Showing posts with label sign language. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sign language. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

October/November 2015 Newsletter

Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center October/November 2015 Newsletter

Howdy folks and friends!

As we know we are running OUT of time and I need to focus on this today and for the rest of the remaining time I have left here in Orange County. We (Beth and I) know that our agreement (per the court’s order) for me to stay in the French St condo #8 will expire on December 31. Just over few weeks ago I received a letter from the court that I must vacate on or before December 31st, yes, it means I need to leave on or before December 30th. I will be leaving this condo UNANNOUNCED between December 10th to December 29th by going straight to the land non-stop and I will notify the attorney VIA email AFTER I am completely moved out!

A few weeks ago, Beth told me that we got a small land near Edward Air Force Base and she mentioned its “2 acres”, I nagged for at least 3 acres in forest-y area. Yes, it is desert land and no, the noise from Air Force don’t bother me as I grew up with it. And, Again, no, I haven't seen or visited that land so I don’t know how much work I will be doing (Beth will need to go over and take some photos and videos for me to see it by November 6th) AND, yes, for this desert land, I will accept it, until we find another temporary / permanent forest land. I will be living there and clean it up. Yes, some of you are right, desert land is a bit dangerous for me because of rattlers that I cannot hear. If I get bitten and dies by rattlers, it’s not my problem and I know who ~ Beth!! During my stay at the desert land, I will continue posting ads on CL (CraigsList) until we get the right land as my heart tells me and sounds I heard from the late Richard from heaven would want.

Beth also told me that she will get me a German Shepherd and train “her” to protect our land and me as a “watch dog”. I prefer a female! (If you have a German Shepard to consider donating please contact Beth or me.)

We are not going to use electric power pole on the land, all will be made and powered by generators and solar systems. Next week I will get solar powered cell phone charger.

Another sad news is that Beth found a camper and she drove over 2 hours worth and finds out that the tag is way dead and no deed on hands and the lousy towing company won’t tow it to Orange County. So we had to drop this and move on to the next one. CLUMSY TOW TRUCK DRIVER!

For the past 4 weeks, I have been having nervous breakdowns and lots of stress and not much sleep. I couldn’t do any work too well for the past 2 months. I do take a sleep aid but it’s not much help. As soon as I get settled on the land, I will get much better rest.

I am still pushing to the limit to get the camper/RV. I find foremost lots of ads in Craigslist that are scams/spams and have had to flag them all. That’s a big “WOW”!

I also have been posting ads about getting a camper/RV all over in Craigslist in the Southern California area, most of my posts have been flagged out and I had to repost it over and over. Shame on them (God DOES watch “them”!). I am not going to stop until we get one as we need it. WE really want the camper/RV by end of 3rd week of November, so I can do some repairs (if needed), cleaning, planning and loading up some of the stuff and be ready by December 10th. I will continue posting to ask or seeking small (5 to 10 acres) of “forest” land weekly statewide in CL’s as temporarily land. We need to get camper/RV by Thanksgiving day, this is the deadline..

As soon as I move to this land, set the camper down safely, I am going to built 2 of 40’ wide X 40’ long X 8’ high plus roof-up lines storage sheds (1 for eBay and another for OCDAC / personal storage), so I am going to built one at a time, so I must build 1 as fast as possible so we can move OCDAC/eBay related into the storage and keep our eBay store running and save us some money over storage space rent. Each month each storage’s rent is $300.

When I built the storage shed, it will be temporary which it means I am not going to use glue and nails, but all screws. (That way when we move again, so I can take it apart without damaging it by unscrewing it and save the rest and re-use it on the new land!)

We need to ask you to spread the word to your family and friends that lots of materials I need for the land for donation or cash to cover the cost of the materials. Gift cards from hardware stores such as Home Depot, etc., would be VERY helpful (I prefer Home Depot)! If you have any question about lumber materials that you would donated to us, please contact directly to me, not Beth, because I already have the plans and lists.

