Naomi Berlove

Here is a neat graphic outlining the differences between Deaf and Hearing culture.

Check out my latest project! I have been looking at lexical access in sign language, and have created a visualization of the ASL lexicon to help me do that.

This is an interesting article with some pointers how how (not) to interact with Deaf people.

Check out this great video of a father teaching his son ASL.

Check out this interview with Anna Witter Merithew on NPR about Lydia Callis, the interpreter for Mayor Bloomberg during Hurricane Sandy that got a ton of national coverage.

Here is what I had to say on Facebook about a skit on Chelsea Lately.

“I really appreciate that people think interpreting and ASL is neat, and I get that every group has to take some flack from comedians once in a while. I would also be remiss if I didn’t say something about this meme. Lydia Callis was doing nothing unusual. The facial expressions are a grammatical part of the language. If you didn’t use them you would be botching the language. This meme feels a little like walking into a restaurant and having everyone stare while you sign, but with a magnifying glass and slow motion capture. I think this video is pretty similar to blackface. You would never watch video of a person speaking Chinese, and make a video of yourself mimicking them in an exaggerated and stereotyped way and have people think its funny. It would clearly be racist and I think (hope) it would make people as uncomfortable as this video should. Somehow I don’t think that is the effect it is having.”

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/151861

I went to a Reframing Retreat by Ryan Commerson and Alison Aubrecht last weekend. It was a great opportunity to think about the current issues facing the Deaf community, specifically those issues revolving around interpreting, and to brainstorm possibilities for change. At the end of the retreat, a few of us (Mary Ellen Baxter-Breen, Emily Claveau, and Paola Morales) put together a video with our pledges to this community. Check out what we did, and please feel free to add your own pledge.

Unfortunately this one is not captioned for any non-signers.