Deaf Sprinter Breaking Records

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Deaf Sprinter Breaking Records

VIDEO: Deaf sprinter Sekou Kanneh, 13, breaks 21-year-old record at Queensland Secondary Schools State Championships.



QUEENSLAND, AU - Couriermail.com: Sekou Kanneh never heard the crack of the starting pistol on his way to breaking a 21-year-old record at the Queensland Secondary Schools State Championships.



In a world first, the 13-year-old Deaf sprinter’s scorching 100m at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre was released by the flash of a hi-tech starting system that frees him to compete against, and beat, able-bodied athletes.



The Indooroopily State High School student’s time of 11.36secs in Thursday’s semi-final shaved .08sec from the previous mark and qualified him for the national championships to be held in Townsville in December.



Just to prove it was no fluke, he repeated the time in the final, helping himself to the Queensland title.



“I was so excited, and proud,” Kanneh said through an interpreter.



While his rivals reacted to the gun, Kanneh responded to a set of lights that rest directly in his eye line near the top of his starting blocks.

Previously, Deaf athletes racing in able-bodied competition would react to a tap on the shoulder from a helper standing behind the blocks.



In Kanneh’s case, he would watch for a twitch from the runner in the adjacent lane, a tactic that increases the risk of a false start.



That old system could cost Deaf sprinters almost three-tenths of a second, potentially the difference between first and last.



Now that the International Association of Athletics Federations has made the lights legal in able-bodied competition, runners like Kanneh can compete on an even playing field and legitimately claim records. ... Read more: http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/deaf-sprinter-sekou-kanneh-13-breaks-21-year-old-record-at-queensland-secondary-schools-state-championships/story-fnihsrf2-1226747303013

Deaf Students Break Language Barriers

Monday, October 28, 2013

Deaf Students Break Language Barriers

VIDEO: Auslan Version - Deaf students break language barriers in Australia.



When Heidi Beasley-Ellich sits her written VCE exams this month - whether in media studies or further maths or textiles - she will read the questions in English and write her answers in English, too.



This would not pose a problem were it not for the fact English is not Heidi's first language, because she is profoundly Deaf.



Heidi attends Forest Hill College in Burwood East, which helps Deaf children enter mainstream education by providing them with in-class resources including real-time captioning and interpreters.



Facility manager Amanda Purcell, winner of a 2013 Victorian Teacher of the Year award, believes passionately in the learning system but not the rigid form of assessment that puts Heidi and others at a major disadvantage.



''Say they've been learning and absorbing VCE biology for two years in Auslan,'' Ms Purcell said. ''It defeats the purpose of allowing them to learn the subject in their first language if you're going to assess them in their second language.''

Ms Purcell returned this month from a research trip to Scotland, where exams for the Deaf work differently. There, an interpreter signs each question to a Deaf student, and the student signs their answer while being filmed.



''The interpreter will then watch the film, and translate everything that the student signed into English,'' she said. ''That's what goes off to be assessed. And that's what I'm really hoping to get here.''



Ms Purcell is compiling an options paper for the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority based on her consultation with researchers and curriculum authorities abroad.



''Over there, Deaf students are getting scores that are indicative of what they know and what they can do, rather than their English level. And they're going on to careers in engineering and chemistry, where here they might not get the score required.'' ... Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/deaf-students-break-language-barriers-20131027-2w9si.html

Boy Saves Deaf Mum From House Fire

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Boy Saves Deaf Mum From House Fire

VIDEO: A hearing 12 year-old boy, who had a day off school, has saved his mother from a house fire at their Melton home.



7NEWS MELBOURNE - A 12-year-old boy has saved his Deaf mum from a fire that destroyed their Melbourne home. The boy woke his mum up when the fire broke out in their Melton home on Friday morning, police said. Local police were patrolling the area and pulled up outside after noticing smoke coming from the house.

The boy escaped unscathed but his mother, aged in her 40s, was taken to The Alfred hospital for treatment for burns. The house was well alight when firefighters arrived at 10.20am, the CFA says. The woman suffered burns to her back and hands but was in a stable condition, an Ambulance Victoria spokesman said. ...Read more: http://au.news.yahoo.com/local/vic/a/-/local/17095306/boy-saves-mum-from-vic-house-fire/

Deaf-Blind Diver Defies The Toughest Odds

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Deaf-Blind Diver Defies The Toughest Odds

Deaf-Blind Heather diver defies the toughest odds.



Heather Lawson is possibly the first Deaf-Blind person in Australia to go scuba diving, and one of only a few in the world to have done so.



The 54-year-old Frankston adventurer, who was born Deaf and gradually lost her sight (as have two of her siblings), has skydived and bungee-jumped, climbed rocks and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, flown in a hot air balloon and skied over snow and water.



Scuba diving has long been on her bucket list. Last week she spent an hour in the shallow waters of Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary, thanks to a support team of seven including her Auslan tactile interpreters and local dive instructor Mike Letch, founder of the Disabled Divers Association.



Ms Lawson was tethered to a scuba hose, her tank floating separately so she could explore and sign freely. She held starfish, kelp and sea urchins as interpreter Bill Hynes also Deaf, and a qualified diver described everything to her in water up to three metres deep and 200 metres offshore.



Mr Letch said later that Ms Lawson's perception of her surroundings was incredible to witness.



"She was so much more in tune with a whole lot of stuff going on than the rest of us," he said. "She's super switched on, super intelligent. We want her to become a regular next year, now that we know how it can be done."



Back on shore, Ms Lawson - her grin as wide as the harbour bridge she climbed - declared the experience "amazing". "I wish I was a seal, then I could stay in the water all day," she said. "I was pretty nervous before going in, but it was incredible. I was so determined to breathe properly and ignore the waves. ...Read more: http://www.baysidereviewlocal.com.au/story/1351254/blind-deaf-diver-defies-the-toughest-odds/?cs=1473



Gallery: Deaf-blind Heather scuba-diving:

- Click here for our picture gallery of Heather's big dive

Aussie Teen Dodges Jail For Bashing Deaf Man

Monday, February 25, 2013

Aussie Teen Dodges Jail For Bashing Deaf Man

RAW VIDEO: Western Australia teen dodges jail for bashing Deaf man.



PERTH - A teenager has dodged a jail term after pleading guilty to bashing a Deaf man at a Perth train station, but he will face imprisonment if he offends again in the next year, a judge has warned.



Joshua William Bignell, 18, bashed Seow Oh, 28, fracturing his eye socket, in the eastern Perth suburb of Carlisle in June last year.



Bignell bashed and kicked Mr Oh from behind as he was walking to his car parked at the station. Bignell was originally charged with assault occasioning bodily harm but the charge was later upgraded to grievous bodily harm.

On Monday, in the District Court of Western Australia Judge Phillip Eaton handed Bignell a pre-sentence order, subject to three reviews over the next 12 months. Judge Eaton decided not to imprison Bignell immediately because he was young, had a troubled childhood and mental health problems and was "now in a stable situation".



If Bignell committed an offence in the next 12 months, it was likely he'd be sentenced to an immediate term of imprisonment, Judge Eaton warned. "You can just about bank on that," he said.



"If you're going well, I'll allow the order to continue. "If things are falling apart, then I won't hesitate to bring it to an end. "If you fail, Mr Bignell, then the consequences will be grim."



Judge Eaton said the maximum penalty for the offence was 10 years' imprisonment, meaning Bignell was "in the big league" after "fairly relentless offending" in recent years. ... Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/wa-teen-dodges-jail-for-bashing-deaf-man-20130225-2f1zl.html



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