Deaf/hh people, need an edge on getting a job?

For folks who live in the Kansas City, Missouri area:

Are you deaf or hard of hearing and need a better competitive edge on getting a job and retain it? A job that allows you to communicate in real time with 100% communication access with your hearing boss, supervisor, co-workers and even your clients or customers without the need of a 3rd party or sign language interpreter? Is there a job service that combines face to face communication technology for deaf and hard of hearing people? sComm, the maker of the UbiDuo whose CEO and co-founder is deaf, is proud to announce a new service called UbiJobs - workforce solutions for hearing, deaf, and hard of hearing job seekers.  If you live in the Kansas City metro area give UbiJobs a try, it could change your life for the better with a better competitive edge in a tight job market.

Video: Julio on the Appalachian Trail and UbiDuo

Here is our UbiDuo user, Julio Rodriguez, Appalachian Trail backpacking star who went into the Sundog store in Kent, CT to buy some new boots. In this video he explains how he is amazed how much freedom he is able to have with the hearing clerk with the UbiDuo. He shows how flawless it was for him and the clerk to cover so much ground in their conversation on the UbiDuo. In his words he stated he doesn't have to explain he is deaf anymore and can just simply say hi and flip the UbiDuo open and snap up a conversation. He repeats over and over how the UbiDuo is making his life much easier and most importantly making his Appalachian trail venture an exciting one!

The reward of unimpeded communication on the Appalachian Trail

Emma Curry is the mother of Jason Curry, CEO and co-founder of sComm, shared her thoughts with Jason and many other people in an email about Julio Rodriguez who is currently hiking on the Appalachian Trail.

On Facebook, Jason has been following the "posts" of a young man who is deaf who lives in Florida.   This young man decided to WALK the Appalachian Trail this summer from Florida to Maine.  His name is Julio Rodriguez.  As Jason watched the "posts" and saw that Julio was truly walking "alone" and missing the broad experience and fun of talking to people along the way -- Jason contacted Julio.  Jason offered to send Julio a loaner UbiDuo for the rest of his walk.   Julio was in a little tiny town.  He went to 5 businesses and asked them if they would allow an overnight mail shipment to come to their business.   4 of them refused.  The 5th one - a little tiny cafe owned by the man that Julio wrote his note to -- said:  "Sure,."   This is a picture of what happened the very afternoon that Julio picked up the UbiDuo.  

Another man -- who is hearing -- walked into the little cafe.  This man was clearly walking the trail also.  Julio started talking to him on the UbiDuo.   They decided to camp together that night and talked for 2 hours on the UbiDuo.

Now Julio is talking to lots of people that he is meeting along the Appalachian Trail.  Changed his entire trip - ultimately will change his life!!!!   He has now asked Jason if he might sell the Ubi in the South.  His Facebook posts are being read all over the United States.........

This story does make me have tears.   Takes lots of courage to be deaf......and often be isolated from everyone around you who is hearing.......but to see the difference that this Ubi makes in anyone's life brings me up straight in my seat with thankfulness.  A great device.   Good for David.   Good for Jason.

A summary of one of Julio's private texts to Jason said this:           

"So many of us who are deaf didn't even realize how hard we were making it on our lives by not taking advantage of this new tool."       

That's the difference between choosing pen and paper, gesturing, and/or lip-reading in the effort to try and get the full interactive and unimpeded communication with a hearing person that will ultimately fail each and every time. This sleek next generation UbiDuo solves that. No bluffing. No guessing. No embarrassment. Just real time conversation in a language that both people can understand and enjoy in a face to face communication environment. It's the exact same communication environment seen between two deaf persons signing to each other or two hearing persons talking to each other. But what about between a deaf and hearing person? The UbiDuo offers that real time communication environment between deaf and hearing persons.

If you have any questions about Julio Rodriguez hiking the Appalachian Trail or using the UbiDuo  please visit his personal Facebook page and ask. I'm sure he's more than happy to answer your questions.

