Change is constant, and the company I own, BayFirst Solutions, is not immune to such forces. In this vein, I want to announce that BayFirst has realigned the company to focus on our core competencies and, in doing so, has transferred all rights to DeafDC.com and Deaf Professional Happy Hour (DPHH) to Viable, Inc. (www.viable.net), a provider of video and text relay services. Viable has been the exclusive sponsor of the DC DPHH and truthfully, is a better fit and more importantly are as passionate about DeafDC.com.

Viable also cares about the positive impact that our website has had on the community and intends to ensure its continued growth and prominence. To achieve that, Viable intends to turn DeafDC.com into an independent entity, complete with its own advisory board. I will join that newly formed advisory board and as always you can count on me to read and comment on blogs. I wouldn’t want it any way otherwise.

To ensure stability and the continued success of DeafDC.com, Shane Feldman, the DeafDC.com Manager and someone who has become a good friend, will continue his responsibilities at Viable, Inc. He is excited about this transition and Viable is extremely fortunate to have such a talented person join their team.

Although I first gave the thought of a transition a year ago, this was nevertheless a difficult decision because I have nurtured the growth of DeafDC.com since its inception. I have developed a wonderful bond with so many DeafDC.com supporters and DPHH-goers, to whom I owe so much gratitude. I have learned so much and have gained wonderful memories; every so often a blog or comment from DeafDC.com is injected into an in-person conversation and leads to lively, intelligent discussions. The website has impacted me enormously. I know it has also influenced our community, and for the better.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support for DeafDC.com through the years. Please join me in thanking Viable for taking on this immense responsibility as DeafDC.com’s new caretaker. The future is bright for this stellar website.

Ok. I admit it. I’ve a sweet tooth and I find it very hard to say no to cookie dough ice cream, homemade chocolate chip cookies or any other kind of dessert.

So, sometime last week, while taking the very long way to Metro and to the office, I found myself standing outside of Cake Love’s store location on the U Street Corridor. Now, Cake Love is arguably DC’s best bakery especially with these decadent cupcakes that are to die for.

See the one with the raspberry frosting? That one’s my favorite. So without hesitation, I decide to go in and buy a half dozen cupcakes while thinking that my colleagues would really enjoy having a lunchtime dessert on what was a beautiful spring day. Mmm. And they did.

A few days later, I get an email from one of these colleagues giving me a heads up, “Cake Love is offering ASL-interpreted baking classes! You of all people should go!”

Now, I’d love to but I found that I’ve other commitments on those days.

Anyway, this got me to thinking, “So what other unique, ASL-interpreted events are there in this city and/or elsewhere?”

For me, these baking classes would be near the top of my most interesting events if I were to go. Other fun interpreted events that I’ve attended are the Beauty and the Beast show at the Kennedy Center, concerts at the Verizon Center and the top favorite?

Scuba diving classes in the pool at RIT!

The March 2007 Deaf Professional Happy Hour (DPHH) is scheduled to take place at Be Bar, an up-and-coming, culturally diverse bar in the Shaw area of the District. Be Bar was selected because they actually reached out to us and pretty much
said, “Come to Be Bar. We’d really love to have DPHH here. And we even have
cute bartenders who are fluent in ASL! We’ll even let DPHH patrons in
free-of-charge if they sign DPHH at the door.”

But since the announcement about BeBar being the location for the
next DPHH, we’ve gotten some flak.

“But BeBar is gay. Why would you want to have DPHH there? They sometimes have gay clientele. Bad choice!”

What do you all think? How concerned should we be given that we’ve had
DPHH at all sorts of venues catering to all sorts of audiences for the
last 10+ years.

Deafness has been in my family for generations and as a result, artifacts have been passed down. During a recent visit to my parents’ home, I discovered a 177 year-old document titled, The Thirteenth Report of the Directors of the American Asylum at Hartford for the Education and Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, Exhibited to the Asylum. May 16, 1829. The American Asylum is better known today as the American School for the Deaf (ASD) in Hartford, Connecticut. It is also the first school for the deaf founded by Laurent Clerc.

In this old manuscript is an excerpt written by a young woman that tells the story of Reverend Thomas Gallaudet and Alice Cogswell, his first deaf pupil.

I found this particular passage intriguing for it illustrates a viewpoint that has been influenced by religion. Also, the deaf author suggests that her own classmates are the ones who are deaf and dumb.

Here it is. All errors are the author’s. Analyze away.

“About the Deaf and Dumb”

Almost twelve years ago, there was no school for the Deaf and Dumb in the United States. There were many ignorant pupils, they have not learned any thing about the creation of the world. By and by Rev. Mr. G visited Dr. C. who had a Deaf and Dumb daughter. He was much interested with her. He wished to teach her, but he did not know how to instruct her. Some of the gentlemen in Hartford proposed to Mr. G to go into England, to learn signs. So they gave much money to him for his voyage and board. Therefore he determined to go there. When he landed in England he entered into the Asylum for the deaf and dumb. The teachers there were unwilling to teach him signs. He left England for France. Mr. Sicard was well pleased to receive him into the Asylum. He was permitted to learn signs. He staid in France about one year. He wished to return with Mr. C. He obtained permission of Mr. Sicard to let Mr. C. go with him to this country, to instruct the unfortunate persons here. Some time after, they departed from their friends and landed in the Country. They took a great deal of pains to beg money for the ignorant persons throughout the cities of the United States. Many of the people generously gave much money to them. But some doubted whether they could teach the Deaf and Dumb. There was now a new asylum for them which had been built. Some of the poor deaf and dumb were allowed in it and learned to write. Now there are many pupils in the Asylum at Hartford. Indeed how happy are they to learn to understand and know God! How should they be grateful to Him for his charity and lovingkindness.

In the September 25, 2006 issue of the New Yorker, there is a story that describes an incident that took place on American Airlines Flight 45 from Paris to JFK. In a nutshell, two men who were returning from a vacation were told that their flight would be diverted if they didn’t stop their public display of affection - a display that amounted to be nothing more than an air kiss.

A similar incident happened with me on a recent flight ouf of DCA (Washington National) except that the culprit was my Blackberry - and not a significant other.

Due to inclement weather, the plane had yet to leave the gate. The seatbelt signs had been turned off so people could get up, walk around or use the lavatories. While seated, I decide that it’s ok to check my email via the Blackberry. I read and respond to one since it’s somewhat urgent and while doing so, a flight attendant grabs the device out of my hand and shouts, “This needs to be turned off!”

I profusely apologize, explain that I didn’t hear her talking behind me and I take the Blackberry back. I turn the device off and put it into my briefcase -but not before witnessing a hearing guy in the aisle across from me fiddling with his own PDA/phone. He’s watching me and flashes a smirk as if to surreptitioiusly say, “Gee, you just need to be a bit more deceptive next time.”

The flight attendant returns with a handwritten note that says, “Had I caught you doing that while in the air, it would’ve been grounds for diverting this flight.”

And true enough, research has shown that the use of Blackberries on airplanes can actually interrupt the normal operation of cockpit instruments, particularly the Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers which apparently are vital for safe landings. Other studies by NASA support the idea that Blackberries dangerously produce interference in a way that reduces the safety margins for critical avionics systems.

However, the threat apparently is small enough to have the FAA considering the use of WIFI on domestic flights. It’s already available on certain international carriers.

And what about United 93? Certain passengers on that flight ignored the ban on cell phones and PDAs in an effort to valiantly save many lives.

I am thrilled to announce Mr. Shane Feldman as the new DeafDC.com manager. At DeafDC.com, Shane will be responsible for all aspects of the website and will also have editorial control of our popular blog. In addition to managing DeafDC.com, he will also serve as a full-time BayFirst consultant and work on client projects elsewhere around the company.

Here’s an overview of Shane’s background. After reading it, I think you will agree that DeafDC.com is very lucky to have him onboard. Shane brings an incredible wealth of experience. His knowledge and skill set will undoubtedly take DeafDC.com to the next level of success!

As the Marketing & Communications Coordinator at the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), the oldest and largest organization safeguarding the accessibility and civil rights of 28 million deaf and hard of hearing Americans, Shane coordinated the NAD magazine, website, database, electronic newsletters, and marketing campaigns. His accomplishments include the conversion of the association’s publication to magazine format, development and implementation of the interactive NAD website, creation of award-winning NAD email campaigns, modernizing the NAD database, bringing Blogs and web videos to NAD web visitors and much more. Shane has also given presentations on public relations and movie captioning. His efforts have had a tremendous impact on the NAD and the deaf and hard of hearing community nationwide.

Shane graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) with a bachelors degree in Professional and Technical Communications and the University of Maryland University College (UMUC) with a graduate certificate in Nonprofit Financial Management. He expects to complete his masters degree in Management at the UMUC in the spring of 2007. Shane also serves on the Montgomery County (Maryland) Commission on Disabilities and on the Board of Directors of the National Cued Speech Association.

Even though Shane will not be beginning his duties until later this month, let’s give Shane a big, warm welcome!

Way to go, Canada.

Deaf citizens of neighboring Canada have emerged victorious. The Federal court of Canada has ruled that deaf access to Federal services must be made available. In other words, the Canadian government must provide sign language interpreting support to its deaf Federal employees or to those Federal programs that have deaf Canadians as participants. (more…)

A friend of mine brought this clip to my attention and I thought I’d share it with you all. Despite being a little long, this clip is captioned and quite interesting. Four Capitol police officers provide an interesting perspective regarding the alleged racism that takes place on the Hill. They also discuss the run-in that Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney had with the Capitol police.

Credit for the video is due to the Guerilla News Network. Give it some time to load.

(more…)

I’m sure many of us have had the experience of trying to understand our hearing dates. In the video clip below, a hearing guy is trying to break up with his semi-deaf girlfriend. FYI, it’s not captioned, but with some lip-reading, you’ll get the gist of it.

Click the arrow to play. (more…)

This afternoon, CNN.com captioned the video of President Bush engaging in ‘cowboy diplomacy’ and even has him uttering an expletive.

CNN.com - “Not realizing his remarks were being picked up by a microphone at the summit of world leaders, Bush bluntly expressed his frustration with the actions of Hezbollah.”

Click here to see the captioned CNN video (might need to link directly from CNN.com if you have a popup blocker installed) (more…)