Miss Deaf America upset she's unseen at Super Bowl

Lack of coverage of Miss Deaf America as she signed the national anthem at the Super Bowl writes Jamie Sotonoff for the Daily Herald (07/02/12).

During the Super Bowl, television cameras showed everything from Eli Manning's young family to hip-hop singer M.I.A.'s obscene gesture. Yet, they didn't for one second show the National Association of the Deaf's Miss Deaf America Rachel Mazique — an Arlington Heights native and Hersey High School alumna — as she signed the national anthem and “America the Beautiful.”

Mazique doesn't believe she appeared on the stadium's Jumbotron, either; wasn't invited to stay for the game; and wasn't placed near singers Kelly Clarkson, Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton.

Even though she says she was never promised television exposure (but was told to smile the whole time, just in case), her treatment at the big game has upset many people in the deaf community, especially those in the suburbs. Now her supporters are rallying for an apology from NBC and the NFL through an online petition at change.org.

As of Monday night, more than 1,000 people had signed the petition, including some from as far away as New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

“We are very upset by this,” said Angie Kubiak of Mount Prospect, who is deaf and whose husband and three sons also are deaf. “We waited and waited to see Rachel appear to perform, only to be disappointed. Everyone of all ages in the deaf community across the country was expecting to see Rachel Mazique appear on TV, even if only for a few seconds. We thought we would see something even go on the Internet. She has nothing from NBC.”

No one from the NBC or NFL could be reached for comment Monday night.

Mazique said she was grateful to sponsors PepsiCo and EnAble for allowing her to sign at the game as the NAD ambassador but was “very disappointed” about the missed opportunity to show the world American Sign Language. She questioned the point of her appearance, since her signing wasn't visible to an audience.

“The hope was to bring national visibility to songs signed in ASL. It would have been wonderful to showcase ‘America the Beautiful' and the national anthem in ASL on television,” she said. “I truly hope that this becomes a teachable moment for everyone involved, and that American Sign Language renditions of these iconic songs are broadcast in future Super Bowls rather than being a token gesture.”

Mazique, who now is teaching and working on her Ph.D. at the University of Texas, is hailed as a role model for the deaf community. By keeping her out of the spotlight on what turned out to be the most watched television show in history, NBC and the NFL missed a chance to show the world that deaf people can be successful and that sign language is beautiful, said petition creator Kate Spencer, a former college classmate.

“What an insult,” Kubiak said.

Hollyoaks to cast deaf teen role

Hollyoaks producers have begun searching for an actor to play a new deaf character reports AP via Yahoo (07/02/12).

The Channel 4 show's bosses are casting for 16-year-old Mikey, who will initially appear as a guest on the soap, Digital Spy reports.

The character - who could become a permanent fixture in future - is also set to be at the centre of an online spin-off which will tie into his TV role.

A web advert for the part reveals: "Hollyoaks is looking for a deaf actor over 16 years old. This is a brilliant role for a young deaf actor.

"After a few initial episodes, the role will feature heavily in ground-breaking online material, before returning to the show and potentially becoming a regular character.

"Actors can be fully or partially deaf, must be able to communicate in sign language, and must be either 16 or older and able to realistically play 16."

New TV assistance for deaf viewers

Deaf and hearing-impaired Kiwis are about to get a lot more choice in what they watch on television thanks to closed captioning being introduced on 10 new channels reports Stuff.co.nz (01/02/12).
Tomorrow, Sky Television will launch closed captions via its digital decoders on 13 channels: TV One, TV2 and TV3, Animal Planet, Disney, Disney Junior, TCM, Cartoon Network, Crime & Investigation, Discovery, Nickelodeon, UKTV and National Geographic.

Closed-captioning information will be displayed on the on-screen electronic programme guide, and viewers will be able to select closed captions for a single programme, or a global setting to show closed captions whenever they are available. Viewers will also be able to search the guide for content which has closed captions available.

Sky Television chief executive John Fellet said the company had wanted to offer the service for some time but failed to get NZ On Air funding.

The company had so far spent about $250,000 on sourcing the caption information for its programmes and setting up a system to monitor the service.

National Foundation for the Deaf (NFD) chief executive Louise Carroll said New Zealand's level of programme captioning was among the lowest in the world but that the 10 new channels would "open up new horizons" for the hearing impaired.

Captions are currently available for shows on TV1, TV2 and TVNZ 7 as well as TV3 through Freeview or Teletext.

"Think of an elderly person who's been able to hear for 60 years and suddenly they can no longer hear the television news properly - they could go to TV1 and TV2, but they lose the option of all the great movies and even watching cartoons with their grandchildren," Carroll said.

"Imagine a child coming through at school age - they want to watch the cartoons with their mates but they just can't understand what's going on."

Carroll said Sky's new captions meant it was now a meaningful option for the one in six New Zealanders that had a hearing impairment. That amounts to a new market of about 700,000 people who may find the captions as added motivation to join Sky.

"I'm hearing impaired and definitely I miss the dialogue sometimes," said Carroll, who also chairs the Captioning Working Group which lobbies the government for public funding.

