Re-Post: Merry Frickin' Christmas!

I hope you all had a good holiday, whether you celebrate Christmas or not. I have been enjoying finding time to relax, read, and draw. 

I thought I should include a previous post of my late cat, Patrick, forced to sit in a silly photo session with Santa Claus. I thought it would be funny. He hated it. Sorry Patrick!


Read more about it in my original 2009 posting below: 

I took my cat, Patrick, to get our picture taken with Santa. He hated it. Patrick hissed at Santa, bit the nice lady who helped put the tiny Santa hat on him, and he made these horrible noises throughout the entire photo shoot.

I felt really bad about putting my old blind cat through this. Sorry Patrick. But, I could not resist! Doesn't he look adorable?  LOL.

(Oh, I don't really look like I have a giant egg for a head, I am shy and don't want to put any pictures of me on this blog yet).

"Merry Frickin' Christmas."

R.I.P. Patrick 

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I Love Reading

Photo from sleepyneko @ flickr

I wonder if the reason why I love to read and started reading voraciously at a young age is because it does not involve listening. Being hard of hearing, listening can be hard work and tiring for me.

With a book, I see everything that is being said and I don't have to ask the book to repeat itself or rephrase itself. With a book, I have full access, except when I come across a word I don't understand. When this happens, a dictionary nearby solves the problem quickly. With a book, I can relax. I don't have to strain my neck, squint my eyes, lean forward and concentrate on what is being said. I can escape in a really good book from my everyday struggles with listening.

Books have been one of my best companions growing up. They have been great teachers as well, letting me practice my speech when I read out loud to myself. 

I love reading and can't imagine not being able to read. I would have been one frustrated and tired little girl if I did not learn to read as a young child.

I am very thankful for books!

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Favorite 2011 D/HH Blog Posts

Here is a list of some 2011 D/HH blog posts I really enjoyed reading. I hope you enjoy them as well.

• Follow Your Bliss'  Teacher of the Deaf

• Hearing Spark's  The Variables of Hearing

• Deaf & HOH Teachers Sound Off!'s  Hilarious post

• Speak Up Librarian's  My New Hearing Aids in Different Sound Environments

• Xpressive Handz's  Normal Does Not = Right

• Octavian Robinson's  A Failure to Act For Change

• Alicia Lane-Outlaw's  Everyday Advocacy

• Richard L. Jefferies'  Commentary: Where is Everyone? 

• Deaf World As Eye See It's  Later

• Deafinitely Girly's  Deafinitely Insulting 

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Liebster Blog Award

 

I am honored to be given the Liebster Blog Award from Speak Up Librarian! Thank you!  :)

Liebster is German for dearest, beloved or favorite. This award is bestowed on blogs with less than 200 followers but deserve more attention.

What a great way to support fellow bloggers you admire!

Here are the rules that come with this award:

• Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog.
• Link back to the blogger who awarded you.
• Give your top 5 picks for the award.
• Inform your top 5 by leaving a comment on their blog.
• Post the award on your blog.

The Liebster Award goes to...

1. Speak Up Librarian

2. Hearing Sparks

3. Follow Your Bliss

4. Xpressive Handz

5. The Echo Chamber

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Future Deaf and HOH Advocate, Part 2 : )

Remember a young student of mine who told his parents that he wants to grow up to be an advocate for deaf and hard of hearing people? I saw him recently, before the holiday break, and as always he was talking about starting a support group or social group of some kind for people like himself (deaf and hard of hearing). He is particularly interested in meeting others close to his age. He talks about doing this when he is in high school or after high school.

"I know I am not alone and I want others to know that they are not alone," he said.

I could not believe that this was coming from an eleven year old.

I responded, "Why wait? Start something now."

Boy, did his eyes light up!

I told him that if we get his parents' permission and support, that I will try my best to help him by providing him the tools and information he could use to start his own group or local youth chapter for kids who are deaf and hard of hearing.

We brainstormed ideas and we went over the possible problems he could face. The biggest problem is the fact that he lives in a rural area. He worries that it would be hard to find many deaf and hard of hearing kids who would want to be a part of his group. I told him that if he could get one active member, it would be a success.

