Latest news with #deafcommunity
CTV News
5 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Diners ‘sign for their supper' at this ByWard Market restaurant
Dark Fork opened its restaurant in the ByWard Market last September, the city's first 'dine-in-the-dark restaurant.' Patrons eat in a dark dining room where cellphones and other sources of artificial light are forbidden, allowing people to experience life without vision. As summer begins in the capital and the patio season opens up, Dark Fork launched the first ever sign language dining experience on its patio on George Street on Wednesday. For Roxanne Laroche, this new eating experience offers her a job where she can feel right at home. Being deaf, this is the first time she has had coworkers who are also deaf, creating a community that can connect directly to each other and the hearing world. 'So here, really, it's the first time that we have a space for the deaf community,' Laroche said. 'I feel like having this place open to the public, where anybody can come in and socialize if they don't understand the deaf community. We are right here, we are opening our doors, we're inviting you and we want the hearing community to be involved and to join us and see what's it's like.' Dark Fork Dark Fork in Ottawa's ByWard Market. Diners must use sign language to order while sitting on the patio. (Shaun Vardon/CTV News Ottawa) Diners enjoying their meal on the heritage stone patio will be required to place their orders in sign language. The menu offering a guide and a quick reference. It shows you how to sign 'please,' 'thank you,' and 'check,' along with clear illustrations for each of the menu items. For owner Moe Alameddine, pioneering unique ways to enjoy a meal and connect people his passion. 'This is the only restaurant in the world with blind and deaf people working together,' Alameddine said. 'It's a project we really wanted to do for the deaf community, to get them involved in the hospitality industry. I can say congratulations Ottawa, now you have a restaurant with blind and deaf people working together,' Katherine Sibun is thrilled with the opportunity to interact with the deaf community while dining out. Sibun has worked as a sign language interpreter for years, so being surrounded by those using sign language is a real opportunity to connect. 'I am delighted that they are making a practice of hiring people from the deaf community and that It's a space people can congregate and enjoy the language and culture,' Sibun said. 'It puts a face to it gives it depth and dimension and the idea of culture and language and all the beauty that's involved in the deaf community,' Dark Fork's patio is open Wednesday to Sunday for the summer.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Teen leads push to make subtitles mandatory in NY movie theaters: ‘Accessibility is a right'
As if senior prom, finals and college applications aren't enough, a Queens teenager is taking on the New York legislature this spring. Sarah Lin, a senior at Bronx Science who has made headlines crusading to make the movies more friendly for the hearing impaired, is continuing her fight in Albany by pushing for a proposed bill that would make it mandatory for movie theaters across the country to provide closed captioning at more screenings. She has become the face of the movement and the brain behind its social media push, giving the cause typically focused on the elderly community a much-needed facelift. With only two weeks left of the legislative session, Lin has been working in overdrive. 'I've definitely been very busy with school, but I think you always end up finding a way to make time for what you're passionate about,' Lin, 18, of Kew Gardens, told The Post. 'Knowing that I'm able to make such real, impactful change and seeing the actual reactions and the responses from the deaf and hard of hearing community has pushed me to want to continue working on this and continue trying to pass this bill statewide.' The Open Captioning Accessibility Act would require indoor movie theaters across the state with more than 10 shows per week to provide subtitles for at least half of their peak showtimes. The rule has been in effect in New York City since 2021 and is relatively easy to achieve because playing films with subtitles comes at no extra cost for the already struggling theaters, Lin explained. Despite this, the bill has been crawling through the state legislature since it was first introduced in April, a delay that advocates blame on the tense budget negotiations that kept politicians from their lengthy list of proposed bills. The bill has already died in two prior sessions — but advocates didn't have Lin on their side back then. The Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) scooped up the teenager after learning about her foundation Theater's Unsilenced, with works to provide subtitles glasses and sound-amplifying devices to theaters across Queens — a feat that landed her last year's Girl Scouts Woman of Distinction award. 