The faces in the shows are too fast so you can't lip-read properly and if you've missed an important chunk of the programme it's really frustrating. Carroll also said advertisers were missing out on a huge opportunity, and she hoped Parliament TV would eventually be captioned.

Deaf Aotearoa, also part of the working group, said a survey of 400 mostly deaf people showed the overwhelming majority would not subscribe to Sky unless it had captions.

Deaf Aotearoa president Kellye Bensley said excitement had already spread through the deaf community with the announcement of Sky's testing phase.

Sky Television's head of communications Kirsty Way said live content captioning - mainly for news bulletins and sports - could also be in the works but Sky was still asking NZ On Air to consider funding such content on its free-to-air channel Prime, if not its pay- television channels.


Sky was also looking at providing audio descriptors to make it easier for blind and sight-impaired people to understand television programmes, probably for TV1 and TV2 initially. Fairfax NZ

Deaf teens relate to characters in 'Switched at Birth'

Olivia Stein, a 17-year-old student at California School for the Deaf in Fremont, can probably count on one hand how many times she has seen someone like herself beaming from a television screen writes Chuck Barney for Contra Costa Times (03/01/12).

It's no wonder, then, that she has become hooked on "Switched at Birth," a feel-good family drama pegged, in part, to multiple deaf characters who have brought some prime-time exposure to an underrepresented segment of society.

"It allows us to be more involved. We can relate. We're finally seeing people like us," she said through a Sign Language Interpreter. "And it's showing the world that deaf people are cool. We rock."

"Switched at Birth" debuted on ABC Family last summer with a sensationalistic premise: A couple of teen girls -- one of whom is deaf -- discover that, due to a hospital error, they wound up with the wrong parents. Now their families, from two different worlds, are struggling to get to know each other.

The show, which resumes its first season on Tuesday, became an instant ratings hit for ABC Family. Moreover, it sparked wide interest among the deaf community for its frank and respectful depiction of people with hearing loss.

The teen girl who is deaf, Daphne Vasquez, is played by Katie Leclerc, who in real life has Meniere's disease, a disorder of the inner ear that can affect hearing and balance. Also among the cast are deaf actors Sean Berdy and Marlee Matlin. The series was created by Lizzy Weiss, who took courses in American Sign Language (ASL) while attending Duke University.

"Switched at Birth" doesn't focus solely on deafness -- the soapy twists and turns cover a wide terrain. But it does explore several pertinent deaf issues, including communication and societal barriers, speech therapy and the debate over cochlear implants. It also makes extensive use of sign language, subtitles and something very rare in this era of pop-cultural clatter: Moments of utter silence.

Anna Schumacher, a Berkeley native who served as an on-set interpreter for "Switched at Birth," calls the show an important step forward because it doesn't isolate its deaf characters "into a novelty category" or portray them as disabled.

"While Daphne's life is by no means easy, because of many variables, she is seen as just as bright, capable, insightful and full as any teenager," she said. "Yet she experiences the world in a different way and has a wonderful language at her fingertips."

Leclerc, 25, says that the show is dispersing an important message.

"People tend to be afraid of what they're unfamiliar with, so communicating (with the deaf) can be somewhat intimidating," she said. "If we can come into people's homes and show that it's not that hard -- and that we all have similar struggles -- it's a good thing."

The actress, who is enjoying her first breakout role in a 10-year career, says that the feedback she has received from viewers is especially gratifying.

"I've heard from people who tell me they now have a better understanding of a deaf relative," she said. "Others have said they're changing their college major to sign language because they want to be an interpreter. That's pretty cool."

Several teen students interviewed through interpreters at the school for the deaf in Fremont find "Switched at Birth" to be pretty cool, too. Though they have quibbles with the show -- they'd prefer it, for example, if Leclerc was more fluent in signing and if her character had more interaction with other deaf kids -- they're drawn to it because it reflects pieces of their world.

Gurpreet Rai, 20, especially admires a plot line in which Daphne balked when her wealthy biological parents pushed to move her from an all-deaf school to a mainstream private school. In an emotionally powerful scene, the character recalled a previous stint at a "hearing" school, where she was treated like an outcast.

"That part of the show applies to my experience," Rai recalled. "I went to five hearing schools in Hayward, and it was a constant struggle. I felt lost -- like I had no future for myself."

Stein can also relate.

"Life was hard (at a mainstream school). I never had a friend. It was awkward," she said. "I finally went to my parents and told them, 'I'm done. I need a change, now.' "

Alexandria Brinkley-Green, 18, gets a kick out of the fact that Daphne is a basketball player, just like her. And she likes the way the show captures the ups and downs of romantic relationships between the deaf and hearing.

"What is the point of dating a hearing person if that person does not know sign language?" she said. "However, if that person was fluent in ASL, I'm open to the idea."

Several students applaud the show's casting of Berdy, a charismatic 18-year-old actor who attended CSD's sister school in Riverside. To them, he's a "cool role model." They even like the way he signs.

"We can pick up on his irony -- something hearing people can't," said Conrad Baer, 17.

But Berdy's casting also represents a sign of hope, according to Brinkley-Green.

"Some deaf people want to be actors, too," she says. "Maybe this will open a few doors to new possibilities."