WEBVTT

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[Anselmo]: Hello! This is
DeafDots for 15 January 2021.

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Bringing alerts & news reports at
intervals for all Deaf Canadians!

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[Anselmo]: Deaf people are
getting jobs at Amazon Canada.

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They have grown since
2010 and last August,

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opened their 12th Canadian fulfillment
center in Scarborough, Ontario.

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They now have over 23,000 full-and
part-time employees in Canada.

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DeafDots spoke with Lacey Denis,

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a Process Assistant working at
the Milton fulfillment center (FC).

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[Lacey]: I have been at
Amazon for the past four years.

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I obviously wasn't the first Deaf
person but I am the first Deaf

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Process Assistant across Canada.

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In my Fulfillment
Center in Milton,

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I am probably the
fourth Deaf person.

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I do not know of others
as more Centers were

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launched as Amazon grows.

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[Anselmo]: DeafDots knows of Deaf people
working at Amazon throughout Canada.

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But how many?

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An Amazon Canada spokesperson says
they have hired at least 12 deaf

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people in both full-time and
seasonal roles at Amazon’s latest

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fulfillment center in Scarborough,
Ontario.

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She also knew of 8 deaf people
employed in Milton, Ontario,

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19 in Ottawa, 2 in Delta,
BC and others across Canada.

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Amazon, an American multinational
technology company based in Seattle,

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USA was founded
in the USA in 1994.

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At first it was an online
marketplace selling books.

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Since then it has expanded
to offer e-commerce,

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cloud computing, digital streaming,
and artificial intelligence.

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[David]: The number of
Deaf employees in Ottawa,

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we've now hired 19 employees,

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Deaf and hard of
hearing since we opened.

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During 2020,
we hired 10 employees

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who identify as Deaf
or hard of hearing.

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[Lacey]: As a Deaf
Process Assistant,

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if you wonder what my role is,

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the Process Assistant is
like an assistant manager,

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I help the manager
with the shift,

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make sure to get all
customer orders out on time,

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and meet expectations like getting
it on before the truck leaves at 1pm,

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we must pick and pack all items

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and get it on the truck
before it leaves.

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For example, on orders from Prime
customers who receive next day delivery,

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we have to be sure to get these items
on the truck so they get it tomorrow.

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Once it goes out,

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it goes to the next FC
to handle and distribute,

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that's how it works.

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[David]: At Amazon,

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our intentions and design for our
employees to ensure and experience

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full accessibility for all
people who work here,

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anyone with any disability
or accessibility challenges can

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accomplish their goals at work
without any additional obstacles or

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frustrations related with
any accessibility challenges.

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Something that we took on here in
Ottawa as a wonderful example ...

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for our Deaf employees,

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we developed local
collaborative with SLIAO,

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Sign Language Interpreting
Associates of Ottawa.

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We decided to collaborate as we
noticed in the increased number of

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hires joining our work force
were Deaf or hard of hearing.

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[Lacey]: How do I communicate
with hearing people?

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I use a special app called
"Chime" used for Amazon

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employees to text each other.

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Associates also use
the app on their mobiles.

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Most of the Tier 3 for Process
Assistants or higher level...

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Tier 4 including Area managers
also have Chime on their laptops.

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It enables me to communicate
with hearing people.

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[David]: We have 23,000 employees
across Canada in various roles and

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industries meaning our fulfilment
centers and offices employ people

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with different disabilities
and accessibility challenges.

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In our fulfilment centers,

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we have Deaf employees
who apply at entry levels,

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Tier 1 roles but many of those
apply for promotions as well,

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or support roles
working in IT department,

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Human Resources department or,

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in my situation,
work in the Learning Centre department.

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[Lacey]: I expect more access in
the future getting Deaf needs met,

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for example I am an Ambassador
meaning I train new Deaf employees

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in other positions.

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There are currently two
Deaf Ambassador trainers.

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I enjoy doing it and go to
other Fulfillment Centers

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to train other
new Deaf employees.

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They try to have me train other
Deaf employees when needed instead

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of hiring interpreters
to save their time,

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their money and by having me
benefit as elsewhere in Canada sees

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that having a Deaf
trainer can do the training.

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It's a good opportunity for me to
see other Fulfillment Centers and

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meet old faces who
used to work here.

