VIDEO [ASL] - Ricky Taylor aka Ridor9th' share thoughts - Job discrimination rampant in Deaf people's lives.
FREDERICK, MD -- The video producer by openly Deaf Gay Ricky Taylor aka Ridor9th, also known as one of the most controversial bloggers in Deaf community, shares on social media in American Sign Language covers the latest tidbits focusing on this vlog talks about job discrimination being rampant in Deaf people's lives in 2010s in the United States and around the world.
VIDEO [CC] - A Starbucks store in Malaysia has become the first in the global coffee chain to focus on providing employment opportunities for Deaf people.
KUALA LUMPUR -- Seattle Times: A Starbucks store in Malaysia has become the first in the global coffee chain to focus on providing employment opportunities for those who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
The society provided Starbucks with two sign-language interpreters during hiring, training and coaching for Deaf employees, and to teach sign language to hearing employees, according to a Starbucks news release.
The store employs 10 Deaf employees and three hearing ones, including the store manager.
“This is an underrepresented community in Malaysia,” a Starbucks spokeswoman said. “Over the years, the team has worked with local organizations to hire Deaf partners [employees] and we wanted to celebrate and recognize the contributions of Deaf workers and people of all disabilities.”
Customers place their orders by filling out a menu ticket that they hand to the baristas. The baristas then key in the orders on a dual-screen system where customers can see if their order is correct. The order number is displayed on a large screen above the pickup counter when it’s ready.
The store also has a Starbucks Card kiosk where customers can check their card balances and reward-program points.
Starbucks currently has no plans to replicate this model beyond the Malaysia store, the spokeswoman said.
VIDEO [CC] - The Caribbean coffee shop, what is Deaf Can! Coffee all about?
KINGSTON -- A video capturing the purpose and vision of Deaf Can! Coffee, a not-for-profit coffee shop seeking to engage, equip and empower Deaf youth. We exist to encourage Deaf youth to believe in their talents and abilities, engage their passions and interests and foster creative, positive thought in a healthy community that builds each other up and enables them to dream. We will accomplish this through a sustainable coffee venture known for a memorable experience, great product and talented staff.
To activate this feature, press the "CC" button.
What began as a small idea of packaging and selling coffee for a rural, Deaf coffee farmer grew as word spread and people wanted more. However, one farmer could not meet the demand and so we considered options to increase the supply of roasted coffee. From there we began roasting coffee at the Kingston campus of Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf in an effort to train and expose teen students to the art of coffee roasting.
The challenges of sourcing dry beans and getting licensed in Jamaica as a coffee brand soon became a barrier that we thought might stop the initiative completely. The vision, however, simply shifted from being all about roasting coffee to a focus on brewing the coffee as well and creating a completely new experience for the marketplace. Visit us for more details, www.deafcancoffee.com
For those who don’t know how to sign, there’s no need to fret. “There’s a cheat sheet on the table with the menu,” said owner Moe Alameddine. “The server comes up to take the order, and the fun part starts there.”
In the mood for steak? Grab the fleshy part of your left hand with the index finger and thumb of your right hand, and wiggle a bit as if getting a good grip on the meat. How about salad? Use both hands and picture yourself tossing some greens.
When customers arrive at the DeaFined, a hearing host or hostess greets them and acts as an interpreter while they introduce the server.
Alameddine came up with the idea after starting his popular blind-dining restaurant O.Noir in Montreal and Toronto and Dark Table in Vancouver, where guests dine in complete darkness while they are served by visually impaired staff. The concept aims to give customers a taste, albeit briefly, of what it’s like to be blind.
Although the business helped provide jobs for Blind people, Alameddine said he realized a need for employment opportunities to benefit the Deaf community.
VIDEO [CC] - #DeafTalent - Hollywood, stop hiring hearing actors for Deaf roles. Deaf people have the right to represent themselves!
As a result of this #DeafTalent campaign, the world will have a much better understanding of the Deaf community’s standpoint on not allowing Deaf roles to be given out to hearing people. Many people do not realize that they have been oppressing Deaf actors for many years now.
We hope that this new awareness will also create many more job opportunities for Deaf people all over, both in front and behind the camera, as well as other places. We believe that this campaign will ignite many new discussions and ideas and help cause a shift in societal awareness. To activate this feature, press the "CC" button.
Huffington Post - The #DeafTalent hashtag began making waves after a NY Daily News interview with Catalina Sandino Moreno raised red flags in the Deaf community. Moreno, a hearing actress, was cast to play a Deaf woman in the leading role of her new film Medeas. But in the NYDN interview, it became clear that Moreno has had very little exposure to deafness or Deaf culture.
Over the past couple weeks, the #DeafTalent movement spread like wildfire across social media. Using this hashtag, members of the Deaf community publicly spoke out against the cultural appropriation of deafness in movies and TV. With so many talented Deaf/HoH performer working to catch their big break in Hollywood, it is inexcusable that hearing actors and actresses continue being cast for these roles.
Deaf parts belong to Deaf performers - people who understand the experience of hearing loss and can accurately portray Deaf characters. Just as blackface is not an acceptable way to depict a black character, having a non-Deaf actor pretend to be Deaf is irresponsible, unethical, and offensive... Read more: huffingtonpost.com/lydia-l-callis/lets-see-more-deaftalent-html
VIDEO [CC] - This is an American Sign Language version of Bruno Mars’ “The Lazy Song” made accessible to native ASL users.
This ASL music video was created with a 100% Deaf cast and crew. All of the performers in this music video are also a part of Deaf West’s “Spring Awakening.” We did this out of love and support for #DeafTalent everywhere who are always in need of job opportunities in the entertainment industry.
