Everybody's signing about it...

[awlrite4now]

www.bbc.co.uk/seehear/switch/

Article about a soap opera in the UK. Thought some of you might like to see it.

[shmeep]

So the whole cast is Deaf? Is it out in the mainstream for anyone to watch or...I didn't understand how that worked from the website. Thanks for posting that! How interesting. I'd love to watch some footage and pick up a bit of British Sign Language. I just know their weird two-handed alphabet. Everything else is gobbledygook to me. Still...why can't the United States do something like that? That would be so cool.

[awlrite4now]

It's on BBC Two, which is one of the tv channels in the UK. There was a link to the cast members and I think if not all of them are actually deaf, they all sign in the show. I did see where the leads were.

Why can't the US do that? You tell me. Maybe because of the way tv is owned in the UK. The BBC is a lot different than ABC.

[Chocky]

Hi, I have been lurking for a while and finally decided to post! I am interested in the sign language threads; I am learning sign language (in Australia -it's called Auslan) which is quite similar to BSL as it's originally derived from BSL. Shmeep, if you're interested in learning some signs have a look at www.auslan.org.au.

[anna]

Welcome, Chocky!

I watched "Nine Lives" last night. In one of the sequences, William Fichtner plays a Deaf man. He and his ex-wife, played by Amy Brenneman, used sign language with subtitles. I'm always happy to see Fichtner, but I thought it was odd that they would use a hearing actor for this role, particularly given that there were no flashback scenes in which the character had to be hearing.

[carl1951]

Chocky:

Welcome. Glad you decided to join us.

Later, Carl

[shmeep]

chocky said:

Hi, I have been lurking for a while and finally decided to post! I am interested in the sign language threads; I am learning sign language (in Australia -it's called Auslan) which is quite similar to BSL as it's originally derived from BSL. Shmeep, if you're interested in learning some signs have a look at www.auslan.org.au.

Thanks for the link, Chocky! I'll be sure to check that out. I find it really weird when I see Deaf people from other English-speaking countries signing because the words they mouth are English, but I don't understand a thing on their hands. ASL is much closer to French Sign Language, so, while I don't speak French, I'd have an easier time conversing with a French Deaf person than with one from England or Australia. My husband is Deaf and when he went to Ireland a few years ago, he spent time at a Deaf club. He and the other Deaf people there couldn't communicate through sign so they had to write back and forth in English. Weird.

[inuvik]

admin said:

chocky said:

Hi, I have been lurking for a while and finally decided to post! I am interested in the sign language threads; I am learning sign language (in Australia -it's called Auslan) which is quite similar to BSL as it's originally derived from BSL. Shmeep, if you're interested in learning some signs have a look at www.auslan.org.au.

Thanks for the link, Chocky! I'll be sure to check that out. I find it really weird when I see Deaf people from other English-speaking countries signing because the words they mouth are English, but I don't understand a thing on their hands. ASL is much closer to French Sign Language, so, while I don't speak French, I'd have an easier time conversing with a French Deaf person than with one from England or Australia. My husband is Deaf and when he went to Ireland a few years ago, he spent time at a Deaf club. He and the other Deaf people there couldn't communicate through sign so they had to write back and forth in English. Weird.

Interesting. I had no idea sign language varied so much. Learn something new every day!

[greenbeing]

inuvik said:

Interesting. I had no idea sign language varied so much. Learn something new every day!

My ASL lab instructor in college was a professional mime, and Deaf. One year he went to some international conference in Europe. He got roped into helping Deaf people from all over the world sign in and get them to their rooms in the hotel. He went up to some guy from India, I think, and, as a mime, perfectly conveyed the message: Would you like help carrying your luggage upstairs? The man shook his head no, but Ricky looked at all the bags the man had and couldn't believe he didn't want help, so again, he mimed about helping carry the bags, and again the man shook his head no.

Ricky gave up and turned around to find his hearing wife hurrying up. She'd just been talking to someone about international etiquette and hurried over to stop Ricky from abandoning this poor man with all his luggage. She explained that in a lot of countries, shaking your head means yes, and nodding means no. Ricky turned around to find the man looking rather put out that he'd almost been abandoned. Because he'd thought he was insisting on help, and Ricky thought he was insisting he didn't need help.

And there's a lot of differences just between regions in the US in ASL, let alone differences between sign languages in different countries. The sign most used in the midwest for "boss," if you're in Minnesota, it means "outside." There are regional dialects just like every other language, and our prof told us certain signs to be very very careful of if we traveled

--GB

[mlm828]

Did anyone see ER last night? One of the story lines involved a Deaf character (a young, African-American man) who was roughed up by the cops because he couldn't hear them and therefore didn't respond to them. (And, of course, being a young African-American male, he was automatically viewed as a criminal). At the end of the episode, the cops apologized to him, through an interpreter. His response was a "special" sign -- a middle finger salute, which didn't need to be interpreted!

[maggiethecat]

mlm828 said:

Did anyone see ER last night? One of the story lines involved a Deaf character (a young, African-American man) who was roughed up by the cops because he couldn't hear them and therefore didn't respond to them. (And, of course, being a young African-American male, he was automatically viewed as a criminal). At the end of the episode, the cops apologized to him, through an interpreter. His response was a "special" sign -- a middle finger salute, which didn't need to be interpreted!