"Worry about getting one to commit and more will come," I assured him. 

I encouraged him to talk about this idea with his parents and family members. The very next day, his classroom teacher was asking me about his ideas of starting a club or group for deaf and hard of hearing kids. She thought it was a wonderful idea and asked how she can help. Then I learned that his parents are on board and are looking into this. 

Right now, while I am super excited for this student and his passion, I don't know where to begin. Does anyone know who he should contact and where he can get the information to start an official chapter or group of some sort? Has someone as young as him done this before? What are some things he needs to be doing? What are some things he should be concerned about?

While I do my research, please leave comments or contact me if you have any information. You can email me at ehwhathuh@yahoo.com.

I know that with the right information and guidance, he can accomplish his dream. 

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New Blog: Closed Captions Watch

I started a new blog, Closed Captions Watch.

Since I have been writing so much about closed captions, particularly about television shows that don't caption the spoken dialogue verbatim, I thought it made sense to start a new blog that focuses on various problematic issues surrounding captioned media.

You can check it out here: http://closedcaptionswatch.blogspot.com/. There is not much at the moment, but I plan on adding plenty more soon.

I hope to get many people involved in advocating for quality captioned media. I believe that we can make a difference; one letter, phone call, and email at a time.

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Turning On the Subtitles for DVD Is Easy

After talking with and sending numerous emails about the importance of using closed-captions or subtitles to a counselor at a school, she still was not doing this for some hard of hearing students who attend her classes, according to an interpreter. They attend her class at least once a week. It seems as if she shows a lot of videos. These videos are usually cartoons or kid friendly films about self esteem issues.

When I finally found the time to pop by and visit unannounced one day, she was going to show a video to the class. I sat near the back of the room and raised my hand to try to get her attention. She kept talking and asking her students to give her "five". It was as if she was ignoring me. The interpreter looked at me and raised her hand too. Finally, after being ignored for a few more minutes, I got up and walked over the front of the room where she was going to play the video. She smiled and said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were giving me five like the other kids." I smiled and kindly reminded her that she has a student in the class who has a hearing loss. I told her that she needs to see if the DVD has subtitles. She asked me, "Oh, well how do I do this? I don't think it has subtitles." I asked if I can show her. She said, "Sure! I would like to learn."

I put the DVD in and pressed 'Menu'. Then I selected 'Settings'. Under 'Settings' there were selections for English, French, and Spanish subtitles. They even had English subtitles for the 'Deaf and Hard of Hearing'. The counselor was amazed by this. She said, "Oh, I had no idea! That was easy."

I learned that next time I need to ask teachers and staff if they know how to find subtitles or turn on closed captions. Not everyone knows how to do this. 

Well, now she knows. Hopefully, she'll remember next time.

I made a mental note to myself that I should work with my student on learning how to advocate for herself and request subtitles or closed captions on her own.

The interpreter gave me a thumbs up, I nodded, and quietly slipped out of the classroom onto my next mission.

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A Writer's Take on How AMC Censors Captions

It is nice to know that I am not alone in noticing and hating the fact that AMC intentionally censors the closed captions for their hit television shows.

Look at journalist and author Joe Clark's take on the issue below. I really enjoy reading his entire article, Response to FCC Public Notice on closed captioning rules (from Joe Clark Accessibility, Design, Writing, 2010). He discusses the problems with captioning and how we should fix these problems. Included are some standards proposed for closed captioning. One of them states,

1. Do not censor.
   
   • Do not alter a transcript, or refuse to transcribe, because you object; or you know that someone else objects; or you imagine or predict someone might object to the original.
   • If a later edit (e.g., for syndication) removes pejoratives from audio, edit captions only then. Do not pre-censor captioning in anticipation of a cleaned-up audio edit.

Be sure to read the rest of the article here. Very interesting stuff!! This guy knows what he is talking about.

Here is an excerpt about his thoughts on AMC censoring the captions (Please note that I somewhat censored the language used below): 

• I blame the broadcaster, AMC, for this, because the same thing happened with its other shows, like Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead. 
  
