Google Adds Automatic Captions to YouTube

Great news via Able Bodied:

Google Adds Automatic Captions to YouTube: "I knew Google Voice would have multiple uses for people who are deaf and hearing impaired, but I didn’t expect this news to come so fast: Google is adding automatic captions to YouTube videos. Google announced the news today on its official Google blog, and while the feature is definitely a work-in-progress, it’s an exciting [...]

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Helen Keller Video

"An intriguing historical artifact found floating on YouTube like driftwood. Helen Keller — inspiration to generations and inspiration for an entire genre of schoolyard humor — and her teacher and friend Anne Sullivan in a clip from 1930 in which they describe the way in which Helen learned how to speak."

Via BoingBoing and Colihouse

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Sign Tube

Okay, so virtually everyone has been to You Tube at one point or another. If not, then they've watched one of their videos embeded in a news story or blog (such as this one). Though You Tube recently added captioning, its not widely used by video producers. One limitation of the You Tube method is that only the person who uploaded the video can add captions to it.

There's now a video site out there for those who are Deaf, Sign-Tube. Funded by the UK based Deaf Enterprise Partnership, it is for "deaf people or those who wishes or involved in Sign Language or in the deaf community to share the news, information, events and even fun with people across the world."

It looks like the site is fairly underused, as there are only 500 videos listed currently (as opposed to YouTube which has 10 hrs of video uploaded to the site every minute and has hundreds of millions of views per day). A quick search on You Tube for Sign Language gets 42,000 videos.

Sign Tube is an interesting idea, especially as it intends to develop community as part of it. I'm not sure if there's a need for it, as YouTube seems to be hosting a significant amount of sign language videos, but that's what is nice about the internet, you can always put something out there and see what sticks.

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What to do before school starts for your child with a hearing impairment

Hearing Exchange has a short article with some simple recommendations about how to get ready for the start of the new school year.

1. "Meet the Teacher in Advance
2. Verify that Devices are Working
3. Check your Child's Hearing and Devices
4. Stock up on batteries and spare parts
5. Tour a new school"
   

See the entire article at Hearing Exchange for details

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Interview NY Governor David Patterson (by Katie Couric)

Interesting interview with David Patterson, NY Governor



He notes some scary statistics about employment; that 25 percent of those with blindness and 10% of those who have deafness are employed, but yet they exceed the national average educationally. I would have liked to see a little more person first language from him rather than "Deaf girl", but still a good piece that doesn't sentimentalize him or try to make him a "super crip" or inspirational.
I was surprised at his lack of using assistive technology, or technology in general. It seems like he could have so much more information at his fingertips were he to use a screen reader and e-mail. Either way, a good piece about the Governor of New York.


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McDonald's Sued and American grounds boy with Autism

A Nebraska McDonald's is being sued because it refused to allow a hearing impaired woman order her food at the drive through window, as opposed to using the speaker.

"At least three times since September 2007 workers at a Lincoln McDonald's refused to let her place her order at the drive-thru window, Tumeh said. In denying her service, McDonald's violated the federal Americans With Disabilities Act, she said."

The article notes that she is physically capable of going inside to order her food, but that she "has children who are autisitic, and if they are having difficulties, it would make it problematic for her."

When I initially started the article, I felt that it was some getting overly zealous and suing for very weak reasons. The fact that she has autistic children has no bearing on this case, as it is irrelevant whether she's capable of going in the store or not. The question is whether this is covered under the ADA and whether ordering her food at the window is a reasonable accommodation.

"Raging fit" in the air
In another case, a 2 and a half year old and his mother were thrown off an American airlines flight because the boy with autism "melted down." The mother noted that it was due to the frequent touching by the stewardess checking his seatbelt and that she (the stewardess) kept "coming over and reprimanding him and yelling at him." The child eventually had a tantrum and he and his mother were removed from the plane.

In this situation, it's not a reasonable accommodation to allow him to be unbuckled or throw a tantrum which endangers other passengers, but would have been reasonable for the stewardess to keep hands off the child and address her needs to the mother. Frankly, for any child this would have been reasonable and I can see how this occurred.

Link to video news report and article from ABC news

Times of London "Choosing a Deaf Baby is Criminal"

The chief executive of the Royal National Institute for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People (RNID) has indicated that "DEAF parents should be allowed to screen their embryos so they can pick a deaf child over one that has all its senses intact."
There is currently a bill that would effectively make it illegal for individuals to choose a disabled embryo over a "healthy" embryo. This would apply to individuals who had undergone IVF and make it illegal for parents undergoing embryo screening to choose an embryo with an abnormality if healthy embryos exist.
The argument that disability charities are making is that the legislation is discriminatory "because it gives parents the right to create “designer babies” free from genetic conditions while banning couples from deliberately creating a baby with a disability. "
This raises some intersting questions about the nature of disability and the social model of disability discussed in an earlier post of mine. It is even more pronounced in the Deaf community where not having hearing is not considered a disability. By the social model, in the Deaf community, it wouldn't be a handicap.

A follow up commnetary is very direct in saying that that choosing an embryo that is deaf over a healthy one would be child abuse.

"The law forbids parents with a political or cultural agenda from screening the embryos and then perversely ensuring that their child cannot hear. I am afraid that making such a choice is child abuse."

Disability Nation's take on this issue, with a link to a BBC interview (via Ouch)with Tomato Lichy, who's opposing the bill.

Video phones at the Library of Congress

According to Federal Computer Week, the Library of Congress is getting videophones provided by Sorensen Communications to take advantage of video relay capabilities. <link>