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Delavan, WI
DEAF SCHOOL GROUP TO HONOR MAN WHO HELPED EXPOSE PRIEST ABUSE
Arthur Budzinski, a deaf man who helped expose one of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee's most notorious child sexual abusers, the late Father Lawrence Murphy, will be honored Saturday by the Wisconsin School for the Deaf Alumni Association. Budzinski is among 10 alumni who will be inducted into the Delavan school's Hall of Fame for their service to the community. "Arthur has been a courageous and staunch advocate for victims abused by priests since the early 1970s," the association said in announcing the award. / The Journal Sentinel
Baltimore, MD
EEOC SUES FEDEX FOR NOT ACCOMMODATING DEAF WORKERS
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit charging that FedEx discriminated against deaf and partially deaf workers and job applicants for years. The EEOC says FedEx Ground employed a significant number of deaf package handlers nationwide but failed to provide needed accommodations. The EEOC says FedEx didn’t provide ASL interpretation or closed-captioning training videos during mandatory tours and new-hire orientation or during staff and safety meetings. / The Associated Press
Brattleboro, VT
COALITION SEEKS A STATE COMMISSION FOR THE DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING
A coalition of deaf and hard-of-hearing Vermonters and their allies wants the legislature to create a state Commission on the Deaf. The group is also calling for the state to reopen the recently closed Austine School for the Deaf as a state school. And they want deaf people to have a say in replacing services that ended when Austine’s parent group dissolved in September. A week after a major rally in Montpelier, Austine alumni gathered on the school’s Brattleboro campus to plan their next move. / Vermont Public Radio
Tulsa, OK
TULSA POLICE WORK TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION WITH DEAF COMMUNITY
A town hall meeting Tuesday night focused on taking the fear out of a scary situation. Neither police nor citizens know exactly what to expect when someone's pulled over, but that anxiety is compounded when a driver is deaf or hard of hearing. The issue came into stark focus after a deaf man was shot and killed last month in Florida, when he didn't respond to deputies telling him to drop his gun. / NewsOn6.com
Fulton, MO
DEAF CITY RAISES AWARENESS AT WILLIAM WOODS UNIVERSITY
Have you ever wondered what it is like to be deaf in a hearing world? That’s what some people experienced on Fulton’s William Woods University campus on Thursday night. Deaf City is an imaginary world where everyone uses sign language. City residents learn how to make their way in a deaf world by doing business at a bank, a post office and a hospital. / KRCG
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Prince Albert, SK, Canada
INQUEST INTO TEEN'S DEATH HIGHLIGHTS ISSUES FACING DEAF COMMUNITY
An inquest into the death of a teen last September after one week in a Prince Albert youth facility has concluded that he died of natural causes, in a case critics say underscores the need for greater support to the deaf community. The six-person coroner’s jury found that Dylan Leo LaChance, 16, died from acute bronchopneumonia with associated sepsis on Sept. 19 in the Victoria Union Hospital. LaChance, who was deaf, had spent a week in the Prince Albert Youth Residence prior to his hospitalization and death. / The Prince Albert Daily Herald
Manchester, England
10-YEAR-OLD PAKISTANI WAS KEPT AS SLAVE IN UK FOR A DECADE
A hearing-impaired child smuggled to Britain and kept as a slave for almost a decade must be paid 100,000 pounds ($160,000) by her captors, a court ruled Wednesday. Trafficked from Pakistan as a 10-year-old girl, the survivor was repeatedly raped by Ilyas Ashar, 85, who along with his wife Tallat, 69, forced her to work as their domestic help. She was discovered in the cellar of their five-bedroom house sleeping on a cot bed by investigators looking into allegations of money laundering. / NDTV
Derby, England
MUM OF DEAF BOY ANGRY CITY COUNCIL WILL NOT PAY £2,500 FOR SCHOOL SKIING TRIP
A deaf teenage carer will miss out on a life-changing skiing trip because his family can't afford the hundreds of pounds for an interpreter. Chris Martin will be forced to miss the trip – but his family believe the £2,500 ($4,000 US) should be paid by Derby City Council. The 15-year-old cares for his dad and will be left behind while his JCB Academy friends go on the trip if it is not paid by Thursday. / Derby Telegraph
Dublin, Ireland
TREE FAIRY WINS BEST DRAMA AT IRISH DEAF FESTIVAL
