Faces Behind the Screen
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Read the Stories
Read Rachel Melton's Story
“I am the community outreach coordinator for MindsEye. MindsEye was founded about 45 years ago, as a radio reading service for the visually impaired and blind – or the print-impaired community. Starting back, they just started reading local and national print publications to be broadcast over a 24-hour radio station. And we still do that today. That’s definitely the main focus of what we do as an organization.
More recently, we started providing audio description services for the community as well. Audio description, for those who aren’t that familiar with it, creates accessibility for those with visual impairments to connect more with the artwork or the theatrical elements of a show or even going to the zoo, etc., so that they can experience those right alongside their friends and family. Our mission at MindsEye is, very simply, to translate vision into audio. We try to commit to doing that, now, not only through our radio broadcast but through our audio description services, which have taken off.
We’ve been able to connect with many theaters here in the St. Louis region as well as the St. Louis Zoo and the Missouri History Museum and small organizations for events, etc., any individual or organization that wants to make sure that what they’re creating is going to be accessible for those with visual impairments.
My work through MindsEye is very much talking to the community about what we do and coordinating our describers with their plays or with an exhibit or tour. The majority of our description services, right now, are through theaters, so we do focus on mostly live description. However, we do provide video description as well. A lot of our community partners, when they do social media videos and stuff, and they want to make sure that it’s accessible for the whole community, they’ll reach out to us, and we’ve started doing that as well.
It’s a very new program for us. As I said, it was founded in the fall of 2016. So we had the goal of reaching– I want to say we wanted to do, like, 20 to 30 shows our first year or events. And we did over 60. So the need is there.”
Read Rachel Melton's Story
“I think the very simple fact of going to go see a play, looking at a piece of artwork, people make the assumption that, well, they can’t see it, so they don’t need it. That’s it. That’s the end of the story. Why would they care? They can’t see it.
And of course, they care. Because art and culture shapes our society. It shapes who we are. And especially for someone who loses their vision later in life, their connection with color, with certain pieces of art, are still just as strong — and maybe sometimes more so– once they’ve lost their vision. And I think, just the assumption that, why would a blind person even go to a play– well, to enjoy it, and to experience it just like you.
Yea, they’re not going to experience it exactly the way you are. But no one experiences everything exactly the same way as someone else. And one of the things that we really talk about with our audio description services, here at MindsEye, is that the idea of what we’re doing when we’re going in, and we’re providing those descriptive elements for a piece of artwork that you can’t touch, that’s behind some glass — and that’s the only way you can experience it, you think, is by staring at it.
Well, we can still provide those elements of the content of that context of the thickness of the paint or even what kind of medium it is, plus the history of the painter. There’s so much that you can actually describe about one still image, let alone, an entire production, play or a video.
And what that does is, it means that that person who wasn’t able to just go to the museum with their friends and family before, can now go and have those shared experiences and have those conversations and have those opinions about art and culture and enjoy it. They can absolutely enjoy it just as much as a sighted person.”
Read Deafie in Drag's Story
(Remember a time you felt discriminated)
(Selena): I had a hard time working as a dishwasher at restaurant because most staff thought I’m was better off staying as a dishwasher until I’m old. That’s when I decided to quit as a dishwasher and chase my dream as an artist.
(Casavina): One time at a job interview, the manager noticed my hearing aid and said they needed someone with listening skills at their fast food restaurant, and assumed I wasn’t fit. With a hearing aid on, I hear well enough to converse with people, and I was disappointed that they did not give me a chance.
(Selena): People think that Deaf people cannot hear or talk. I am a hard of hearing person, meaning I can talk very well and hear a little. So not all deaf people can’t hear. There are a variety of deaf people. There are some deaf people who depend on hearing aids or cochlear implants that communicate with other hearing people. There are some deaf people that cannot hear, but you can talk to them through paper or gestures.
(Casavina): A common mistake people make when interacting with deaf people is not gesturing at all when talking. Reading lips is difficult so pointing or simple gestures help a lot for me. I see hearing people enjoy playing charades; I think they should do that with us every day!
(Give one piece of advice you would people who are deaf or hard of hearing)
(Selena): Don’t ever let being disabled define you. Just be yourself and do what you love to do! Don’t ever let people tell you that you can’t do anything based on your hearing. You can do it!
(Casavina): Not everything is easy, but there’s always a way to achieve something. It’s all about the commitment and investment you put into it.
Read Deafie in Drag's Story
(Selena): I consider myself an artist, meaning I can do pretty much anything related to art such as painting, drawing, sewing clothes, wig making, jewelry making, etc.
