ABC Family searches for deaf actress to star in new TV show

On October 5, 2010, ABC Family posted a casting call on their website, looking for a deaf female actress and two deaf male actors to star in a new TV show.

The website asks that the characters resemble these descriptions:

"DAPHNE - actress must be deaf or hard of hearing and must speak English well, American Sign Language preferred. Age range from 16 to early 20’s to play high school. Actress is to be light-haired or willing to dye hair blond for the role, and if the show moves to series, actress must be willing to relocate to Los Angeles in February.

Smart, confident, and well-adjusted Daphne is stunned to learn that she and Bay Kennish were accidentally switched at birth 15 years ago. Having grown up in a working-class household as the only child of a single mom, she is excited to meet her new parents, and especially thrilled at the idea of having brothers and a dad. But balancing two families is trickier than she expected, particularly because her biological parents have never been around anyone deaf, and are eager for her to enter a mainstream school and a less deaf-centric world.

EMMETT - 16, actor must be deaf or hard of hearing, must be fluent in American Sign Language. Emmett is Daphne's best friend. Raised by deaf parents and educated in a deaf school, Emmett doesn't talk orally, and is more comfortable in a deaf world. Rugged, reserved, a young deaf James Dean.

PENN - late 30’s or 40’s. Male, actor must be deaf or hard of hearing, must speak English well. Penn is Emmett's father and Daphne's mother's best friend. Penn is the one who educated Daphne's mother about the importance of learning sign, schooling Daphne in a deaf world, etc."

It seems as though the show will tackle various issues regarding being deaf, but also everyday life issues. Daphne, for instance, will meet her biological parents, who are not familiar with being around deaf people, and want to get her more involved in mainstream schooling and culture. Emmett, on the other hand, is very comfortable around the deaf community, but not at all comfortable with mainstream society because of his upbringing.

I know many people with disabilities who are not comfortable around "mainstream" society, and are only comfortable around other people with disabilities. For those people, adapting to the world outside of disabilities can be very difficult, so it will be very interesting to see how ABC handles this issue.

I also think it will be wonderful to have another show that highlights different lifestyles, especially for young teens. ABC Family, after all, is meant to be watched by families. By young people watching this show with their parents, both audiences can learn about what life is like being deaf and how to handle questions and curiousities about people with disabilities.

Let's keep our eye out for this show and hope it does well in the ratings so it can turn into a series.

For more information about how to audition for the various roles, visit http://abcfamily.go.com/site/news/abc-family-searching-deaf-actress-star-new-tv-show/576979.

Schools: Take care of this very serious issue, NOW.

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20101008/US.Bullying.One.Town/

If you read the article that can be found by clicking the link above, you will be astounded by the number of teenage deaths at Mentor High School that are directly related to bullying.  I am very glad to have an opportunity to write about such a serious issue.  Bullying will always be a part of growing up, but the increased exposure that children have to violence, sex, and drugs/alcohol is only making it worse.  Violence, sex, and drugs/alcohol are certainly not the only reason that children are acting out, but there is a definite, noticeable shift in our culture's society, specifically in our youth, from 50 years ago until now.

The second to last paragraph in this article describes one student's struggle with bullying due to her learning disability.  But this is just one story.  There are many other cases that often fly under the news radar concerning deaths among students with disabilities that are attributed to bullying. It's a serious problem.  Junior high school and high school are difficult for every child and even worse for children who don't fit popular or "normal" standards.

The biggest problem we have is that our educators and school administrators are not well-trained in strategies to prevent bullying. I believe that more colleges and universities should have courses specifically designed to address these issues, and in today's world, this is not asking much.  I also think that a universal disciplinary plan should be made for students who bully or harass others.  If every school had a rule that once a student bullied another, he/she would be suspended and sent to an anger management class, the number of bullies would significantly decrease.  And I know what you're thinking: some amounts of aggression or anger is healthy.  Of course it is--but don't children and teens fight enough with their parents, friends, or siblings?  They are exposed to every feeling possible throughout their childhood (maybe some more than others, but they do experience it).  For this reason, that counter argument can be diminished.

Perhaps such a plan would benefit not only schools, but also the country we live in.  If the children are our future, maybe we should be teaching them how to get along with others and accept them for who they are.  They don't have to like everyone, but they should treat others with respect.  "To each their own," so to speak.

We have to address this issue, and the time is now--before the youth's death rate increases even more.

Alternate Text

I recently caught up with my friend, Genevieve Smith, a junior at KU, who is blind.  We were talking about my projects for increasing disability awareness, and, mainly, my website (http://www.disabilityawareness4you.wordpress.com/).  When she went on the website, her computer was reading aloud what I have written on the homepage.  Then, she was asking me about the pictures/graphics on the various pages.  I was telling her what they were when she asked if I could add alternate text.  When I told her I had no idea what alternate text was, she was shocked.