Our drama Tree Fairy has won an award at last weekend's Irish Deaf Film Festival. The drama, which is about a girl who is left out at Christmas, stars Rebecca-Anne Withey as the fairy who grants her Christmas wish, and was produced by Remark Media. The director of the film, Louis Neethling, was there to pick up the award, which was for Best Drama. / BSL Zone
Newport, Wales
'EVIL' BURGLAR TARGETED DEAF MAN'S FLAT
An 'evil' burglar who deliberately targeted a deaf man because he knew he would not be heard breaking in was caught after neighbours heard him ransacking the flat, a court has heard. Samuel Mulligan, 24, from Newport, made friends with the 27-year-old deaf man and visited his flat. He returned at night and smashed a hole in the roof and kicked down a door, Newport Crown Court was told. Mulligan admitted burglary and was jailed for four years. / BBC News
Tamworth, NSW, Australia
DEAF PLUMBER JARROD TAKES THE PLUNGE
Today's workforce is tough enough for young people just starting out, but for Tamworth TAFE student Jarrod Shackleton, there’s another hurdle he has to clear on a daily basis. Jarrod is hearing-impaired, which presents a few more challenges than usual in the completion of his plumbing apprenticeship – not that he’s complaining. “I love the hard work, which is a challenge, I love that the job can be different each day, at a different location, and I also enjoy meeting different people,” he said. / The Northern Daily Leader
Melbourne, Australia
BUS THUG BASHES DEAF MAN, AUTISTIC BOY IN UNPROVOKED ATTACK
A man arrested this morning for an alleged attack on two vulnerable bus passengers has now been charged. “He has been charged with one count of recklessly cause injury and two counts of unlawful assault,” Sergeant Kris Hamilton said. He has been bailed to appear at Dandenong Magistrates Court on 28 January. / Herald Sun
Jerusalem, Israel
NEW SMS SERVICE TO PROVIDE DEAF WITH ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE
A new service launched this week by Nati Roadway Services aims to allow hard-of-hearing people the possibility of calling for help via SMS. “There are many deaf people who cannot speak or that are hard to understand them. ... Beyond the difficulty, there is often a reluctance to help at the call centers, sometimes they even hang up on us, and this is very frustrating,” said Ben Zion Hen, chairman of the Association of the Deaf in Israel. / The Jerusalem Post
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
ERIN MORIARTY HARRELSON: DOCUMENTING THE DEAF EXPERIENCE IN CAMBODIA
As I picked through the mountains of paintings at a booth in the hot, claustrophobia-inducing warren of merchandise that is the Russian Market in Phnom Penh, I noticed in my peripheral vision that the vendor, a young Cambodian woman, was looking at me with a puzzled expression. Recognizing the look on her face, I thought to myself, wow, the sentiment of, “I just said something but she’s not looking at me or responding appropriately,” just may be universal. / National Geographic
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LIFE & LEISURE
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Albuquerque, NM
BALLOON PILOT: DEAF CREW CAN BE AN ADVANTAGE
Balloon pilots can’t do it without their crew, but what if your crew is deaf? One pilot at Fiesta this year had deaf crew members, but he says it can be an advantage. Balloon Pilot Colin Graham has a unique crew – a third of them are deaf or hard of hearing. So how do they communicate? It just so happens his wife and crew chief Brittany Graham is a sign language interpreter by trade. “We’re using sign language and English all at the same time. It gets a little confusing, but it’s amazing,” said Brittany Graham. / KRQE News 13
Tulsa, OK
TRAFFIC STOPS FOR HEARING IMPAIRED DRIVERS: PRACTICAL TIPS FOR PUBLIC SAFETY
When a hearing impaired or deaf person is being pulled over, they worry they won't be able to let the officer know quickly enough that they have special communication needs -- or whether the officer will have the patience to try to communicate with them. They worry the officer may become aggressive and the stop might become a physical altercation. "I don't know where or how to interrupt the person and gesture to the fact that I can't hear," said Azael Buperry. / NewsOn6.com
Longview, WA
SIGNS OF FAITH: CHURCH SERVES DEAF COMMUNITY
Brad Ketterling’s Bible study is strangely quiet for anyone accustomed to hearing prayers or calls of “Amen.” Instead, Ketterling gets a flurry of sign language affirmation when he’s making a point about the Bible. Ketterling has started a Deaf Church in Longview to fill a need for people who don’t fit in at churches where most people are hearing. / The Daily News
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Learn how to make your local hospital more accessible for Deaf people. If you are Deaf or Hard of hearing, learn where to turn to advocate if your communication needs are not being met in the hospital setting.