(Casavina): I grew up speaking three languages daily: ASL, English, and Spanish. People often relied on me for interpreting three languages and I enjoyed it!
(Selena): I love skits! Skits are so much fun to acting and dressing up as different characters!
(Casavina): I love creating comedy skit videos with educational messages behind it. I enjoy telling our experiences or thoughts through comedy.
(Selena): [My proudest moment] was traveling all over the world and meeting so many different deaf people from different countries!
(Casavina): [My proudest moment] is being able to do what I love, and that is creating videos and traveling all over the world to perform in drag.
(Selena): The best thing about being Deaf is the Deaf community. I got a chance to meet so many deaf people that can relate to me as a Deaf person. Also, American Sign Language is such a beautiful language because of the visuals and expressions that enhance my skits.
(Casavina): Being deaf teaches me a lot of new perspectives and boosts my creativity to overcome any barriers and challenges in life.
Read Deafie in Drag's Story
(Selena Minogue): I was Deaf since birth, and I have an older brother who taught me ASL from the beginning.
Casavina: I was supposed to be born hearing, but birth complications happened so I became deaf at an early age. I’m the only Deaf person in my family, and I grew up oral until I was taught sign language at age eight.
(Both): We both met at Gallaudet University (the only Deaf university in the world) and we were introduced by our mutual friends. We eventually started dating a few months later. Now we’ve been together for seven years.
Selena Minogue is an amazing storyteller with facial expressions, and Casavina loves filming and editing videos. Together, we created one-man skit shows. When we both saw RuPaul’s Drag Race season 2, it inspired us to get into drag for skit videos. We enjoyed acting as different characters and being drag queens for stage shows.
Read Nico's Story
My biggest role model is my mom. She’s a single mom who raised three boys. Just seeing what she went through, and how she made it – that’s a role model I wish I could become. Growing up in a deaf family was normal. There were no communication barriers. I assumed everyone had the same experience until I started making friends who were deaf and had hearing parents. They couldn’t communicate with their parents because their parents didn’t know sign language. It’s sad because they don’t really form relationships with their family members. It wasn’t until I got older that I realized how fortunate I was to be in a deaf family. My friends never had conversations at the dinner table with their parents. I couldn’t imagine not having a conversation at the dinner table because it was a huge part of my upbringing. I’m so lucky to have a deaf family and to have my experience be all-inclusive because everybody was apart of that.
Sadly I get discriminated against as a deaf person. I think as a deaf DJ, oftentimes people don’t trust my abilities because I can’t hear. Sometimes I won’t get hired [for a gig]. There’s nothing I can do about being deaf, but there is something I can do about being a DJ. I think it’s about exposing people to the deaf culture and what it’s all about. Hearing is not a barrier for us. When people say we can’t do things, we constantly have to prove to people that we can do anything we put our mind to.
I have a lot of proud moments. One summer I went to Reims, France for a deaf festival. The festival was all about deaf talent and performances. They always hired deaf businesses, with the exception of the DJ, until they found out about me. I DJ’d for 7,000 people. I never experienced that before. It was like a concert! People were moving their hands along with the motions I was showing them. People were following me like I was someone – and I was like wait a minute, it’s me they’re following! It was really cool.
If I could give one piece of advice to deaf or hard of hearing people, I would tell them to do what you love. You can do it. Don’t wait. The most important part is doing your homework before you make your dream comes true. It takes baby steps to get somewhere, but if you do it right, you’ll get to the top.
Read Nico's Story
Becoming a DJ was organic for me. I grew up loving music. Oftentimes when my friends were partying or listening to music, I always wanted to be apart of it. There were times when I would bring my speakers along with me when I hung out with friends. Everyone loved my music selection, and they would always hope that I stayed longer or bring it to the next party. It started out as me enjoying it by myself, and then my friends would always ask me to bring music. If I were going to friend’s house, the bar, or the club, I was always trying to connect. I couldn’t really dance to songs that I couldn’t understand – sometimes there was a lot of talking or it was too slow for me to feel the beat. I couldn’t connect with these kinds of songs.
I wanted to request special songs from the DJ that I knew I would be able to appreciate. Either the DJ didn’t accept the request or they didn’t have the song. I know DJ’s can be busy, and can’t always take everyone’s requests, so I decided to turn the tables and become a DJ. The deaf community, who always loved music, was able to communicate with me if they needed something, and I was always more than willing to work with them.
