Deaf News: Audree Lauraine Norton, Pioneering Deaf Actress, Dies at 88.
Hollywood Reporter - Audree Norton, who many consider the first Deaf actress to appear in a featured role on an American network TV series, has died. She was 88.
In September 1968, on “The Silent Cry,” the episode that kicked off the second season of the CBS crime drama Mannix, Norton starred as a Deaf woman who, while reading the lips of a man talking inside a phone booth, realizes that he’s plotting to kidnap someone.
She seeks out good-guy private detective Joe Mannix (Mike Connors). He investigates, putting their lives in jeopardy.
Norton also played a Deaf mother who wanted to adopt a child in a 1971 episode of ABC’s The Man and the City, and she and her husband, Kenneth, who also was Deaf, auditioned for roles as parents in a 1978 ABC Afterschool Special titled “Mom and Dad Can’t Hear Me.”
According to the 1988 book Hollywood Speaks: Deafness and he Film Entertainment Industry, written by John S. Schuchman, a casting director told Norton that “of all the people, you and your husband won the roles. But you are out because the director is afraid to use Deaf actors and actresses.”
Thousands of Deaf people gathered at front of Gallaudet University at 11am to set up the parade and march down toward to Lincoln Memorial Park and it takes about 3.5 between 4 miles.
Lincoln Memorial Park and opening to celebrate ASL & Deaf Pride at 2:30pm. The event such as variety presenters, skits, chants, spirits, and sharing our stories to inspire our ASL & Deaf Pride as Human and Linguistic rights.
Thousands of Deaf people gathered at front of Gallaudet University at 11am to set up the parade and march down toward to Lincoln Memorial Park and it takes about 3.5 between 4 miles.
Lincoln Memorial Park and opening to celebrate ASL & Deaf Pride at 2:30pm. The event such as variety presenters, skits, chants, spirits, and sharing our stories to inspire our ASL & Deaf Pride as Human and Linguistic rights.
VIDEO [CC] - The Deaf Culture webisode series in ASL.
The video producer by Guthrie Nutter also known as American Sign Language educator, actor, tornado chasing and climbing the mountains of the Pacific Northwest.
A top 5 introduction to Deaf Culture webisode the educational comedy ASL versions, Guthrie shared on YouTube social networking for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. All Deaf culture webisode with captioning has been enabled for all audiences to activate this feature, press the "CC" button on the lower right.
Deaf Culture Webisode Teaser - A top 5 introduction to Deaf culture teaser.
Deaf Culture Webisode #1 - Things that hearing people do to Deaf...
Deaf Culture Webisode #2 - Common myths about Deaf people.
VIDEO [CC] - The 90 minute production for PBS: History "Through Deaf Eyes" will take a look at Deaf culture from the 19th century to the present in the United States of America.
Through Deaf Eyes is a two-hour HDTV documentary for PBS exploring nearly 200 years of Deaf life in America. The film presents the shared experiences of American history family life, education, work, and community connections from the perspective of Deaf citizens.
Interviews include community leaders, historians, and Deaf Americans with diverse views on language use, technology and identity. Bringing a Deaf cinematic lens to the film are six artistic works by Deaf media artists and filmmakers.
Poignant, sometimes humorous, these films draw on the media artists' own lives and are woven throughout the documentary. But the core of the film remains the larger story of Deaf life in America - a story of conflicts, prejudice and affirmation that reaches the heart of what it means to be human.
Through Deaf Eyes does not approach the topic of deaf history from the perspective of sentimentality or overcoming, nor does it deny the physical reality of being deaf.
The documentary takes a straight-forward look at life for people who are part of the cultural-linguistic group who use American Sign Language and often define themselves as "Deaf" with a capital, and cultural, "D" and deaf people who, for a variety of reasons, do not identify with the Deaf cultural community.
