E-mail and closed-caption television supplant deaf clubs as centers of the community
"At a recent gathering, middle-aged and elderly deaf members sat at long tables, eating egg-salad sandwiches and playing bingo. A strobe light signaled the winner.
Efforts to expand the club's membership have been futile. 'We tried for the last three years to pull the youth in here, but when they see the old people, it's not their thing. They can't relate,' said club historian Tim Wata, a 50-year-old Lockheed Martin engineer.
Schooley blames it on technology. Televisions come with closed-caption devices. Hollywood movies can be ordered with 'open caption' subtitles. There is e-mail and Internet chat rooms for the deaf. A hand-held text-messaging device is growing in popularity. And a new system called video relay allows a deaf person to communicate visually with another deaf person or interpreter through a TV set.
'Most of them stay home -- just like the hearing people,' said Schooley, 70, who worked in graphic arts."
Efforts to expand the club's membership have been futile. 'We tried for the last three years to pull the youth in here, but when they see the old people, it's not their thing. They can't relate,' said club historian Tim Wata, a 50-year-old Lockheed Martin engineer.
Schooley blames it on technology. Televisions come with closed-caption devices. Hollywood movies can be ordered with 'open caption' subtitles. There is e-mail and Internet chat rooms for the deaf. A hand-held text-messaging device is growing in popularity. And a new system called video relay allows a deaf person to communicate visually with another deaf person or interpreter through a TV set.
'Most of them stay home -- just like the hearing people,' said Schooley, 70, who worked in graphic arts."
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home