A NEW TIFFANY HILL!! HOORAY!!

This is such a fabulous video!!

Here's an Idea

One of the best ideas ever!!!! It is the combination of a guest book, a photo booth, and it can be incorporated into your wedding video. It is such a cute idea!!! These people are also the bomb!! So much fun to watch and I don't even know the people. I am using this in my wedding.

Keira & Dan's Hello Guest Book from Hello Super 8 on Vimeo.

These are my roommates! No Joke!

One More Time

I am not going to obsess with the death of the head of the Deaf Studies department, Dr. Larry Fleischer, but I do want to wrap up the week with one last post about the great man that touched our lives for a brief moment. He fought a fight that still continues on this day and will continue until we bring awareness to the struggles of deaf people.

Larry supported the DBC, the Deaf Bilingual Coalition, a cause that I began to have a heart for about a year ago when I first found out about their efforts to support Deaf culture, Deaf individuals, and the Deaf world as a whole. The DBC is creating awareness which helps Deaf children get more education and communication earlier in life. If a child waits until they get to school to get the language they desire to communicate, or even longer if they aren't taught ASL, they suffer irreparable damage because the part of the brain that deals with communication has been frozen in time until they get the language tools they need. This is something I cannot talk enough about and I will continue to talk about it and post it on my blog.

Larry spoke out against Audism, which I have become a great fighter against as well. Audism occurs when a deaf person is judged as incapable of a given behavior, occupation, etc. simply because they can't hear. Audism is a reflection of a belief in 'hearing superiority': an attitude of thinking one person is superior to another simply because they have better hearing. This is something I have experienced first hand and have seen the pain that Audism causes.

Why do I continue to speak on these two issues? Because this is where I am right now. These issues are near and dear to me. I hope by planting them in your brain over and over again, dear readers, that when you are called to witness Audism or speak to a mother who has a Deaf child and has not learned Sign Language, you will speak out! You will not be afraid! Speak out!!!

STOP AUDISM NOW!!

So this week was our big event at DSA. Our STOP AUDISM event. We approached the event with excitement, but also with trepidation because we weren't sure how many people were going to show up. We got there, and the event was a smash hit! People were there to raise awareness and to remember the life of a great, great man, Dr. Larry Fleischer. We got the word out about a prejudice that many times is ignored or not given the proper attention.

Red. Like a stop sign. Stop Audism Now!

This is the main walk way. Anybody going to classes saw us and wondered what we were doing. Many asked us. We were more than willing to tell them.

Everybody in this photo was there for Stop Audism. See? Great turnout!!

Rest In Peace, Dear Dr. Larry Fleischer

Dr. Fleischer was a great, great man and respected and looked up to by all those students who met him. A man who fought the hearing world around him and wished to prove that ASL was truly something to be studied and given the proper respect, he struggled with the board of CSUN to establish a Deaf Studies program here on campus along side some other teachers who continue here on campus. The program is here and thriving today because of Dr. Fleischer. We shall all miss his great influence and impact in our lives. Rest in Peace Dr. Fleischer. You will be sorely missed.

Translation Class

Today in translation class, I was challenged to something I had never thought of before. I am in love with translation. Now, for those of you who don't know the difference, translation is the more thought out, longer version. There are hours and hours put into translation. Interpreting is usually right on the spot, either consecutive or simultaneous, and there is very little time to think hard and weigh the options. But today in class, my teacher brought up a great point.

He, as well as I, have noticed that there are many versions of many different kinds of bibles out there. Besides different english versions, there is a heavy trend to translate these religious works into ASL videos. However, many other books and information are ignored. History books, Science books, Social Sciences, etc could all be translated for the use of elementary, middle school, and high school students and even adult deaf people.

When I worked at CSDR, I remember so many times where something like that could have been used. And as our teacher challenged us with this, I thought, how wonderful it would be to create a trend where all books would be translated into ASL for those who would like them.

I used to have this series of History DVDs. There wasn't anything special about them, besides the fact that I love history, but the speaker would come out dressed as a character and talk about that character and the time they lived in and they were really wonderful and interesting. Maybe I could make history and other subjects just as interesting to other young students by my translations. Hmmmm. It gives me pause for thought.