Davin Searls

Discovering Deaf Worlds Presentation for PNASLI Davin B. Searls, DDW Executive Director WHEN TO CLICK PREZI SLIDESHOW Times follow Davin’s video 00:00 – DDW Overview slide • It is my honor to present at the Second National Sign Language Interpreters' Conference. I first met Naty when I visited the Philippines in 2009, and was humbled when Naty asked me to present. • My name is Davin Searls. I have Been the Executive Director of a non-governmental organization called Discovering Deaf Worlds (DDW) for the past 4 years. Come from Rochester, New York, which has one of the largest populations of Deaf people per capita in the world. 00:53 – Zoom into DEAF • I am Deaf, and I come from a fourth-generation Deaf family, which is an extremely rare occurrence as less than 5% of Deaf people have Deaf parents. • However, unlike many Deaf of Deaf, I was mainstreamed my whole life- from kindergarten through college. I used interpreters extensively. Became involved in DDW after I taught at a Deaf university in China for 10 months through PEN-International, run By Jim DeCaro, whom some of you may know. Dr. DeCaro is also Vice-President of DDW’s Board. In addition to DDW I now serve on the National Association of the Deaf International Committee. • Before I continue, I would like to introduce my co-worker and colleague- who is not here to present- but DDW could not exist without him- David Justice. David is also a Rochester native. He is hearing, and never met Deaf people growing up. He has Been involved in the Deaf community for the past 12 years as interpreter, job developer and co-founder of DDW. To present, David has connected with people from 12 or so countries in person - deaf of deaf families, audiologists, sign language teachers, interpreters, late-deafened adults, and so on. • Together, David and I represent Both sides of the continuum – a Deaf person from a Deaf family who has Been and continues to Be heavily involved in the hearing community, and a hearing person who once knew nothing about Deafness and is now a staunch ally. Together we have volunteered 30,000 hours for DDW for the past 4-5 years and continue to be full-time volunteers for the organization. Let me tell you a little Bit more aBout DDW and its work. 03:16 – UNCRPD • DDW’s work coincides with UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with DisaBilities- which recognizes sign language as a linguistic identity of Deaf community. 03:31 – Our Mission • Our approach is to provide organizational development training to Deaf leadership teams in developing countries. We do not start new programs, fix things, or encourage them to model their efforts after what is done in America. 03:50 – Overview of hands / DDW logo • When we first go to another country, we have one goal: to listen and learn. We also identify hardworking, motivated leaders doing something to improve their communities – and that’s where we then invest our time and resources– a combined effort w/ local leadership teams. 04:14 – Zoom into what DDW offers • DDW provides training on how to run program more effectively- resource management, fund development, Book keeping, leadership succession, etc. 04:28 – Pan right: what local leaders offer • Local Deaf leaders provide knowledge of their culture, language, business practices, network, et cetera. 04:37 – Pan down: DDW logo (people/hands with globe) • Together, we work to identify and utilize local resources. This includes financial and human resources – and hearing allies like YOU. As interpreters, you are extremely important allies – facilitating communication Between Deaf leaders, their constituents and the hearing community. Deaf people have a voice, certainly- But it is YOU that assists them in Being heard. • DDW and local deaf leaders collaBorate, Both investing to improve deaf education, vocational opportunities, human rights, and ultimately expand the deaf leadership pool in those countries • Right now, organizational development training is not readily accessible to Deaf people in their local sign languages- this is the gap that DDW fills. 05:38 - Goals • Now that you have a Better understanding of DDW, let me share my goals for today’s presentation: 1) For you to gain a Better understanding of what circumstances are like for Deaf people in other countries, and 2) Leave with an increased awareness of what Deaf people and their hearing allies are doing to improve these circumstances. 06:06 – Timeline Overview • You might Be wondering – why is it so important to learn what is happening in other countries when there is so much happening in the Philippines? We get asked this question as well- from Americans asking why we are working in other countries. • Well… Because of advances in transportation and communication technology, our world is Becoming increasingly interconnected and gloBalized. Look at this timeline: 06:35 – Zoom into 100000 BCE • For at least 90 thousand years, our method of transportation was simply walking. 