I have a lot of deaf events and there were no deaf DJs back when I wanted to become a DJ. There were a lot of hearing people requested to DJ events, but they didn’t bring the appropriate music so that deaf people could feel the bass. They would show up with tiny speakers that deaf people would balk at. When we mean loud, we mean break the speakers loud! We can’t feel it unless we can appreciate the bass. Some DJ’s go to a gig and play music, but don’t really appease the audience. I’m really different. I want to make sure the audience is apart of the music, and that the song fits the crowd.
Some communities have never seen a deaf DJ before, and may never understand why a deaf person wants to DJ. I sometimes don’t have the time to explain to other DJ’s the importance of having a deaf DJ. However, being friends with hearing DJs has made a difference. I have two hearing friends in particular that are DJs, and I explained to them that if I can’t hear certain songs then the deaf community won’t be able to either. Because these two DJs have taken the time to ask, they’ve learned what is important for the deaf community. But, deaf people tend to memorize original songs and may not understand remixes. So if I play remixes, they may not recognize the song because it’s new to them. I always hated remixes when I was in the club because I couldn’t follow along, but from a DJ perspective I understand remixes.
The most popular song that I play when I DJ is ‘Uptown Funk’ [by Bruno Mars]. That’s the song that every deaf person reacts too. It’s easy to dance to and feel the beat. I also play a lot of 90’s and 00’s music because they tend to have a lot of beats. I like to see people enjoying themselves and dancing. I get inspired by people dancing so much that they’re sweating, and don’t want to take a break because they’re having fun. One thing I’ve learned is that there are some songs that have swears. I would play them and people would tell me, “Nico, this song has bad words!” I learned that I have to do my homework and find appropriate songs depending on the crowd. I have to make sure that I’m pleasing my crowd. It will change depending on the audience: prom music and club music are very different.
Read Nico's Story
“NICO: I was born deaf. I come from 4 generations of deaf members in our family. My parents, brothers, and uncles are all deaf. The way that I grew up was never about hearing, so my parents didn’t understand why I loved music so much. Growing up in a deaf family, I was never exposed to music. I never understood the concept of music until I explored it on my own. I started watching BET and VH1 as a kid, and I used to keep up with all the current music trends. My parents used to ask me, “why do you like music? This doesn’t make sense, you can’t hear”. I can hear enough just to pick up on the rhythm. My parents saw how much I wanted to invest, so they helped me by purchasing a home theater and some speakers I could connect to the television. When they added the equipment, it was a game changer. It allowed me to access way more than I ever could. I used to rely on putting my hands on the TV screen to feel the rhythm. My parents were huge proponents for my love of music.
I can hear very little music. It’s not even enough to understand the words people are saying, unless I’m reading along with the lyrics and I memorize them. So don’t misunderstand that I can hear the song or lyrics. The song “Yeah!” by Usher is a song I often listen to. I can pick up on when he says “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” without reading the lyrics because it’s an easy rhythm. I have no idea what he’s saying in the rest of the lyrics, so I have to memorize and study them.
I put the volume on max so that I can try my best to hear very little sound. Most of it is base that I can hear. Many people around me can hear [my music] from my headphones because they’re on so loud. People complain about the noise all the time. When my mom bought the entertainment system with subwoofers, the neighbors complained immediately. They told us to turn it down, but if I turned it down, I wouldn’t be able to feel it. We had to make compromises. I was only able to use it during certain times, and by 10 o’clock it was curfew. I really struggled because at night was when I wanted to feel music the most. My goal was to make sure that I wasn’t interrupting people while still enjoying music, so I had to use a subpack with headphones to listen to music at night.”
Read Bryan and Brad's Story
“BRAD: When you’re young with Stargardt’s disease, you still have a lot of functional vision. You don’t really realize there are things you’re not seeing.
One of the first moments of struggling was in first grade. My mum had told me that if I couldn’t see something on the board, I could walk up to the board to see it.
I took that as anything else she sort of told me to do, but then I remember in class having to get up out of my desk to go a foot from the chalkboard to read what the teacher had written on it, and not seeing anybody else in the class getting up to do that. It definitely hit me then – something was different.
That’s definitely the first time that I remember feeling different
BRYAN: My personal struggle is I very rarely recognize somebody after meeting them for the first time. Because of my vision, you could be anybody from my mum to the Pope, and I wouldn’t quite know.
Thankfully, a lot of people are very understanding. It’s one of those things that if you know somebody’s low vision, it is beyond helpful to just say, “Hey, it’s John.” If you give me the name, I can actually place where we had a conversation. But recognizing the face is always a little bit tough.”
