Deaf Student First with MBA.

Graduate students from WVU's College of Business and Economics received their diplomas tonight, but one of the graduates never heard his name called.

Allen Winfree is the first deaf graduate in the history of the schools MBA program.

Deaf since birth, the Campbell's Creek, WV native says he hopes to change the perception businesses may have about the hearing impaired by proving that deaf employees can compete at a high level.

Winfree also has two associate degrees and a bachelor's degree in technology management.

He now plans to search for a business job in the Washington D.C. Area. After that he also has plans to work with other deaf students as a teacher.read more

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A deaf Californian was sentenced July 27 to 21 years in prison for firing a rifle at sheriff?s deputies outside a Lancaster, Calif. car dealership in January 2006. Val Smith lived within sight of the dealership, said the Los Angeles Daily News, and police believe he fired a shot to lure deputies and then at least a dozen more after they arrived in force. Convicted in June of assault and shooting at the dealership, Smith pleaded no contest last week to an additional count of assault on a police officer. He must serve 85 percent of his sentence, but without the plea he could have faced life in prison. Smith, 37, was previously jailed for a 1992 Van Nuys killing. read more

Judge Spotlights Shortage of Interpreters for the Deaf

There is, however, a shortage in the courts of sign language interpreters, so this buddy system does not always work, according to court officials. Yesterday, a judge in Queens took note of the shortage, writing a memorandum that explained why he had awarded an interpreter who was forced to work alone twice his daily rate of pay.

The judge, Justice Charles J. Markey of State Supreme Court, gave the higher rate to Gabriel Grayson, a certified American Sign Language interpreter. It was after Mr. Grayson had translated for a deaf plaintiff at a six-day civil trial in June involving a personal injury case. Mr. Grayson had told the judge and other court officials in Queens of the normal two-interpreter setup, but agreed to work alone, for a bit more money, after officials could not find another interpreter to relieve him.

In fact, in his 13-page decision quoting experts on the deaf (and a former lord chief justice of England and Wales), Justice Markey explicitly said that he was trying to call attention to what he considers a worthy cause. read more

Once-deaf girl to work at Disney World

Born profoundly deaf, Pooler has gone from a shy and insecure child who had to work twice as hard as other kids in school, to a confident, happy and successful college student who is about to spend the fall semester working at Walt Disney World. There, she will get hands-on business experience, college credit — and a paycheck. She departs today.

For Pooler, now 20 and a Thomas College junior, it took hard work and a lot of courage to get to this point.

Enrolled in public schools as a child, she said she had a hard time competing with other students who could hear. If a teacher turned her back to the class and spoke, Pooler was out of the loop.

While other children were socializing after school, she was spending long hours at home working with speech and language therapists.
Using those cues and lip movements of speech helps a deaf person to understand the difference between words that appear alike when spoken.
But life was anything but easy. Ashley Pooler remembers having a wonderful teacher’s aide with her every day of high school but feeling as if the aide’s constant presence hindered her socialization with other students. She also recalls wanting to drop down to a lower level U.S. history class when she was a junior at Winslow High School because she felt inadequate when trying to keep up with other college-bound students.

But her teacher, Jeff Wickman, convinced her to stay, saying he believed in her and her ability to succeed. She ended up being a solid student in the college-preparatory level class. Wickman’s encouragement was a turning point in her life, according to both Ashley and her mother. read more

Book Review: Talking Hands - What Sign Language Reveals About the Mind by Margalit Fox

In Al Sayyid, Israel, the inhabiting tribe has a notable deaf population because the recessive allele of deafness is a little less recessive there. What is found in that sandy burg is unheard of - it is a newly identified sign language. It's enough to spur four academicians from Israel and the United States to travel the Desert of Pharan to observe the language and investigate the gesticulating. One startling facet of the Al Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language (or ABSL) study was realized by Stony Brook University professor Doctor Mark Aronoff:


What we expected going into this village was that the language would be modality-driven. What we found instead was that the language was quite dramatically driven by syntax ... That to me, is what’s most amazing about the word-order facts with the Bedouins. It’s not driven by communicative need as far as I can tell. People just have a drive for structure in their behavior.




Along with the sophisticated element of syntax and word-order there was another shocker. "But instead of being built from smaller structural units," Aronoff notes, "as the words of established sign languages are, the words of ABSL appeared to be unanalyzed wholes, little lumps of language that can’t be broken down further.”

Talking Hands is an adroit and dexterous gesture about a blossomed language that is not shorthanded on fascination. When it comes to unearthing the Al Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language Margalit Fox has an embargo on the argot and gets spectacular with the vernacular. read more

First Looks & Fresh Peeks 08-13-07

Kendall receives devastating news this week about Spike. Learning that her son is permanently deaf, Kendall goes into complete denial about his diagnosis. Believing a cure can be found, Kendall vows to not leave Spike's side until someone restores his hearing. Unfortunately, her other son needs her too. Will Kendall be able to emotionally support both ailing children without having a complete breakdown? In the meantime, Ryan searches for a missing Annie until Di tells him she left town to research Spike's condition. Little does Ryan know his bride has actually gone to visit her father who is also deaf! Sadly, Annie's trip might not prove as fruitful as she hoped, as her father lets her know he never wants to see her again. What's caused the intense rift between father and daughter? Keep up to date with the latest twist and turns this week on All My Children. read more

Waiting to Hear

Vika's mother tells me that they are specially not teaching Vika sign language. They hope that she will get a cochlear implant and she will be able to hear. They don't want her to know sign language because children who learn to express themselves in sign do not understand why they should express themselves with sound, even if they begin to hear. Teaching a five-year-old who knows sign language to talk is like teaching her a foreign language. That is why the state accepts only children under two in its waiting list for cochlear implants. Then the children remain on the waiting list for years and they never get implants.

Vika plays delightedly on the playground equipment. But the girl can't hear her. I think, how is it possible to spend all your childhood without hearing your parents' words?

When Vika needs something, she climbs on top of the bars and begins to shout. She looks like a baby bird on a limb calling “Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!” and slowly turning around looking for her mother. read more