Summer workshops

Take the time to go by ohsoez.com and click on the interpreters link. They have an entire list of workshops going on this summer. Surely one fits your schedule?


I look forward to the Annual Spring Sign Language and Interpreting celebration. Is it terribly wrong of me to say the biggest draw is being across the street from Disneyland?


And its the weekend closest to my birthday - how can I go wrong?

Hope to see you there!

Obama Name Signs

Since yesterday I opened this can of worms, I thought I would continue it.

Here is another option - based on the sign for President.

And yet another, picked up from a school and I believe based on the sign for "future"

This vlogger brings up three, the one from yesterday, one based on president above and this one, based on "change".

I find it interesting - some deaf are responding to comments that Name Signs are the way people are identified in the deaf world. Others are admitting they are still spelling his name - it's only five letters long after all.

I fear my teacher was of that latter opinion - I believe she would have added "get over it."

So what do you think - or better yet, what are you seeing? We're mostly seeing the one based on the logo (yesterday's vlog citation) or spelled around my neck of the woods...

Sign Names

I was talking to a friend recently about sign names, and the use for them as well as the need for them. I am still struck by the difference in regions: where I grew up we all got one movement and one initial. Here wher I live now, since so many of the children are mainstremaed, they tend to get first run name signs from teachers. The teachers, who want to teach respect to the students, have two letter names, and so many of the children do as well. Then, when they grow to adulthood, their names change as the other adults rename them first by some characteristic and then it morphs into something more neutral.

This vlog is congratulating President Obama on his election- and introducing him to his own name sign. I don't know the name sign is standard through out the United States, but iti seems to me the deaf of Chicago or in this case Washington DC have the first claim on naming him.

What do you think?

Links Monday?

I start to think I should dedicate Monday to links.

So here is the link for this week: Deaf Nation

I chose it mostly because they are hosting an expo here in Oklahoma City (ok, not here-her, but this state here) October 3. Since that is my mom's birthday, and it is still weird not to visit her, I was thinking about going.

Here's what they say about themselves:

"DeafNation Expo is the foremost touring trade show for, by, and about deaf people. DeafNation provides exhibitions and entertainment around the United States at no charge to the public. Our philosophy is that free admission brings a diversity of attendees who can share our culture, needs, language, and information."

Hope to see you there!

Farewell to the Dragon Lady

Marcella M Meyer was the founder and CEO of the Greater Los Angeles Council on Deafness. They called her Dragon Lady because of her impassioned speeches that would get her audience all riled up and ready to take action.

She was instrumental in so many things during the 70's and 80's I hardly know where to begin.

I remember her suing KCET (the Los Angeles PBS station) for captioning.
I remember her challenging the RID test by establishing the instrument that ultimately became the NAD test and led to our current NIC assessment.
I remember her saying any interpreter without deaf family were -- well, let's just say she wanted to be sure we had the Deaf community interests at heart.

We are all the better for her presence in the community and in our lives.

If you would like to sign the guest book and let her family know what a difference she made, please follow this link.