Read Bryan and Brad's Story
“BRAD: Bryan and I were both in New York working in separate careers. One day, we walked into a Bloomingdale’s, and we happened to buy the same exact shirt.
Part of the reason for that, other than a coincidence, is we lost each other in the store. If you’re blind or you’re vision impaired, touch is so important to you. So we just happened to feel the same, exact shirt that felt extremely soft. And so we bought it. And when we walked out, we had the same shirt. It was kind of funny. Of course, one of us had to return it.
Later that day, we were talking about how there is this vigilance of touch, and we decided it might be fun to create a small side project focused on making some soft clothes and giving those profits to the research [of vision loss].
So it started as sort of this fun side project, and then after we started to get a lot of attention on social media and through some of the news sources and the endorsements from Richard Branson and Ellen Degeneres, we sort of realized that we had to go at this full time to take advantage of this rare opportunity.”
Read Bryan and Brad's Story
“BRYAN: We were both diagnosed with Stargardt’s at the age of seven. Brad is five years older than I am. So he was diagnosed at seven, and then I was diagnosed also a couple years later when I turned seven.
It’s interesting, though, at that age, you actually don’t have too solid of a frame of reference of what it actually means, and so you have to take the majority of your cues and you have to follow the guidance of your parents. They were always very supportive of us and always pushed us to try despite our visual impairment and never really allow it to be an excuse in our lives.
It had to be something that we had to overcome, which we’re still amazingly grateful for because it put us on a path that’s allowed us to experience so much and allowed us to try so much and not be too worried about failure or how visual impairment is going to impact any activity we do.
BRAD: I think one of the very tough things about these retinal eye diseases is when you’re diagnosed, it’s very confusing. You don’t know what to expect. You don’t know how to feel about it.
And so obviously, when we were young like Bryan mentioned, we took our cues from our parents. But I think growing up, we were each other’s kind of source of feedback. And we sort of played off of each other’s experience, and it wasn’t until we were older that we had a full appreciation that our experience was not necessarily everybody else’s.”
Read Tanya and Andrew's Story
“This may be silly, but [when it comes to technology and websites] many times I have difficulty finding the mouse curser. I alleviate this issue by moving the curser to the farthest top right corner of the screen until I find it again. In addition, the brightness level of the screen can really take a toll on my eyes. I often lower the contrast and brightness levels of the computer monitor so I can function.
The worst thing about DeafBlind is when people underestimate your ability to do what they can do. They assume since I am DeafBlind that I shouldn’t be part of this complex and vision ruled sport. Finding someone that is willing to have the patience to work with me since there’s a communication barrier can be challenging.
The best thing about being DeafBlind, however, is that I can build a stronger bond with people doing AcroYoga through a heightened sense of touch. This allows us them to feel more gratitude for their other senses.” – Tanya
“Everyone is raving all about technology that enables Siri, Alexa, and such. I think that’s amazing. However, I am concerned we would go back to the “dark ages” where everything were purely radio frequencies. Google Home cannot even understand my incredibly and sexy accent. Instead, I often have to disable it and tell it to bring back the text for me to read.
The best thing about being DeafBlind is that we don’t really care about prejudices, bigotry, racism, and whatever else out there. We just don’t have time for that… literally! We accept each other for who we are as individuals. The worst thing about being DeafBlind is sometimes we have too much time to ourselves and that can become boring and lonely. It is not so simple to get in a car and buy milk. You have to plan for transportation, figure out your communication, possibly request for accommodations, and so forth. It can be time-consuming.” – Andrew
Read Tanya and Andrew's Story
“We’re able to socialize and communicate with people just like the rest of the world. The only difference is that we have a different language and other ways of communicating with each other. It’s an easy language to learn that requires patience and understanding. We have passion and we want people to know that we’re not going to live isolated and silent lives. We can do anything our hearts desire and we are capable of much more.
Being DeafBlind we have balance problems due to our inner ear equilibrium issues. In addition to this most instructors use verbal cues when teaching you the next steps of the progression instead of comprehending that I have a disability and accommodating me to help me learn the next progressions. I have gone to workshops where I have asked instructors to use microphone system that wraps around their arm which connects wirelessly to my hearing aids, so I can hear their instruction, however many instructors are not so kind when asking them to put it on. The easiest part is understanding your body movement and predicting the next progression because it simply feels right. Connecting and applying perfect balance allows you to move gracefully without even thinking about what happens next.” – Tanya
“We all live in a world that seems to crave more and more for instant gratifications. Time is essentially an DeafBlind individual’s biggest barrier. I have read that 80% of the information out there are delivered via the eyes and ears. Boy, that is a lot of information! Certainly, we need more time to process all of those information!
