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More Than Awareness: Building Communication That Connects Everyone

I’m Not Just Here for Deaf Awareness Month People often meet me and see “Deaf educator.” True. But here’s the part they miss:I’m not only about Deaf and hard of hearing topics, I’m about communication. All of it. Culture, systems, workflows, policies, tech, and the everyday human habits that make workplaces better (or worse). If you only call me for

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Leah Riddell, wearing a black SignAble Vi5ion shirt, is engaged in conversation with others at an event. The SignAble Vi5ion logo and website appear in the image design.

Who Gets to Speak on Our Behalf?

When it comes to Deaf experiences, everyone seems to have an opinion , especially those who haven’t lived it. We often see professionals, parents, or “experts” speaking for the Deaf community, from early childhood education to adult accessibility. Their intentions might be good, but the result is often one-sided. The voices of those who actually live the Deaf experience get

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“You Speak So Well for a Deaf Person”

The Compliment That Isn’t If you’ve ever said “You speak so well for a Deaf person,” please, take a deep breath. I know you probably meant it as a compliment, but to us, it’s a punch to the gut wrapped in politeness. Where It Comes From That phrase has a long, heavy history.For decades, Deaf children were forced to learn

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Who Do We Learn ASL From?

A question that shouldn’t be controversial, but somehow still is. There’s a hot debate simmering in Canada’s sign language community, and it’s long overdue.Who should be teaching ASL? Canada Isn’t the U.S. Let’s start here: American Sign Language (ASL) in Canada is not the same as in the U.S.Sure, we share many signs, but our regional signs, cultural references, and

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“Can You Read My Lips?”

Where This Question Came From (and Why It Still Hurts) If you’re Deaf or hard of hearing, you’ve probably heard this one: “Can you read my lips?”It’s often asked with the same energy as “Can you read my mind?”, and to be honest, sometimes it feels just as impossible. But this question didn’t come out of nowhere. It has a

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A man in a suit speaks during a business meeting, gesturing with his hands while two colleagues listen. Branded overlay with the SignAble Vi5ion logo and website link frames the image.

Inclusion Isn’t Optional

I’ve learned the hard way that the world wasn’t designed with me in mind. Being Deaf means I move between many different communication spaces; sometimes signing, sometimes adapting to people who don’t. Some of us use our voices, some of us use technology, some of us don’t use either. There isn’t one way to be Deaf. But what we share

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