WE ONLY HAVE LESS THAN 1 MONTH ON THIS (By December 1st):

We have made the wishlist from Amazon that would be useful for our land:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/25I13RKSDSEQF/ref=cm_sw_em_r_wsg_BvVhwb1SEWEX8_wb

I will, at a later time, create more wishlists of the materials that I REALLY need at the time I moving to the land! Needing lots of wood/lumber materials!

Here’s the urgents list we need it ASAP:

Gas cash for traveling me and camper/RV from OC to the “desert” land

Cash or donation of large truck rental, plus gas cost (for moving our OCDAC/eBay after 1st storage built in 1 TRIP!! (2nd trip will be later on in Spring or Summer 2016 for other “Not in Use” OCDAC/Personal related stuff in the 2nd storage shed)

Peel and stick for the mailbox address # and letters and “OCDAC” & “Fleener” letters

A truck load full of firewood (ONLY IF THIS LAND IS NOT FOREST) (pine or fir) (we might be able to get this on Craigslist but would need a pickup truck to transport it.)

2 to 4 days worth of backhoe rental (to level off grading for the storage sheds) (IF needed)

Used 55 gallon drum barrel without lid and sparks/embers arrester lid (for trash burnings)

Washer/Dryer (Best to use RV type washer/dryer combine - it’s wash and dry in 1 machine!)

Small storage shed for washer/dryer (3’X3’ with door & lock)(We have our own few padlocks)

If any wood is leftover after the 2 storages are built, I will save the wood for “extra shelves”, but still will ask for Metal Shelves as Beth bought 2 before. I need to wait and see, books will be on shelves instead of the “milk crates”, that bobble when I move them (laughs)!

You are always welcome to donate the following listed shown above and in Amazon. However, you can hold it for us until we are heading to the land or you can come and deliver it to us (at your own volunteering of time and fuel).

During this time at the land, I will be posting some newswires, YouTube, eBay announcements, etc.

Here’s my eBay report as of end of 3rd quarters (October 3rd - Week #39):


Total of # of sold: 301


Total amount sold: $6,415 (estimated)


Total Shipping paid by buyers: $365 (estimated)


Total Shipping spent: lt;580> (estimated)


Total in pocket: $6,200 (estimated)





Now as you see we spent more on shipping costs than what we collected from the buyers, I need to do something about that starting NOW! We need at least $1.00 to cover shipping material costs per item sold.

I only have 1 roll of shipping tape left and we are complently out of “bubbles wrap” this morning and will needing to ask one of you to donate a dozens rolls of bubbles wrap (http://www.staples.com/Staples-5-16-Bubble-Roll-12-x100-/product_813210) and 2 dozens of clear shipping tapes (http://www.staples.com/Staples-Moving-and-Storage-Packing-Tape-1-88-x-54-6-yds-Clear-6-Pack-ST-A3-6-/product_815044). Staples stores ONLY! I need this before we move to the land.

I need 1 roll of bubble wrap and shipping tape AS FAST AS POSSIBLE!

Yes, our sales have been dropping a bit since setting all items as free shipping! I have been fixing that and continue fixing some of the errors. I also have increased all books prices to cover the shipping cost and use free shipping. Some of the items cannot be free shipping because of low price and it’s not worth increasing the price. Such as holiday cards.

Here’s the new way, for sample; ASL placemat was $6.99 plus shipping, now it is $9.99 free shipping, which the shipping cost us little bit over $3. I now make this, once this placemat sold, I will marks as $5.49 as “sold” and $4.50 as “Shipping paid”. That will cover the shipping cost BIG losses. All items like this will start as 4th quarter 2015. As for now, nothing under $2.99 at eBay store (even on Best Offer price requests).

As soon as I am moved to the land and when the storages are built, I will finish off the books and re-inventory again. I will keep myself more busy to focus on eBay!

What WE need is more donated items! Really! I would love to see millions of DVD’s donated to us! REALLY! You can go and visit your local swap meet and find some that are good for us to use in eBay.

