.S. Middle District Chief Judge Yvette Kane is weighing would require the state Department of Public Welfare to hire sign language interpreters and other specialists to improve communications with Deaf and intellectually disabled clients in the human services system.



About 250 such clients have been identified so far in the state's system of group homes and other service providers, according to filings in the case. Also, DPW would have to pay $450,000 to the Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania, which filed the lawsuit against DPW in 2010 on behalf of a disabled client identified in court papers only as Harry M.



In seeking approval of the settlement, the rights network stated that DPW officials also have signed off on the proposed deal. The rights network claimed in its lawsuit that the state is not properly helping intellectually disabled Pennsylvanians who are Deaf, because service providers often cannot effectively communicate with them.



Clients who would be affected by the settlement receive services from their home counties through the state-funded Home and Community-Based Waiver, also known as the Consolidated Waiver program. ... READ MORE: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/02/us_judge_eyeing_deal_to_aid_st.html

Adopted Deaf Child To Force On Cochlear Implant

Amarillo.com - Family flies Deaf child to Italy for surgery not approved in US.



LUBBOCK - From an onlooker’s perspective, Anna Burch is like any other 5-year-old. She’s friendly, energized and quite interactive. But if you call her name, she won’t respond. She’s not being rude. She simply can’t hear you.



Amy Burch is a single mother of three adopted girls Amelia, 8; Lucy, 3; and Anna, 5. Burch adopted Anna from Anyang, China, just a few weeks before her fifth birthday with the help of her parents. Debra Burch, Amy’s mother, said she and her husband Mike were with her daughter when she made the decision to adopt Anna. “We knew she was Deaf,” said Debra.



The disability didn’t hinder the family’s excitement to adopt her and figured Anna’s deafness could be treated with a hearing aid or cochlear implant. The extent of Anna’s condition was unknown until the family had her hearing assessed.



Anna was born with no cochleas, said Dr. Steven Zupancic, assistant professor of Speech-Language & Hearing Sciences at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Allied Health Sciences. The cochlea is what allows hearing, said Brittany Hall, clinical supervisor for SLHS at TTUHSC SAHS.



Anna was profoundly Deaf. Debra said cochlear implants and hearing aids would be of no use, so the family began looking into other options. She was taken to Hall for an assessment in August.



“Anna is such an amazing little girl,” Hall said. “She has no formal language of communication, but she is such a communicative little girl. … I saw her for an assessment in 2012. She was communicating, but it wasn’t through words. With the help of the family, she learned sign communication.”



Hall said before Anna’s departure to Verona, she was working to teach her Anna to pair signs with speech by reading lips. ... READ MORE: http://amarillo.com/news/texas-news/2013-02-19/family-flies-deaf-child-italy-surgery-not-approved-us

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Related of Cochlear Implants:



If you travel consider which company you use. Your dreams could be destroyed. Some of you may be considering a Cochlear Implant for yourself or a child. As a Cochlear Implant Recipient, The following video is important for you to watch before making a decision on which implant to receive: Warning To Cochlear Implant Users



Historically, women and girls have faced forced laws that tell them what to do with their bodies against their will which is a violation of human rights: A Violation of Human Rights: Forcing A Deaf Child to Wear CI



My experience with people telling me there is a "cure" for deafness: Cochlear Implants Is NOT A Cure!

OCDAC Leader Dies at Age 50

VIDEO: Deaf community leader known as Uncle Ruckus dies at age 50. Richard Roehm was a founder of the Santa Ana-based Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center.



SANTA ANA – Richard Roehm aka Iron Teeth, chairman and a founder of the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center, died Feb. 6. He was 50.



Roehm, who lived in the French Park area, suffered a heart attack and died at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, said Beth Koenig, the executive director of the nonprofit.



Roehm grew up in Glendale, graduated form Rancho Alamitos High School in 1981 and received a bachelor's degree in computer science from Cal State Fullerton. He worked for Disneyland, left the company and was disabled by the time he helped found the Santa Ana-based Deaf Advocacy Center in 1998, said Koenig. He served as CEO and president until 2010, when he became board chairman and Koenig became its executive director.

Roehm was a longtime fan of the "Law and Order" television series. She said he loved learning about and tracking volcanoes and earthquakes, enjoyed seeing Old Faithful eruptions via a webcam, and cared about animals, such as the pet lizard he kept, and Ruby, a mixed-breed dog who was his companion for many years.



Roehm had been hard of hearing as a child and became Deaf at age 11, Koenig said. She said he believed that nonprofits turned away people who needed help, so decided to start the Deaf Advocacy Center. The agency helps people with disabilities find employment and housing provides training in such areas as Braille, American Sign Language, computer skills and personal finances, and helps Deaf people with poor reading skills fill out forms.