The history often shows that intersections between deaf and Deaf people are many and that oppression and discrimination are common experiences. Source
If you wish to participate, support, help, or volunteer and please contact us at AudismFreeAmerica@gmail.com. We would be appreicate for your participate and support to value our sign language in our Deaf world. Hope to see you there. Let Freedom Roll!
Greetings AFA thrills to share with all of you about ASL and Deaf Pride Parade! We hosts the event for celebrating our beautiful language and sharing our Deaf pride includes Deaf People of Color, Deaf Women, DeafBlind, Deaf LGBT, Deaf Dogs, Deaf children, Parents of Deaf children, Teachers, Friends, Family, Interpreters, Interpreters students, Community, and more!
We take a stand to cherish ASL as linguistic rights and Deaf Pride as human rights. We believe what we can change for future and our childrens' future. This is our mission of ASL & Deaf Pride Parade. On Friday, April 10th - We would be meeting at front of Gallaudet University at 11am to set up our parade. We will start march down at noon toward to Lincoln Memorial Park and it will takes about 3.5 between 4 miles to march. Once we arrives at Lincoln Memorial Park and we would opening to celebrate ASL & Deaf Pride at 2:30pm. There will have variety presenters, skits, chants, spirits, and sharing our stories to inspire our ASL & Deaf Pride as Human and Linguistic rights.
On Saturday evening, April 11th, we hosts an event as candlelight vigil at 7pm. We cherish to honor all Deaf people and Deaf children who survive to face Audism which a group who would oppress our human and linguistic rights. We take a stand to resist an oppression and grow our roots all together to light our soul. We have a vision to believe for us to take a stand to change for future and children future.
People who wishes to join our parade could hosts this event in your local, Deaf club, or any groups to celebrate ASL and Deaf Pride and also light the candle for candlight vigil. If you want to support and donate, you may check on: http://www.gofundme.com/ASLSTAR-AFA2015
ASL and Deaf Pride Parade starts at Gallaudet at 11 am On Friday April 10, 2015, we start marching at 12 noon, and can bring your cars/motorcycle. Wear black or blue shirts, comfortable shoes, bring water and food in backpack and bring (cardboard) signs too. Impact of last time - taking kids to see this was awesome Cj was there with Carol her mother - and it impacted her understanding of what Deaf is!
Cj was a young child at the last ASL Deaf Pride parade and she remembers seeing people in tall buisness buildings and people on the road watching with smiles and some signing ILY hand shape.. She was surprised to see that as she usually sees people being wrapped in their own world as she is in her Deaf world so that was really wonderful experience
APril is also the month that President Abraham Lincoln signed Gallaudet College into being in 1864. That weekend will have Gallaudet Charter celebration plus Early Childhood Education summit on bilingualism.
March is 4 miles from Gally to Lincoln Memorial. Can take taxi, or subway to Metro and change to Smithsonian. past the Monument and you'll be there.
April 11, 2015 will have a VIGIL for all the Deaf and HOH children in the past and future.
ASL Abstract - 4 people showing up in various combination or alone:
Carol Hirsch - White woman with long brown hair,
Cj Hirsch - white woman with brown hair pulled up in a bun
David Ennis - white man with long grey hair pulled back.
Jenny Witteborg - white woman with messy pony tail and green glasses on top of head.
VIDEO [CC] - German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz in Oswiecim, Poland. January 27 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Deaf survivors of the Holocaust gathered around the globe on Tuesday on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau to remember the mothers, fathers, siblings and others lost to genocide - the pain of memory of the squalid ghettos, the inhuman Nazi death camps, of starvation and terror.
This documentary covers the treatment of Deaf and Hard of Hearing people in Nazi Germany during World War Two. 17,000 Deaf people were forcibly sterilised by the Nazis to stop them from having children and many others were killed simply because they were Deaf - in a bid to improve the German gene pool.
As part of the season of programmes commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Holocaust and the liberation of Auschwitz, Clive Mason visits the killing centre of Hadamar to investigate the development and impact of the Nazi policy of enforced sterilisation and the murder of Deaf and Disabled people, which took place in Germany between 1933 and 1945. Members of the German Deaf community, who are still living with the legacy of this brutal Nazi policy, tell their moving stories for the first time on television.