I have seen so many items at Dollar Tree and 99cents Stores got some good stuff that we can use in eBay! I bought 2 new books from 99cents Store and added in eBay and to see what will happen. Last week, I went to Huntington Beach on a small intersection where I got off the bus and saw 4 books sitting on the bus bench. I just left it alone and came back 3 hours later, these 4 books still there and I took it with me and posted in eBay! Nice, eh? Let’s see what happen! I am sure some of you can spend a weekend or so checking out Garage/Yard sales and see if you can find something good to donate it to us, that would help us a lot!

Brailler sales came pretty well for us! Just sold the last Brailler and I would love to see more Brailler donated to us soon! Still waiting for walking folding cane I have been asking that and Beth mention that she will get some for eBay, it’s been months now and haven’t gotten any. Folding cane for the blind we have real good sales, from $19.99 to $24.99, free shipping. From now on, it will be $24.99 to $29.99.

Our Wireless Doorbell for Hearing Impairment is only 1 matching codes left and Large Print Standard Size Playing Card is 1 unopened and 2 opened left! WOW!

Last early spring, I have closed down my web hosting business due to lack of funds and sales since Richard died. Yes before he died, he helped me to raise it. After I moved to the land, I must find a way to raise funds for myself. Any ideas? Anyone?

Just to let all of you know that the ASL classes will be on videos as Beth mentioned. Still waiting to hear about that part. It’s may going to be $225 each. Since OCDAC has funding issues, I did not charge or collected my commissions for each new student since January 2015, I just trying to help OCDAC with what it needs.

Also, the mailing address will be the same as our Ball Road address, any eBay related will be using our land address. WE ARE NOT going to use P.O. Box there and I won’t allowed that! We NEED to cut back the costs for a while. My Text # will be the same while at the land as well as VP#. My original relay # has closed off due to FCC rule changes last year and yes, Sharky, was very upset about it.

I also will leave the white printer here to Beth for her use in Youth Expo and Fair, if only new printer I put it in Wishlist on Amazon were donated, yes, the drums on that white printer are in bad shape, not easy to find a new drums. What I really need another laptop, wireless B/W printer (with extras toners) so I can use all at once instead of 3 laptops at the sametime! I would like 15” or 17” laptop with numeric keys pads with at least 500GB HD (as you can see on the Amazon wishlist), high speed memory with DSL ready hookups, 6 USB ports, SD card ready, wireless mouse. Yes, still have to have VP Cam on it and want it “Hangouts” ready along with Microsoft Office ready. Windows 8 or 10, but I don’t want “touch the screen” that leaves my oily fingertips on it making me smirks feelings to clean it every 5 seconds!

Come and see latest Beth's YouTube video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhUdR9HJlQk

Well, I think that’s about it. Next my newsletter will be sometime after I moved to the “desert” land, possibility in January 2016! Keep your eyes open!

If you have any question or want to help, please do feel free contact me directly or call Beth at 714 699-3323.

Have a great holiday of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year to all of you! If you send me my birthday wishes, then I want to thank all of you!

Bobby Fleener
Vice President - OCDAC operational / board officer
Manager - eBay Store
General Manager - RRMR/Ranch project

Thanks!
Bobby Fleener
Vice President/Manager
Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center
(714) 584-4394 (TEXT ONLY)

Thursday, December 05, 2013

Hearing aid repair and other news!

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November 2013 Newsletter
Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center

Health, Safety, and Productivity
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It's been an interesting month and we have managed to get quite a bit done. Our agency van has been repaired and we are looking for volunteer drivers. Your driving record should be clean for the last 3 years. Please let us know if you are interested. 

I am back to work, after being sick for 2 months there was lots to get caught up on. I do have an amazing team that keeps things going while I am out. Interesting fact is that if you call our main number it goes to me and I answer the phone 24/7 even if I am sick. We do have clients that call at 3 am.