Ironically enough, I would say the easiest and hardest part [of doing acroyoga] is interchangeable. DeafBlind people are extremely tuned in with their own bodies. They can detect a slight change in the air or gravity. Yeah, I am saying we are mutants! Step aside, X-Men! Anyhow… when I am being the base supporting a flyer, I can certainly detect whether the fulcrum feels good or not. I can adjust to the flyer or the flyer can adjust to me. Of course, like Tanya said, we generally have horrible balance. So if the fulcrum is off just too much, just run for your lives!” – Andrew
Read Tanya and Andrew's Story
“Being that my vision allows me to only have 10 degrees worth of a field of view, whereas most people can see about 180 degrees, I have had to develop a new way of communicating with my base [when doing AcroYoga]. I found that by using my main sense of touch I am able to communicate what I want done next by squeezing their hands, using my toes to touch where I want to be placed and even simply by applying more weight on one side of the body. I can really focus and feel my bases body movement as well and understand/interpret what move he/she is asking of my body to be performed next. Talk about true, deep, understanding. This I can relate to first hand being that I’m partially blind and almost completely deaf. All my life I have had to get around primarily by using cues and body language. Unlike most who can easily listen and speak to communicate.
AcroYoga is an important part of my life for reasons that most people never really have to deal with. Communication and understanding, which can be done entirely without speaking. It’s like having your own language with another person that can be expressed and interpreted all without speaking a word. Since this sport plays to my strengths of touch without sight, I have decided to teach and share with others my passion and how easily they can accomplish this too with the right instruction.” – Tanya
“Precisely! DeafBlind people comes with a huge and varying range of hearing loss and vision loss. Some even speak a different language whether it is spoken or signed. However, when it comes to DeafBlind AcroYoga, the disabilities and the barriers virtually disappear. The power of touch literally TOUCH us all and I think that’s what makes DeafBlind AcroYoga so fascinating!
Tanya, out of the blue, contacted us at DeafBlind Camp of Texas and proposed a fundraising event. We immediately agreed. At first, we thought it was going to be some kind of fancy Yoga where we would have our volunteers Support Service Providers (SSPs) work with the DeafBlind individuals whether it be facilitating the information or guiding their movements. Boy, we were completely wrong. Haha! It all worked out though. The DeafBlind individuals would feel and follow the instructors’ movements first before trying it on each other. It worked out beautifully. So much that the AcroYoga community is becoming an extended family for us all.” – Andrew
Read Deaf Can! Coffee's Story
“After Deaf Can! Coffee opened, people started hearing about it and coming. They were very curious, especially about the name, Deaf Can. They’d ask, “What does that mean?”
Read Deaf Can! Coffee's Story
“TASHI: I was born into a Deaf family. My parents believe that I was born hearing, and then, as an infant at nine months old, I got sick. They thought that that impacted my hearing.
But I really feel like I’ve been Deaf my whole life. I don’t have any recollection of anything other than that.
I had communication access from the beginning. My parents signed, my family signed. I’ve been Deaf my whole life. And 30 years later, I’m still Deaf and happy about it.
People see somebody who can’t hear. And that leads to a negative premise on which everything else builds on.
I wish that hearing people would look at the personhood, our being, first, instead of looking at what’s different about us. Don’t look at us as a disabled person. Don’t look at us as hearing impaired.
Look at us as a person. See that we are a person. See what we can do. Ask us what our interests are, and get to know the person first before you make any assumptions about who they are and what they can or can’t do.
I would love to see hearing people desire to learn more about our language, learn more about our culture, our deaf identity, and realize that we, as Deaf people, can work right alongside and with you.
There are so many stereotypes that are placed around Deaf people. So that’s what I wish people would change.”
Read Deaf Can! Coffee's Story
“Deaf Can! Coffee really started way before we had the business part of it. I grew up in the rural countryside of St Elizabeth, where as a Deaf person myself I always had strong role models in the Deaf community. One role model was Everlin Clarke, a coffee farmer. He never went to school, was never educated, was illiterate. But he had sign language and had self-confidence.
He was very skilled, and he was a great example to other people that deaf people can do anything. He had his own small coffee businesses, his own home, family, everything.
Our boys from the school here in Kingston were struggling with self-doubt. They were struggling with self-esteem issues, often saying, “I’m deaf. I can’t do that. I can’t succeed in the world, it’s too hard.”