A Documentary Film: Deaf Mother Survivor Being Assaulted By Nazis.
Bring Your Own Doc: 'Ingelore' Revisiting a Nazi Assault. Director Frank Stiefel, of Ingelore, talks to Ondi on this BYOD REMIX about the jaw-dropping experience of his hearing impaired mother being assaulted by nazis during WWII.
A Deaf Survivor's Story.
Deaf Holocaust survivor, Charlotte Friedman, talks about how she successfully escaped war-torn Europe and the many experiences she had on the way, including meeting Ann Frank and her family in Holland.
An Interview with Charlotte Friedman in American Sign Language (ASL) with Rachel Soudakoff. Includes english subtitles for Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
VIDEO: Documentary Film - 4th International Games for the Deaf, London.
LONDON - The 4th International Games for the Deaf (now the Deaflympics) took place in London, in 1935.
The first part of this film documents the opening ceremonies as well as certain athletic events; there are scenes of crowds gathered outside St Paul Cathedral’s after the special service, an athletes’ parade at the White City Stadium, as well as opening speech by Lord Desborough followed by a number of track events.
Scenes at St Paul’s Cathedral: exterior views of St Paul's and the crowds at the Special Service for the commencement of the games; the filmmaker shows those attending, groups conversing in sign language and wider pans of the crowd who, looking towards the camera, wave and sign. This is followed by shots of scouts and guides (mostly adults) standing to attention.
At the White City, the first purpose-built Olympic Stadium, athletes and delegates parade around the track. The Finnish team are captured first, followed by the French, then the German squad, who are led by a young man carrying a Nazi flag. More nations follow, eventually forming a line on the field.
Lord Desborough is shown giving a speech. He welcomes the athletes, while an interpreter sign to the crowd and there are views of the packed stands and people moving down the aisles towards seats. On the field, a formally dressed couple walk towards the camera and sign; two men are captured mingling amongst the athletes; Mr W. Baird (Hon. Secretary of the International Sports) stands arm in arm with a female athlete who sports a number ‘1’ jersey, both smile for the camera. Read more: 4th International Games for the Deaf, London - Documentary.
VIDEO [CC] - Deaf World Promo - "In Search of the Deaf World" by Ted Evans.
Deaf filmmaking, Ted Evans - a british freelance director, editor and general all round filmmaker based in London, U.K.
Ted Evans having recently visited Malaysia where he met numerous Deaf people from all kinds of backgrounds; He have since fantasied about travelling all over the world, meeting a wide range of unique Deaf people who have a story to tell. During this search the process would also reveal the sub-story of the filmmaker's' journey, as they search for the Deaf people and where they live.
Deaf people are not recorded and they are hidden from view. Deaf History was recorded by a very limited few yet there are so many fascinating stories and characters to unearth.
Having such films would both educate mainstream society on several authentic aspects of Deaf Culture and at the same time serve to inspire Deaf people who do not know how other Deaf people like them, live in countries across the world.
Using the footage his shot in Malaysia, He have put together a promo teaser to give the viewer a sense of style and the type of visuals they'd be keen to incorporate into the films. This is not a real programme or docmentary series.
Filmed by Ted Evans (5DMK2 footage shot mainly by Becky Bailey and a few shots here and there from Brian Duffy)
Ted Evans' statement on the website - "This is simply something we could do if we had the funding and networks set up. I hope people see this and want to see more because it proves that there would be an audience for such films.
I don't know when I can finish this pilot. Firstly I have no budget, secondly there will be some major translation challenges to overcome and this takes time and money something I am very short on. If you wish to help you can donate some money via the Tip-Jar below this film.
A big thanks must go out to my friends at silentSHOUT who helped set up a lot of what you see in this clip. They pretty much produced this episode and I appreciate all the time and work they put into our visit.
