Cookie Cutter World (ASL)

Three Catholic Deaf events coming to NJ

Please spread the word about our 3 exciting Catholic Deaf events coming
soon to NJ:

1.
1st Annual Catholic DeaFest
Saturday, March 19, 2011 10 AM - 4 PM
Free Admission - Fully Accessible!
Catholic Center - Rutgers University
84 Somerset St., New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Keynote Speaker: Kate Slosar: FAITH IN ACTION
Workshops - Exhibits - Mass - Breakfast & Lunch - All are welcome!
For more information please contact:
Deacon Tom Smith, CSW 973-497-4312, TTY 973-497-4311,
VP 862-279-7645 or smiththo@rcan.org
Sr. Bonnie McMenamin, SSJ 856-583-6111, VP 856-283-3962,
or bmcmenamin@camdendiocese.org
Hosted by the Deaf Ministries of the Archdiocese of Newark, the Diocese
of Camden,Diocese of Metuchen, Diocese of Paterson, & Diocese of Trenton

2.
THE PASSION PLAY, America's Longest Running Play, is the dramatic story
of Jesus Christ's last days on earth. It is the modernized version of
"The Passion Play" performed in Germany since 1634, complete with large
cast of characters, breathtaking imagery and memorable songs. The
Saturday, April 16th, 2011, 2:00 p.m. performance at the Park Performing
Arts Center, 560 - 32nd Street, Union City, will again be
ASL-Interpreted for the Deaf by Kymme Van Cleef & Dana Fuller (courtesy
of ASL Interpreter Referral Services). "Deaf seats" are specially priced
at $21.00. Please contact Claudia at claudia@parkpac.org to reserve your
seats. Or call her on Relay (voice) 201-865-6980, ext. 12 for more
info.

3.
Catholic Deaf Retreat Weekend
Friday, June 3 through Sunday, June 5, 2011
Maris Stella Retreat & Conference Center
7201 Long Beach Blvd.Harvey Cedars, NJ 08008 www.marisstella.org
Deacon Patrick Graybill will present “Celebrating God’s Family”
For more information please contact:
Sr. Bonnie McMenamin, SSJ bmcmenamin@camdendiocese.org or
Kate Slosar mwdkate@aol.com
The New Jersey Catholic Deaf Pastoral Workers invite you to
“come to the seashore” and experience God’s wonderful love!




.

__,_._,___

Deaf Like Me

Accessibility bill signed into law

President Obama signed a bipartisan bill, 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, to expand technology access to people with disabilities. Earlier this week, Rosa's law was signed. More information can be found at the links and in the video below.

ASL interpreted song: Bohemian Rhapsody

Found this via twitter @CALKYCIL



To learn more about American Sign Language go here.

Students from California School for the Deaf thank YouTube for adding closed captioning

via YouTube

A Message of Appreciation regarding the addition of closed captioning to YouTube from the California School for the Deaf High School Talon News Crew.



h/t @NADtweets

I'm Deaf - so what? says...

the writer of the blog I Look So I Can Hear. With this great video showing images of Deaf people working in various occupations, the author writes:
I’ve not been short on the skills either. I’ve worked in retail, law, accounting, teaching, careers consultancy, and have my own businesses. I’ve plenty of deaf friends who are accountants, entrepreneurs, teachers, lawyers….. they are all smart and sassy. They’re deaf. So what? I’d say to any person who is put down by someone else; believe in yourself and go grab your life with both hands. You deserve nothing less.

Immediate Empowerment

First a hat tip to Media dis&dat.

Imagine a device that allows deaf-blind people to instantly communicate with those around them. Sound like Star Trek?

Well, it's here. It's called the DeafBlind Communicator and it allows deaf-blind folks to make phone calls and engage in face to face communication. Washington state and HumanWare designed and manufactured it jointly, in a government -business cooperative effort that has resulted in immediate empowerment for those who have access to this technology.

How does it work?

For face-to-face conversations, the deaf-blind person hands the separate smaller device with a text display and keyboard to the person they want to communicate with.

