‘CODA’ Star Troy Kotsur won the best supporting trophy at the Film Independent Spirit Award on March 6, 2022. Image: Variety That makes him the first deaf actor to win the award. Kotsur plays deaf fisherman Frank Rossi in the film CODA.  In accepting the honor, Kotsur thanked the film’s producers and applauded them for their vision. He went on to thank his wife and daughter. Backstage he said: “You know how long it took me to get here? And it takes doctors a long time to get

Deaf actress Millicent Simmonds was born on this date (March 6) in 2003. Millie has starred in several major films including Wonderstruck, where she plays a 12-year-old deaf girl living in the 1927 New Jersey who runs away from home, and A Quiet Place  and A Quiet Place II  which are about a family that must stay silent to survive. She made her Broadway debut in 2023 with the play Grey House .   She grew up in Utah where, at the age of two months, an accidental medication ov

It was on this date (March 4, 2013) an episode of Switched at Birth  was aired that made history. The dialogue of the entire show was in ASL. Producers of the ABC Family program (now known as Freeform ) say this was the first time a scripted series on mainstream television used only American Sign Language.

On this date (March 3, 1887) Anne Sullivan arrived at the Keller's home in Alabama to work with their deaf and blind daughter, Helen. Through their work together, Helen Keller would go on to become one of the most influential people in history. Below is a video about Helen Keller from Biography.com or you can read the material here .

Alexander Graham Bell was born on March 3, 1847, in Edinburgh, Scotland. While Alexander Graham Bell is associated with the invention of the telephone, many people are unaware that his father, Alexander Melville Bell, was a teacher of the deaf and believed to be the model for George Bernard Shaw's character of Professor Henry Higgins in Pygmalion, which became the film "My Fair Lady." Alexander Graham Bell mother was deaf and he taught students at several schools for the deaf

Luther "Dummy" Taylor was born on this day (Feb. 21) in 1875. Luther Taylor, known as Dummy Taylor, played for the San Francisco Giants when they were in upper Manhattan, and later for the Cleveland Bronchos a in the early 1900s. Taylor was an important pitchers on the Giants' championship teams of 1904 and 1905. He not only "bridged a gap between hearing and nonbearing athletes," he "remains a unique link between Kansas City and the Giants." Read more in the New York Times

Here's a look at the history of closed captioning rules for television stations in the US. 2015 - The FCC (Federal Communication Commission) sets “quality” standards for captioning by TV broadcasters focusing on: Accuracy, synchronicity (timing with the words being captioned), completeness (from the start of a program to the end), and placement (the captions shouldn't obscure other important information). More info here . 2016 - A new set of rules related to captioning by TV

The New Zealand Parliament made history on this date (Feb. 15) in 2012. Mojo Mathers, the first deaf member of the body, gave her first speech. Since Mathers' speech was translated into sign language, the 13 other members of the Green party who spoke had their speeches translated into sign language as well.

Here's what WON'T happen during a hearing test. image: Bundesinnung Hörakustiker No one will use a needle, and there will be no request to take off your clothes. Here's what WILL happen: An audiologist will check to make sure you don’t have a build-up of wax in your ears before taking you into an acoustic testing chamber that cuts out outside noise. You’ll put on headphones that cover your ears and listen to tones. You’ll indicate when you first hear the tone. She’ll start at

These travel tips will make getting through air travel easier for the deaf and hard of hearing. Arrange for pre-boarding and have a friend or family member escort you to the gate. Escorts can obtain a gate pass that allows them through security and to the gate. Airlines will often seat you at the front of a plane if you request it to improve lip-reading or if you have a service dog. Take a piece of paper with you explaining your situation and how you’d like to communicate. Sh

Hilbok was Gallaudet University's student body president during the 1988 Deaf President Now protest. image from gallaudet.edu Profoundly deaf since birth, Hilbok was the first deaf law student at Hofstra University. He oversaw the FCC's Disability Rights Office from 2010 to 2016 and now serves on the Gallaudet University Board of Trustees.  Hilbok is  currently Chief Legal Officer for video relay service providers ZVRS and Purple Communications. Read more here .

Lance Allred would go on to play basketball with LeBron James in the NBA. image from TEDx video Allred experienced health complications at birth on Feb. 2, 1981. With few resources available to him as a child, Allred had no one to teach him sign language and was given large hearing aids. He has said the bullying and abuse he endured led him to consider taking his own life. Discovering basketball as a young teen gave the 6'11" Allred purpose in his life. He played basketball f

It was on this day in 2001 (Feb 1), Joseph Mesa, Jr. murdered Benjamin Varner in his Gallaudet dorm room. Mesa stabbed his classmate more than a dozen times. This wasn't Mesa's first fatal attack. A few months earlier, Mesa beat Eric Plunkett to death in his dorm room as well, leaving the school's campus shaken. Mesa turned himself in to the police ten days after the Varner killing. In July of 2002, a DC judge gave Mesa six life terms without the possibility of parole. Prosec

A deaf bank customer helped stop a bank robbery on this day (Jan 30) in 2003. A bank teller in Rochester, New York, tipped off the man as he was going through the drive-through. The robber had entered a branch of HSBC, yelled that he was robbing it, then jumped on a counter and pistol-whipped a teller. Another teller at the drive-up window just happened to be helping a deaf customer at that moment. She mouthed the words "we are being robbed." The lip-reading customer then dro

A deaf bank customer helped stop a bank robbery on this day (Jan 30) in 2003. A bank teller in Rochester, New York tipped off the man as he was going through the drive-through. The robber had entered a branch of HSBC yelled that he was robbing it, then jumped on a counter and pistol-whipped a teller. Another teller at the drive-up window just happened to be helping a deaf customer at that moment. She mouthed the words "we are being robbed." The lip-reading customer then drove