That was a great moment, wasn't it? Although I was wondering when it became acceptable with the censors to flip someone the bird on network TV! (Plus he began with the gesture where you slap your hand into the crook of the opposite elbow and snap your arm up.) I was hoping Shmeep had watched ER last night, so she could tell us if the signing was "real" or if it looked as though the actors had learned it only for the episode.

[Dreamfire]

Hey Maggie the cat!
IT's not very often I log on and anyone else is on - ususallyi t's the middle of the night for you I guess!
Ntascha

[bjobsessed]

I saw that episode. I can't answer your question Maggie, but I loved it. I loved the sign the deaf man gave the cops. I bet that happened to him more than once. Maybe not with the cops. He was probably sick of it and he was probably thinking if they had taken a bit of time to try and talk to him or something, they might have noticed. After all, the good doctor noticed right away something was off.

[shmeep]

maggiethecat said:

That was a great moment, wasn't it? Although I was wondering when it became acceptable with the censors to flip someone the bird on network TV! (Plus he began with the gesture where you slap your hand into the crook of the opposite elbow and snap your arm up.) I was hoping Shmeep had watched ER last night, so she could tell us if the signing was "real" or if it looked as though the actors had learned it only for the episode.

I did watch ER. Finally caught up with all my TV yesterday. The Deaf character was definitely played by a Deaf actor. All of Gallaudet was buzzing about it all week, reminding everyone to watch. He signed very well and did a great job with that role.

I also wondered about allowing that sign on network television! He's essentially saying "Fuck you!" to the cops and it wasn't even blurred. I once saw Marlee Matlin on a late-night talk show and she was telling a funny story that involved the middle finger and the censors covered her hand with a blue circle when she did that. I thought that was hysterical.

Here's what I didn't like about ER this week. Um...that guy is their interpreter? What's his name...Jerry? If he is their interpreter, the hospital is going to get sued. Most hospitals have a real interpreter--one with certification--on call nearby in case of such emergencies. Interpreting is a real profession and the idea that interpreters are people with other jobs (mostly clerical in nature) who can be pulled into interpreting situations at any given moment degrades my whole profession. I am on call as an interpreter right now. My only job is to translate English to sign and vice-versa. Whenever my services are not needed, I sit here at my desk and wait for them to call me (which explains why I have so much time to play on the board and write fan fiction). If the Bureau of Labor Statistics has an on call interpreter, there is certainly one at that hospital. A real one. Okay. I'm done with that particular rant.

Now onto Jerry's signing. It looks like the actor learned about five (very awkwardly executed) signs for the part and there's no way he could have been mistaken for anything above a novice signer. Someone at his skill (ha!) level would never have understood a word the Deaf character said so it was shocking he was able to get the concepts right. The worst thing he did--as an interpreter it made me cringe!--was that he spoke all the Deaf person's words in the third person. A real interpreter becomes the Deaf person and speaks in the first person. Saying "He says..." weakens the translated words and takes away the power of the Deaf person to have any kind of natural communication. It made me crazy to see it being done that way. Anyone who knows a thing about interpreting in any language knows to use "I" during the translation.

I liked that the Deaf guy had a line with the female character that wasn't interpreted. For anyone who is interested, he said, "I'm glad you're alive. I was so scared." She just replied by signing, "I'm sorry."

[dogma]

admin said:

maggiethecat said:

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Here's what I didn't like about ER this week. Um...that guy is their interpreter? What's his name...Jerry? If he is their interpreter, the hospital is going to get sued. Most hospitals have a real interpreter--one with certification--on call nearby in case of such emergencies.

.i work in a large hospital ( about 500 beds, 1800 employees ) and there are no "official" interpreters
we have employees on the list that can interpret polish, albanian, spanish,, etc,, and there are a few that sign,, if no one is available at the hosp when we need them, then we try to call them in,,

i guess there are two issues here that can be addressed: one is the confidentiality issue: every associate signs one ( the hippa forms you now sign at the pharmacy and dr's office )
even housekeeping and dietary,, so the point of a housekeeper interpreting is just as confidential as a nurse or dr

the other issue that was addressed by shmeep,, the liability issue,, that's a good point, and i can't speak for that from direct experience,, the only thing i can think of is that maybe they are "covered" by a type of good samaritan act,, if you know cpr,, and are worried about doing something wrong in a crisis/emergency, and you do cpr, you are protected by the good samaritan act

that's a good point, i can see if my supervisor knows more on that issue,,
one of our respiratory therapists got called as an expert witness just a few months ago,, she had to fly to chicago to testify,, the issues she brought back were very eye opening,,
( a respiratory therapist was being sued in a wrongful death suit, even though the dr was there at the code and made all the calls, the respiratory therapist should've brought to the dr's attention that something else should've been done ) which is what we do, but that therapist was being sued, and their license was to be revoked,, in the end,, there was a large cash settlement,, and the therapist is ok,, don't know about the dr, nurses, ,anyone else involved,,