Disneyland: Deaf Awareness Day

[DTFVolunteer]

Just by coincidence/miracle, my hubby and I planned to visit DLR March 2-5, and March 5 is Deaf Awareness Day. I am considered deaf by medical terms, but I can hear a little and rely heavily on lipreading. I always miss out on information/spiels that are said through loudspeakers since they distort the sound too much.

For Deaf Awareness Day, American Sign Language interpreters were stationed throughout the park and at attractions that involve spiels (Storybook Land, Jungle Cruise, Disneyland Railroad, Enchanted Tiki Room) and a few performances. I learned just how corny the jokes are on the Jungle Cruise (mostly groaners ) and could follow along with the birdies in the Tiki Room.

For those who need ASL interpretation, DLR and DCA have a set schedule of interpretation on Fri, Sat, Sun and Mon. I tried to contact DLR for the schedule prior to the trip, but never heard back. Perhaps needs several phone calls to get the info... make sure you contact them well in advance.

 

[KPeveler]

I really wanted to make it there for Saturday!

Also, there is a captioning device for rides now that you can sign out of Guest Relations - it also has descriptions for vision impaired. It may be helpful for those rides with poorly piped in sound, such as Peter Pan's Flight. I hope to find out more about how this works for DL!

 

[DTFVolunteer]

The handheld captioning thing is ok - it takes a few ride throughs to master and even then, the info goes so quickly, you end up reading the whole time and not looking at anything. I rode through Pirates of the Caribbean with it and the first time I didn't look up from the screen once, the second time I tried to match info that I had read to the scene, and then I gave up. In theory it is supposed to work, but more of a fail for me. Also, the screen is really bright, so for any dark rides, it shines like a beacon and then when you look up to see the scene, your eyes need to adjust.

Having done it once, I'm not going to bother standing in line at City Hall to get the device, then again at the end of the day to return it. It is more fun to just look at the scenes and make up my own story...

A

 

[brat]

So happy for your wonderful timing. Sound like a great trip.

I went DL back in college with friends from a disabled students group and tried to interpert the jokes but my skills were not that fast.We had fun.

In years since we have gotten to go places for reunions, I have noticed that they bring a few sheets of window tint platic with them if they are useing the captioning device to cover the screen(in case they can not adjust the screen brightness).

Glad you had fun.Look forward to hearing more about your trip.