Now with the money we didn't make at Tiller Days, (There was a horrible wind storm and the police shut down the 3 day event Friday night and all day Saturday. We were allowed to open on Sunday but Saturday is usually the best day.) we lost about $1,000 dollars in revenue. Then we spent $1,000 getting the van repaired. We operate on a budget of $20,000 a year so this really hurt us. We have to raise the money to cover this and hopefully more. We are launching the end of year Holiday funding drive. What's really cool about this year is we are using a new platform that allows you to create your own fundraising page and see how much you have raised as an individual. Check it out on Crowdrise here. And please donate what you can :)


If you know any one that uses hearing aids please share the info below, it could save them a lot of money.

Thank you for your continued support.

Always at your service,
Beth Koenig
Executive Director
Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center

DON’T THROW OUT THAT OLD HEARING AID! ALL HEARING AIDS REPAIRED. Many hearing aid dispensers are reluctant to repair older hearing aids, preferring to sell newer, more sophisticated technology. However, almost ALL hearing aids can be repaired and restored to their original factory condition. The total cost for the repair of any hearing aid with a six month guaranty is $225.00. A container especially designed for mailing hearing aids is available on request. Call, write or email Hal Fishbein 1050 Rexford C Boca Raton, FL 33434 561.470.2337.   ASL (American Sign Language) calls are welcome. Please mail check with your hearing aid. If you send two hearing aids, please make the check in the amount of $450.00.
 
They also have some used super power Oticon behind-the-ear hearing aids available in perfect condition for five hundred dollars ($500) with a one year guaranty. Brand new power behind-the-ear hearing aids are available for one thousand dollars ($1000) with a one year guaranty.

We still need lots of help in the office. We are a bilingual office using both English and ASL. You don't need to know sign language to help us but we would like you to know how to type at least 10 WPM. We really need help typing things and working on the grants. We have a lot of other things to do too and I hope to be able to post a list of our special projects soon.
We need old cellphones! Please gather up the old cellphone and printer carriages and send them our way. Reply to this email for more info.

We are doing our annual Bowl-a-thon again at Tustin Lanes March 22nd, 2014 from 12pm to 5pm.  If you are interested in sponsoring a bowler or a lane, or would like to donate door prize or raffle items please reply to this message. We are looking for sponsors now and I should be able to get the website up for this event soon! As always we need volunteers to help with the planning. You don't have to know sign language to help us!

Our free fingerspelling workshops have been a success! Please contact Bobbyat  bobby.fleener@deafadvocacy.org or check the website atwww.deafadvocacy.org for more info.

Please consider supporting us on Good Search, they have a lot of programs and the interface is much better than I give. I have even been using their firefox plug in for the last two days and it really doesn't get in my way. Plus they made it really easy to uninstall. You don't have to get the plug in or tool bar to help, Just go to the website, sign in (I used Facebook) and search for the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center to support. You can also do that from our page on Good Search: http://www.goodsearch.com/nonprofit/orange-county-deaf-advocacy-center.aspx
Please let us know what you think, we really like feedback. You may reply directly to this email.

Thanks for reading :)

Beth Koenig
Executive Director
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We post the latest news on our Facebook page. There you can find news from around the world as well as the latest info about what is happening at OCDAC.
Tel: (714) 699-3323
Fax: (949) 955-0054
Email: admin@deafadvcacy.org

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Important updates for September 2013

IMPORTANT NEWSWIRES FOR EVERYONE!

September 12th, 2013

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We had a successful year at the Orange County Fair! We gave out over 1100 of our customized sign language booklets over the 23 day of the fair! We met new friends and caught up with old. We are now in the process of going through the requests that we collected and putting together the info about the Richard Roehm Memorial Ranch project. We are moving forward at an incredible speed. We do need to raise funds and if you have any money you can donate to help us move forward then that's great! We would love you to donate money, If you don't have money and still want to help I have great news! There are many other ways to help us.
  • We collect things! ink cartridges, toner cartridges, cell phones, digital cameras, gps, and Cambel"s Labels for Education. You can go around to your friends, family, and bushiness and collect these things for us.
  • Donate items: We take computers, cars, clothes, and many other items.
  • Use GoodSearch to benefit the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center, just go to http://www.goodsearch.com and when it asks which charity you want to support type in Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center. The Firefox plugin works really well and I have raised over $1 using it for only some of my searches.
Want to know more? Reply to this email with your questions.
    Now for some important messages from our Vice President:

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    Hi {FIRST_NAME|Valued Supporter},

    Ever since Beth has been illness for the past week and she has been in and out of her “Sleep Mode” and having few trips to hospital. She says she having severe flu and some says it’s “Valley Fever”. I have been taking over on her Behalf and it really getting me worn down because no one helping us!