Deaf Hiker and the Appalachian Trail

Julio Rodriguez has an ambitious goal of hiking the 3/4 length of the Appalachian Trail from Harper Ferry, West Virginia to Maine.  A travel that is planned to take 4 months traversing part of the 2,146 miles of trails covering in 11 states. It's a test of endurance as well as the mental challenge in hiking alone in total silence with his dog as his only companion makes his hike the more isolating because of his deafness.  Lacking the full communication with hearing people he'll meet along the way will only temporarily break the monotony and solitude of his hike. This is where communication technology comes in handy that breaks the usual surficial but limited chit-chat communication in meeting new people along the way.

His hike began on May 24, 2013 but officially it was May 26 when he finally got going. He is now 2/3 of the way through his hike to Maine with 500 miles to go. You can follow Julio's Appalachian Trail Facebook and see the sights he recorded along the way and the people he met.  For the first 40 days of his hike he communicated using pen and paper the people he met along the way. Though handy but not quite the same communication experience as in communicating with people in real time.  On Day 39 he received a message from Jason Curry, CEO and co-founder of sComm, that he would be sending Julio a new 2nd generation UbiDuo.

Day 39

Arrived Pawling, NY, sleep overnight on the sidewalk by the train- because it was night time when I arrived there. Next day, Jason Curry asked me if we can Skype and he got me a sweet surprise, that he’d send me Ubi Duo 2 that I can use to chat with anyone, oh man, sweet! So, I stayed one more night to pick up my Ubi Duo 2. I washed my clothes and sleep on the bench- by the Laundromat.

On Day 40 he finally got his UbiDuo

Ubi Duo 2 arrived! Yay, I used it to talk to a store- just to show him what Ubi Duo is, wow, it did make him want to chat me more- it really did make everything easier! We chatted very smooth and just wow, I will post video of me using Ubi Duo 2 sometime soon too. You definitely gonna buy one for yourself too, it is not just good for at work or stuff like that, it is our another tool. Something that we must have and carry everyday. You can type your Ubi Duo 2 up to 300 feet in radius. For more info, check it at www.scomm.com. Again, I will video telling you why you need it! Can’t wait to use it to chat with thru hikers by the campfire tonight. Now head back to the trail. Holla

As of today, July 15, he is in his 43rd day of his hike. He's currently near Salisbury, CT with some 500 miles to go.  He has gotten so much use out of his new 2nd generation UbiDuo he was able to chat longer in real time communication, just like talking or signing, with new people he met. He even chatted 4 hours straight with one person only to fall asleep with the UbiDuo on his lap. More on that later.

Be sure to follow Julio's latest adventure and stories of generous people along the way on his Appalachian Facebook page or his personal Facebook page.  And be sure to check out my blog for more stories about Julio and his communication adventures! And check out his first story on his journey with his UbiDuo chatting with a new person he met along the way recently a few days ago.

S.E.E. is a visual language....

S.E.E. stands for Signing Exact English. It is a visual, signing communication system that allow the full English language to be visually seen in its correct grammatical and syntactical forms. S.E.E. is in fact a visual language of the English language. Not that S.E.E. itself is a language but an avenue to see the English language visually in its full proper form without breaks and help continue with the English foundation and development.

I see no controversy in using S.E.E. for deaf kids to use.  It's certainly better than having no signing at all with no visual communication access. This is especially true among those who cannot get the full benefit of hearing aids or cochlear implants. At least there is an option out there. A choice. I have friends who grew up with S.E.E. One is even a CEO and runs his own, very successful deaf-run company. 

NAD lacks technology coverage for deaf people

Interesting conversation I had with my wife and it made me think. So, I went over to NAD's website and looked over their technology page section "Making communication and information accessible."  There it is. "Making communication accessible." NAD pride itself as the

"...nation's premier civil rights organization of, by and for deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the United States of America."

