By Jean F. Andrews Surrounded by the Acropolis and other stunning Greek monuments, the International Congress on the Education of the Deaf held their 22nd annual conference, titled Educating Diverse Learners; Many Ways, One Goal, on July 6 to July 9, 2015. It was the stage for more than 700 researchers. It was a revitalizing […]
By Jean F. Andrews Reading continues to be one of the major obstacles for deaf adults in obtaining their Constitutional Rights. Reading court and legal documents is next to impossible. Even with a sign language interpreter the concepts are difficult to grasp. In the ivory tower the debate is whether the reading process is qualitatively […]
By Jean F. Andrews “A picture is worth a thousand words. ” While this is true most of the time such as in family and nature photography, pictures don’t tell the whole story for the Deaf or ELL (English as a Second Language) offender. To address their language needs, jail and prisons officials are hiring […]
By Jean F. Andrews Probation is a court order that allows a person convicted of a crime to remain out of jail. An individual on probation must follow certain court-ordered procedures and keep from getting into trouble with the law. Probation violations both occur when an individual either breaks the rules or fails to keep […]
By Jean F. Andrews According to a recent newsletter by HEARD, as of March 31, 2013, there are 407 deaf and deaf-blind prisoners in 38 states, Washington, D.C. and in the Federal Bureau of Prisoners. Within these numbers, we do not know exactly how many are deaf-blind or deaf and visually-impaired inmates there are in […]
By BitcoDavid True. There were 2 ASL interpreters, and what I noticed there, was that not only did they take turns interpreting for the individual speakers, but they did this cool tandem thing for audience questions. An audience member would sign her question, and Terp 1 would say it in English, then Terp 2 would […]
By BitcoDavid Marsha Graham, from AnotherBoomerBlog, has been a great supporter and an even greater asset to us, here at DeafInPrison.com. In her presentation at the Internationl Symposium on the Deaf and the Justice System, she drew a comparison between the Deaf and the insular Native American cultures she has also worked with, in Alaska. […]
By Jean F. Andrews In their popular 1960’s folk song, Peter, Paul and Mary sing the ballad, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone.” In the ballad, is the echoing refrain, “When Will They Ever Learn,” that points a firm finger at a society engaged in the Viet Nam War, wondering sadly, Where have all the […]
By Jean F. Andrews Englewood, Co. On August 13, 2011, William Lawrence was arrested for an outstanding warrant. Lawrence has been Deaf since birth and had diminished English capability. He was handcuffed and questioned with no interpreter present. Lawrence went several days, unable to communicate with anyone, and didn’t receive an interpreter until he was […]
By Jean F. Andrews Jim Cummins the bilingual scholar and writer makes a distinction between Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP). The reality for most deaf children (except those from deaf parents) is that they are learning BICS in sign and English. At the same time they are learning CALP […]
By Jean F. Andrews Police and jail officers are often confused by the many forms of English that come from the mouths and lips, and off the fingers and hands of deaf suspects. Just because the deaf person can speak some words, and lipread the question, “what is your name,” or even sign some words […]
By Jean F. Andrews While it is commonly accepted to provide interpreters in court, deaf suspects and offenders still struggle to get sign interpreters for arrest, booking, medical/psychological intakes, classification, grievance committee meetings and for translation of the inmate handbook. Most vulnerable are hard of hearing persons who use sign language, and profoundly deaf persons […]
By Jean F. Andrews A deaf person calls 911. Through a relay interpreter, she signs that her husband is beating her and she is afraid because he has pulled a knife. Now, she has locked herself in the back bedroom. Please send the police, she signs. Emotionally distraught, she sobs and hangs up. The relay […]
By Jean F. Andrews In reviewing confessions and interviews conducted in spoken and written English between the deaf suspect and the detective, judges and prosecutors have difficulty in understanding a deaf person’s linguistic competence. They just don’t get it. Even when the videotape recording is replayed, the judge and prosecutor will listen to the talking […]
By Jean F. Andrews American Sign Language (ASL) is seldom learned early by parents of deaf children when the diagnoses of hearing loss occurs. As a result, few deaf children have strong ASL role models in the home. This has important educational implications. But it also has criticaL repercussions when the deaf child grows into […]
I came home to find this posted on the DeafInPrison.com FaceBook page. http://webhost.bridgew.edu/atwerskyglasner/inclusion.htm Who I am: Dr. Aviva Twersky Glasner, Ph.D. is a Criminal Justice Researcher and the proud mother of a deaf son. My son goes to an ASL intensive school in Massachusetts, the Learning Center, and I have been learning […]
I was at my endocrinologist‘s clinic this morning – wowing him with my stellar physicality – when an interesting exchange took place. It appears, that his patient immediately after me, required an interpreter. “Sign language?” I asked, obsessive individual that I’m known to be. “Nope, Spanish,” he said. “Problem is, they won’t wait – they’re […]
The majority of deaf adults cannot read the jail/prison medical/intake form without the aid of a certified sign language interpreter. However, rarely do jails and prison provide deaf inmates with interpreters. This can and does result in human tragedy. The medical/psychological intake form is a one-page form that is given to the inmate during the […]
This story is reblogged from Prisonmovement’s Weblog. It is more on the story of Lashonn White, a story we covered on August 8th. “I mean imagine—all I did was come running, wave my hands and come running out, and the next thing I know I’m on the ground,” White explained to Halsne through […]
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