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[David]: The important
thing is that all over the world,

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Amazon has policies of inclusion
and diversity starting at the

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recruiting stage
to on-floor training,

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in the long term to grow
and develop all employees.

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I can't say when the first
Deaf employee was hired,

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when and when,

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but I know that Amazon is very
proud to see an increase in Deaf

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members of the community apply and
successfully getting work at Amazon

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and I'm really excited
to see this continue,

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grow opportunities to
learn from each other also.

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[Lacey]: I should
also mention Amazon,

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there is a Facebook group called
"Deaf Amazonian Network" where we

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meet and chat with over 800 members
who work for Amazon all over the

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world! We ask
each other for help,

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post vlogs and share pictures and
comments like if you are frustrated

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with a barrier,
we share solutions,

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good news and information
from others who have

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experienced it who provide help.

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It's a huge help being able to ask
others and talk about access and I

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am happy to help so we
all can grow and advance.

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[Anselmo]: In 2015,
Amazon surpassed Walmart.

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In 2002, they launched Amazon Web
Services (AWS) providing cloud storage.

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There are now 40 subsidiaries,

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and the Amazon website attracted
as many as 615 million visits annually,

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thanks to "Amazon reviews" on
products sold through their website.

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During 2019,
Amazon earned $280 billion worldwide.

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In 2010,
Amazon entered Canada

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after the Canadian
government approved their

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request to set up its own
distribution center in Canada

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instead of relying on a Canada
Post subsidiary to ship goods.

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Along with jobs for
many Canadians,

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more and more Canadians surveyed say
they'll use Amazon for their shopping.

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That’s huge!

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[Anselmo]: Bell Canada is
Canada's largest provider of

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telecommunications
services supplying voice,

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data and image communications
company that supports mobile phone,

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TV, high speed and 
wireless Internet,

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and residential home services.

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Where and when did
Bell start in Canada?

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1874 in Brantford,

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Ontario where Alexander Graham Bell found
a way to transmit speech electrically.

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His father, Alexander Melville Bell
established Canada's first telephone network.

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Now part of parent
company BCE Inc.,

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a publicly traded Canadian holding
company for the Bell Canada group

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of companies employing
over 52,000 people.

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After 10 years of lobbying
and petitions by Deaf groups,

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Bell TTY Relay was
launched in 1986.

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The CRTC,
a Canadian federal communications agency,

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ordered home telephone providers
including Bell Canada to set up

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"message relay services" to
their customers 24 hours a day,

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seven days a week.

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For the first time,

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people who were Deaf and hard
of hearing were not dependent

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on
others to make calls for them.

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Then by 2011,

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IP Relay calls could be made
on computers and mobiles.

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Stephanie at Bell Accessibility
Services Centre says they currently

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have about 20 team members
including one person who is Deaf,

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and they receive
“accessible training”.

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Bell did not accommodate our
request to interview their Deaf employee.

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The Accessibility Centre conducts
TTY and IP Relay surveys twice a year.

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Bell Canada also played a
role in the launch of CAV-SRV.

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They contracted with Mission
Consulting in the USA to do a VRS

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feasibility study in 2012 which included
an estimate of VRS users, usage,

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costs and possible
implementation models.

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This report helped the CRTC
make decisions to use a single

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technology platform that
supports multiple call centers.

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Jonathan Daniels,

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Bell’s Vice President of Regulatory Law
represents Bell on the CAV Board of Directors.

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Team members in other Bell
units including mobility, regulatory,

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network and customer service
are also involved in different

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accessibility
projects and issues.

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This video was done by the Deaf
Wireless Canada Committee at CAD.

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With greater reliance on
the Internet and mobile,

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Deaf consumers were paying more for
unused features and their reliance

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on video support often resulted
in additional data overages costs.

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In 2018, Bell released a video of
a "data accessibility add on plan"

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offering additional 2gb
complimentary data per month.

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Many felt this was inadequate.

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Bell Mobility currently offers
a $20 discount per month on

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"qualified customers
with accessibility needs."

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[Anselmo]: Now that
holidays are over,

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I wonder if any of you use
music as part of your celebrations?

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Some family members
may be hearing,

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does that pose any issue?

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[Nicole]: People express and
celebrate their cultures through music.