    We all need to learn to work together as a “Team”. I have not been selling Oktoberfest since heat waves started. I MUST go back out to sell these tickets this weekend to keep fundraising going.

    We had good sales from our eBay store lately. 2 days ago we sold 4 single code wireless doorbells in 1 buyer which it is well over $220!

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Now let’s talk about our trailer. I went over to care center where our trailer is parked at and spoke to the administrator, Jon, he was nice enough to understanding our issues, my letter to him and Beth’s health issues. He said we have until end of October. If our trailer still there after end of October and he will towed it.

    Nita came by yesterday and she may have found a place for our trailer which it is bit further down on Washington Ave and it is easy for Sharky to and from to work on it. She said she will call Beth about it. However, Beth can’t talk due to fever, if Nita can call that place and let me know. I will be here most of the day today AND tomorrow.

    I would love to have it move the trailer tomorrow by 5 pm, Tawna who our driver maybe stopping by tomorrow. We will see.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Now let talk about that we need volunteer for September 28 event. On August 31, Beth email to all volunteers in our Volunteers Groups newsletter. Beth need a driver who have Valid California DMV issue driver’s license, with clean driver’s record and criminal background who are be willing to be put on the agency vehicle insurance policy who can take Beth, Sharky and Robert to the deaf events and also we need driver with lots of space to move her stuff and arrangement for our Garage #5 to make some room in our garage. The largest item is a love seat couch. We would want to do this on a cooler day.

    For arrangement with this, please email directly to Beth at:

    admin@deafadvocacy.org

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Now let’s talk about Tiller Days which it is coming soon, We need to make a list of what we need for our 3 days food booth operational which it will be start on October 4th to October 6th.

    What we are in needing of Hot dogs with buns, Nachos chips and 5 more cans of nachos cheese and chili, few bags of potatoes, donuts supplies with strawberry/mint sauce, lots of case of sodas (can) and water, bagged of chips, 2 tube of Folgers/Yuba coffee with packages of sugar, sweet n low with 10 oz of coffee cups with lids, creamer, stir sticks. I have my own coffee maker for this.

    We are looking for someone who can donate this to us and we have freezer for this, but we need to ask that the buns and chip to be arrive to us few days before Tillers Days start so it can stay fresh.

    Also we are looking for volunteer to drive to and from of our trailer and we also need volunteers to work with us to run this booth.

    If you have question or willing to help us out, please email directly to me at: bobby.fleener@deafadvocacy.org and I will make sure everything it stocked and scheduled it.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Let talk about my French street office. I need 2 or 3 volunteers to work with me in my office on Monday from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm to organize our office closet and/or our eBay warehouse.

    I also needing 2 volunteer to help us to do fundraising, I have lots of stuff here needs to sell to raise money.

    If you are willing to help me on this, please email directly to me.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    If you have ANY question, please do feel free to contact me.

    Thank you!

    Bobby Fleener
    Vice President / Manager
    http://www.deafadvocacy.org
    Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center
    1001 N. French St., #8
    Santa Ana, CA 92701
    (714) 782-0721
    (714) 584-4394 (Text Only)
    (714) 975-8968 VP
    Tel: (714) 699-3323
    Fax: (949) 955-0054
    Email: admin@deafadvocacy.org

    Tuesday, August 06, 2013

    Last week of OC Fair!