I didn't want the footage to sit on a shelf somewhere so I quickly cut this. Wouldn't it be amazing if we could travel to countries all over the world, finding unique deaf people in all kinds of environments. We already know that some stories would be incredibly sad and difficult, but there will also be inspiring ones and stories that will fascinate everyone. Until then just imagine what we could do!" - Ted Evans
Leala Holcomb learned from her parents and grandparents that American Sign Language-English bilingualism is not an old approach to educating Deaf children. Why? Sign language was banned from all classrooms until 1970s. In contrast, the listening and spoken language approach has always been enforced as the primary and sole mode of communication in Deaf education, including the signing schools, for at least over a hundred years. Signing schools only meant Deaf kids were able to sign during recess and dorm.
Very fascinating video on the history of Deaf education and debunks the false narrative that sign language in Deaf education is "old" and spoken language is "new" while the opposite is true.
In the end of the video, her 5-year-old nephew talks about his experiences receiving education in languages that are fully accessible to him without any frustrations and struggles gives her hope that they are going in the right direction by giving all Deaf children whole through American Sign Language and English (in all modalities).
Disclaimer: Leala Holcomb recognize that including educational degrees in their introduction violates Deaf culture norms. Due to the classist and elitist nature of the EHDI conference, Holcomb felt the need to include this background information in order to show sign language was not detrimental to their academic success which is contradictory to the mainstream ideology and perspective.
Holcomb also want to point out that their white privilege has afforded us and continue to give their opportunities many other People of Color Deaf people did not have and still do not have in our educational system.
The narratives shared in the video demonstrate White, mostly professional-class, Sighted, some Abled multi-generational Deaf experiences.
Trigger Warnings: Audism, phonocentricism, and cultural abuse through both psychological and physical means. Source
The meeting took place in September of 1930 in Browning, Montana, and is the largest known gathering of high-ranking representatives from Indian Nations to be filmed up until then. This footage comes courtesy of the National Archives, and was digitized with support from the Office of the Chancellor at the University of Tennessee.
VIDEO: [CC] - American Sign Language storytelling of the Deaf Schools 'Home'
Deaf Institutions, Since 1950, over 67 percent of our homes are disappearing in America. - In this day and age of economic cuts, the closure of educational programs and schools for the deaf has been viewed as a convenient way to reduce budgets. Over the past 63 years, several schools for the deaf have been closed and numerous others have experienced cuts as well as the threat of closure.
Closing such schools actually result in increased long term costs for states rather than serving as a cost-saving measure and, more importantly, result in severe educational deficits for many Deaf and Hard of Hearing children.
VIDEO: Deaf sailor receives hero's welcome. The first Deaf person to have sailed single-handed around the world, passing all five capes, has returned home to a hero's welcome.
SOUTH AYRSHIRE, SCOTLAND - Gerry Hughes, 55, fulfilled his boyhood dream of sailing past the capes, racking up 32,000 miles on an eight-month voyage.
Hundreds of members of the Deaf community turned out at Troon harbour in South Ayrshire to congratulate the father-of-two, who was born without hearing.
After hugging his tearful wife Kay, 47, on his arrival, he swapped the champagne popped in his honour for a pint of his favourite Guinness.
He spoke of a great sense of achievement, having fulfilled an ambition he has had since he was 14.
Stormy weather often created tough sailing conditions, causing him to capsize at one stage. But he cited problems with electronic equipment, not his lack of hearing, as the biggest challenge of the trip.
ASL/AUDIO Version - The Deaf Community: Seeing Voices - Teresa Curtin, Aaron Kubbey, Lewis Merkin, Terrylene Sacchetti. Moderated by Janice Rimler presented at, NewYorkLiveArts - Live.
The Sign Language as the distinct expression of their culture and community. Sacks travelled to Gallaudet University to witness the tumultuous events and subsequently chronicled them with remarkable sympathy and insight in his book "Seeing Voices".
This panel, moderated by Janice Rimler, will focus a variety of such voices on Sacks' contributions to the wider discourse between the hearing and the Deaf.