We really wanted to encourage them to believe that they could. So my husband and I, Blake and I, talked about it. We decided to take them out to the countryside to meet Clark.
The boys were so inspired by him.
They started thinking about roasting coffee too. They practiced with a Mr. Coffee machine that was an old, cheap machine, but they started playing around with it just for fun. Then they said, “Why don’t we set up a small coffee shop near the school to sell people our coffee drink?”
It was just kind of fun to do it on campus. But then Blake and I thought, “Oh, that might actually be a good training program.” So we started thinking about formalizing it. We applied for a grant to build it out a little bit more and got the grant through a local foundation here.
The program then changed to be about the students here.
We wanted the message to the world to show that deaf people can do anything. And so we came up with the name to be Deaf Can! Coffee.
So that’s where it all started.”
Read Michael's Story
“In the Deaf world and the hearing world– you have these two separate things– technology helps living in the hearing world a ton. My phone, for example, has dictation that I can click on. You could speak, and it pops up with bold sentences. I can put it in use for communicating with hearing people. If I take my dog to the vet, I have my phone dictate what the doctor is saying. The dictation of the doctor’s instruction can be saved in the data. That alone has helped me have access into the hearing world.
In the Deaf world, technology has also made an impact. I’ve noticed that socializing, like human contact, has kind of been removed by technology. In the past, especially at Gallaudet and any Deaf clubhouse, the Deaf would come together and hang out. There wouldn’t be texting going on or anything like that. Every week, or every month, there were different events. But then since technology has increased, people just communicate more through text messaging. There’s still positives and negatives to technology. But the biggest positive is that look, I can communicate with you through the VRS services, for this interview.
As for captions, I try to avoid watching movies that do not include captions. Actually, I refuse to watch a movie without captions. I refuse to do it at all. It’s cringing frustrating when you go to the movie theater to watch a movie, and you have to deal with the glasses or the one where you had to adjust into your cupholder, hoping no one bumps into it. There are a number of different kinds of devices in theaters. The worst one is the rear window captioning. It’s a reflective glass where you read the caption. The captions come from an LED display monitor in the back of the theater. Even with the modern glass I struggled with how I line up the captions through the glasses on the screen. I get really disappointed whenever the glass skips a line or you miss a joke. (I can see the audience laughing.)
You miss out on a lot of the information. It’s agonizing for our movie experiences as Deaf people. When I come to a theater expecting captioning and there are no captions al all, then I get nauseated. It ruins the movie-going experience too, especially when there’s a glitch in the captioning device. It’s awful when the captions are delayed – I get behind with the story. Live captioning shares a similar problem, especially when watching the news. Those issues are challenging us to fix it.”
Read Michael's Story
“When I was a kid I loved picture books – any kind of picture books. I’m a visual person, not a linguistics person.
I had to grow up with SEE. I’m pretty good with English. But still, I still struggle with expressing English. ASL is a visual-dependence language– I get engrossed in it. When you asked me for an interview, the method was either using a videophone or email. I chose the videophone. If I chose using the email to respond, then I’d have a harder time answering your questions. ASL gave me that confidence to express myself. That’s the best thing about being Deaf.
A few years ago, I started a new hobby of board games. Over the years, I noticed socializing/playing with hearing people using a board game made communication easier. Since we all know the rules to play the games, we didn’t have to face the language barrier. All board games have set rules that we followed. It was easy to teach them the sign language through the board game rulebook. This is a great way to share and expose ASL to anyone who wants to learn/play.
Combining ASL and the board games, the communication went smoothly because of how we use visual cues. I embolden hearing people to develop connections with the deaf people and vice versa. Any kind of socializing through a game– I highly encourage that. I apply this method of gaming and signing a lot in my classroom now. It benefits the students while making it fun.
ASL is what I truly identify with my culture. This language is beautiful and robust. I feel capable and committed to ASL.”
Read Michael's Story
“I grew up, identifying myself as a big D, capital D – Deaf. I emphasize that because of the culture of my deafness. But I wasn’t really sure if I was hard of hearing or not. I had a lot of friends who signed, but all of them signed English, called S-E-E, SEE. So I was kind of stuck. But I didn’t meet a lot of deaf people out in the community.
Then when I entered high school, I started to meet different people, and in college too. That’s when my bubble burst. Oh, man, did I really get engrossed in everything! I still struggled with my identity during that time. I went to Gallaudet, and I also had my own little culture from growing up. And I had to assess myself.