06:42 – Pan right to 3500 BCE • Then humans invented the wheel aBout 5500 years ago, and we started using horses for transportation 4 thousand years ago. 06:55 – Pan right to Steamboat invented • Then time went on and suddenly people had steamboats and trains, and not too long after that, motorcycles. 07:04 – Pan right to 1908-2012 • A little over 100 years ago, humans figured out how to fly, and in that time, we’ve Broken the sound Barrier, invented helicopters, sent people to the moon, and are preparing to send people to other planets! • As for communication, I remember growing up and my mother would tell me how if she wanted to get together with her best friend, Sherry, who is also deaf, my mother would have to run next door and ask the hearing neighbor to call her friend Sherry’s hearing neighbor, who would then run over to see if Sherry was home. They would communicate with the hearing neighBors through pen and paper. This was how Deaf people got together just 50 years ago! If one of those people was not there, the whole thing fell apart. 08:03 – Old TTY • Well just in the past 20 years we’ve gone from that to TTYs… 08:06 – Pager • to pagers… 08:09 – iPhones • and now we can video chat with people on the other side of the world. • 100 years ago, it took 2 months to travel from New York to Manila. Now, it takes 2 days. 100 years from now, it might take 2 hours By who knows what means of transport. We have no idea of what’s happening next, But one thing we can say for sure is that with the world Becoming increasingly accessible and smaller through improved transportation and communication technology. 08:42 – Overview of globe • Our actions will have repercussions not only at home, But around the gloBe. As people who are involved in the Filipino Deaf community, you will have an impact on Deaf people across the globe as well. As signers – people with a Base in visual communication – this is an advantage, one that will guarantee you have a greater impact as well. Let me explain… 09:12 – Is sign language universal? • A common misconception we’ve encountered many times is that people think sign language is universal. However, as you may already know, every country has it’s own signs, fingerspelling, grammar, and so on. • For example, here’s my name in American Sign Language… D-A-V-I-N. Now here it is in Indian Sign Language: D-A-V-I-N. Vastly different, even though Both Americans and Indians speak English. 09:49 – Overview of interpreter chain • At first when we started traveling for DDW, we communicated through interpreters -sometimes chain of 4-5 people (Japanese Sign Language -> spoken Japanese -> spoken English -> ASL.) • David, my co-worker, always says that one thing he learned as a hearing person – he felt more effective communicating with local people using sign language. • In China, after a month of traveling, he might Be aBle to say a few phrases horribly in Mandarin, But could after immersing in Deaf community could Be conversationally fluent in Chinese Sign Language. I don’t mean to say that learning sign language is easy, but we can fill in the gaps with gestures and have more fluid communication, which just isn’t possiBle with written/spoken language. Let’s share an example- if you know Chinese, please don’t give it away! 10:56 – Chinese characters • Many of us may look at this word and not know what it means. Now if we add the English spelling- 11:05 – xie xie • We also may not Be aBle to easily pronounce it- it’s strange for English speakers – we don’t typically put X and I together. That word means… 11:19 – thank you • “Thank you.” 11:22 – Chinese characters • It’s a very simple word, But it is hard to pronounce. Their sign is this. So, which is easier to remember? These characters, or this sign? Written and spoken languages can Be complicated, difficult- requiring repetition. Sign language can Be easier to acquire. • That’s something you can apply your foundation in sign language to – giving you the ability to communicate directly with Deaf people and signers in another country. • This is a benefit for us, in the work we do. Plus it is a benefit for you! 12:00 - Overview of globe • Due to advancements in transportation and communication technology, we have Been fortunate enough to travel the world… and here’s what we’ve learned. 12:11 – 250 schools and organizations in 50 countries • In the past five years, we have connected with over 250 Deaf orgs/schools from 50 countries.

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