Seeing Voices - With Seeing Voices, Dr. Sacks launches on a journey into the world of the Deaf, which he explores with the same passion and insight that have illuminated other human conditions for his readers everywhere.
Seeing Voices begins with the history of Deaf people in the United States, the often outrageous ways in which they have been seen and treated in the past, and their continuing struggle for acceptance in a hearing world. And it examines the amazing and beautiful visual language of the Deaf–Sign–which has only in the past decade been recognized fully as a language–linguistically complete, rich, and as expressive as any spoken language. ...READ MORE: http://www.oliversacks.com/books/seeing-voices/
- Two Dominican Sisters, Sr. M Vincent Martin OP, and Sr Magdalen O'Farrell, OP and their first pupils Agnes Beedam and Mary Anne Dogherty set sail for Le Bon Sauveur School for the Deaf in Caen, France. The school opens with fifteen pupils who are admitted to the 'Cottage Parlour', a room in a building owned by the Dominican Sisters in Cabra
Hands On is the programme for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities in Ireland, presented in Irish Sign Language.
We have a strong team of presenters, Senan Dunne, is also an associate producer on the programme and works along with our regular presenters, Sarah Jane Moloney, Caroline Worthington, Eddie Redmond, Caroline Mc Grotty, Seán Herlihy, Alvean Jones, Julianne Gillen, and Teresa Lynch.
Hands On covers a broad range of issues relevant to the Deaf Community from Education, Health, Current Affairs, Sport, Equality and some investigative reporting.
VIDEO [ASL/CC] - WASHINGTON - 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.
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.
VIDEO: Gallaudet University uses all-sign language episode of ‘Switched at Birth’ to air new commercial.
Gallaudet University is taking advantage of a special episode of ABC Family’s ‘Switched at Birth’ Monday night, as a commercial for the university will air during an episode of the show that is told entirely in American Sign Language and based on real-life events that happened at the school itself.
The all-sign language technique for the episode is a first for a scripted series on mainstream television, according to the network, which will air Gallaudet’s commercial twice during the hour. The episode takes place on the 25th anniversary of the Deaf President Now movement at Gallaudet in March 1988, when students and faculty protested after the university instated a hearing president over two Deaf candidates.
‘Switched at Birth,’ which wraps up the first half of its second season next week, follows the chaos that takes place when two high school girls find out they were sent home with the wrong families as babies in the hospital. One of the daughters is Deaf, resulting as a driving plot force in the series. The show, which debuted in June 2011 to more than 3 million viewers, has attracted around 1.7 million people per episode this season.
On ABC Family, an Episode in Sign Language - Nytimes.com: On Monday night, ABC Family did something that no commercial television outlet in the United States had ever done: it broadcast an entire episode of a show in sign language, with closed captioning turned on by default.
Advocates for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing cheered the move, and they wondered: would viewers tune in specifically for the almost-silent episode of the series, ‘Switched at Birth,’ one of ABC Family’s most popular? Or would viewers turn it off, potentially perturbed by the lack of audio? There was a normal musical score, and a scene at the beginning of the episode with audible dialogue, but the rest of the dialogue was in sign language.
Broadly speaking, neither outcome came true. The show’s overnight Nielsen ratings were down, but only slightly. Most fans of the show stayed with it 1.6 million, according to the overnight ratings. The series this season has averaged 1.7 million viewers.
In the show’s target demographic, women 12 to 34, 748,000 viewers tuned in, down just a little bit from the season average of 777,000. About a quarter of those viewers usually record the show and watch it later, so the final ratings won’t come in for a while.
‘Switched at Birth’: ABC Family’s The teen soap Switched at Birth explores self-expression and the communication gulf between the hearing and Deaf communities. List of Switched at Birth characters: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Switched_at_Birth_characters
Hollywood Reporter - Audree Norton, who many consider the first Deaf actress to appear in a featured role on an American network TV series, has died. She was 88.
