ABC News-interview about TreeWise book by Deaf Author

Dear Friends & Family;

My interview with ABC News in Chicago will air this Sunday, March 2nd during our 8 am show. I will come on around 8:15 to 8:30.

I also wanted to tell you that National Theatre of the Deaf has bought my story. They are working on adapting into the play for the national children tour. I am thrilled since the story will go out there to be shared. You may contact NTD for more info…

Aaron Kubey
Executive Director/President
The National Theatre of the Deaf
139 North Main Street
West Hartford, CT 06107
http://www.ntd.org/

Thank you for your support!

Best, Antoinette Abbamonte

Graham Hicks, Deaf-Blind motorcyclist broke the Guinness World Record

The quadbike world record attempt with Graham Hicks driving and Matt Coulter riding pillion.

On 21st May 2001, Graham ‘G-Force’ Hicks from Peterborough, who is totally deaf and blind made it into the record books again. On the two mile airstrip at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground in Leicestershire, Graham set the first ever quadbike world speed record at 99.26mph! He broke the record for the fasted speed on a quad bike and fastest England to Holland on a jetski. Mike Coulter rode behind guiding him by means of touch.

Graham became blind when he was 3 year old. At age of five, he became deaf. If the people need to talk with Graham, they need to use the fingerspelling. Fingerspelling, the Deafblind Manual Alphabet is a method of spelling out words onto a deafblind person’s hand. A particular sign or place on the hand represents each letter.

To learn more about Graham Hicks, go to http://deafblind-access.com/6.html

 

A deaf and blind man who has travelled 300 miles by land and sea has completed his journey on a jet ski.

RSD Superintendent’s Son, US Army Specialist Kevin Mowl Died

From the newsroom of the Democrat & Chronicle, Rochester, New York, Monday, February 25, 2008 …..

Pittsford native, soldier dies

U.S. Army Spc. Kevin Mowl, 21, of Pittsford, was injured in a bomb blast in Iraq on Aug. 2.

The Associated Press
Kevin Mowl patrols the streets of Baghdad

U.S. Army Spc. Kevin Mowl, wounded in August when a bomb exploded near his vehicle in Iraq, died this morning.

According to a Web site about Mowl at www.caringbridge.org, Mowl’s father, Harold, wrote: “I want to let you all know that Kevin passed away peacefully today at 10:13 a.m.”

Mowl wrote that he, his wife, Mary, and daughter Carlene “were with him until his end.” Harold Mowl is superintendent of the Rochester School for the Deaf.

Mowl, 22, suffered a brain injury and numerous fractures, according to family members. He has been receiving treatment at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

Mowl attended Pittsford schools through 11th grade and graduated from Valley Forge Military Academy near Philadephia. He had been with the Army as an infantryman, serving in Iraq for a year before he was wounded. He patrolled with the Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment with the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, based in Fort Lewis, Wash.

Mowl had visited the Rochester School for the Deaf during a leave last March to talk to students there about his service in Iraq.

Copyright © 2008, The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, All rights reserved.

More information about funeral, etc.. check his website which is http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kevinmowl

Translator for you

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Baby Sign Racer

Can you beat the baby’s sign language game?  Click:

http://babystrology.com/baby-games/baby-sign-racer/baby-sign-game.swf

20 Deaf Dancers Perform

Tai Lihua, art director of China Disabled People’s Performing Art Troupe, leads 20 deaf dancers to perform “Thousand-hand Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva”, or “Guan Yin”, a Chinese goddess, in Beijing February 19, 2008.

Man carried a gun at Colorado School For the Deaf and Blind

 Police have cleared the scene at the Colorado Springs School for the Deaf and the Blind.

A report was called in shortly after 6:00 p.m. that a man carrying a gun was walking around the campus. After an extensive search inside and outside the school police have determined the scene is safe.

There were no reports of injuries.

http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/15824672.html

Cold Water!!!!