A retractable tether is attached. With one click, the deaf- blind person who is operating the other half of the device sends the following opening message; "Hi, I’m blind and I can’t hear. To communicate with me, type a message on this keyboard and press (the return arrow)."

This message is both spoken through speakers and displayed on the text screen. The person who is deaf-blind can read the response via a display with Braille characters. Both parties can then communicate back and forth.

via Washington State Dept. of Social and Health Services site

People who were approached with the device "felt good" about the interaction and had no problem using it.

For those living in Washington state, the $8000 device is free or available on a sliding scale, with a cost reduction to $6000 due to the state's participation in designing the device. Free training is provided with the device.

For more information, go here to visit the Washington state site
or here to visit HumanWare.

Announcements: Book Signing in Philadelphia

Book Signing at Borders Center City with Fr. Anthony Russo

March 11, 2009
12:30 to 1:30 PM

Borders Book Store - 2nd floor
Broad and Chestnut Streets
Philadelphia, PA 19103

Please let your friends who work in Center City know to visit Borders
on March 11th for a brief presentation and Book signing for: In Silent
Prayer: A History of Ministry with the Deaf Community in
the Archdiocese of Philadelphia

Written by Fr. Father Anthony Russo, In Silent Prayer: A History of
Ministry with the Deaf Community in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia
traces this special ministry in our local Church. Fr. Russo tells the
story of the great men and women who have provided this important
service. He also includes examples of how to establish an effective
ministry with a discussion of the ideas and attitudes necessary to
effect progress in ministry today.

via list serve NJCIM

The book can also be purchased online at this site and this site.

[image description: The cover of the book is shown, with an image from the rear of the seated congregation, with members signing and an interpreter and priest on the altar.]

Announcements: Developing Skills in Communication and Cultural Mediation in Dialogues between Providers and Deaf Patients

Bioethics and Humanities Center Seminar

Thursday, February 12, noon to 1 p.m.
2507 Setnor Building
(on Irving Ave. at intersection with Waverly--
Setnor is an addition just to the right of Weiskotten Hall, which is set
back from Irving Ave.)

Developing Skills in Communication and Cultural Mediation in Dialogues
between Providers and Deaf Patients

Michael Schwartz, JD, LLM, PhD
Assistant Professor, Office of Clinical Programs
Director of Disability Rights Clinic
Syracuse University College of Law

Marjorie DeVault, PhD
Professor of Sociology
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Syracuse University

Access for people with disabilities in the medical setting poses a
challenge and an opportunity for medical personnel. In this talk, Professors
Michael Schwartz and Marjorie DeVault will engage in a dialogue with the
attendees regarding ways for health care providers to communicate
effectively and develop competency in cultural mediation, focusing in
particular on communicating with deaf patients.

Brainstorm with Michael and Marjorie on how to raise awareness in the
medical community about disability, enhancing communication between doctor
and patient, and improving the ability of medical providers to understand
disability as a cultural and social phenomenon.

For more information about Bioethics and Humanities Center Seminars,
contact Rebecca Garden at gardenr@upstate.edu.

via the Society for Disability Studies list serv

More Christmas services for Deaf and HOH

From the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, PA, ASL Christmas Masses:

Our Lady of Ransom Chapel
Unruh Street and Roosevelt Boulevard
Christmas Eve 6:00 PM
Christmas Day 11 AM

St. Stanislaus Church, Lansdale, PA
Main Street and Lansdale Road
Christmas Eve 5:15 PM

Sts. Peter and Paul, West Chester, PA
West Chester Pike and Route 352
Christmas Eve 6 PM

St. Francis Assisi Church,
Norristown, PA
Marshall and Buttonwood Streets
Christmas Eve 4:00 PM

St. Pius X, Broomall, PA
220 Lawrence Road
Christmas Eve 4:00 PM

Epiphany of Our Lord Church,
South Philadelphia
11th and Jackson Street
Christmas Day 11:00 AM

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Doylestown
East State Road
Christmas Eve 6:00 PM

St. Joseph, Warrington, PA
Easton and County Line Road
Christmas Day 11:00 AM

St. Norbert Church
50 Leopold Road, Paoli
Christmas Eve 11 PM

St. Anselm School Hall
12670 Dunks Ferry Road, Phila.
Christmas Eve 4 PM

Diocese sponsors retreat for the deaf

The Northeastern Pennsylvania Catholic Deaf Association is sponsoring a retreat for the deaf Nov. 21, 22 and 23 at St. Joseph's Oblate Seminary, Pittston.

