911 texting service made available for deaf community
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A member of Metro Vancouver’s deaf community says it’s something she and many others have been waiting for a long time.
Janice Lyons with the Western Institute for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing says she is very excited about the launch of a service that allows people who aren’t able to talk on the phone, to text 911.
Lyons says this will make a huge difference.
“This will make 911 accessible to this part of the community. I believe that they will feel safer, and not have to rely on the ‘hearing’ community in order to get help, fast,” she says.
She says difficulties people have faced in the past have included not being able to hear the operator on the other end, not knowing if someone has answered, or having to rely on a neighbour to call for them.
NRC Job Posting
Industrial Technology Advisor – Applied Chemistry/Process Technologies (RCO), Vancouver – British Columbia (10-13-0564_1)
http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/careers/jobpost.nsf/EnglishAll/F35A372B92B9B77F85257C93005F40AE
Deaf Youth Today – Job Postings
DYT is looking for summer staff:
Western Institute for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing – Job Postings
The Western Institute for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing is currently accepting applications for two part-time positions:
1. Part-Time Database Entry Clerk
2. Part-Time Communication Devices Showroom Assistant
CRTC marks the start of Text with 9-1-1 services for hearing or speech impaired persons
March 18, 2014 — Ottawa-Gatineau — Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is announcing that as of today the 9-1-1 call centre that serves the Metro Vancouver and select surrounding areas of British Columbia will be able to communicate with hearing or speech impaired Canadians using text messages.
Hearing or speech impaired persons in these areas must register with their wireless service provider to access this service. E-Comm 9-1-1, the emergency call centre that serves Metro Vancouver and select surrounding areas is the first emergency call centre in Canada to provide Text with 9-1-1. The CRTC also announces that the City of Calgary is expected to make the Text with 9-1-1 service available to hearing or speech impaired persons as of March 24, 2014 in its region.
It is important to note that the Text with 9-1-1 service will become available in other parts of the country as regional emergency call centres implement this new feature. For more information and to register, Canadians are encouraged to visit www.textwith911.ca where they can find direct links for the service with their wireless service provider.
Quick facts
As directed by the CRTC in January 2013, wireless carriers and telephone companies were required to make changes to their networks in order to support the provision of Text with 9-1-1 service by January 24, 2014. These companies are ready to support this service across the country where 9-1-1 service is available.
Text with 9-1-1 service is now available to people who are hearing or speech impaired in Metro Vancouver and select surrounding area. This service enables call centre operators to communicate with registered users using text messages.
In the event of an emergency, registered users must first dial 9-1-1 from their cell phone. The emergency call centre will automatically receive a notification to initiate a conversation by text message.
Voice calling remains the only way to access 9-1-1 services for people who are not hearing or speech impaired.
Text with 9-1-1 is not available to the general public at this time. Text messages sent to “911” do not reach emergency services.
Emergency call centres are operated by municipal, provincial and territorial governments.
Hard of Hearing Persons and Issues: Local and Global Challenges
Jones Memorial Lecture
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Time: 7 – 8:30 pm
Hard of Hearing Persons and Issues:
Local and Global Challenges
Guest Speaker: Ruth Warick, Ph.D.
Can’t come to the University to attend the lecture? View it live via webstreaming at:
https://new.livestream.com/aict/jmrl
*Webstreaming is EDT (9 pm-11 pm). This is 7 pm – 9 pm in Alberta.
Hard of hearing persons are one of the major categories of disabilities among the globe’s one billion persons with disabilities. Progress has been made in many countries in recognizing and attending to the needs of hard of hearing persons in education, employment and everyday life but much remains to be done to provide communication access. Essential as well is to promote greater awareness to prevent stigmatization, isolation and marginalization that individuals can feel as a result of this communications disability. These are among the issues and challenges faced by hard of hearing persons, whether at a local or global level, which will be articulated by the speaker. She will also describe international movements to address challenges, including the collaborative efforts that build on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
About Dr. Ruth Warwick:
Dr. Ruth Warick, hard of hearing from birth, has been active in the hard of hearing movement since her 20s, being one of the founding members of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association. Currently is President of the International Federation of Hard of Hearing People and Treasurer of the International Disability Alliance. Locally she serves as Vice-President of the board of the Western Institute for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and as President for the CHHA Vancouver Branch. Ruth has authored Hearing the Learning, a Postsecondary Handbook for Students who are Hard of Hearing and a doctoral thesis on Voices Unheard: The Academic and Social Experiences of University Students Who are Hard of Hearing. Ruth works full-time as the Senior Diversity Advisor – Disability at the University of British Columbia.
Thursday April, 10 2014
Time: 7 – 8:30 pm
Location: Room 129, Education South
University of Alberta
Time: 7 – 8:30 pm
ASL Interpretation &
David Still Memorial IEP Graduating Student Award
Applications Being Accepted for the David Still Memorial IEP Graduating Student Award
Submission Deadline: May 15, 2014
The AVLIC IEP Graduating Student Award was presented for the first time in 2004. It was the decision of the 2002-2004 AVLIC Executive Board to develop a bursary to recognize a graduating student from a Canadian Interpreter Education Program (IEP). In 2009 the award was renamed the David Still Memorial IEP Graduating Student Award in honour of David Still. The amount of the award is $500.
David began work as a signed language interpreter and instructor at Red River College. His work took him all over the country before he finally settled in Vancouver, BC, in 1988, where he accepted a position as an instructor at Douglas College in the Program of Sign Language Interpretation. In the fall of 1999, he graduated with a Masters of Education from Simon Fraser University and went on to open Still Learning Resources. He was a visionary in our field and in 2006 received the BC innovation Award in Educational Technology.
David’s commitment to the profession was demonstrated by his role as a founding member of both AVLIC and WAVLI. He worked relentlessly to establish standards in the field of ASL-English interpreting and was a man of passion who inspired others to find theirs. David believed in lifelong learning and he encouraged interpreters, both new and seasoned, to continue their skill development throughout their career.
Pacific DAWN (DisAbled Women’s Network)
For further information or to RSVP please contact
Pat Kelln pkelln@telus.net or 604-524-2399 or
Debbie Debfin60@hotmail.com
Sign Language for Music Video
Singer and Songwriter Kaylee Johnston is looking for a sign language interpreter to be in her music video. She is looking for a female in her early to mid 20’s. The part would require a bit of acting so you would need to be open to exploring the emotions of the lyrics of the song on camera. She would like to shoot the video by the end of March.
The song is called ‘Kick Drum’ and has recently placed in the finals of the International Songwriting Competition in the Pop/Top 40 category, and can be viewed in this link: www.radioairplay.com/isc_votes/Pop+Top 40
If you are interested, please contact info@kayleejohnston.com and attach a photo, and resume of any artistic work you’ve done.
Visit www.kayleejohnston.com to learn more about Kaylee and her projects.