One major civil rights issue among deaf people is to have equal communication access with their hearing peers. How can NAD be an "informed consumer advocate" if they refuse to cover easy to use face to face communication devices such as the UbiDuo, the only device that use real time typing communication via a split screen? NAD covers only assistive listening technology, hearing aids, cochlear implants, Captioning for Access, Internet Access and Broadband, movie captioning, telephones and relay services, television and closed captioning, and Video Remote Interpreting.

NAD explains that

"....people who are deaf or hard of hearing were early and eager adopters of accessible text-based communication and information systems, such as pagers, e-mail, instant messaging, and the Internet, as well as early adopters of videophones."

There are thousands of early adopters of UbiDuo users who covet the real time nature  and ease of communication (there is no"typing a response" notification where you wait for a typed response) with hearing people who do not know sign language. These deaf people who are UbiDuo users are the bulwark on paving the way helping the hearing public on recognizing their need to have immediate communication access using a communication device that allow real time typed conversation on a standard sized keyboard using common, every day language such as English.

But on the NAD technology page there is no where to be found that discusses face to face communication devices. Using NAD's search feature I typed in "UbiDuo" and found no results.   The same for "communication device" but it came up with one search result but it's not the same thing on what I'm discussing here. 

Both culturally deaf and non-culturally deaf people use the UbiDuo. It's not like no culturally deaf people use the UbiDuo. They do. And, boy, do they ever use it. But that's beside the point here. The point is that NAD claim to represent and help deaf and hard of hearing people but do not even cover a very important communication accessible technology devices such as the UbiDuo. A simple communication concept that ensures leveling the playing field using the English language, for example. NAD does not have to tote the brand name but by the mere mentioning of a "typed face to face communication device" would be sufficient enough to let deaf (and hearing) people know those types of communication devices do exist out there.

Face to face communication concerns is a Civil Rights issue (See Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division - Disability Rights Section page).  NAD needs to understand that text to text (typed) communication via a communication device is a Civil Rights issue under the ADA. Not covering it on their website, touted as the "...nation's premier civil rights organization of, by and for deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the United States of America," would be a sin.

NAD, do the right thing and help deaf people become more aware of other kinds of communication technologies that exist in the United States.

Video of Announcement of the Next Generation UbiDuo

If you missed the announcement you can still go and watch the recording of the announcement of the next generation UbiDuo by Jason Curry, CEO of sComm.  And you can also watch the YouTube recording (Part 1, 2, 3, and 4) with captioning provided by a CART typist. Videos uploaded to YouTube were done a blogger, Mike McConnell, who attended the widely anticipated and celebrated event.

Out with the Old, In with the New

The old sComm website is now in the history book. The newly revamped and totally reconfigured sComm website with new themes introduces the next generation UbiDuo, the world's most ubiquitous communication device. The next generation UbiDuo face to face communication device is now lighter, sleeker, with touch sensitive screens to navigate functions better and easier. The new UbiDuo automatically turns on for you the moment you open up the 2 in 1 communication device without the need to go through steps in turning it on like the older UbiDuo.  The UbiDuo makes it more enjoyable and easier to communicate face to face between deaf and hearing people. It is 100% one-on-one communication equality with zero bluffing, zero frustration and zero communiphobia.  And the best thing of all? The new generation UbiDuo is engineered and manufactured in the U.S.A. as exclaimed by the CEO of sComm to his audience.

Now, this is what I'm very, very passionate about. The UbiDuo 2 is engineered and manufactured in the USA! That is what I'm fired up about. It's important to my heart. I wanted the UbiDuo 2 to be made in the USA! It's time to give all of the manufacturing business back to America! That is what's important to all of us. 

Sneak preview pictures of sComm's launch party

Some preview pictures of the stage where the announcement will be made by Jason Curry, CEO of sComm, along with band, Cherry Bomb, is setting themselves up.