Two different patient stories are told in the following video
http://healthbridges.info/?p=427
HealthBridges website offers information about social services, advocacy and behavioral health topics and resources available to persons who are Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of hearing.
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WORKING WORLD
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Danville, KY
LETTER: DEAF STUDENTS NEED QUALIFIED TEACHERS
We are writing to express our concerns about four new Kentucky School for the Deaf staff members who came from a Boyle County school. One is a principal and three are teachers. They have little or no experience in teaching deaf students and do not know sign language. They use interpreters. We are supposed to hire teachers who know sign language and have a degree in deaf education. / The Advocate Messenger
Washington, DC
GALLAUDET PLOTS 'TOWN-GOWN NEIGHBORHOOD' NEAR UNION MARKET
On Friday Gallaudet University’s board of trustees voted to give the university’s foundation the go-ahead to negotiate a deal with the JBG Cos. to develop seven acres along Sixth Street NE. The project is viewed as an opportunity for the university to shape some of the industrial land surrounding its campus into a “town-gown neighborhood” designed to accommodate its student body and better integrate the school with the city around it. / The Washington Post
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
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Los Angeles, CA
DEAF WEST THEATRE HAS A HIT ON ITS HANDS WITH 'SPRING AWAKENING'
“Spring Awakening” is a 2006 Tony Award-winning musical that’s based on the 19th Century play by Frank Wedekind. It features modern music and lyrics by Duncan Sheik and Steve Sater. The coming-of-age story is now enjoying an acclaimed revival in Los Angeles — with a twist: It’s being performed by a cast that largely can’t hear. The Frame contributor Collin Friesen visited Deaf West Theater to discuss the company’s staging of “Spring Awakening.” / 89.3 KPCC
See Also A LOOK BEHIND THE SCENES AT DEAF WEST THEATRE'S 'SPRING AWAKENING' / Playbill
New York, NY
ANDY MIENTUS CAST AS OPENLY GAY DC COMICS VILLAIN ON CW'S 'THE FLASH'
Andy Mientus, who currently stars as Marius in the Broadway revival of Les Misérables, will join CW's "The Flash," according to TVLine.com. Mientus, who also appeared on "Smash," will play a hearing impaired and openly gay DC Comics villain Pied Piper, also known as Hartley Rathaway. The actor is set to appear in episodes 11-12 of "The Flash," which premiered Oct. 7. / Playbill
Royal Oak, MI
STAGECRAFTERS EXPLORES DEAF COMMUNITY AND CHOICES WITH NEW SHOW
It’s amazing how deeply words can affect us — even when we can’t hear them. That’s the emotional topic Stagecrafters actors will take on with their newest show, “Tribes.” The award-winning drama follows lead character Billy, who was born deaf into a hearing family, as he reflects on the way he was raised in a highly verbal household where sign language was discouraged. When Billy meets Sylvia, he’s introduced to a deaf community and begins to question his allegiance to his own family — or tribe. / C & G Newspapers
Washington, DC
BOOK REVIEW: 'BEETHOVEN'
Just as Schubert lamented, “Who can do anything after Beethoven?” readers of this biography can speculate as to whether author Jan Swafford has had the last word on Beethoven, at least for a while. Mr. Swafford is himself a composer, and he claims that this is “a composer’s-eye view of a composer, written for a general public.” More than 12 years in the making, this combination of gripping biography and readable analysis of Beethoven’s compositions is a book for all Beethoven enthusiasts, full of insights and memorable vignettes, old and new. / Washington Times
New York, NY
MEET THE JAY Z OF HIP-HOP SIGN LANGUAGE
Amber Galloway Gallego was just doing her job. She did not expect to become famous for it. She never imagined the 4 million YouTube hits that made her a viral sensation, the glowing appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that exposed her to the nation’s late night demo or the popular acclaim in the last two years that has made her the most recognizable sign language interpreter in the country. And to think, it all got kickstarted when she pantomimed an enormous flailing penis. / Vibe
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SPORTS
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Kansas City, MO
BUCK O'NEIL LEGACY SEAT HOLDER SPENT DECADES CONNECTING THE DEAF WITH BASEBALL
Just hours before one of the biggest nights of his life, James "JJ" Jones stopped by the Negro Leagues Museum to honor the man who made it happen -- the man whose seat he'll be sitting in Tuesday night. "I can't wait to sit in Buck O'Neil's seat tonight," Jones said. His journey to the Buck O'Neil seat started when he was just three years old, when his parents discovered he was deaf. With special schooling, he made his way to college where his mission became clear. / KSHB