The agency he helped found runs on a budget of $30,000 to $45,000 a year, mostly from sales on its eBay store and from donations, Koenig said. It relies on a roll of about 200 volunteers, about 20 of whom are regulars and about five of whom make up its core group, she said.



Roehm will be remembered as passionate, Koenig said. Many Deaf people are active bloggers and readers of blogs, Koenig said. ... READ MORE: http://www.ocregister.com/news/koenig-496357-roehm-deaf.html

Pope Resigns Without Apologizing To Milwaukee’s Deaf Victims

VIDEO: Pope resigns without apologizing to Deaf victims from St. John’s school.



SNAP: MILWAUKEE (WITI) – The spiritual leader of 1.2 billion Catholics, Pope Benedict XVI, surprised the world Monday, February 11th by saying he will resign at the end of the month “because of advanced age.” It’s the first time a pope has stepped down in nearly 600 years. Many on Monday, reacted to the news including SNAP, the Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests.



In a statement, entitled “Pope resigns without ever apologizing to Milwaukee’s Deaf victims from St. John’s school,” John Pilmaier, SNAP Wisconsin Director said: “It is difficult today, with the announcement that Pope Benedict XVI is retiring this month, not to think of the many victim/survivors of sexual abuse from St. John’s School for the Deaf.”



According to SNAP, it was Benedict, as Cardinal Ratzinger in his previous post running the powerful Doctrine for the Congregation of the Faith CDF), who was in charge of the fate of the notorious Fr. Lawrence Murphy.



Murphy, Ratzinger knew, had sexually assaulted at least 200 children at the boarding school in Milwaukee. Ratzinger ordered that Murphy be left in ministry, unpunished and unprosecuted, undetected to the public, and remain a priest, with all the rights, honors, and power which the church grants only to ordained clerics, right up until his death.



In its statement, SNAP says: “Benedict never once contacted, spoke to, or apologized to the Deaf victims from St. John’s.” ... READ MORE: http://fox6now.com/2013/02/11/snap-pope-resigns-without-apologizing-to-victims-from-st-johns-school/

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Related News:



MILWAUKEE, WI - Movie about Catholic priest sex abuse scandal makes US premiere in Milwaukee. The controversy over the Catholic priest sex abuse scandal hits the big screen. Five Deaf men who led the first known public protest against clerical sex abuse in the United States.

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence In The House Of God.

Not only that, but Friday night is the US premiere of the film. It's called Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence In The House Of God -- a documentary focused on the sexual assaults within the church right here in Milwaukee. With bright lights, ticket lines, even a red carpet, the event had all the trimmings of a blockbuster premiere. READ MORE: http://deafyouvideo.blogspot.com/2012/10/mea-maxima-culpa-silence-in-house-of-god.html

Medical Research: Dual Adaptation in Deaf Brains

The Scientist: Dual Adaptation in Deaf Brains.



The brains of people who cannot hear adapt to process vision-based language, in addition to brain changes associated with the loss of auditory input.



The brains of Deaf people reorganize not only to compensate for the loss of hearing, but also to process language from visual stimuli sign language, according to a study published today (February 12) in Nature Communications. Despite this reorganization for interpreting visual language, however, language processing is still completed in the same brain region.



“The new paper really dissected the difference between hand movements being a visual stimulus, and cognitive components of language,” said Alex Meredith, a neurobiologist at Virginia Commonwealth University, who was not involved in the study.



The brain devotes different areas to interpreting various sensory stimuli, such as visual or auditory. When one sense is lost, the brain compensates by adapting to other stimuli, explained study author Velia Cardin of University College London and Linköping University in Sweden. In Deaf people, for example, “the part of the brain that before was doing audition adapts to be doing something else, which is vision and somatosensation,” she said. However, Deaf humans “don’t just have sensory deprivation,” she added they also have to learn to process a visual, rather than oral, language.



To untangle brain changes due to loss of auditory input from adaptations prompted by vision-based language, the researchers used functional MRI to look at brain activation in three groups of people: Deaf people who communicate through sign language, Deaf people who read lips but don’t understand sign language, and hearing people with no sign language experience.



The researchers showed the three groups videos of sign language and videos that held no linguistic content. The signing videos were designed to allow Cardin’s team to pinpoint which areas had reorganized to process vision-based language, as these areas would only activate in Deaf signers. In contrast, the language-free videos would allow the researchers to identify areas in Deaf brains that had adapted to the loss of auditory input, as these brain areas would activate in both Deaf groups, but not in the brains of hearing volunteers. ... Read more: http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/34363/title/Dual-Adaptation-in-Deaf-Brains/

Florida School For The Deaf & The Blind Seeks $10 Million For Upgrades

Jacksonville.com: School for Deaf and Blind seeks about $10 million for upgrades.