On Saturday, January 26, 2013 starting at 6:45 PM CST (7:45 ET, 5:45 MT, 4:45 PT) will be a LIVE STREAMING EVENT at sComm. Be sure to tune in according to your time zone.  sComm will be live streaming the unveiling of the answer that two men found in the trunk. For the exciting conclusion to the Project Black video series, please visit LIVE STREAMING sComm. Jason Curry, CEO of sComm, has an important announcement to make tonight.

If you've missed parts 1, 2 or 3 of the Project Black videos then please click on one of the three Project Black videos seen on the left side of this blog site.

UPDATE!  The streaming live TV will be delayed until 7:15 (CST) due to a large number of people attending as we get things squared away. 

LIVE STREAMING AT SCOMM TONIGHT!

On Saturday, January 26, 2013 starting at 6:45 PM CST (7:45 ET, 5:45 MT, 4:45 PT) will be a LIVE STREAMING EVENT at sComm. Be sure to tune in according to your time zone.  sComm will be live streaming the unveiling of the answer that two men found in the trunk. For the exciting conclusion to the Project Black video series, please visit LIVE STREAMING sComm. Jason Curry, CEO of sComm, has an important announcement to make tonight.

If you've missed parts 1-3 of the Project Black videos then please click on one of the three Project Black videos seen on the left side of this blog site.

Check out this video of a pre-launch party and get a glimpse on who will be attending today's launch party.




I will be live blogging this event. So, watch for more pictures and videos!

UPDATE!  The streaming live TV will be delayed until 7:15 (CST) due to a large number of people attending as we get things squared away.

Can you spot the difference? Win $15 gift card

Can you find 8 things that are different in these two pictures? The first person to answer all 8 correctly will win a $15.00 Gift Card to Outback Steakhouse. Go to sComm Facebook page to see the two different pictures. Can you spot the differences?

The winner will be announced today after 5pm CST.

Chance to win $10 Outback Steakhouse Gift Card

Check out sComm's Facebook page and see if you can give out the right answer to their question about communiphobia. The winner with the best answer will be revealed on January 25, 2013 at 10 A.M CST and the winner will receive a $10 Outback Steakhouse gift card. Yum. One of my favorite restaurant! Love those ribs!

Don't miss out on the contest! Click on the "Like" button on sComm's Facebook page to receive future contest announcements.

Well known deaf mystery person to show up

If you want to find out who this well known and liked deaf person who will show up at sComm this Saturday night (see count down clock on left) then be sure to check out sComm's website or Facebook revealing the mystery announcement.  Who is this person? Come and watch, and find out.

Countdown Clock

Noticed the countdown clock on the left side? It's a reminder to keep an eye on this blog for some major announcements at sComm.  The surprise will be revealed live this Saturday. Also, be sure to go to sComm's Facebook and click on the "Like" button if you want participate on the chance to win some prizes, like a Starbucks gift card, by getting their daily contest announcements.

Winner announced in mystery photo contest

Congrats to Pamela Siebert Maelzer who gave the closest and best answer. The mystery photo below had many people guessing.

And what was the answer to the mystery photo?

The mystery photo is a part of a barn door in the newly remodeled lobby of the sComm headquarters in Raytown, Missouri. The barn doors lead you to the next door space with 5,000 sq feet of additional space for the expansion of sComm. Those barn doors came from somewhere out in the country at some salvage yard. The doors are believed to be over 100 years old. A carpenter was hired to rebuild the barn doors and customize it for the sComm lobby. sComm is focused on doing things in a creative way as we do with face-to-face communication.

Pamela wins a $10 Starbucks gift card.

If you want the chance to participate in more games for more prizes go to sComm Facebook page and click on the "Like" button so you can get the latest contest announcement.

5 Lucky Winners get Starbucks gift cards

Today we have five lucky winners who won a $5.00 Gift Card to Starbucks courtesy of sComm.

1. Mikey Graziano
2. Stacey McIntosh-Storme
3. Dee Gol
4. Jie Yu
5. Dawn Michelle Muth-Rodriquez.

If you want to participate for more chances to win prizes you have to go to the sComm Facebook page and click on the "Like" button first so that you will be notified of any future announcements to try your luck on winning some more prizes.