'It was refreshing to come across a young woman like Sarah,' said Jerry Bergman, 79, chair of HLAA's Advocacy Committee and lifelong movie buff who began losing his own hearing as he entered his 60s. 'We're an organization, non-profit mostly of retired people … People who've gradually lost their hearing as they approached retirement,' he continued, adding that suffering through a film without accessibility features like subtitles is 'not the way to see a movie.' This time around, the Assembly bill has 13 sponsors and cosponsors, while its Senate counterpart has seven — a show of support Bergman attributed to the teen. Since joining the group, Lin has used her platform — and social media savviness — to reach wider audiences and encourage her followers to press their local politicians to publicly support the bill. She also starred in videos for the HLAA, including one that featured deaf Walking Dead actress Lauren Ridloff. 'I'm reaching out to many different people and using my platform in order to show how accessibility is a right and not just a privilege and making that known to everyone in the New York area,' Lin said. The cause hits especially close to home for Lin, whose own hard-of-hearing mother has had to sit home and miss out on plenty of family movie nights over the years. Joining forces with political players marks a major escalation in the volunteer work Lin has already been working toward for years — during the pandemic, she and her sisters, Katie and Julie, spearheaded Deaf and Hard of Hearing Friendly, a project that provided face masks with a clear vinyl covering so that community members could continue to communicate via lip-reading while staying safe from the coronavirus. During her time as a Girl Scout, Lin raised money through the annual cookie sales to buy dry erase messaging boards, which she then doled out to cinemas across Queens, including the same hometown cinema her mom had previously given up on visiting. 'She is so excited, and she's so thankful that I've been able to have this opportunity to be a part of this incredible mission,' Lin said. 'And if this could actually happen, I'd be so proud to be part of this mission. And that means that she's a part of it too.'
The Sun
01-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Strictly's Tasha Ghouri reveals new chapter as she brushes off Andrew Le Page's swipe after moving on with YouTuber
TASHA Ghouri has brushed off a swipe from her ex Andrew Le Page by revealing her new chapter - after moving on with CBBC star Cam Whitnall. The Strictly star started dating the YouTuber just weeks after she ruled out a new romance. 2 On social media, Andrew has appeared to take aim at his former girlfriend when he re-posted another user's TikTok video which had a foul-mouthed rant on-screen that read: "Nah, f**k you. I was good enough and you made me believe I wasn't.". Ignoring her ex, Tasha told fans she's become a celebrity ambassador for Make-A-Wish and Disney. The 26-year-old took part in A Disney Wish UK – a three-day experience at Hoar Cross Hall in Staffordshire - with more than 200 children living with critical illness. Tasha told the Mirror: "The work they do is incredible. They're a great charity, providing magical, beautiful experiences for all these families. I felt so honoured to be a part of that, to just make them happy, make them go away with these beautiful memories. "It was so emotional and magical– I look back on it and just feel grateful to be part of that. "I want to keep doing charity work, be a real advocate for the deaf community and work with charities like Make-A-Wish. "These are the things I'm passionate about, I want to help people when I can. That's what is really important to me." The deaf dancer also opened up about her own struggles with her disability. She added: "I do still face difficulties today, but, you know, it doesn't compare at all to that these children go through every single day. "Everyone has their own difficulties, dealing with disabilities and illnesses, but these children live in a hospital, and for Make-A-Wish to provide an experience where it's all accessible, they can travel and they look after them. "It's so important to have that in the world, because the world can be so sad and scary sometimes. It's nice to have that positive light in their lives."