Exclusive: Deaf woman pilot gets license that not going to stop her from taking to the sky.
LANCASTER, OH - Learning to fly is no easy feat, but Lancaster native Jenny Hurst was not going to let being Deaf stop her from taking to the sky.
From a young age, Hurst dreamed of being a pilot like her grandfather, a captain in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. She has always been drawn to flying, she said, and before 9/11, one of her favorite things to do was to watch planes take off from Port Columbus International Airport. In her younger years, she went as far as telling boyfriends plane-watching was her preferred way to spend a date.
Aware of that desire, Hurst’s husband of 17 years, Adam, looked into flight lessons at Sundowner Aviation at the Fairfield County Airport for his wife, who has been Deaf since the age of 2. Officials there agreed to take her on, and one year later, after fitting in two to three hours of flight instruction per week, Hurst got her pilot license. She took her first solo flight July 18.
On Sunday, Hurst took her family up in the plane for the first time, although the family of six could not all fit in one flight. Hurst hopes to become registered in instrument flight rules so she can be allowed to fly larger planes that will fit her entire family.
Another use for the pilot license may be flying materials from suppliers to Hammock Gear, the backpacking outfitter the Hursts own in Lancaster. While Hurst would love to be a pilot for hire, she said she is still exploring her limits as a Deaf pilot and her abilities with communication... Read more: lancastereaglegazette.com/story/news/local/2015/03/24/deaf-pilot-gets-license-lancaster/
Exclusive Interviews: Meet one of New York City’s first Deaf uber drivers.
NEW YORK CITY - Pin Lu Was an accountant before ferrying passengers; ‘Deaf people are good drivers because they focus and pay attention’ Many initially convey surprise or concern when they discover he can’t hear, but he said being Deaf gives him an advantage in honk-filled. In many ways, Pin Lu is a typical UberX driver.
He uses his own car, complete with a crocheted owl dangling from the rearview mirror, to ferry passengers who hail him via the popular ride-sharing app.
He often works long hours, saving to start his own business someday. And he takes pride in his user ratings, saying he has earned 4.82 out of a possible 5 stars. But when New Yorkers step into Mr. Lu’s green 2011 Honda Accord, many are surprised to be handed a note asking them to type a destination into the GPS.
“Let me know if you have a preferred route by using your hand motion as direction,” it reads. “If you have any questions, knock your hand to my shoulder. Write/type note to me as communication.”
Uber Technologies Inc. estimates it has about 40 Deaf “driver-partners” across the U.S. and predicts that number is likely to grow as the company expands into new markets.
Mr. Lu, a spokeswoman said, is one of its first in the New York area.
Mr. Lu, 29 years old, was born without hearing in Fuzhou, China, and immigrated to Queens, New York with his family when he was 10.
After earning an accounting degree from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2011, he spent about two years doing accounting work for the Defense Department in Rome, N.Y., but he grew tired of small-town life “in the middle of nowhere,” he says.
Mr. Lu moved back to the New York area and switched paths, becoming a driver for Uber and occasionally for its competitor Lyft, earning his Taxi and Limousine Commission license in July.
Most weeks, he said, he now spends five to seven days a week seven to 10 hours a day behind the wheel.
Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing people in New York can get a driver's license with a restriction specifying they need a hearing aid or a full-view rearview mirror, according to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
“If I can do it, so can you.” Larry is Deaf and on a mission to follow his dreams. Find out how partnering with Uber made it possible for him to move to LA and support his family while starting a new career.
Deaf News: The Deaf lifeguard be ‘Qualified’ under the Americans with Disabilities Act ?
OAKLAND COUNTY, MI -- What would you do if you were hiring a lifeguard for a community wave pool and the applicant was Deaf, but he was also certified as a lifeguard? A new court ruling this month shows how mistakes made in assessing the applicant's medical condition can leave an employer drowning in litigation.
Case in Point: Nicholas Keith, 22, was born Deaf and communicates using sign language. He also uses a cochlear implant that helps him detect noises, such as whistles and people calling for help. Keith received his junior lifeguard certification and then successfully completed lifeguard training. (A Michigan county provided a sign-language interpreter to relay verbal instructions to Keith during both training programs.)
Keith then applied for a lifeguard position at the county's wave pool, requesting that a sign-language interpreter be present to relay verbal directions during staff meetings. The county offered Keith the job, conditioned on his passing a pre-employment physical. The doctor failed him, citing his inability to hear. Plus, the county’s safety and risk management consultants expressed concerns over Keith being unable to do the job, despite numerous accommodations the county was offering. So the county rescinded the job offer... Read More.
Deaf Lifeguard's Disability Claims Against Oakland County Go To Jury.
The Sixth Circuit has reversed the decision of a lower court and held that a Deaf individual should be permitted to proceed to trial on his claim that a prospective employer discriminated against him on the basis of disability by failing to hire him as a lifeguard. Keith v. County of Oakland, (6th Cir. Jan. 10, 2013).
In reviving the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) claim, the Court found that a jury should be permitted to determine whether the individual was otherwise qualified to be a lifeguard, with or without accommodation, that is, whether hearing is an essential function of the job and, if so, whether reasonable accommodations could have been made... Read More.
FREDERICK, MD -- The video producer by openly Deaf Gay Ricky Taylor aka Ridor9th, also known as one of the most controversial bloggers in Deaf community, shares on social media in American Sign Language covers the latest tidbits focusing on this vlog talks about job discrimination being rampant in Deaf people's lives in 2010s in the United States and around the world.