    The last week of the OC Fair kicks off tomorrow! Wow, this has been an amazing time for the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center! We have been having a blast at the fair and have made well over 600 of our customized sign language booklets! We have met so many people and seen a huge interest in our sign language classes and volunteering. Our incredible volunteers have really stepped up and thanks to our procedures I have only had two asthma attacks and only one of them needed treatment! I should add that I have been at the booth almost every day. It is truly incredible how far OCDAC has come since February. I can't thank our volunteers and supporters enough, they have been so wonderful. We can and will keep this up and bring OCDAC into a new era of providing more services to the sensory impaired communities. That's right, we have rewritten our mission statement and our new brochure now states that we serve people with auditory, visual, and sensory processing impairments. Our services remain the same high quality, but we now make it clear who we are equipped to help. We have been serving the blind population since 2002! And the autistic population since 2003!

    I will try to get the fair photos and videos posted as soon as I can! In the mean time please come visit our booth during the last week of the Fair! Hope to see you there :)

    Beth Koenig
    Executive Director
    Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center

    Sunday, July 07, 2013

    July 2013 Newsletter: O C Fair and other News!



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    July 2013 Newsletter
    Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center

    Health, Safety, and Productivity
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    Well, it's that time of the year again! It's Fair time! We are gearing up for our biggiest education event of the year. 23 days of showing people who we are, what we do, and hopefully how we do it! Over the course of the 5 weeks it's going on we will pass out brochures, sign people up for this newsletter, and take a lot of requests for information. There are a lot of people out there that need help and don't even know that it is available!

    Now since we need to staff the booth at all times that the Fair is open we need help to do that. If you are in the Orange County (California) area and think you can help at our booth please contact us by emailing admin@deafadvocacy.org. You will get a 3 to 4 hour shift and free admission and parking! That means when you come to help out you can enjoy the fair before and after your shift!

    We are having a scheduling meeting at 2pm on Friday, July 5th at our office:
    1001 N French Street #8
    Santa Ana, CA 92701

    Please stop by and get your name on the scedule in person, you will also be able to see the maps and pick up your passes.

    In other news we still need lots of help in the office. We are a bilingual office using both English and ASL. You don't need to know sign language to help us but we would like you to know how to type at least 10 WPM. We really need help typing things and working on the grants. We have a lot of other things to do too and I hope to be able to post a list of our special projects soon.
    We need old cellphones! Please gather up the old cellphone and printer carriages and send them our way. Reply to this email for more info.

    We are doing our annual Bowl-a-thon again at Tustin Lanes in March of 2014, date TBA.  If you are interested in sponsoring a bowler or a lane, or would like to donate door prize or raffle items please reply to this message. We are looking for sponsors now and I should be able to get the website up for this event by next month! As always we need volunteers to help with the planning. You don't have to know sign language to help us!

    Our free fingerspelling workshops have been a success! Please contact Bobby at  bobby.fleener@deafadvocacy.org or check the website at www.deafadvocacy.org for more info.

    Please consider supporting us on Good Search, they have a lot of programs and the interface is much better than I give. I have even been using their firefox plug in for the last two days and it really doesn't get in my way. Plus they made it really easy to uninstall. You don't have to get the plug in or tool bar to help, Just go to the website, sign in (I used Facebook) and search for the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center to support. You can also do that from our page on Good Search: http://www.goodsearch.com/nonprofit/orange-county-deaf-advocacy-center.aspx
    Please let us know what you think, we really like feedback. You may reply directly to this email.

    Thanks for reading :)

    Beth Koenig
    Executive Director
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    We plan to put more videos on our new YouTube channel and have them captioned, so if you like to transcribe stuff or always wanted to caption stuff this is a great time to volunteer!

    We post the latest news on our Facebook page. There you can find news from around the world as well as the latest info about what is happening at OCDAC.
    Tel: (714) 699-3323
    Fax: (949) 955-0054
    Email: admin@deafadvcacy.org

    Wednesday, January 30, 2013

    Deaf News: SignHealth “concerned that many Deaf people have not hadtheir main language recorded properly in census”

    SignHealth, the healthcare charity for Deaf people, has said today that many Deaf people are shocked at the national census results released yesterday showing a smaller than expected Deaf population.

