This is a post on FaceTime captions, and a brief tutorial on how to turn on them on. This is updated from March 2022. Captions are the text in a video that relay what is being said. I am deaf and I lipread, so they are very helpful in supplementing what I miss, either through…
This post is about the best speech to text apps and is updated from a 2020 post. Affiliate links may be present – doesn’t cost you more, helps keep this blog going and does not affect my rating of the product (- I use captions too; I’m not going to recommend junk for the sake…
living deaf, in between hearing and Deaf worlds.
This is a resource post with direct links to scholarships for deaf and hard of hearing students. It is clearly and easily organized, and includes general disability scholarships that are also open for us who are deaf or hard of hearing. Accessing higher education can be challenging. We all know that in and of itself,…
These are lists of children’s books for deaf and hard of hearing children, featuring deaf or hard of hearing children in the stories. Deaf or hard of hearing children are the main characters in the stories. Some of the books feature kids with cochlear implants, other with hearing aids. Amazon is linked for clarity –…
This post is a collection (list post) of the best deaf movies – including deaf narrative movies and ASL movies – as well as the best deaf documentaries. I am deaf myself, but this post was compiled by the input from the deaf community on Facebook. This post has been updated to weed out some…
This is short collection of ideas for gifts for deaf or hard of hearing people. This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. Thanks for helping to support this site! I should have written this post a long time ago, because I have a…
The Sound of Metal is a movie about a man who is going deaf, his experience in learning ASL, Deaf-hood, then getting a cochlear implant. Deaf-reviewed here
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_style=”outline” style=”round”]This post is about simple solutions to communicate like the deaf: that is, solutions to by-pass the need to lipread or hear, especially during this time of mask-wearing. This essay and resources are available in a downloadable PDF for my patrons, linked here. It’s also at the end of this post for people…
Learning ASL has never been so accessible
This is about how to get free hearing aids. If you have questions about other resources or this, you can contact me in my “You Ask, I Answer,” series or join my Patreon to ask questions in my monthly open-house. This post is available for download on my Patreon site (linked here). Alternatively, you can…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_style=”3d” style=”round”]This is a a video of a poem and performance about being Deaf in a hearing world.[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Dear Hearing World Dear Hearing World is a short film directed by Adam Docker, based on Raymond Antrobus’ poem by the same name. The film blends Raymond’s spoken words with music and deaf actress Vilma Jackson’s…
This is about hearing fatigue – also known as listening fatigue. That is, the fatigue that comes from straining to hear when you’ve got hearing loss. This post includes tips for parents of deaf children and for deaf adults in how to resolve and prevent hearing fatigue. What is Hearing Fatigue (or Listening Fatigue)? I’m going…
Disabled Moms Interview Project featuring DeafBlind mom, Lisa Ferris
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_style=”outline” style=”round” message_box_color=”turquoise”]This is a tutorial on how to add live captions to the free app, Apple clips. I’m going to cover how to add set it to live transcribe what you are saying, and how you can edit the “craptions,” or what was recorded in error.[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]This is the thing: I can rarely understand…
A new post is calling Nyle DiMarco’s campaign for ASL acquisition for deaf kids, “dangerous”
A pro/con piece on buying hearing aids from Costco
Talking about being deaf
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Awww, Nyle DiMarco! I love him! Check this out, the backstory behind why he decided to make an ASL version of Ariana Grande’s 7 Rings: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nyle DiMarco (@nyledimarco)…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Nyle DiMarco, man of ultra-hotness, recently used Delta for his transportation needs (lucky them). Now, Nyle went and told Delta that he is Deaf. In response, Delta met him as he disembarked from his airplane, and had a wheelchair ready for him to use! Plenty of us have been pretty surprised as to why…
10 dumb things the hearing say to the deaf… plus the bonus braille menu!
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]This post is about the new reality series, Deaf Out Loud. Watch out for spoilers and opinions![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]I have only recently “discovered” Switched at Birth and had no idea how much it would mean to me to see deaf people like me in a show (my post about Switched at Birth is linked here). I was…
This is a post about the best deaf apps. That is, the most useful, popular and widely-used apps by d/Deaf people. This post is US-focused, and covers only iPhone apps. Best Communication Apps Glide: for texting and talking. P3 Mobile: for texting, talking and relay services. Includes ASL and clear-speech relays. Google Voice: for transcribing…
It’s not just for us deaf (but we are important enough for that to be the only reason, right?!)
