Robert Panara - First Deaf To Be On US Stamp

VIDEO [CC] - Deaf News: Robert Panara, became the first National Institute for the Deaf faculty member to be featured on a United States postage stamp.



ROCHESTER, NY -- Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Robert Panara, who was the first Deaf faculty member at Rochester Institute of Technology's National Institute for the Deaf, knew no limits for what a Deaf person could accomplish.



As a tribute to his achievements, Panara will be honored on a new U.S. postage stamp showing him signing the word "respect."



Panara, who died in 2014 at age 94, joined the NTID faculty in 1967 and for two decades was an inspirational and innovative educator, as he had been previously at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C.

Robert Panara, A Profile. Video Credit: DCMP.



"During his 40-year teaching career, Panara inspired generations of students with his powerful use of American Sign Language," said the Postal Service, in its announcement Tuesday that the new stamp featuring Panara will be part of the Distinguished Americans series.



The stamp was designed by Ethel Kessler, art director for the Postal Service, and based on an image taken by RIT/NTID photographer Mark Benjamin.



Panara's son, John, who is an English instructor at NTID, sent an email to the NTID community Tuesday saying that the "picture on the stamp is one that you certainly are familiar with, for it has been seen often around campus the last few years, in offices and on hallway walls."



Benjamin's photograph of his father signing the word "respect," John Panara added, is a "theme that will 'ring out loud and free' (to borrow a line from my dad's famous poem) every time the stamp is placed on an envelope!"



John Panara said that when he received an email a year ago telling him that the Postal Service's Stamp Advisory Committee had recommended the issuance of a stamp of his father, he read the email over and over again to make sure he wasn't dreaming.



Harry Lang, a professor emeritus at NTID and author of Teaching from the Heart and Soul: The Robert F. Panara Story, posted on Facebook: "What a nice Thanksgiving present! Bob is certainly looking down with his famous smile right now."



Lang, who was an adviser to the Postal Service on the stamp, noted in the foreword to his biography that the senior Panara was a poet, author, lecturer and theater aficionado.



Panara, Lang wrote, was largely self-educated at a time accommodations were not available for Deaf children.



"He was also among the first wave of Deaf scholars in the twentieth century, and a pioneer in the field of Deaf Studies," Lang noted.



Panara's poem "On His Deafness," written in 1946, has been reprinted many times and won first prize in the World of Poetry contest in 1988. Lang, in his biography of Panara, said the poem is about "how Deaf people can 'hear' with an 'inner ear' of imagination." ... Read The Full Story - Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

Deaf Women More Likely to be a Victim of Abuse

Deaf News - STUDY: Deaf individuals are more likely to experience domestic violence than hearing individuals in the United States.



CLEVELAND, OH -- Newsnet5: Deaf individuals are one and a half times more likely to be victims of relationship violence than hearing individuals, according to research out of the Rochester Institute of Technology.



"He would grab me, push me down, kept pushing me down, hitting me," said Dawn Marie Fucile, a Cleveland resident who is Deaf. She spoke through an interpreter.



Fucile recalls her three-year abusive relationship which she says happened in Parma two decades ago.



"He got a hold of me and threw me physically, coffee table," she said of her ex-boyfriend who is also Deaf. "I missed it by just an inch."



Fucile, who is 48 years old, said she finally mustered up the strength to call the police. Twice, officers came to her house. Twice, they left without arresting the man.



"Both of the officers that were there, I could understand them, but they were being like 'oh poor you. You can't communicate," she added.



Fucile said the lack of communication services and education among police at that time contributed to a lack of help.



"We know that there are more victims that are Deaf and Hard of Hearing that don't have access to information or services, and that's a big problem," said Linda Johanek, CEO of the Domestic Violence & Child Advocacy Center in Cleveland.



Johanek, with help from the Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center and Cleveland Police, are trying to reverse the problem, which Johanek and Fucile said is only exacerbated by the fact that the Deaf community is tight-knit. For a member, it is difficult to break away, no matter the circumstance.



Through a federal grant, the domestic violence center, its shelter and all five police districts have iPads equipped with video remote interpreters. Officers can take the iPads with them on calls.



Fucile said the technology is a big step in the right direction.



"Do not be afraid to ask for help," she added. "I got help because I decided to move on."



Parma police said they now use a text messaging service to communicate with Deaf Individuals. For in-depth interviews, Parma and Cleveland police said they bring in live interpreters.



Fucile said her ex-boyfriend was eventually charged and convicted of domestic violence.



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