A database of news and information about people with disabilities and disability issues...
Copyright statement: Unless otherwise stated, all posts on this blog continue to be the property of the original author/publication/Web site, which can be found via the link at the beginning of each post.
Disneyland Resort parks for the first time are assigning regular sign language interpreters at eight locations.
Previously, hearing-impaired visitors had to call ahead of time to request sign language interpreters, who were assigned to special events on an as-needed basis for the past two decades, said Betsy Sanchez, a Disneyland Resort spokeswoman.
Starting June 20, the interpreters were made available at set hours at both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. Hearing-impaired visitors are asked to pick up schedules when they arrive at the parks and find out when the interpreters will be on duty.
“It’s an effort to make sure that all of our guests are getting the best experience possible,” Sanchez said.
Seven interpreters are on staff now and Disney plans to hire one more, said David Gill, a Disneyland Resort spokesman.
This isn’t the only service for hearing-impaired visitors at the Disneyland Resort: Devices for amplified audio and captioning are also available. Last year, the parks also began offering devices for visually- impaired guests, who can hear descriptions of rides. Read a story about Disney’s devices for visually impaired visitors.
Beth Haller, Ph.D., is Co-Director of the Global Alliance for Disability in Media and Entertainment (www.gadim.org). A former print journalist, she is a member of the Advisory Board for the National Center on Disability and Journalism (https://ncdj.org/). Haller is Professor Emerita in the Department of Mass Communication at Towson University in Maryland, USA. Haller is co-editor of the 2020 "Routledge Companion to Disability and Media" (with Gerard Goggin of University of Sydney & Katie Ellis of Curtin University, Australia). She is author of "Representing Disability in an Ableist World: Essays on Mass Media" (Advocado Press, 2010) and the author/editor of Byline of Hope: Collected Newspaper and Magazine Writing of Helen Keller (Advocado Press, 2015). She has been researching disability representation in mass media for 30+ years. She is adjunct faculty in the Disability Studies programs at the City University of New York (CUNY) and the University of Texas-Arlington.
From The Orange County Register:
