DUBIN -- A choir with seven Deaf members and two Hearing singers are set to wow the audience and judges on Ireland's Got Talent this weekend.
The Deaftones are a choir from Holy Family School of the Deaf in Dublin and among the members are three sisters, two of whom are Deaf and one who is the only hearing member of her family.
They tackle Ed Sheeran's Photograph on the show with the two hearing girls singing and the eleven Deaf members signing.
The group range in age from 13-39 years old and they experience music in a variety of different ways, including sensing sound through vibrations and lip reading.
"They all hear music in different ways," explains their teacher Shirley Higgins. "Some of them hear the music and the words, some of them hear just the music, and some of them hear nothing at all."
Deaf Choir Deaftones performs John Lennon´s "Imagine" - Semi-Final 2.
The choir began seven years ago and recently brought the two hearing members on board, because "we wanted to show how hearing and Deaf communities can mix, how they live in two worlds and how they can be the same as anyone else."
WATCH: Deaf man bursts into tears when bride-to-be signs wedding song.
SYDNEY -- Standing at the opposite end of the wedding aisle, bride Elizabeth Shoesmith of Australia, signed the words to Christina Perri's 'A Thousand Years' to her husband Scott Shoesmith.
Signing the song was a special gift for her Deaf husband. "Scott just burst into tears when he saw me," Elizabeth said. "I wanted to surprise him."
Five sports are featured at the event, including basketball, bowling, curling, ice hockey, and volleyball.
Action began Wednesday morning and goes until Saturday and features around 175 athletes.
No Closed Captioning Provided.
“We want people to know that Deaf people can definitely be involved in high-level sports competition,” Ross Lavallee, a member of one of two Manitoba Deaf curling teams at the event, said.
The winning men’s and women’s curling teams will represent Canada at the 2019 Deaflympics, while the hockey competition will be used to scout players for Team Canada at the Deaflympics.
Former Winnipeg Jets player Jim Kyte is taking part in the five-team hockey tournament along with eight members of his family.
WATCH [CC] - Ai-Media: Blake Culley - What it's like growing up Transgender and Deaf.
Ai-Media channel on YouTube, share the video about being person as a Transgender and Deaf. The footage has gone viral on social media platform in LGBTQ community.
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Blake Culley, didn't realize they transgender for a long time because of inadequate access to information as a Deaf person. Now they're sharing their own story online so Deaf trans people know they're not alone. Blake's Instagram - @vlogsbyblake.
WATCH [CC] - Deaf Awareness: “Ready To Be Heard” The story of actress and author, Amanda McDonough as a Deaf person.
“Ready to Be Heard” is a story for all ages written to give you an inside look at what life is like for someone growing up with deteriorating hearing loss and it is a unique look into Deaf culture from the point of view of a late Deafened adult.
For anyone looking for inspiration to help with a challenging life situation or condition, Amanda McDonough's story will provide encouragement and will help you make your voice heard.
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“Ready to Be Heard” is the story of Amanda McDonough, who was diagnosed with hearing loss at the age of 4. As she grew older, her hearing steadily declined as she battled to hide her ongoing hearing loss from her family, friends, teachers, and the world. Despite facing unbelievable challenges, she succeeded in; getting straight A’s in school, having a successful child acting career, and leading a fairly “normal” life. But one day, during the most difficult part of her college career, she awoke to discover that her remaining hearing was completely gone. She had lost 100% of her hearing in both ears. All of a sudden, she was unable to communicate with the people around her. She did not know sign language, could no longer speak well, and could not lip read. She became isolated from the world and had to finally face her hearing loss, accept that she was deaf, and find a way to finish college without being able to hear. She found the strength to teach herself to talk well again, to lip-read, and to use sign language. As she was leaning new communication skills, she also graduated from college and set out on an emotional rollercoaster ride to discover who she was and who she wanted to become. Join her on her journey to find a balance between the hearing world she was raised in and the Deaf culture she now belonged to. This is a story about overcoming obstacles, finding yourself, and making your mark on the world... visit at http://readytobeheard.com.
WATCH [CC] - HumanMeter: Would You Help a Deaf Person Reach His Destination - Social Experiment by Kami.
HumanMeter team from Philippines, conducted a social experiment to see if Filipinos are willing to understand and accompany a Deaf stranger to reach his destination. The results are quite shocking.
HumanMeter - Special social project of Kami.com.ph. Social experiments, pranks in the streets of the Philippines to test the society, to see how people behave in non-standard situations.
WATCH [CC] - 19-year-old facing slew of charges after fatal crash that killed Deaf FedEx employee in New Jersey.