There is another chance to win a $10 Gift Card to Starbucks. Go and visit the sComm Facebook page and try and guess what the mystery photo is. The winner and answer will be revealed Wednesday, January 23rd after 1pm, Central Time.

When famous people use the UbiDuo

Don't think well known or famous hearing people use the UbiDuo, the face to face communication device, to talk with other deaf people? Think again. How about Benard Pollard, the Baltimore Ravens (2013 AFC champion) talking with Jason Curry (CEO and co-founder of sComm the maker of the UbiDuo) for over an hour? Check out this priceless picture.

Just two guys having a good time talking with each using the UbiDuo.  Not feeling like a 3rd person with an interpreter in tow, the UbiDuo can give a deaf person a real sense of empowerment and control. No waiting for conversations to change hands, taking turns like using a pen and paper that's good only for limited conversation. Using the UbiDuo there is no misunderstanding or missed words when you have face to face real time typing conversation going on. 



Hat tip: Greg Gunderson

Scavenger Hunt Video Part III

Here' the final video Part III of a scavenger hunt. A big surprise is revealed in this video. What could it be? What is "Project Black"? Where will this scavenger hunt end up at? Who is that weird looking guy? Be sure to watch this video and find out. If you missed Part I or II video you can watch either one of them near the bottom of the page and see if you missed anything.

Empowerment and Perception

Empowerment.

It's a word that means differently to different people but universally it means enabling themselves the power of choice on their ability to gain their freedom, acquire knowledge, acquire wealth, and even build self esteem and confidence. There are many sides to every perspective on who is taking advantage of who when it comes to obtaining empowerment or losing it. What I have to say here may make some people feel uncomfortable but it is my kind of truth I'd like to speak about though it's not to be construed as an absolute truth but a general truth. Offering a different perspective is good. There is no monopoly here on "empowerment" or truth but just my version.

Let's look at Trudy Suggs' presentation on "Deaf Disempowerment."

Before going further I recognize the fact that there are horrible interpreters, interpreters who are a god-send and those who fall in between depending on the circumstances.  The hope is to have the very best and highly professional interpreters but that is not always the case, sadly, but the United States is experiencing a national shortage on interpreters.  Here I'm offering a bit of constructive opinion regarding Trudy Suggs' "Deaf Disempowerment." Namely it's about true independence versus quasi-independence when it comes to communication choices and how some people deal with them. Sometimes the answer to a difficult or problematic solution can be easily solved. Other times it requires serious intervention and awareness building.

In Trudy Suggs' piece she discussed two kinds of disempowerment: situational disempowerment and economic disempowerment. What I'm about to explain in my blog will show you a simple way to reverse a certain disempowerment scenario into your advantage. You can still have control over certain things in life and not feel helpless in the communication department. Empowerment means you've come to realized certain things about a situation and advantageously learned to move forward independently benefiting yourself as a result. Suggs suggested that people do take advantage of deaf people, and that's true in many instances as in the case of interpreters taking advantage of deaf people by making money off of them. She provided a few examples of that in her piece. But in order to be honest people need to realize that deaf people do take advantage of hearing people. In this case taking advantage of sign language interpreters for their own gain whether it's social, financial, medical or what have you at no cost to deaf people in most cases.

Trudy Suggs explained that she live in a town of 23,000 people with 250 to 300 deaf people (I am assuming they are all culturally deaf people) which represents about 1.3% of the town's population.  A town that is 7 times more populated than the "national average" on the ratio of culturally deaf people to hearing people which is estimated to be about 0.2%of the U.S. population. In Rochester, New York, for example, it has a much higher density of deaf and hard of hearing people. The number of deaf and hard of hearing people make up 3.7 percent (about 40,000) of the Rochester area's 1.1 million people (more here on deaf/hh population). Although no exact figures on the number of culturally deaf people who rely exclusively on sign language to communicate as their preferred mode of communication.  In Suggs' town with 7 times more culturally deaf people one would certainly expect better interpreters.  Interpreters who should be readily available at a moments notice, 24/7. Interpreters who are expected to hold a higher standard of professionalism in a town that have a lot of deaf people. Interpreters' reputations are at stake. If an interpeter fumbles then word gets around within the tightly knit deaf community like a bad gossip.