TALLAHASSEE - Repairing buildings and making construction upgrades makes up the meat of a funding request being pitched by the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine.



The school is asking for $9.7 million in construction money, a steep increase over the $1.4 million in Gov. Rick Scott’s proposed budget and the $1.6 million it got last year. The $1.4 million is the same amount requested by the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the school’s budget.



“With that amount we would barley be able to touch projects needed to ensure safety-related repairs,” said Jeanne Prickett, the school’s president.



With the money, the school wants to fund preventive maintenance, repair projects and remain compliant with the American with Disabilities Act.



“That means we would be able to continue to keep up-to-date buildings and renovate obsolete areas,” Prickett told the House Appropriations Subcommittee during a Tuesday hearing.



Since 2008, the school’s construction funding has dropped by $11.8 million. The funding comes from the same shrinking pot of money used for higher education and k-12 projects. Lawmakers are working to overhaul the system, which is funded by taxes on certain communications and telecommunications.



Students on the School for the Deaf and the Blind’s 80-acre campus have increased from 585 to 610 over the past five years, officials said. Overall enrollment, which includes off-campus students, has increased from 904 to 989 over that time. ... Read more: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2013-02-12/story/school-deaf-and-blind-seeks-about-10-million-upgrades

Kitchen Talk: Pilot Episode In ASL

VIDEO: SportsMX - Kitchen Talk: Pilot Episode in American Sign Language.



The premiere of Kitchen Talk show! Bridget Bonheyo, Marilyn Smith, and Michelle Banks get together to talk about a variety of topics. Viewer discretion advised – episode includes sexual topics.

Video by sportsmx



Visit Kitchen Talk - the newest talk show for the Deaf community: http://media.sportsmx.com/video/2013/02/kitchen-talk-pilot-episode/



SportsMX is an international sports news for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people visit: http://www.sportsmx.com

Committing Suicide Over Going Deaf and Blind

VIDEO: Committing suicide over going Deaf and Blind (American Sign Language, English Subtitles)



The story of my progressive vision loss. What will I do when I become entirely blind?



Life has unbounded possibilities. There's no good reason to deny the opportunities that come your way as you grow out of your comfort zones.



Deafblindness may be the result of different etiologies. But there are many strategies for apapting to Deafblindness and being able to life to the fullest.



Many believe Deafblind means total deafness or blindness and this is often not the case.

Video by eduardoamadera



Related Issue:



The two men, 45, from the Antwerp region were both born Deaf and sought euthanasia after finding that they would also soon go blind.



The pair told doctors that they were unable to bear the thought of not being able to see each other again.



Facing blindness, two Deaf twin brothers elected to commit assisted suicide in Belgium via lethal injection. This assisted suicide case is unusual - neither man was terminally ill nor suffering unbearable pain. Read more: Deaf Twin Brothers Voluntarily Euthanized

HLN: Former NBA Player Runs Camp For Deaf Kids

VIDEO: Exclusive interview with former NBA player runs camp for Deaf kids.



HLN: Mike 'Stinger' Glenn spent 10 years in the NBA playing for teams like the Knicks and Hawks. Since retiring, Glenn has written a book and he makes appearances as a motivational speaker and a basketball analyst. Now, he's returning to the court as a coach and giving back to his own community in a big way.



HLN's Joe Carter sat down with Glenn to talk about his one-of-a-kind basketball camp, designed specifically for hearing impaired or Deaf kids.

Video by HLN



For more informaton please visit http://www.hlntv.com/video/2013/02/10/mike-glenn-basketball-hearing-deaf-sports

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Get Social with Mike Glenn Basketball Camp for Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

Video by getsocialwithme



This non-profit organization is the Nations First Basketball Camp for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Athletes ages 14 to 18 attending Junior High or High School. Space is limited and "Basketball Skills" Visit: http://www.mikeglenn.com/camp.html for more information.

NAD & Deaf's Public Health Concerns

VIDEO: National Association of the Deaf and Deaf's public health concerns in American Sign Language.



While watching National Association of the Deaf's recent vlog found here at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSkoNrtNxwo announcing their latest projects, Deaf community noticed practically all NAD leaders and officers are overweight or out of shape.



Is it a concern? Yes.



Is it reflective of health issues as a Deaf Community? Unfortunately also yes as health crisis is highly prevalent within the Deaf community.



NAD should add initiatives in creating task force to raise our socioeconomic status, utilize several social constructs such as self-efficacy, social cognitive, and self determination theories in developing creative solutions towards healthier behaviors, create task force to address poor health status within our community, AND take personal accountability as leaders in setting examples for others by getting healthier themselves.

Video by MrDeafRyan



NOTE: this vlog is NOT meant to offend their weight or body figures, but... it is reflective of a problem that's prevalent within our community.