Items

• Becoming Protactile: Interactional Foundations of Protactile Language Development and Language Emergence
  During the COVID-19 pandemic, many DeafBlind children were left without access to educational services when schools went remote. This article presents findings from a project that brought DeafBlind adults into the homes of DeafBlind children during a historically unprecedented time, when a new language was emerging among DeafBlind people who call themselves “Protactile”.
• “NEW KINDS OF CONTACT”: A DEAFBLIND POET’S PUSH FOR A RADICAL LANGUAGE OF TOUCH
  https://www.inverse.com/innovation/john-lee-clark
• Feeling Phonology: The conventionalization of phonology in protactile communities in the United States
  https://www.protactileresearch.org/feeling-phonology.html
• WORDS IN MY HANDS: A Teacher, a Deaf-Blind Man, an Unforgettable Journey
  After his wife died when he was 86, Bert Reidel, a man with Usher Syndrome, moved to Colorado to live with his son and daughter-in-law. Although Bert was an expert Braille reader, he had never learned sign language and his wife had been his “eyes and ears” to the world. This book tells the story of Bert’s life and how he learned sign language beginning at age 86. It illustrates that it is never too late to learn as it describes how sign language transformed not only Bert’s life, but the lives of his family, friends, and the interpreter who was his sign language teacher. Cost $15.95. Available from Ellexa Press LLC, 32262 Steven Way, Conifer, CO 80433. Fax: 303-838-7010. E-mail: dlc@ellexapress.CityMax.com. This document is available on the web at: http://www.ellexapress.citymax.com
• TOUCHING LIVES: Portraits of Deaf-Blind People
  This video is a documentary by a deaf-blind interpreter. Susan Hajjar, grew up with three siblings who are deaf-blind and tells the story of how their influence affected her life. The video features Jamie Lard, a deaf-blind woman who advocates on behalf of deafblind people. Jamie describes her upbringing including her time as a student at Perkins School for the Blind, and now as an adult living independently. It also features Harry Anderson, president of the American Association of Deafblind (AADB), and Ona Stewart, a deaf-blind woman with Usher syndrome who lives and works independently in a large city. Barbara Wagreich, who is orally trained and uses fingerspelling, is a software engineer who is unemployed at the time of the taping. She describes the difficulties she faces in gaining employment especially in a declining labor market of information technology. Describes how many people with deafblindness face isolation and loneliness. Other profiles include Chuck Ferraro, and the Tracy family. A transcript of the video is also available.
• A GLOSSARY OF SOME COMMUNICATION METHODS USED WITH DEAF-BLIND PEOPLE
  Contains descriptions of 13 methods of communication used by Deaf-Blind People. Includes: Print on Palm; Tadoma; Small Sign Language; Tactile Sign Language; Tactile Fingerspelling; FingerBraille; Alphabet Glove; Alphabet Card; Braille Alphabet Card; Tellatouch; TeleBraille and Braille Tape. Includes illustrations. VIEWS, vol.14, #11, December 1997, p.6
• OPENING DOORS TO THE THEATRE: Creating Access for the Deaf- Blind Community
  This "how-to" manual is intended to support theater companies and venues in serving deaf-blind patrons. It was developed by the Northeastern University Interpreter Education Project of New England, Wheelock Family Theatre, Deaf-Blind Contact Center and D.E.A.F. Inc. Creating access requires the coordinated efforts of a variety of people. Roles and responsibilities of the following staff are described: theatre staff, access coordinator, production department, box office, managerial and marketing. The role of interpreters is discussed at length. Topics include payment issues, preparation time, seating options and the use of an American Sign Language consultant. Pre-show tours, monetary considerations and a performance timetable are also included. Sidebars include comments by a deaf-blind patron, a theatrical producer and an interpreter.
• VIDEO RELAY SERVICES FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE DEAF-BLIND
  This article discusses the results of a survey sent to the AADB-L listserv and other major listservs for deaf-blind people. It asked 5 questions pertaining to the use of the video relay service interpreting. Publisher's web site: http://www.aadb.org/ THE DEAF-BLIND AMERICAN, April-June 2007, vol. 46, # 2, pp. 22-26
• COMMUNICATION FACILITATORS (CFs)
  This brief article describes Communication Facilitators (CFs). CFs relay visual information from video phone calls to deaf-blind individuals using tactile or close vision sign. The Deaf-Blind Service Center (DBSC) in Seattle offers deaf-blind people the opportunity to use DBSC's video phone to make Video Relay Service (VRS) calls or a direct call using one of DBSC's CFs. Publisher's web site: http://www.aadb.org/ THE DEAF-BLIND AMERICAN, April-June 2007, vol. 46, # 2, pp. 27-28
• TIPS FOR STUDENTS WITH USHER SYNDROME: Information Sheet
  Lists accommodations and adaptations that can be made in a classroom for students with Usher Syndrome. Includes suggestions for lighting, seating, classroom environment, materials, sign language techniques, orientation and mobility, and self-advocacy.
