deaf people news stories on Newser

Feds: Deaf Housing Complex Discriminates Vs. Non-Deaf

Matt Cantor — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:55:07 CDT

Packed with state-of-the-art equipment focused on the needs of the deaf, a new Arizona housing facility was seen as a step forward for the Southwest. Instead, it's become a lightning rod, reports the New York Times , as federal and state officials feud over alleged discrimination at the complex. As it...

Netflix May Have to Provide Captions Online

Dustin Lushing — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 16:15:41 CDT

Netflix could soon be legally forced to offer closed captions on its streaming videos. The National Association for the Deaf sued the company, saying it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to provide captions for the bulk of its online content. Netflix asked a federal judge to dismiss...

Deaf Travelers Kept Off Flight for 'Security Reasons'

Matt Cantor — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 10:26:05 CDT

A group of hard-of-hearing travelers in France was barred from its flight after checking its bags for “security reasons,” a French airline said. “Just as we were about to board, someone from the company told us we couldn't,” said a member of the group, 18 of whom are deaf while...

Jon Stewart Pummels Pope

Emily Rauhala — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 06:09:55 CDT

Maureen Dowd has been nipping at Pope Benedict's heels, but you know you're in trouble when Jon Stewart takes aim at you. On last night's Daily Show , Stewart blasted the pontiff's defiance over his handling of sex abuse cases. "If any other organization had done anything close to what the...

Deaf Students Warned of Priest's Abuse for Decades

John Johnson — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 10:57:20 CDT

The deaf students who were victims of sexual abuse at the hands of a priest in Wisconsin began reporting the abuse as long ago as the 1950s. They were ignored by everyone they told—nuns, other priests, archbishops, and police, reports the New York Times . No serious action was ever...

YouTube Adds Captions for Deaf

Rob Quinn — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 04:46:07 CST

Life just got a lot easier for the deaf YouTuber. YouTube is rolling out its auto-captioning service for all the tens of millions of videos it hosts, starting with the English-language ones. "A core part of YouTube's DNA is access to content," a YouTube exec said at the launch yesterday....

Blind Actors Blast Breslin Pick for Keller

Rob Quinn — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:54:00 CDT

Advocates for blind and deaf actors complain that they were never given a chance to audition for the role of Helen Keller in an upcoming revival of The Miracle Worker . The part has instead been given to Abigail Breslin, best known for playing Olive in Little Miss Sunshine . The Broadway...

Stem Cells Could Cure Deafness

Rob Quinn — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 06:06:29 CDT

Stem cell researchers have made a breakthrough they believe could someday cure deafness, the Times of London reports. The British team, working with stem cells from the inner ear, have successfully grown early versions of the cells that enable hearing and now aim to create functional cells that can be...

Deaf Athlete Joins NCAA Team

Ambreen Ali — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 10:14:01 CST

Signing to play football for Baltimore’s Towson University is a big leap for Ryan Bonheyo—and for the Division I program, too, the Washington Post reports: Bonheyo is deaf, and will be the lone such player at Towson and one of very few to earn a scholarship in any sport....