From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Computer engineering students at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a sensor-equipped glove that can translate hand gestures into spoken words on a cellphone. The device only knows 32 words so far, but the students hope it may allow deaf people to communicate with those who don’t know American Sign Language by having their cell phones speak the words aloud.

Press release from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: Graduating seniors at RPI have created an interactive game simulation to help individuals with disabilities develop life skills and increase their independence. The game simulates a shopping trip to a local store. Players select a meal they’d like to make, and then navigate a store map to collect all the items on their shopping list.

From the [UK] Guardian:

The BBC has reached the landmark of having all its shows accessible to the hard of hearing via subtitles.

… The service now offers more than 50,000 hours of subtitled content a year, including all the BBC’s national and regional programming…

From CNETNews.com:

Congressman Edward Markey (D-Mass.) is advocating for changes that would require Internet phone and video products to be made accessible to people with disabilities. Markey, who chairs the House telecommunications and Internet panel, is drafting a bill that would require Internet-based devices to be able to decode closed captioning and deliver oral narration.

“The wizardry of the wires and the sophistication of the software programs do little for those who cannot affordably access or effectively use them,” Markey said at a subcommittee hearing this week.

Among those supporting Markey’s efforts was actor Russell Harvard, who starred with Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood. Harvard urged Congress to take closed captioning law “to its next level.”

“I and others who cannot hear are left out of this whirlwind of technological change (because) hardly any of these smaller devices display closed captions,” said Harvard, who is deaf.

From the Sydney [Australia] Morning Herald:

Expectant mothers will be able to insure their unborn babies against pregnancy complications, birth defects and even death under a new policy offered by insurance giant ING. The program is called the first of its kind in Australia, possibly the world, and will be aimed at the growing population of older mothers. Premiums rise with the age of the mother.

The policy will pay $50,000 to mothers whose children have disabilities such as blindness and deafness or other congenital malformations, including spina bifida, Down syndrome, cleft palate and heart disorders.

A spokeswoman for an Australian midwives association criticized the new program. “Insurance companies are going to go wherever they can to make a buck,” she said. “Fifty thousand dollars is not going to go very far in caring for a sick child. It is marketing fear and uncertainty when women are vulnerable during pregnancy.”

Associated Press in the Washington Post:

For the third consecutive week, a last-place finish has led to elimination on “Dancing With the Stars.”

This week’s celebrity casualty was Marlee Matlin, who came into Tuesday’s results show with 21 out of 30 points. The actress lost her timing at various points during her mambo Monday with professional partner Fabian Sanchez, and the judges took note.

… Judge Bruno Tonioli noticed “a few stumbles” but still called Matlin’s performance “a great achievement.”

“What you do here is a plus for the show,” he said.

Hallmark drama explores couple’s dilemma over whether their son should have cochlear implant

Tonight on CBS.

Brian Lowry in Variety:

Twenty-three years after “Love Is Never Silent,” Hallmark and producer-director Joseph Sargent revisit deafness with a universal theme that contemplates the relationship of a minority group to society at large. Here, the pivotal question involves a choice unavailable to most minorities — whether they would opt out of that status if possible. Buoyed by Marlee Matlin and Jeff Daniels’ strong performances, the Hall of Fame’s 233rd entry suffers from a tepid ending but still gets its thoughtful point across, loud and clear.

David Hinckley in the New York Daily News:

… The larger question raised by “Sweet Nothing” - about “disabilities” and the way the rest of the world reacts to them - is legitimate and profound.The resolution, and its implication for both sides, feels somewhat less.

Tom Jicha in the Orlando Sun-Sentinel: Acting can’t save preachy drama

In spite of its provocative subject matter, Sweet Nothing in My Ear is not satisfying entertainment. Characters don’t do dialogue, they make speeches, and there is an overly conscientious effort to make sure every conceivable position is represented. This culminates in an unforgivable cop-out resolution that will offend no one — except those who have invested two hours, only to be left feeling they have been abandoned in the middle of a story.

‘Sweet Nothing in my Ear’ to air next week

From the Los Angeles Times:

During 32 years playing Linda the Librarian on “Sesame Street” actress Linda Bove introduced millions of children to sign language and issues involving the deaf community. Now Bove, who is deaf, is working behind the scenes to help actors portray roles involving deafness in a realistic, sensitive way.

For the upcoming Hallmark special “Sweet Nothing in My Ear” starring Jeff Daniels and Marlee Matlin, Bove coached Daniels on his role as the husband of a deaf woman and the father of a deaf son. She had just two and a half weeks to help him learn all his lines in American Sign Language — and to help him remember to keep his hands in the frame.

Bove also advised the production on issues pertaining to deaf culture.

“They asked me if a deaf person can sign in rubber gloves while they were washing dishes,” says Bove with a chuckle. “And I said, ‘Sure.’ I was happy they were sensitive enough to ask a question like that. I thought that was very sweet … There was a husband and wife who were in an argument. And they were, like, ‘Can a wife turn their lights off so she can’t see what he’s signing?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely, she can do that. Sure.’ “

The show explores a couple’s tension over whether or not their son should undergo surgery and get a cochlear implant. It will air on CBS on April 20.