  
• AMC is also guilty of a new low it can call its own: Forcing captioners to pre-censor dialogue. Even pejoratives as benign as sh--, goddamn, and balls are replaced, wholly or partially, with asterisks. But AMC’s hack-job captioner is so clueless about its own medium it does not understand that * requires special handling in captioning (it’s in the extended character set at [12,28]). 
  
  
  1.  
  2. 
  
  Again, I’m not the only one who noticed. 
  
  Now, why did they do it? To cheap out, of course. Eventually there will be a syndication edit with cleaned-up audio, and somebody at AMC decided that even the puny 30% extra it would cost to recaption at that point was too much money to spend. Meanwhile, how much do those coveted advertising spots on Mad Men go for? 
  
  The lesson here is that NBC isn’t the only broadcaster that schemes and plots all year to wring its captioning budget dry. It’s just easier to shaft the deaf. Nobody got into this business to help cripples, did they? 
  
  
  
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My Email to Amazon Requesting Captioned Videos

I was so impressed with Shanna's, aka Lipreading Mom's email to ESPN, that I decided to use it as template when I emailed Amazon.

Here is her email to ESPN:


Dear ESPN, ABC Sports, and ESPN.com,

As a sports fan with hearing loss, I am writing to express my concern about the lack of captions with your video streaming of live sports events. On several occasions, myself and friends with hearing loss have wanted to watch sport events on your Website, only to be unable to understand the play-by-play information due to lack of captions. 

With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting that 34 million U.S. adults have hearing loss, it would be in ESPN and ABC Sports’ best interest to provide captioned streaming as a way to appeal to this large group of potential viewers. Imagine the level of support and good PR your network and site would receive if you launched captioned Internet broadcasts to appeal to this large portion of the U.S. population. 

I welcome your thoughts and will be following up with you on behalf of the millions of Americans with hearing loss.

Respectfully,

Shanna, a.k.a. Lipreading Mom Sports Fan

>>> We encourage you to email your concerns to ESPN! Fill out a Complaint/Concern Form here.<<<


Here is my email to Amazon:

Dear Amazon.com and Amazon Instant Video,

As a television and movie fan with a hearing loss, I am writing to express my concern about the lack of captions with your online video streaming of current movies and television shows. On some occasions I tried to watch TV shows from Amazon Instant Video, only to be unable to comprehend the dialogue due to lack of captions. Because of this, I no longer use Amazon Instant Video. If captions were provided, I would be an avid user.

With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting that 34 million U.S. adults as deaf or hard of hearing, it would be in Amazon and Amazon Instant Video's best interest to provide captioned streaming as a way to appeal to this large group of potential viewers. Imagine the level of support and good PR your site would receive if you launched online videos with the option of closed captions to appeal to this large portion of the U.S. population!

I welcome your thoughts and will be following up with you on behalf of the millions of Americans with hearing loss.

Respectfully,

Elizabeth


>>> Contact Amazon and voice your concerns about lack of captioning: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/contact-us/digital-video.html?ie=UTF8&browse_node_id=3757 <<<

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AMC Continues to Censor Closed Captions

I am watching AMC shows Walking Dead and Hell On Wheels. They are both excellent shows, although I am liking Hell On Wheels more than Walking Dead at the moment. They are also both very violent and bloody, not suitable for young children. In addition, the language used is not always appropriate. They don't censor the offensive language in the audio portion. If you have the ability to hear well, you can hear them say words like 'sh--', 'ass', and 'assh---'. However, the word 'sh--'  is censored in the closed captions. On Walking Dead, the word is depicted in the captions as s@@.

I try not to use curse words or inappropriate language on my blog because I want to keep this as family friendly as I can. Plus, I am not a fan of curse words. So, it is okay for me to censor or not use certain words I may find offensive. But, I would never tell others not to use profanity, in other words, censor others, while I use profanity. For me to say that it is okay for me to swear while it is not okay for others to swear would not be fair. If I provided a tool or service that turns my text into speech enabling visually impaired people to listen to what is written on this blog, would it be right for me to exclude certain words or to only provide a 'cleaned up' version for them? No, of course not!

I have been told, "Well, it is better than nothing. At least you have closed-captions, you should stop complaining and be grateful." 

