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Sat September 22, 2007

Agency issues news release in sign language

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Watch the video media release in American Sign Language (ASL)
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Event planned
The Oklahoma School for the Deaf in Sulphur has planned a Deaf Awareness Day Program for 12:45 p.m. Wednesday in the school auditorium, 1100 E Oklahoma Ave.

The school provides residential, early intervention and outreach education services at no charge to students who are deaf or hard of hearing. The school offers preschool programs for children who are deaf at regional sites in Collinsville and Edmond.

It partners with the state Education Department on an early intervention program called Enriching Children's Communication Opportunities for parents of deaf children, ages 3 to 6.

The Oklahoma School for the Deaf also provides critical outreach services for deaf or hard of hearing students attending local public schools. These services include audiological, speech and language and other assessments; in-service training programs; and recommendations for adaptations to the students' educational environments.

The school also trains people to use the telephone.

For more information, contact Services to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Oklahoma City at 522-7930 or toll free at (800) 833-8973. The Oklahoma School for the Deaf can be reached at (580) 622-4900 or toll free at (888) 685-3323.

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By Chad Previch
Staff Writer
The state Rehabilitation Services Department released its first video press release in American Sign Language on Friday. It was the first press release issued by a state agency in sign language.

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The department's Web site did not accommodate everyone who considered themselves deaf, said Jody Harlan, department spokeswoman.

"It would be like me reading it in Spanish on somebody else's Web site,” Harlan said.

Agency officials said they chose Friday to test the format because of National Deaf Awareness Week, which starts Sunday. The department recorded a certified interpreter for the deaf who signed the media release content on camera in sign language.

Department Director Linda Parker said many people who use ASL as their first language have difficulty understanding written English.

"American Sign Language is a unique language with its own syntax, word order and beautiful expressions,” she said.

The department will stream video announcements in ASL when the subject matters to the deaf, Parker said.

There are 13,674 deaf and 162,125 hard of hearing residents in Oklahoma, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Harlan said officials were happy with the release.

"We're kind of in a celebratory mood,” she said.

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