    More at http://limpingchicken.com/2013/01/31/deaf-news-signhealth-concerned-that-many-deaf-people-have-not-had-their-main-language-recorded-properly-in-census/

    Parents of deaf child: To sue over lack of Welsh access

    The parents of a profoundly deaf girl are threatening a council with legal action for failing to recruit a Welsh-medium sign language tutor.

    More at http://byddarcymru.blogspot.com/2013/01/parents-of-deaf-child-to-sue-over-lack.html

    Austin interpreters LotuSign take on sign language duties at Obamainauguration

    SIGN OF HISTORY Austin interpreters LotuSign take on sign language duties at Obama inauguration BY CHAD SWIATECKI Barbie Parker and her staff have been part of performances by worldwide stars like Bob Dylan, Pearl Jam, Kanye West and Stevie Wonder.

    More at http://deafnetwork.com/wordpress/blog/2013/01/30/austin-interpreters-lotusign-take-on-sign-language-duties-at-obama-inauguration/

    Sunday, January 27, 2013

    Interpreters Under Pressure to help deaf

    Seems simply turning up is not enough. A recent enquiry to the ASLI in the UK to start issuing online information as to where access for deaf people to health areas are.

    More at http://attherimmm.blogspot.com/2013/01/interpreters-under-pressure-to-help-deaf.html

    Saturday, January 26, 2013

    Jessica Chastain: Sign Language After 'Heiress' Performance

    The Golden Globe winning actress was spotted signing autographs for fans waiting outside and also engaging in a conversation with a deaf fan using sign language.

    More at http://www.justjared.com/2013/01/26/jessica-chastain-sign-language-after-heiress-performance/

    Thursday, January 10, 2013

    Switching on my hearing - William's cochlear implant story

    William with his son, adjusting to life after implant surgery Thirty-five year old William Mager has been profoundly deaf since birth. He uses sign language and lip-reading to communicate.

    More at http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ouch/2013/01/switching_on_my_hearing_-_will.html

    Wednesday, January 09, 2013

    Shameful Cries Of Foul By Sign Language Militants Over Article Video An Embarrassment

    The fact here is over 98% of the deaf people do not sign at all and its shameful to see a handful of sign language militants crying foul over a NBC article video showing deaf people talkin instead of signing.

    You see, the sign language militants are still sitting high on their dream horses to be able to see whats really on the ground.

    The sign language militants are in for a rude awakeneing when they see the outcomes of their whitehouse petition, CEASD, EHDI, and many more newsworthy events showing that the new deaf generations are moving forward away from the old deaf traditions.

    The article in question is at http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Facebook-IOpens-New-World-For-Deaf-186194282.html

    Richard Roehm

    Tuesday, January 08, 2013

    Families of Deaf/HH Children: We Need Your Help

    How are profoundly deaf children supposed to pick up and learn American Sign Language and English effortlessly if their caregivers are not signing with them or are using only basic and non-fluent signing with them at home?

    More at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EhWhatHuh/~3/SWd0f4DyRxI/families-of-deafhh-children-we-need.html

    Thursday, January 03, 2013

    How To Save American Sign Language? Walking Or Shunning Stupidity?

    A recently I was pointd to a YouTube video of Ryan Commerson suggesting that we have a "Walk for ASL" event to make a positive impression of the American Sign Language. Walking for ASL sounds sweet but it does nothing to cover up or even mask the stupidity from the hard line ASL advocates.

    What really needs to be done is an organized campaign to encourage the public to shun the stupidity from the hard line ASL advocates, the deaf militants.

    In the past 30 years as reported through the literary works of people including Tom Bertling, Frances Parsons, and Jeff Gauer, stupidity by the deaf militants has had a better impression of the perception of ASL on our society. Stupidity has its biggest impression to our society when they had Gallaudet University boot out Dr. Jane Fernendes. Stupidity continues to be prevalent in the deaf social networks and in many YouTube videos and it's exposure is just about to take a higher level as someone issued an ultimatum to end it otherwise will become exposed through major news outlets like CNN.