While I am grateful for AMC providing closed captions for their television shows, I am not grateful that they continue to exclude a specific group of viewers by censoring the closed-caption portion, but not the audio portion. This is discrimination. This is violating freedom of speech laws.

By the way, according to the FCC,

• As of January 1, 2006, all “new” English language programming, defined as analog programming first published or exhibited on or after January 1, 1998, and digital programming first aired on or after July 1, 2002, must be captioned, with some exceptions.
• As of January 1, 2008, 75 percent of “pre-rule” English language programming, defined as analog programming first shown before January 1, 1998, and digital programming first shown before July 1, 2002, must be captioned, with some exceptions. 

(From the FCC Closed Captioning Guide). 

While it is nice that AMC provides closed-captioning for their new shows, it does not make me feel so grateful knowing that they are required to do so according to the FCC. So, it is unlikely they are providing closed-captions to make sure deaf and hard of hearing viewers are not left out; it is because they have to. If they really cared, they would not be pre-censoring the language used in the captions.

While they are required to provide closed-captioning, it seems as if they are not required to caption the dialogue verbatim. They can cut costs by providing only one version of the closed captions (the cleaned up version) as Greg Hlibok, Chief of the FCC's Disability Rights Office, explains in his letter concerning this issue, which you can read here.

It does not make me feel grateful when I think someone is doing me a favor out of obligation. 

What do you think? 

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In Addition to Complaining, Writing "Thank You" Letters Can Be Effective

I am currently working on writing "thank you" letters or notes to corporations and organizations taking the time to provide closed captions or subtitles for videos they provide. I am doing this one at a time, every time I notice someone putting in the time and effort to provide captioning. Of course, if I feel anything should change or if something needs improvement, I will let them know. I am still sending letters of complaints to certain television networks for continuing to censor the closed captions while the audio portion is not. More on that later.

I think saying "thank you" and showing gratitude is a great way to let people know how important closed captions or subtitles are for those who rely on them. The more positive feedback they can get, the more likely they will work hard to provide more or better versions.

Here is an example of a "thank you" note I wrote msnbc.com:

Just wanted to say "thank you" for providing subtitles and transcripts for some of the videos on msnbc.com.

I am hard of hearing and I rely on closed-captions or subtitles to help me understand what is being said in videos. It is very helpful and is what gets me to come back and visit the site again; knowing that some of the videos will be subtitled or have a transcript.

It would be nice if more or all of the videos you show on msnbc.com have transcripts and or subtitles. I encourage you to add more subtitled videos in the future.

I got a response immediately on the same day:

Thanks for the feedback. We are certainly working to increase the number of videos containing subtitles and transcripts.

cheers

I know this is not terribly exciting and that it is not a guarantee that all videos on msnbc.com will be subtitled. But, it's a start.

I encourage everyone to write at least one letter thanking a company or organization for providing quality closed captions or subtitles. 

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Related Post: Don't Forget to Say "Thank You"

A Potential Deaf Teacher in the Making

Hi,

I'm profoundly deaf and a cochlear implant recipient.  I'm very interested in pursuing a Masters in Education to become a teacher, but however, I want to find out first if schools would hire me as a math or science teacher for the regular classroom of hearing students?  Most schools could see me as burden because if they hire me, they would have to provide an interpreter or an assistant.  So who would hire me over another candidate who's not deaf?

It's very discouraging because it is one of my greatest desires to teach.  I could always go into Deaf Education but most teachers for the deaf have to be prepared to teach a wide range of subjects to a variety of kids over a range of age and various disabilities. As much as I respect and adore teachers for the Deaf, I want to teach my passion which lies in math and science and don't think I would have the patience to teach other subjects and be able to adjust my teaching style for every lesson to ensure every child has the appropriate material.

On a side note, I taught swimming for seven years at the YMCA in my hometown.  While I know this is different from being in the classroom, it was challenging, but I loved it!  I didn't have an interpreter but my boss was wonderful to work with.  She was always helpful in situations with the parents if I couldn't catch on.  It also helped with the lifeguards being there to have your back.

Thanks!

A potential deaf teacher in the making.



Related Post:  Deaf Teachers of Typically Hearing Students