CBC
26-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Talks stalled as hearing services workers' strike stretches into 5th week
Social Sharing Some Canadian Hearing Services (CHS) workers across Ontario who are entering the fifth week of a strike came to Queen's Park Monday to bring more attention to their contract demands amid stalled talks. They were joined by members of the deaf and hard of hearing communities, and Windsor West NDP MP Lisa Gretzky. Roughly 200 staff at the agency — a registered charity — support people who are deaf, deafblind, or hard of hearing. Those employees include counsellors, audiologists and interpreters. They are seeking a two-year deal with a five per cent total wage increase. Marriot Otchere, a general support service worker with CHS, said with the aid of an interpreter that she chose to workfor CHS for 13 years because of the care they pour into their clients, but now things are changing. "We give them everything, but we don't get enough in return," she said. "Their actions don't match what they say, and they don't show us the respect we deserve. It's not fair, it's not right and it cannot continue. "We are burnt out, overwhelmed and stressed." Otchere said she and other CHS workers worry about affording groceries and paying rent. "We can't continue this way. We have no wage increases or very minimal ones, while their salaries have skyrocketed… It's exhausting to continue this way. We can't continue to do it this way." Otchere said a fair deal would mean no burnout, reduced stress and appropriate supports in place. "I'd rather be back at my job and focusing on the clients that need me." Gretzky took aim at the compensation received by CHS CEO Julia Dumanian, who earned over $340,000 in 2024, according to the Sunshine List. She added that an audit of CHS has been requested three times, but the government "diverts, distracts and ignores" those requests. "Why the secrecy? Why the lack of accountability? Why are front-line workers expected to settle for scraps, and in some cases access food banks, while management salaries continue to soar?" CHS did not make anyone available for an interview Monday. However, in a news release, it said CUPE Local 2073 walked away from bargaining with the approved mediator on May 21, and refused to set additional bargaining dates. Union, employer at odds over who walked away "Canadian Hearing Services did not walk away from bargaining and remains fully available to present our offer to union members when CUPE 2073 agrees to do so. Until then, CUPE is depriving their members of seeing our offer," the release said. Mara Waern, president of CUPE 2073, said the union didn't walk away. "We didn't walk away from the table; they walked away. It's frustrating when the employer is continuing to misrepresent what happened." CHS leadership has 'lost their connection with the deaf community:' deaf entrepreneur Andrea Zackery, who is deaf and a business owner, said she has used CHS services for many years and "felt heard and connected." "However, CHS has changed, and it's been a lot of change and we need new change and we need that to happen now," she said, with the aid of an interpreter. "So many offices have closed. Services have moved online. There are long wait times. There are not enough interpreters. There's fewer deaf staff within the organization, and we feel pushed out and disconnected and left behind." Zackery said the workers deserve respect and fair pay and are right to be on strike because they're doing more with less. "The CHS leadership has lost their connection with the deaf community. We can't say we support the deaf while at the same time you're underpaying deaf staff."
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
'Thrilled ': New centre will provide dedicated space for this community
A group helping to remove barriers for deaf people has secured the rights to its own community centre. Deaf Services Lanarkshire has been approved for a Community Asset Transfer (CAT) of Shawhead Community Centre, granting the group ownership and management of the facility. The decision allows Deaf Services Lanarkshire to establish a permanent base from which they will deliver a wide range of services, events, and activities for the deaf community and local residents. The facility will offer a dedicated space for the deaf community, offer BSL interpreting services and training, and operate a drop-in centre. READ MORE: Community trying to tackle vandalism at iconic Glasgow listed building It will also develop further support and accessible events for the wider community. The group had to demonstrate how their proposals would enhance wellbeing, deliver inclusive services, and protect the underused building from closure. Sylvia McPhillips, of Deaf Services Lanarkshire, said: "Everyone involved is thrilled that we have been approved for the Community Asset Transfer to manage Shawhead Community Centre. "We have been looking for a suitable property for several years to meet the growing demand and develop our services for the deaf community. "We will also offer activities and spaces that can be used by the wider community here in Shawhead. READ MORE: 'Disappointed': Change to nursery funding could cost parents 'thousands' "By preserving this space for local people, we are determined that inclusion and accessibility will become central to our future plans." George Drinnan, a member of the Deaf Services Lanarkshire Board, said: "This is fantastic news—the centre will allow us to provide many tailored activities for the deaf community. "It will also help reduce isolation, giving people a place to connect, which will be good for mental health." Councillor Geraldine Woods, convener of communities, said: "This shows how giving communities more say in how facilities are managed can make a real difference. "On behalf of the council, I congratulate Deaf Services Lanarkshire and look forward to seeing their plans come to life, benefiting the deaf community in Lanarkshire and residents in and around Shawhead."