    There is no organized campaign to tell the public to ignore the stupidity. Nothing from the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), nothing from any of the state deaf associations, nothing from any of the hundreds different deaf clubs throughout the United states. Even the new DEAF think tank group in Facebook is showing a blind eye on such stupidity. Lacking such campaigns our society is given the impression that stupidity is condoned by these deaf organizations.

    And as illustrative as this gets, there happens to be a "large" deaf social network website that is owned by the husband of a NAD attorney. And that particular website has a history of condoning and even promoting such stupidity that makes ASL look bad to our society.

    As long there is no organized campaign to reduce the impact of stupidity, walking for ASL will become the latest addition to the long list of failures of American Sign Language.

    Richard Roehm

    The Ball - a short film about a deaf boy and hearing girl making friends

    Check out this 10 minute video by Meerkat Films from Newcastle. It depicts how a relationship develops between a deaf boy, who uses sign language, and a hearing girl, who is finding life on the streets a bit tough.

    More at http://www.pddcs.co.uk/2013/01/the-ball-short-film-about-deaf-boy-and.html?m=1

    Saturday, December 08, 2012

    Victory Videos For American Sign Language Petition

    Enjoy the victory videos!













    And yes I did sign the petition!

    sig

    And we offer free fingerspelling workshops also have sign language classes as well. More information here http://www.deafadvocacy.org/sign-language

    Richard Roehm

    The White House Petition Regarding American Sign Language Could Carry Phyrric Consequences



    In the past three and a half weeks, a petition based at the White House website has been circulating madly in the deaf community.

    "WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:

    Officially recognize American Sign Language as a community language and a language of instruction in schools."

    Found at : https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/officially-recognize-american-sign-language-community-language-and-language-instruction-schools/CRPw2JLk

    Now with just 4 days remaining, the petition is rapidly closing in on it's goal of 25,000 signatures to elicit an official response from the White House. As of the time this blog post is written, it's just a little shy of 2000 signatures needed and is predicted to be making its goal by Monday or maybe sooner.

    This petition has been the latest rallying cry to mobilize the deaf community. Social networks have been heavily used to call attention to this petition. Kudos to all those involved in getting the petition signatures.

    Once the goal is met, there will be plenty of victorious blogging and video blogging to be seen in the weeks ahead. The capital "D" deaf community need a little victory to drown out the major setbacks they faced in the past two years. Let's give them that little cheer!

    Now let's wait for the official White House response to the petition. And that's where the phyrric elements would surface.

    The communication methodology issue has always been a source of despair, a source of violent animosities between groups of people with different degrees of hearing loss. It has been a very tacky issue especially when it comes to the education of deaf children. That is because the civilization is advancing and medical technology that deals with hearing loss is also advancing with the civilization. This brings up the question of what is the best communication method for deaf children who have access to the new medical technology?

    The question has been the subject of intense debates between groups of people with varying degrees of hearing loss, audiologists, and the technology. And this petition seeks to pull the White House into this foray.

    This petition seeks to get the stamp of approval for American Sign Language from the White House. This is an area that requires soul searching from the highest authorities in the White House and the response could either go directly in their favor, against, or most likely it will be handed down like a mysterious cloud floating over the deaf community that would be interpreted in many different ways.

    The deaf community needs to wait for the White House response before they pop their champagne bottles else they will come with a phyrric aftertaste.

    Richard Roehm

    Monday, November 26, 2012

    Open Video Message To FCC - Convo VRS Sponsored "ASLRocks" A Provenly Deaf Bully Website

    I'll say no words myself. The videos, pictures, and links below speak for THE TRUTH themselves. Some links will disappear as the truth will hurt.

















    You be the judge of the videos, pictures, and the links.

    Please share this page URL fast and wide.

    And email FCC too.

    Chairman Julius Genachowski: Julius.Genachowski@fcc.gov
    Commissioner Robert McDowell: Robert.McDowell@fcc.gov
    Commissioner Mignon Clyburn: Mignon.Clyburn@fcc.gov
    Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel: Jessica.Rosenworcel@fcc.gov
    Commissioner Ajit Pai: Ajit.Pai@fcc.gov

    Richard Roehm
    Chairman