By Jimactor

Transcript:

Hello again, I want to share my story with you when I was a little boy. I think around 5 years old, my mom loves to share the story. Anyway, my mom and dad tend to host the small party. My mom and dad invite about 7 deaf friends. The men come to the kitchen to play cards with my dad while the women come to the living room with my mom to make some gossip. I always love to get involved with women because they have news to share. That time, the outside is really hot as I live in the apartment in Chicago. You know in Chicago, the buildings are next to each other and there is impossible for wind to blow. So my mom put the small fan but that time there is no air condition. One woman feels so hot and sweat real bad on her neck. She wipes the sweat out. I look at her and walk to get the water and give it to her. She says, ‘Cute, how nice of you’. She drinks the water. GASP, she says to deaf friends, wow the water is real cold. Ahhhh. The next woman says to me, ‘Can you get the water for me, please?’. I say, ok and get the water and give it to her. She says ‘Oh, yes it is really COLD’. The next woman says to me, ‘Can you get the water for me, please?’. I say, ok and get the water and give it to her. She says, ‘Yes right it is cold and delicious’. The other four women say, Can you get the water for us, please? I say, ‘Ok and walk to get water but I did not come back. The women look at each other with puzzle faces. They tell my mom that your son does not come back. I come back and tell them that I am sorry that the water is gone. They look at each other with puzzle faces as my mom says, no as we have plenty of water. My mom asks me to show her where I get the water. I show my mom where it is so my mom comes back and says, ‘Sorry, it is bad news that you all drink the water’. You know where the water comes from? He gets the water from toilet bowl. They scream and wipe their tongues. No, it is awful. My mom says if I am enough smart if the water is gone. I flush the toilet and the water will fill up again but I did not think about it. The women say, oh no but they laugh anyway as they think it is funny. Wait, it is a true story that three women who drink the water from toilet bowl as they live to 80’s. Meaning the Chicago water will keep you alive longer? Oh you silly, I am kidding you but always remember the funny story. Bye

A Deaf man was killed in an accident while fleeing police.

25 year old Colorado Deaf man was driving a 2002 VW Jetta died as he was trying to flee on I-25 in Cimarron in Colorado. He took off at about 90 mph on the wrong way and crashed into 2002 Saturn. 64 year old driver Sylvia Hinklin  and her little dog were also killed. The driver of VW Jetta was Matt Sims.

The accident happened this morning (2-19-08) around 12:30 a.m. Matt was driving on the wrong side of the highway. The police was taking a prisoner to jail in his police car and noticed Matthew’s car stopping and facing south, in the median next to the northbound lanes. Police tried to drive parallel to him in the southbound lanes. Matt took off and the officer turned off the siren and lights but did not chase him. Then Matt crashed into the another car.

The highway was closed for about 4 hours due to the accident investigation.

Matt Sims was known in the Deaf Community at Colorado Springs. He used to be a basketball player.

For more stories, read on:

http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/default.aspx?tabid=71&pDesc=2649,1,1

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_8305290?source=rss

video but no cc: http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/15763192.html

update 2-20-08: http://www.gazette.com/articles/hinklin_33323___article.html/police_south.html

A Climber’s Blind Determination

I work on behalf of Hear the World, a non-profit initiative developed to raise awareness for the topic of hearing loss. This link (http://www.hear-the-world.com/events.htm?id=5084&checksum=269CD39B7378CD140C27A2CD56476971) will bring you to a story about Bill Barkeley, a Grand Rapids, MI man who suffers from Usher’s Syndrome, a unique disorder that affects both vision and hearing (only about 100,000 worldwide suffer from this). Bill has worn a hearing device since the age of 5, and his vision is slowly closing.

Recently, Bill decided to train to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro (the 7th tallest mountain in the world) with the assistance of renowned climber Jeff Evans (It’s important to note that Bill never climbed a mountain of any kind prior to this trip). His decision to climb was both for his own personal satisfaction as well as to raise awareness for the issue of hearing loss and the mission of Hear the World. If possible, would you consider posting a message about this story in hopes to help continue to raise awareness about hearing loss, one of the world’s most preventable, yet most common disorders. Currently more than 500 million people worldwide have some form of hearing loss…. That number is expected to hit 700 million within the next 10 years.

As background, you may want to check out the below link to a Good Morning America clip from late-December that is sure to inspire!

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4051909&affil=kdnl

Best regards,

Michael Sinatra
www.hear-the-world.com