JERSEY CITY, NJ -- Jersey City police were looking for two people Tuesday night, after an out-of-control vehicle crashed and killed a man waiting at a bus stop.
As CBS2’s Valerie Castro reported, authorities said the stolen sport-utility vehicle killed a man waiting for a bus. A 16-year-old was being questioned late Tuesday.
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Confirming that the pedestrian that was fatally struck by a vehicle this morning in Jersey City has been identified as a male in his 30's. The fatality occurred in the immediate area of Communipaw Ave & Kennedy Blvd. Continue to avoid this area as the police investigate.
The crash happened around 4:50 Tuesday morning. The out-of-control SUV slammed into the intersection of Communipaw Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard in Jersey City.
The victim in the incident died instantly after he was hit. On Tuesday night, CBS2 has learned the victim may never even have realized what was about to happen.
The Hudson County Prosecutor’s office said police were trying to pull over the stolen vehicle, which was seen speeding and running traffic lights when it slammed into a light post and crashed into a bus shelter.
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Umar King, 33, was standing inside waiting for the bus. He wound up thrown down the street and was killed on impact.
A collection of candles paid tribute to King’s memory late Tuesday.
King’s friend, who is hearing-impaired, said King was also hard of hearing and likely did not even know the car was careening toward him.
“The car -- too fast, boom,” King’s friend said. “Can’t hear; not hearing.”
“I just saw a person on the floor and that’s it,” added Carmen Rodriguez of Jersey City. “It was sad.”
After the impact, people inside the car were caught on video as they got out and took off running down Kennedy Boulevard.
Prosecutors said the stolen vehicle was speeding and ignoring traffic signals. Police were dispatched to chase it.
“There were three individuals in the suspect vehicle. They fled,” said Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez. “One individual was caught, a male 16-year-old. He was detained for questioning.”
The crash destroyed the bus shelter and left debris everywhere.
“Now we don’t even have a bus stop. They took it all. I just feel bad for the family,” Rodriguez said.
The entire corner was ripped apart, and debris was everywhere. Pieces of the bus shelter were thrown in the street and on the sidewalk, and a traffic light was dismantled and bent.
The Prosecutor’s office said it is believed the officers did as they were trained when trying to stop the vehicle.
“It appears at first glance – again, this is all investigation – that officer was following protocol,” Suarez said. “That too is under investigation.”
Police late Tuesday were still searching for the other two people seen in the video running away.
Another driver was also hit by the speeding car. That victim was taken to Jersey City Medical Center with minor injuries and has since been released.
WATCH [CC] - Deaf mum sues Little Mix promoter for not providing sign language interpreters at gig.
SUSSEX, UK -- BBC News: How one mother's frustration turned into an unprecedented legal action. Eight-year-old Cate Merry and her friend Megan are big fans of Little Mix.
They've got the T-shirts, the photo albums, the CDs, can sing the songs and rock the dance routines.
So how did their love of the band lead to unprecedented legal action?
Last year, Cate's mum Sally Reynolds bought six tickets to see the band in concert on 1 September at the South of England Event Centre in Sussex.
Sally is Deaf and booked for herself and two Deaf friends to go with their daughters who are all able to hear.
In order that she and her two friends could fully access the performance, Sally asked the organisers, LHG Live, to provide a British Sign Language interpreter.
She was initially offered carer tickets and told that she could bring her own interpreter, but she didn't consider that met her needs or amounted to full access.
Speaking exclusively to the BBC, Sally explained: "We asked two or three times, please can you provide the interpreter for us, and the explanation we got back was just a 'no'.
"It didn't have any reason behind it and eventually we became so frustrated.
"I wanted to share the same experience my daughter had - essentially I just wanted access to the songs."
Legal Action - Under the Equality Act 2010, any organisation supplying a service to the public is under a duty to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that a disabled person's experience is as close as possible to that of someone without a disability.
With just days to go before the concert, and no interpreter in place, Sally took an unprecedented legal step... Read More on BBC News.
WATCH [CC] - "NFL 2018" - More stuff their lips could have said, just in time for the Super Bowl.
MINNEAPOLIS -- If you’ve been on YouTube in the past few years, you’ve seen a 'Bad Lip Reading' video. The premise is simple voice actors narrate what it looks like people are saying. The channel’s videos about the National Football League are some of its funniest and this year’s is no exception.
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There’s some dang gold in there, you really just have to watch it to get the whole effect, but Cam Newton bragging about owning a zamboni, and Jay Cutler asking Derek Carr to scratch his back.
Of course, a basketball one would be difficult because none of these things would be particularly out of the ordinary for the NBA. So for now, let’s just enjoy the hilarity of this video and just in time for the Super Bowl, too!