Let's consider for a moment the fact that there are more deaf and hard of hearing people in the United States that do not sign or know sign language than there are those who do sign (about 50 to 1 ratio or 30 million deaf/hh to 600,000 culturally deaf people). Or for those with more severe hearing loss you have people with severe to profound hearing loss numbering probably about 3 million or so. That would leave you with 1 out every 5 deaf people who know and use sign language.

Trudy Suggs described a story between about herself, her interpreter and a receptionist while waiting in a lobby for her orthopedic doctor for her son's check-up:

After about 45 minutes of waiting in the lobby—very unusual for a town of this size—I asked the receptionist about the severe delay. The receptionist never once looked up from her computer, saying that the doctor was backed up. I asked if we could see the doctor since my children were restless, hungry and my son, in a body cast from chest to toe, needed his medicine—which was at home. She said no. I said, “Could you please speak to the doctor or nurse?” She replied, “Oh, no, I can’t do that,” and I repeated my request. She adamantly refused. 

I finally said, “Could you please look at me?” She looked at the interpreter, and I said, “No, at me.” Once she did, I asked, “Could you please offer a resolution? We’ve been here an hour.” At that very moment, my baby began crying, and the receptionist finally realized the extent of my situation. A nurse came out who was far more courteous and apologetic. After we talked about the delay, I asked how I could make a complaint about the receptionist. 

A few thoughts come to mind.

You have a receptionist who is not familiar with deaf culture etiquette such as looking directly at the deaf person and not the interpreter. Most hearing people are simply not familiar on how to deal with a deaf person with their interpeter in tow. And then you have a situation where a deaf person is either seen as the "third person" or the interpreter as the third person. It becomes a perception issue not mention a certain amount of ignorance and unfamiliarity at play here,too.

Trudy then go on a spiel about "disempowerment" because she wasn't treated adequately by her interpreter and was seen as a "third person" by the receptionist and was not given the opportunity to be seen as an equal.

Let's change the picture here. Like the one below here.

Suppose at the receptionist desk sits a face to face communication device unit called the UbiDuo ready to be used by any deaf person who can use it to converse in real time with the receptionist. The unit is already assembled and ready to go by simply turning it on No third person is involved. Eye contact is easily done because the conversation is now between two individuals, a hearing person and a deaf person. The UbiDuo is a wireless communication technology that allow real time typed conversations between two people facing each other. Just like having two people talking or signing to each other face to face, uninterrupted with more meaningful eye contact, and done directly without feeling like a third person. No worry about having an interpreter carry YOUR conversations for you.

That's true empowerment.

Having the ability to carry a conversation with a hearing person using the UbiDuo, for example, where conversations can be done privately and directly is an example of empowerment. The chance for misunderstanding decreases because words are typed word for word with the UbiDuo. Conversations done in real time seeing what the other person is typing while responding at same time. Just like talking to each other. Just like signing to each other. No worry about the "lack of signing fluency" from interpreters. Face to face conversations take place fluidly.

A deaf person can have a choice between using an interpreter or a face to face communication device such as the UbiDuo. It is there for the taking. You have that choice. That's true empowerment.

Scavenger Hunt Part Deux

Watch Part II of a scavenger hunt. A hunt that will be revealed progressively over the next few weeks every Tuesday by sComm, the maker of the UbiDuo Face to Face communication device. A big surprise will be revealed near the end of January this month. What could it be? What is "Project Black"? Where will this scavenger hunt end up at? Be sure to follow this video each week to find out. If you missed Part I video you can watch it first at the bottom of the page.

Part I - The Scavenger Hunt