The Rev. Joseph A. Mulcrone, director of the Catholic Office for the Deaf in the Archdiocese of Chicago, will be the presenter.

The theme of the retreat is "Growing in Faith through Saint Paul."

For details, call Sr. Mary Beth Makuch, SS.C.M., at (570) 207-2213 ext. 1013.

via www.poconorecord.com

Put down that bagpipe!

Bagpipe player Andrew Aitken, from Galashiels, who went to the Olympics to raise money for the National Deaf Children's Society on a sponsored walk along the Great Wall of China, was almost arrested when he was practicing his bagpipe near the stadium (the Birds Nest), not realizing that he was close to a major electricity source, a sensitive security location. When a Chinese officer stopped to arrest him, a passing tourist helped explain that the bagpipe was not a weapon.

Mr Aitken said: "I'm not all that good on the pipes so I thought I'd go off on my own and have a practice before I had to play in front of the people I was doing the walk with.

"I had a silly soldier's hat on and my kilt and a few locals gathered round and seemed to be enjoying me playing, but just as I finished a police car pulled up with four officers.

"They weren't happy and it emerged that it was heightened security all over China because of the opening ceremony." via bbc.co.uk

ASL Mass in Newark NJ to be held regularly

An article about bringing Mass to the deaf in Newark, New Jersey is quoted in the blog The Deacon's Bench. A regularly scheduled ASL Sunday Mass will begin on September 7 at 1 p.m. at St. John's parish on Mulberry Street.

From the Catholic Advocate article:
The fact it will be an ASL Mass is significant. There is, Deacon Smith stressed, a major difference for the deaf community between an "interpreted" Mass and ASL Mass. At interpreted masses, which are celebrated throughout the archdiocese at a number of parishes and will continue in conjunction with the ASL Mass at Saint John's, what is being said by the priest is being conveyed to the Deaf in the pews by a third party-the sign language interpreter.

Unfortunately, Deacon Smith explained, "this is not direct participation in the Mass," as deaf people find it difficult to "completely focus on the actions and words of the priest, because they are trying to see and understand the ASL interpreter."

By contrast, a deaf person can participate fully in the Mass by following what the priest is signing in ASL. This represents a direct connection between parishioner and priest-no third-party interpreter. Instead of trying to keep up with the pace of English-the dominant "language" during an interpreted Mass-the prayers and readings of the liturgy at an ASL Mass are presented in a "pace and visual style that are more natural and understandable to the Deaf," he explained. The priest or presiding deacon leads the Mass and deaf Catholics will sign all the readings and petitions, as well as lead all the responses.

In addition to the use of hands to convey words and phrases, Deacon Smith said the nuances of body movement and facial expressions also are essential components of ASL communication. Although the signed Mass will be silent, Deacon Smith pointed out hearing people (family members and ASL students) are "always welcome" since there will be "voicing for the signing impaired."

Deacon Smith is "joyfully anticipating" the ASL Mass at Saint John's, stressing it will be "creating access to Sunday liturgy for a group of alienated Catholics." The program at Saint John represents a desperately needed outreach to serve the spiritual needs of hearing-impaired Catholics. Deacon Smith said only 2 percent of deaf Catholics worldwide attend church services.

To get directions to St. John's Roman Catholic church, here is the address information:

22 Mulberry St
Newark, NJ 07102

Media Culture Journal issue: Able available online

M/C Journal was founded (as "M/C - A Journal of Media and Culture") in 1998 as a place of public intellectualism analysing and critiquing the meeting of media and culture. Issues are written about a single word topic.