Lovely music video
I had a lot of people send me the link to the news release about two young inventors who have supposedly discovered a way to translate ASL into spoken English. The HuffPo article about it is linked here. Confession: I rolled my eyes when I saw it. I just couldn’t believe that something like that could…
Katherine and I are presenting at SDS this year on Deaf Identity. We really wanted to talk about it because we have so many questions ourselves, about what is means to be deaf – or Deaf. She wears cochlear implants, I wear hearing aids. She is fluent with ASL, I am not. Neither of us…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_style=”outline” style=”round” message_box_color=”turquoise”]This is about the Samsung deaf ad, “Hearing Hands.” It is an opinion piece by a deaf person.[/vc_message][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Samsung deaf ad is an advertisement for Samsung that is about signed language, communication. Here it is: The product itself looks cool and I want to know more about it. But I was left feeling…
Andrew Solomon wrote a book called “Far From the Tree” that was all the rage a couple of years ago. In it, he explores identity through analyzing multiple disabilities, along with homosexuality, children of rape, prodigies and transgendered people. It has taken me literally all this time to work my way through the deaf chapter. Whenever…
2015: The Year of the Deaf Child, guest post by Julie Rems Smario ******************** It hit me hard again… The Deaf child rarely tells the stories. If you search for stories about raising Deaf children, you will find stories of hearing mothers and fathers and grandparents of Deaf children. Their stories are focused on impairments,…
I was interviewed recently for a hearing magazine and one of the questions that they asked me was, “what would you say the greatest challenge of being a deaf mother is?”. The first thing that came to mind was last week. I was sitting on the bench outside of Moxie’s class with Micah and Moxie’s…
I’ve been in service dog training for this past week and I have one week to go. I’m talking 9-5 training and it’s hard catching up to a dog that is smarter than I am. I’ve developed a little Q & A in anticipation of some of the questions you might have about service dogs…
My deaf/disability connection.
My friend Meredith is teaching a class over on Clickin’ Moms – check it out – it’s more than interesting; it’s fascinating. I don’t want to talk much about it since that would be giving it away and I think you should just sign up since it’s worth it – but the major thing she…
I am deaf and I don’t sign beyond a basic level. My interest in learning sign language was a long time coming. For years, trying to “pass”, I totally resisted it – in fact, I feel bad thinking back to all of the times people, once they learned that I’m deaf, started signing, they were sooooooooooo…
Moxie got her ears cleaned and checked this week. That is, the ENT (- which means the Ear, Nose and Throat) guy strapped her down to this thing called a “Papoose” so she looked like this: Only – dare I say? – more adorable. She was comfortable but confused. The ENT was fabulous, really deserves…
100 years ago, we had this: Or was it this?: Whatever, they were huge honkers! Then we got this: … which was right before we moved over to BEIGE: BEIGE has been one huge wet blanket on hearing hotness. The very fact that they are trying to “blend” sort of highlights that you think you…
There was a great story on this lady who is, like me, a fierce deaf lipreader and she wrote about what a great equalizer Facebook has been for her. That it allows her to participate in ways she’d never be able to, in real life. (the story is here) I couldn’t agree more with everything…
Last week I made a couple deaf memes – …and Mikey liked this one (- he used to call my hearing aids my “chastity belt”) These ones I found around the internet – I think they are pretty great too: I am pretty sure my voicemail message does say that. Oh yeah, baby. Remember the Chinese people…
Evelyn Glennie, the lead percussionist in the London Olympics opening ceremony, is deaf – she lost most of her hearing when she was 12. I had stumbled across her years ago and of course, loved her in an instant. Evelyn Glennie is, in a nutshell, a thinking bad-ass parcel of Scottish coolness who shimmers talent….
Although I’ve had a disability since I was 4 years old (that we know of anyway), I was mainstreamed at all times. In my family, “disability” was something reserved for people who used wheelchairs. The answer to any disability-related issue I may have had growing up was invariably: try a little harder God only gives…
This is all kinds of “wow” Isn’t it? **** I was pretty close to this side of ecstasy this week since I’m very close to being done with the wordpress site. Not completely done – I have around 2,000 posts to convert, after all – but close enough to make the move, most likely next…
cross disability news on the blog “week in review”
My deaf/disability connection.
We had tall standing speakers when I was a kid. When my parents were out, I’d put on Donna Summer, Live and More at FULL volume and wrap my small body around a speaker, completely circling it. I’d literally feel the music in me. I could see the notes and rhythms in my head. They…
My former co-worker Haydee sent me this super cute video and I just had to share it with you. It’s impossible not find it delightful… Happy Friday! PS. Don’t forget to enter the Young Punks Giveaway if you haven’t already! (no kids? no problem! enter it for the favorite small people in your life –…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Most of the time, I cannot recommend being deaf highly enough. It’s such a godsend to be able to reach up and turn my doodads (hearing aids) off when the kid’s screaming gets to be too much. When I think I might lose my cool because they are being overwhelmingly…. annoying. When I just need…