Aidan Mack Hosts Talk Show For The Deaf

Westchester Newsday - Croton woman hosts talk show for the Deaf.



Television is a visual medium, but most talk shows just aren’t the same on mute. One Croton-on-Hudson woman is turning the traditional interview format on its head by telling her guests to talk with their hands.



Independent producer Aidan Mack has teamed up with White Plains Community Media (WPCM) to produce “The Aidan Mack Show,” in which Mack interviews guests exclusively in American Sign Language. The show will be one of the first of its kind designed specifically for Deaf audiences.



“I realized that I wanted to reach a larger audience, the hearing community, and work with them to become more comfortable interacting with Deaf people, regardless of language differences,” she said. “At the same time, I also want to dispel the misconceptions and myths about Deaf people, and show that Deaf people do live normal lives like everyone else.”



Read more: http://newyork.newsday.com/westchester/westchester-now-1.3784383/croton-woman-hosts-talk-show-for-the-deaf-1.4037650



The Aidan Mack Show:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/theAidanMackshow

Visit http://wpcommunitymedia.org/community/the-aidan-mack-show for more information.

Deaf Film: 'I Sign and I Live'

Click on the image above to watch the 32-minute film with subtitles.

If you watch this short film, then you guys should open your eyes and understand in 'I Sign and I Live' by Aidan Mack. The 32-minute film about a Deaf teacher and her Deaf niece. This film is related to cochlear implants and suppression of ASL. Thank you for watching.



The 32-minutes dramatic film, I Sign and I Live, is about Daisy, a Deaf teacher who faces prejudices and sterotypes in society at large. She faces a battle of wills in her own family with her sister over the matter the upbringing of her niece Dawn. Her hearing sister Kay makes decision to have her Deaf daughter, Dawn, fitted with cochlear implant. Daisy is appalled at the decision. It amounts to Kay rejecting Dawn's Deaf identity. Her sister is under the false impression that having any amount of hearing, no matter how limited and no matter the risk involved in obtaining it, is better than being Deaf and is better than experiencing life as a visual being.



Kay has always been prejudiced against Deaf people, though she was able to hide her prejudice until her decision to have Daisy implanted. Daisy is an educated professional and is hurt to discover Kay's ignorance. Kay is less educated and does not work outside the home. She doesn't believe that Deaf people can succeed professionally, even though she was witnessed Daisy's success and her accomplishments.



Daisy's niece is removed from her signing classroom and placed in an oral, auditory-oriented class. She is not allowed to sign with anyone. Dawn is not allowed to interact with Daisy at all. The story of the battle between Daisy and her sister ends with a tragic conclusion. Kay, along with the larger society, tries to suppress the use of sign language, but Deaf people like Daisy continue fighting on to sign - and live.



"Our First Weekend Filming" by Aidan Mack's blog.



To those of you, including newcomers, who are getting involved in participating and even working in the Deaf community through interpreting, teaching, and advocating, this is an opportunity to reciprocate and give back to the Deaf community for all it has provided to you, a knowledge of language, ASL and opportunity for jobs and to be involved with us in advocating for our own existence as Deaf beings. This is great opportunity for you to give back to the Deaf community, by donating to the financial support of this film, “I Sign and I Live.”

Read more: http://isignilive.wordpress.com/2009/03/03/our-first-weekend-filming/