The July 2008 issue of Media Culture journal is available online. It contains the following articles on the topic - Able:

EDITORIAL: Disabling Able - Liz Ferrier, Viv Muller
FEATURE: Refusing Able(ness): A Preliminary Conversation about Ableism - Fiona Kumari Campbell
Mobilising the Monster: Modern Disabled Performers' Manipulation of the Freakshow - Bree Hadley
Disability, Heroism and Australian National Identity - Martin Mantle
Enabling the Auteurial Voice in Dance Me to My Song - D. Bruno Starrs
Ars Moriendi, the Erotic Self and AIDS - Catalina Florescu
Creating Visible Children? - Nicole Mathews
Shattering the Hearing Wall - Donna McDonald
Amniocentesis and Motherhood: How Prenatal Testing Shapes Our Cultural Understandings of Pregnancy and Disability - Fiona Place
Able to Live, Laugh and Love - Veronica Wain
iTunes Is Pretty (Useless) When You're Blind: Digital Design Is Triggering Disability When It Could Be a Solution - Katie Ellis, Mike Kent
Innovation and Disability - Gerard Goggin
Is There an End to Out-Able? Is There an End to the Rat Race for Abilities? - Gregor Wolbring

Deaf priest named Prelate of Honor

Pope Benedict XVI has named a Cuban priest who has been deaf since childhood an honorary Prelate for his pastoral work with the deaf over fifty years. Msgr. Yanes, as he is  called,  has a blog with signed homilies that can also be found on YouTube.

International Conference on Deaf Issues held at Swarthmore College

on February 29 and March 1, 2008. All events are free and open to the public. For more information, please click here.

Deaf customer hit in head by clerk...

A deaf customer buying two cans of Sprite was struck in the head after a clerk interpreted his lack of response to conversation as rudeness.

"Cody Goodnight, 30, has been deaf since before the age of 2 and uses sign language to communicate. When Goodnight tried to pay for two bottles of Sprite with a $5 bill, investigators said Ricky Young, 20, told them he thought Goodnight was being rude by not talking to him and hit him in the head with a crowbar." Via MSNBC

The article goes on to say that Goodknight is afraid to go any place alone.

Seeing this article reminded me of an incident that happened a few years ago. I asked the price of an item on a food carousel in a grocery store because it was placed at an angle I couldn't see from my wheelchair. A clerk picked up the ladle, filled it with food and put it right in my face, saying "Can't you read? I got better things to do." She then dumped the food on me. What she didn't realize is that her actions were being filmed on video in the store and that customers walking by witnessed this.

I took legal action. My aim was to get the store to do disability awareness with their employees and we worked things out. I discovered that the store had been sued by another wheelchair user for discrimination. Now it is like night and day when I go into that store - and my friends with disabilities report the same.

The clerk who injured Goodknight, if convicted, faces years in prison. And it's important to remember that, although these incidents don't happen frequently, if they do happen, it doesn't have to be as dramatic as being hit in the head with a crowbar to constitute assault.

No one should ever touch you out of anger that you don't respond to them or ask for assistance. This includes hitting you with an object, throwing something at you or putting their hands on you or your wheelchair, cane, etc. As rare as this is, in my work I've seen other incidents like this.

Our disabilities may prevent us from hearing someone, moving in certain ways or even may require asking a question . It is a lack of awareness of disability on the part of businesses and their employees that results in incidents. Many are not as extreme as this one - luckily- but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be addressed.

People with disabilities need to know how to respond. And if you're assaulted, call the police.

Racial incident at school for the deaf

"A black student was held against his will and then released with "KKK" and swastikas drawn on him in marker at the Model Secondary School for the Deaf on Sunday..." after what began as horseplay in the dorm between white and black students resulted in the student being held against his will and being marked.

Seven students have been sent home because of the incident and authorities are considering charging those involved with an enhanced hate crime. "The school is a residential high school on the campus of Gallaudet University, a higher education facility for deaf and hard of hearing people. The high school is administered as a division of the university's Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center."
-via CNN

Closed caption videos on Revver

Revver, a YouTube competitor, is announcing today that it's paid out 1 million dollars to posters.

So I wandered over there to see what the site is like and discovered that it also has closed captions on its videos . Thought I'd pass that info along....click above to visit it!