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Whether it is their native
language in another country,

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their upbringing,
and background,

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the same is true of Deaf people.

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Can we celebrate
Deaf Culture in music?

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Music is vocal or instrumental
sounds combined to produce beauty,

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harmony and
expression of emotion.

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Polish music,
for example,

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with words in Polish language that
when translated to English may not

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have the same effect.

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It is unclear or confusing.

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The same applies to translating a
song based on English language that

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is translated into
sign language,

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the impact and feel may
not get across the way

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the music was written.

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[Landon]: Signing is beautiful,

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it is musical with
beats that we can see.

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Does signing flow with the
English interpreted version?

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Not really.

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Signing has its natural
flow in expression.

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[Nicole]: That was
Landon Krentz,

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an ASL composer and performer,

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who says sign-interpreted
music does not always show

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an appreciation for 
ASL music.

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Deaf people demonstrate
music through how we move,

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how we dance,

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how we express ourselves
and how we sign the words.

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Interpreting hearing music and
with different pace can be challenging.

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The quality of interpretation
can be affected in

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trying to keep in
pace with the rhythm,

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and yet still express
the message of the song.

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Pastor Graham says the Milton New
Life Deaf Church uses a percussion

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drum machine to set the
beat and follow the music.

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It can be felt on the floor,

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but is visual.

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He says many Deaf people
learn music through vibrations,

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but feels it should be visual,

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not vibration and sound.

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Deaf culture is expanding into
music and we find our own identity

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and our own music at
a natural signing pace.

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[Anselmo]: That’s interesting,

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if we feel rhythms of music,

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I question if that’s music?

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[Nicole]: Music creates beauty,

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like art… both are subjective.

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Each person has
a different opinion.

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[Anselmo]: Testing infants for
hearing loss is done differently

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depending on which
part of Canada you are in.

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How important is it to
focus on hearing first,

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language first,
or speech first?

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When an infant is
born and found to be Deaf,

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it is critical to expose the child
to language now as the baby

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develops neurons in the brain
which absorbs information.

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[Anselmo]: DeafDots spoke with
several ASL and English language

00:26:38.248 --> 00:26:49.801
specialists including those
in speech learning centres.

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Language is critical to
a child’s development.

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In the past,

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it would take months or years before
a parent realizes their child is deaf.

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During that period,

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the child loses the
opportunity to learn language.

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In 2001,
as result of pressure from the community,

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several provinces developed the
Infant Hearing Program to ensure

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babies born in hospitals are
screened before going home,

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for hearing loss.

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[Jax]: In Nova Scotia
when a baby is born

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and found to be Deaf or
hard of hearing,

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we have a prepared list of
services describing what it’s like.

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There is a brochure that covers
hearing and speech audiologists,

00:28:25.441 --> 00:28:30.287
speech-language pathologists,
communication technicians, parents,

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APSEA - the Atlantic Provinces
Special Education Authority, teachers,

00:28:34.847 --> 00:28:39.970
ASL specialists who collaborated for
several years to develop that brochure.

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It emphasizes the importance
of acquiring language.

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[Anselmo]: The Canadian Infant
Hearing Task Force (CIHTF) who

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issues a periodical "Report Card"
on the status of early hearing

00:29:07.118 --> 00:29:20.383
detection and intervention (EHDI)
programs said at a press conference

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in 2019 there is an alarming
disparity in the hearing health

00:29:31.892 --> 00:29:42.037
services available to infants
and children in Canada.

00:29:42.037 --> 00:29:51.949
More than half of the provinces
and territories in Canada

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received an
insufficient grade.

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An English as a Second Language
teacher explains why some people

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would push for speech.

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Families want to communicate in the
same language used in the community.

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What they fail to understand
is that language needs

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to be learned in the least
restrictive environment possible.

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For a Deaf child,
that would be sign language,

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but family members
also need to learn to sign

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so
language can develop.

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That is it for
today’s DeafDots.

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We want your news tips and
suggestions on what reports

00:31:03.383 --> 00:31:11.518
you want to see on the
next DeafDots program!

00:31:11.518 --> 00:31:22.247
You can send your news
through www.DeafDots.ca

00:31:22.342 --> 00:31:30.928
or email to
news@deafdots.ca