The Truth About Illinois School For The Deaf

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO [CC] - Under Fire: ASL and Cued Speech at the Illinois School for the Deaf.



JACKSONVILLE, IL - A few months ago, Michele Westfall tagged me and a few other people about the Illinois School for the Deaf's website on "Cued Speech Myths." What I saw there was heartbreaking. This is my response to the situation, sharing observations on their video series. Please support the Illinois Deaf Community's efforts to improve conditions at the school.



An Illinois Deaf Community member has stated that the superintendent is leaving in June 2015 and the pro-Cued Speech principal, Angela Kuhn, is a candidate for the position. The community does not want her to take the job.



Description of Adrean Clark, a Deaf white woman wearing a black and silver ASL Bat t-shirt appears against a dark blue background. Her narrative is interspersed with footage from the Illinois School for the Deaf's video series featuring the superintendent and classroom situations.

Summary: The Illinois School for the Deaf released a series of videos intended to dispel doubts about their "bilingual" program. I was heartbroken by what I saw in the footage and would like to show you what I noticed.



- The school's mission is to provide a bilingual ASL - English environment. The actual practice is far from bilingual. The example footage shown takes place during an English composition class. The teacher asks (with Cued Speech) what "to conclude" means. Two students respond - one with ASL/fingerspelling and another by oral English only. The teacher winks at the speaking students. This is common to oral environments that try to "share space" with ASL. Speaking English tends to come first. The student that spoke got special treatment while not signing at all.



- The superintendent claims that the thousands of words in science and social studies have no ASL equivalent, therefore must be fingerspelled. That is a false claim, since ASL has built-in systems for developing new words. The choice to depend on fingerspelling actually robs students of full access to ASL - as an example a video from the ASL THAT! group is posted. In the video Joseph Wheeler differentiates between deer, moose, and elk by following ASL handshapes and structures. The result is a rich natural sciences education that all Deaf students should have access to.



- The superintendent states that Cued Speech provides an alternative for long-term retention of English information that doesn't involve English print alone. That statement shows that speaking is considered superior at the Illinois School for the Deaf.



- In a mathematics classroom, the teacher interrupts teaching to show students how to speak the word "proper." An assistant is called in to display proper mouthing and cueing for the students. When she tries to fingerspell the word, she gets a slap on the hand. It is disconcerting that so much time was spent on that one word - and on top of that, even daring to use English fingerspelling was considered "bad." That is not an ASL-English bilingual environment at all!



The Illinois School for the Deaf is an oral program that uses manually-coded English as the primary mode of instruction. It is not a bilingual program. Footage Sources: Myth 1, 2, and 5 at http://illinoisdeaf.org/FactOrMythASL.html



Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153142214605818 SOURCE

Chelesa Lately TV Show Under Fire For Mocks Sign Language

VIDEO [ASL/CC] - Host of the Chelesa Lately TV show under fire for mocks American Sign Language.



LOS ANGELES - Late-night host Chelsea Handler (of the Chelsea Lately Show, on E! Network) has found herself in the center of controversy, due to this skit (air date: Oct 30, 2012) the ASL-users community say mocks and makes fun of the language they use to communicate American Sign Language.



In the skit, a member of the cast mocks Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's ASL Interpreter Lydia Callis, who translated for the Mayor's Hurricane Sandy press conferences, as seen on YouTube video.



Many people unfamiliar with ASL and the plight of the Oralism and Hard of Hearing don't realize that facial expressions and body movements are a part of ASL, and hence it is a protected activity, with communication considered a 'major life activity' under the American With Disabilities Act (ADA).

And what some with hearing (like Chelsea) would consider as "over-exaggerated" facial expressions and body movements are used for a good reason, not to "editorialize" or to be "passionate", but to communicate linguistic elements that those with hearing convey by way of vocal inflection, pitch, rhythm, pace, etc, and take for granted.



America’s largest Deaf organisation, the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) has written an open letter to the producers of a comedy show accusing them of “mocking” American Sign Language. Even, Deaf advocacy organization, Deaf Nation, released a letter the group sent to Handler.



The following article is required reading for everyone (esp. people who think like Chelsea), to understand what they're seeing: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/149593



(Also check out the comments section below the article, as they provide further information which is important to understand the issue.)



E! Entertainment Television corporate lawyers probably will feel compelled to file a DMCA take-down notice with YouTube (as is their right, as they own the copyright), but I WILL file a DMCA counter-notice, demanding they file suit in Federal Court for copyright infringement. If they need to have a Judge lecture them on the basics of the principle of "fair use" exceptions allowed under U.S. Federal Copyright law, then they can be my guest.



On the other hand, I'm willing to consider relinquishing my right to this "fair use" (public commentary) if the "Chelsea Lately Show" offers a public apology for whatever insult and harm they have caused, perhaps with a statement educating their viewers as to why ASL interpreters must use non-gestural components as a part of ASL, to be broadcast on the Chelsey Lately show in an opening monologue, with a message that is deemed acceptable by representatives of the Deaf community (eg Deaf Nation).



Sign the petition here:

http://www.change.org/petitions/chelsea-handler-apology-to-the-public#share



Here's the vloggers, who responses to Chelsea Handler, "Chelsea Lately Show" with Closed Captioned.



"Ching Chong" ASL: Not Acceptable!

Vlog with closed captioned, who not understand in ASL. Discussion of the reasons Lydia Callis (interpreter for Mayor Bloomberg during Hurricane Sandy) has become so "famous" and the language attitudes behind this. A comparison to language attitudes surrounding Chinese is made.



Laugh at or Laugh With?

Discussing my thoughts on issues surrounding TV Show - Chelesa Lately's skit on Hurricane Sandy's Breakout Star: Lydia Callis, NY Mayor Bloomberg's Sign Language Interpreter. Making fun of American Sign Language (ASL) in national spotlight is definitely lame and politically-incorrect despite unexpected and pricesless promotion of our beloved and respectful language recently. An interpreter's main role is to convey information rather than become a celebrity for the ignorant. Deaf people are aware of such mainstream fasincation with interpreters and our "beautiful" language. So I bring up the question that is OK to laugh at or laugh with and basically shrug this off? I think this whole publicity stunt is a turkey. I forgot to mention in my vlog: What if this was a terrorist attack rather than a weather crisis in NYC? OK to laugh at or with Lydia's national exposure? I think not.



Responding to Those Who Mock Sign Language.

Lydia Callis, the interpreter for Mayor Bloomberg during Hurricane Sandy, became famous on internet overnight because of her facial expressions. A number of Deaf people have expressed their objection against those who mock the interpreter and American Sign Language, especially the comedian Chelsea Handler. How should we, as Deaf individuals, response to such mockery of our culture and language?



STOP this Madness! Sign the petition here:

http://www.change.org/petitions/chelsea-handler-apology-to-the-public#share



Follow Chelsea Handler on twitter: twitter.com/ChelseaHandler

Follow LydiaCalas on twitter: twitter.com/LydiaCalas



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Responding to Those Who Mock Sign Language



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Charlie Swinbourne: Hearing People Mocking Sign Language For Comic Effect Just Isn’t Funny

Chelsea Handler Mocks Bloomberg’s ASL Interpreter Lydia Callis, Gets Schooled by Deaf Group