Then I felt like I was really a Deaf person very strongly. So I really got motivated to match with the ASL. And that’s when I became and started to identify with the big D capital Deaf.”
Read Jessica's Story
“There are so many crazy myths [about Deaf people] out there. I think my top ‘favorite’ one is, ‘All Deaf people can lip-read.’
I remember when I first was asked if all Deaf people could do that and I was like, ‘Uhmm… Can you even lip-read? Oh, you can’t? Because it’s hard right?’
I think it’s funny how easy some people think lip reading is until they’ve actually tried it themselves. Then after they’ve tried it they are like, ‘Oh wow, this is WAY harder than I thought.’”
Read Jessica's Story
“I am the first Deaf person in my family. When I was in the first grade my parents found out that I had a hearing loss. But we have no idea what might have caused it. It was just something that sort of happened.
It’s hard to remember exactly how much sound I could/couldn’t hear back then. But from what I know, when I was younger, I had a mild hearing loss. Then over time, my hearing just kept dropping. Now I have a severe/profound-ish hearing loss.
I grew up being the only Deaf person I really knew so I didn’t have any Deaf/HoH role models around me to relate to. Because of that, for years I felt very hopeless, alone, and isolated. I didn’t have anyone to connect with as a deaf person.
So whenever I get comments/messages from other Deaf/HoH people telling me they can relate to my content… It’s hands down one of the best feelings in the world.”
Read Pete's Story
“I adapted, but I didn’t know what was going on. And it took a couple of years before I was diagnosed with what was going on. But I struggled.
I’m adapted to blindness. It’s not my greatest struggle.
I’ve been totally blind for about 30 years, and the hardest thing for me to overcome is the assumptions of sighted people. Not blindness itself, but the assumptions of sighted people. Their preconceptions, their prejudice of what it’s like to be blind.
The blind label encumbers a whole bunch of, like you say, spectrum of blindness. I’m totally blind, and so when I function, people think I’m mysterious or magical or, how do you do that? But it’s a slippery slope. When you don’t function, people think that you can’t function at all, and actually, people start talking to you louder, as if you can’t hear or grabbing hold of you as if you can’t walk.
This is the best time in history to be a blind person. Technology, the adaptive aids and equipment, that dogs are, by law, supposed to be available and you can take them anywhere. We live in a very good time for blind people.”
Read Pete's Story
“I’m trained as a sculptor. I have degrees in industrial design. But then I started to go blind, and it would make more sense for me to be a sculptor. I know how to cast and foundry work and all that stuff.
Retinitis pigmentosa is an umbrella term for a number of maladies that begin taking your vision from the outside of the retina and work their way in, building a pigment– pigmentosa pigment. And eventually, it comes in and it clouds over the macula. So it closes off vision, similar to a camera dilating down.
I was a contractor. I was building residential buildings, and I was doing sculpture.
But blind people don’t have much money, and so I live in a tiny cottage with a tiny studio in a tiny plot of land. And I was doing huge sculptures.
One or two of my sculptures could inundate or just completely cover the land that I own. And so I needed something smaller, and so going back to ideas and producing photos, you can have massive amounts of information, in digital or negatives. So they’re easier to store and easier to produce. It’s more in tune with the modern world.”
Read JD's Story
“If you also have a visual impairment, know that learning how to advocate for yourself is the most important key to achieving your goals. There will be more obstacles to figure out, but if you are persistent and unafraid of the label of being “visually impaired”, you can show others what you are capable of achieving.
To those who are not disabled, never assume what a disabled person’s limits are.
Also, the whole ‘you are an inspiration’ speech gets old after a while. We are normal people who happen to live our lives with some slight adaptation. Persons with disabilities are well capable of advocating for ourselves.
If you would like to be helpful, ask to offer assistance, don’t immediately take over what we are doing. And in my personal opinion, questions are how you learn! When the appropriate time comes to ask questions regarding accommodations and accessibility don’t hold back!”
Read JD's Story
“I was first introduced to the YouTube community through music. I followed pianists like Kyle Landry and Sherry Kim and they were my inspiration for playing.
It wasn’t until I started contemplating my sexual orientation that I discovered the vlogging community and coming out videos. I wanted that same sense of community and resource to those living with disabilities.
So I started talking about my experiences living with albinism and low vision.
I’m almost positive that when people hear the phrase ‘visual impairment’ they think of someone who cannot see completely.
A majority of the blind community are people with low vision. We can still see a little, or most of the detail of what we’re looking at, it just depends on environmental conditions. I am visually impaired, but I am also a painter, and I coach soccer.”