So, I went to the editing mode on my website, I clicked on the pictures and there was a text box labeled "alternate text" and I had nothing in it (because I didn't know what it was).  Genevieve told me that by adding alternate text to my pictures and graphics, her computer can read aloud to her what they are. She knows they are graphics, and her computer knows they are graphics, but she can understand what the graphics are by having the alternate text. For example, the alternate text I added to my picture was "professional photo of Jackie Conley."  This lets Genevieve and other visually impaired users know what the picture is. I immediately wanted to blog about this because I never knew about it, and I think everyone should!  It takes no effort at all to add the text, so we should be adding it. 

So, next time you are editing photos online, if you can add alternate text, try it!  Alternate text is simply a description of the graphic that lets all users know what the graphic is a picture of.

How many of you knew about alternate text?  I think I'm going to make this question my next poll. Visit my website later this week to cast your vote.  Thanks.

Artie from Glee

I recently read an article about Artie Abrams (Kevin McHale) from Glee (click on the title of this blog, "Artie from Glee" to see the full story). The character is part of the Glee Club, and contributes to the show's diversity due to his use of a wheelchair. The article discusses whether the character should be awarded for his portrayal of disabilities (because he is not disabled in real life) or if the actor and producers of Glee should be condemned for not hiring an actor who has a disability off-stage.

The author of this article, Aaron Broverman, who has Cerebral Palsy, notes that if the show's co-creator "had chosen an actor who actually used a wheelchair, but who was otherwise unqualified, that would have been nothing but a different form of discrimination – tokenism." And I completely agree with him. I personally believe that some people with disabilities need to realize that characters are just characters. They are not going to get everything spot-on. However, they can provide positive behaviorial models for audiences.

I have two younger sisters who watch the show, and, honestly, I am so excited that teenagers their age (15-16) are getting some form of disability awareness from the show. Won't this help in the long run? I think it will. Whenever I watch Artie sing AND dance alongside his peers in the Glee Club, I smile, because he is trumping the idea that only people without disabilities can dance.

I don't actively watch Glee, but when I do I am very thankful that it is such a popular show among our nation's youth. The show encourages teenagers to be inclusive, make good decisions, and fight for one's rights.

Thoughts?

Just another day in the life...



Phoenix Group bake sale, 9/24/10
From left to right: Genevieve Smith, Jackie Conley, Chelsea Cellars and Cara Liebowitz

 On Friday, September 24, I volunteered to sit at a table to try and get people to buy baked goods from a bake sale table for the Phoenix Group, a Kutztown University club dedicated to spreading disability awareness, of which I am currently the president.

As you can see from the picture above, there were lots of baked goods, flyers, and to the right of Cara was a tri-fold poster and other giveaways (pens and koozies) as well as a sign-up sheet. All of this, with a few exceptions, was in my apartment. Now, because I walk with crutches, there was no way I was going to be able to carry all of that to the other side of campus. So when we announced the bake sale at our meeting prior, we made sure to find someone that could stop by my apartment beforehand to help me carry stuff over. Thanks to Chelsea (and a very kind boyfriend, who is not a member) the materials were transported across campus safely.

But there is never a dull moment...

The day before the bake sale was just like any other day, full of meetings, classes, and appointments. On my way to a meeting, I realized that things didn't feel right as I walked, and a strange sound was coming from my crutches. I examined them to see where the problem was, and to my surprise the rubber end of my crutch (also known as a crutch tip) had a rip in it. A few more days of walking on it would cause it to rip, and then I would be walking solely on the pole-part of my crutch, which doesn't help someone who has bad balance. So, knowing that I had to be somewhere the next day, I had to scramble and hope that my one friend, who has a car on campus, could get me to a local drug store as soon as possible. Luckily she came through, and after a trip to two different drug stores, we found the tips. The next step was getting the old tips off and the new ones on, which is not nearly as easy as it sounds. You can't simply pull them off. You have to cut them off with an exacto knife or box cutter. And again, luckily for me, a helpful boyfriend was able to get the old ones off with a pearing knife (I live in a college dorm, I don't have exacto knives lying around). Thankfully, no one was hurt in the process, either.

Once I could finally walk safely, we went back to the bake sale to help wrap up the event and transport the Phoenix Group materials back to my room (again with help from someone volunteering at the table).

Hopefully some of you got a laugh from this post. This is just another day in the life I live. Hopefully these crutch tips hold up for a while. Did I mention the old tips were only 3 months old?