LEAD-K - The Rogersons And Their Deaf Child

Exclusive Interview: Meet Lucia and Jon Rogerson, parents of three-year-old Heath, who is Deaf from California.

FREMONT, California -- The film project by Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids #LEADK and partnership with the Nyle DiMarco Foundation. This is their story with english subtitles.

The medical system now aggressively encourages hearing parents not to use signed languages with their Deaf children and withhold information about American Sign Language in the U.S.

But this family boldly and bravely chose American Sign Language and English as the languages of their homes.

Credits:
LEAD-K Film Project Director: Julie Rems-Smario, LEAD-K Public Relations
Producer: Sheri Ann Farinha, LEAD-K Campaign Director
Co-Funders: LEAD-K and Nyle DiMarco Foundation
Film Director: Jules Dameron
Editor: Jules Dameron
Sounds: ShakahJamal
Interpreter: Leah Bartell
Family: Heath, Presley, Lucia, and Jon Rogerson

Learn More:
NyleDiMarcoFoundation - http://nyledimarcofoundation.com
LEADK - http://www.lead-k.org/
LEADK Hashtag - https://twitter.com/hashtag/leadk

Related:
Interview With Hearing Parents Of A Deaf Son
Educating Hearing People About The Deaf World
Deaf Awareness: Alone In A Hearing World
Deaf Awareness: Alone In A Deaf World
Nyle DiMarco Reads To Deaf Kids In Video Clip
25 Things You Don’t Know About Nyle DiMarco
Cochlear Implants Is NOT A Cure !
Deaf Culture - Have We Cured Deafness ?

Related Deaf and Hearing Worlds:
Ted Evans - In Search Of The DEAF WORLD
Living In Between The Deaf And Hearing Worlds
A Hearing Son In Deaf Family 'I'd Rather Be Deaf'
Dropout Rate Among Mainstream Deaf Students
Life and Deaf - BBC4 Documentary
Through Deaf Eyes - Documentary Film
Deaf Short Film - THIS IS NORMAL

Deaf People Cross Multiple Divides at the Border

Deaf people cross multiple divides at the United States border.

NOGALES, AZ -- Seated at Taco Yaqui in Nogales, Sonora last Friday, Reggie Holmes of Tucson tried to order lunch from his Spanish-speaking waiter – a familiar challenge for any non-Spanish speaking Arizonan who crosses the border.

But for Holmes, a 31-year-old associate at Goodwill, the cross-cultural interaction is even more complex. He is Deaf, and uses sign language, lip-reading and writing as his primary forms of communication.

At first Holmes tried hand gestures with the waiter. But then he noticed the menu written on the wall and rushed over to it.

He pointed to the “chiles verdes” tacos and held up four fingers. The waiter understood and Holmes was soon digging into his lunch.

Holmes, who regularly crosses the border for dental visits, doesn’t just navigate the English-Spanish barrier in Mexico, but also the hearing-deaf divide. Even when he meets Deaf Mexicans, he must find creative ways to communicate because he uses American Sign Language (ASL), which employs different symbols and grammar than Mexican Sign Language (LSM by its Spanish acronym).

Most people have encountered situations, while traveling or otherwise, in which they’ve had to find creative ways to communicate. But according to University of Texas linguistics professor David Quinto-Pozos, who studies bilingual language acquisition as well as interaction between ASL and LSM speakers, Deaf people like Holmes are especially skilled at communicating past language barriers, or picking up the local language in border and other multilingual areas.

After all, he said, Deaf people already navigate and communicate in a world designed for those who hear. Read The Full Story - Nogales International.

The Case For Bilingual Deaf Children - UConn

UConn researchers want to understand the science behind how early access to language affects learning in Deaf and Hearing children.

MANSFIELD, CT -- UConn Today: Marie Coppola and a number of other researchers at UConn want to understand the science behind how early access to language affects learning in Deaf and Hearing children. Deaf children are just as intellectually capable as hearing children – but if they do not have early access to language and communication, that intellectual capacity can quickly erode.

Eight-year-old Marie Coppola could hear the dial tone on the other end of the phone. Second ring … third ring. She was a little clammy, but not as nervous as the first few times she’d picked up and dialed on this sunny Philadelphia afternoon.

A middle-aged woman’s voice answered. “Hello?”

“Hello,” Coppola said, affecting what she thought was a deep, confident tone. “I’m calling about your ad in the Inquirer for cleaning services.”

The woman was not fooled. “Excuse me?” she began testily.

“It’s for my mother,” Coppola rushed on. “She’s deaf, but she is highly qualified and can provide references. If you’d like to meet her, I can arrange it. She’s available any afternoon this week …”

Amy Coppola, standing with a hand on her daughter’s shoulder, looked on. Her daughter trailed off, eyebrows furrowed. She tried a few more cajoling words, but finally mumbled, “Okay, thank you,” and hung up.

Her mother didn’t need to ask. “Better luck next time?” she signed.

“Yes,” signed Marie. She trudged across the room, disgruntled.

“I’m going to my room. I’ll be back for dinner,” she signed – in the Deaf custom of telling people where you’re going when you leave, and when you’ll be back – before disappearing down the hall.

Forty years later, Marie Coppola, now assistant professor of psychological sciences and linguistics in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is still disgruntled. Even today, amid a surge of technology that promises to give Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing people access to sound, Coppola says Deaf people, along with their language and their culture, are not being heard.

Coppola was recently awarded a $1.2 million National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, one of the largest in the program’s history, to study the impact of early language experiences – whether spoken or signed – on how children learn. She hopes her work will help people better understand that sign language is just as worthy as spoken language... Read More: HERE.

California School For The Deaf Fremont

Hearing parents of Deaf children share story about the California School for the Deaf, Fremont.

The California School for the Deaf (CSD), in Fremont, is a free and public accredited school in the state of California that serves Deaf children.

The CSD has made a commitment to be a Deaf centered environment in which the design of learning and the language of instruction are consistent with a Bilingual-Bicultural approach to educating Deaf children.

The school values itself as a multi-cultural community of varied ethnic backgrounds through which people are able to learn and work together to promote the academic, linguistic, vocational, cultural, social, emotional and physical development of Deaf children. The involvement of parents, students, staff, the Deaf community, the business community and the community at large is regarded as essential to the mission of the school.

A safe, academic, Deaf-centered culture is nurtured at CSD. Dedication to students is the hallmark of CSD staff. Visit CSD website, http://csdeagles.com

SOURCE

Follow @CaliforniaSchoolfortheDeaf:
Facebook: https://facebook.com/csdthat
Twitter: https://twitter.com/csdeagles
Website: https://csdeagles.com

Related CSD, Fremont, Riverside: #CaliforniaSchoolfortheDeaf