Read JD's Story
“I was born with albinism, which is what caused my visual impairment. I grew up having to learn how to navigate the world with low vision, while also being aware that my skin color was different from the rest of my biological family.
Growing up in an indigenous community was hard. Not only was my low vision a challenge, but it was also hard to accept my skin color. Being taught about the history of Indigenous communities with white Europeans, made me struggle with accepting the color of my own skin.”
Read Alex's Story
What would you like tech companies to keep in mind?
“Probably the only thing I would like them to know is, if the deaf community is important to them, continue to be active and involved with the deaf community.”
Read Jari's Story
“I’m really lucky and happy to be able to meet the people within the hearing loss community. They are all from different kinds of backgrounds and varying degrees of hearing loss, some people have come to terms with their hearing loss. Some people haven’t. Some people try to hide it. Some people are very expressive with it.”
Read Matt's Story
“I’m not so much trying to bring in more interpreters, but trying to improve the quality of music. The whole idea started from me watching interpreters. I was like, OK, I’m deaf, and I’m learning sign language… why can’t I understand the interpreter?”
Read Iraida's Story
“Not knowing that she had hearing loss before three, I felt guilty because I work in early intervention. I didn’t even notice it. So I was feeling guilty for a long time. We made up for the years that we lost.”
Read Leon's Story
“I was born and raised in a more oral method of instruction for the deaf where they teach you to speak and understand lip-reading. My father didn’t actually permit me to sign. And that was the 1970s or so. My mom did sign a little bit, mainly just home signs (invented gestures), but my father required me to speak when he was around.”
Read Donna's Story
“When my hearing changed so dramatically, I wondered how I would be able to continue working… I couldn’t see a path forward with how I would function in my personal life and my work life. For me, getting a cochlear implant gave me my life back.”
Read Charlie's Story
“Deaf dogs are known for being more frightened because of the way that people treat them. It has nothing to do with them.”
Read Betsy's Story
“I remember playing telephone and noticing that I had to completely turn so they’d talk in my good ear.”
Read Lilian's Story
Read Liz's Story
Read Sue's Story
Read Anna's Story
Read CJ's Story
Read Rikki's Story
What is the best thing about being deaf?
“I hear screaming/crying babies less. Unfortunately, sometimes, I can still hear them depending on how close they are, but for the most part, the sound is less for me than it would be a hearing person. Sorry, babies. I understand why you cry, but it hurts.”
Read Scott's Story
“My parents are both deaf, and ASL was my first language. English is actually a second language for me.
In our family we had a footstool that would sit by the TV, and that was the interpreter’s footstool because we didn’t have closed captioning back then. Growing up there was the Vietnam War, and that [was] the first war that was really televised. So I would sit on the footstool next to the TV and interpret the news and update Mom and Dad.”
Read Tamara's Story
Read Treshelle's Story
Read Mohammed's Story
Read Peggy's Story
Read Zoe's Story
Read Gage's Story
Read Nia's Story
“Seeing the world. It’s a visual world. I love it. I think about it every day.
I feel blessed to be deaf. I just couldn’t imagine not being deaf.”
Read Chris' Story
And I was the way to keep them apart by being actually put right in the middle of them during third grade. And just like you would have neighbors who might speak Spanish or a different language just by proximity, I started to pick up American sign language.”
Read Stu's Story
Suddenly an air horn, like on a boat, went off in the left ear. It was probably a blood vessel bursting. A year and a half later — right ear.
No music for 35 years.”
Read Alicia's Story
“Always. I think I started to realize it when I was in middle school. I was in a group of friends. And they all decided that they didn’t want to be friends anymore because I never talked. Because I was a quiet person.
And they said, you can’t be friends with us anymore because we don’t know who you are.”
Read Crystal's Story
It sucks, but I’m used to it. How else can I get my message across? I don’t really have a choice.”
Read Lena's Story
And she made a Facebook post and said, ‘I’m aware of you, my hard-of-hearing unicorns.’ And it was like, oh, my god.”
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About Faces Behind the Screen
Inspired by the popular photo-interview project Humans of New York, we launched FBTS at the beginning of 2017 to spread awareness about web accessibility. Through photos and interviews, we have been able to share many unique stories that give everyday people a face, a voice, and an opportunity to share their story and perspective.
Our aim is to simply connect the world with these stories, offer a new perspective, hopefully, shatter common stigmas and preconceived notions, and remind everyone that the world wide web, including websites, apps, and other digital interfaces, needs to be accessible for everyone – including people with disabilities.
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