• Q&A: HOW PRO-TACTILE AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE — PTASL — IS CHANGING THE CONVERSATION
  Perkins Diversity and Inclusion Speaker Jaimi Lard and Sign Language Interpreter Christine Dwyer describe the revolution sweeping the deafblind community
• HELEN KELLER ARCHIVE
  The Helen Keller Archive at the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) is the world’s largest repository of materials about and by Helen Keller. Materials include correspondence, speeches, press clippings, scrapbooks, photographs, photograph albums, architectural drawings, audio recordings, audio-visual materials and artifacts.
• USHER SYNDROME COALITION SERIES
  ASL video series about Usher Syndrome and the Usher Syndrome Coalition
• DEAFBLIND BUSHWALKERS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA
  This article talks about six bushwalkers with Usher syndrome in Australia who embarked on hiking trips with sighted guide volunteers. Questionnaires and interviews afterwards assessed their physical, mental, and emotional health. DBI REVIEW, No. 54, pp. 13-17.
• ISOLATION: A Diary of Subtle Discrimination
  The author describes the isolation caused by subtle discrimination against people with disabilities and provides concrete examples from her own life as well as examples of a broad range of subtle behaviors and events that perpetuate inequities for people with disabilities in post-secondary education. The author describes herself as both legally blind and severely hard of hearing (aka deaf-blind). REVIEW OF DISABILITY STUDIES, Vol. 10, #1-2, pp. 3-5.
• POSSIBILITIES: Recreational Experiences of Individuals Who Are Deafblind
  This web-based publication consists of 18 stories by Deafblind people about their experiences with sports and recreational activities—from triathlon to mountain climbing to speed skating. American Printing House for the Blind
• A GLIMPSE OF OUR WORLD: Inspirational Stories by Young Deafblind People
  This booklet includes 15 one-page stories of young people with deaf-blindness from around the world. Most are accompanied by a photo.
• CAN I REALLY DO IT?
  This article is by Haben Girma, lawyer and disability rights advocate, a graduate of Harvard Law School, and the first deafblind student ever to do so. She describes it as a triumph of self- confidence over doubt. TALKING SENSE, Vol. 59, No. 1, pp. 34-35.
• WALK IN MY SHOES: An Anthology on Usher Syndrome
  This book is a collection of 27 personal accounts written by people with Usher syndrome and their family members. The authors are from all walks of life and the stories encompass a wide range of experiences. They are organized into five sections: “Diagnosis: Learning, Accepting, Living with Usher Syndrome,” “Life in an Usher Family,” “Independent Living,” “Professional Life as an Usher Person,” and “Inspiring Tales: Who Says I Can’t?” Merrimack Media.
• PRO-TACTILE: The DeafBlind Way (VLOG #5)
  Vlogs 1-4 are in the bibliography already, but not #5.
• OVERVIEW OF TOUCH SIGNALS
  This 10-minute video discusses touch signals, Haptics, and Pro-Tactile. Helen Keller National Center
• DEAFBLIND CONNECTIONS
  This article discusses things that organizations and individuals can do to make society more accessible to people who are DeafBlind. VIEWS, Vol. 33, No. 1, p. 24.
• DEAFBLIND SELF-ADVOCACY: Reach Out and Touch Someone
  This brief article emphasizes the importance of self-advocacy in the DeafBlind community and mentions several examples in different parts of the country. VIEWS, Vol. 31, No. 2, p. 13.
• LESSER-KNOWN THINGS ABOUT BEING DEAFBLIND
  The author educates the public on some of the varied ways in which she and other individuals who are deaf-blind communicate. She is employed by Sense in the UK as a Campaigns Involvement Officer. BBC News Ouch Blog.
• IMAGINE: TO BE A PART OF THIS
  The author, who is deaf-blind, describes his experience serving on the first committee to draft a text for the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In Maya Sabatello and Marianne Schulze (Eds.), Human Rights and Disability Advocacy (pp. 146-156). University of Pennsylvania Press.