Author Archives: Lucy

Live theater captioning comes to Kansas City!

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I grew up in my own little world of musicals. My alone time was often spent lip-syncing to “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” from The Sound of Music, or sashaying around my house mouthing the lyrics to “If I were a Rich Man” from Fiddler on the Roof. If I was lucky and no one else was home, I would belt out my favorite solos in my own not-just-tone-deaf-but-deaf-and-unable-to-carry-a-single-tune voice. Even now, if I spend a weekend catching up on the last season of Glee, I’m prone to spend the rest of the week singing to myself and passé-ing – not walking – around my house.

What I’m trying to say is – I love Broadway musicals. I love song-and-dance numbers. I love the emotion, the choreography, the soul, the solos – all of it. But my own experience with live theater is relatively lacking. Growing up, watching a live stage production was just too much work for me. Sign language interpreters helped clue me in to the dialogue going on onstage, but watching the interpreter meant missing the stage action. Opting to watch the actors instead of the interpreters meant I missed out on important lines. I preferred to stick to videos and later, DVDs, so I could enjoy the story with captions and subtitles.

Then last summer, something wonderful happened. At the 2011 HLAA National Convention in Washington, D.C., HLAA arranged for convention goers to attend a captioned live performance of the musical Wicked. I was a little skeptical – accustomed to sign language interpreters, I could not wrap my head around using captions to understand something that was going on live in front of me. I am so glad HLAA introduced me to live theater captioning – thanks to their efforts and the cooperation of the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center, I was able to fully enjoy a live theater performance for the first time! I watched the captions in conjunction with the stage performers, much like I use CaptiView to watch a movie. It took a bit getting used to moving my eyes from the captions to the stage, but since I am used to captions on the TV, it was much easier transition for me than I thought it would be. I left the convention with one goal in mind: Bring live theater captioning to Kansas City.

Earlier this year, I found out that Les Miserables, one of my favorite musicals, would be coming to Kansas City and immediately started asking questions. Could it be captioned? Who would caption it?  How do I contact the theater? The production company? After a few months of dead ends and wild goose chases, I happened to see a billboard advertising Les Miz being brought to Kansas City by the Theater League. I sent the Theater League and email and discovered they already had a captioning device available. Mark Edelman, Executive Director of the Theater League, graciously invited members of our HLAAKC Steering Committee to check it out.

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Mr. Edelman and his team, recognizing the need for captions of live performances and understanding that not all deaf or hard of hearing patrons are able to understand American Sign Language, developed the device to assist their guests. “We wanted to come up with an audio description system that could be utilized at any performance and did not require familiarity with ASL,” he said.

The Theater League currently has two Mobile Demands that use PowerPoint to display captions for the theater patron. A transmitter set up in the theater controls the flow of the captions so that all the patron has to do is sit back, relax and enjoy the show.

“We ask the producers of each Broadway show we present to send us a copy of the script in some sort of digital form (usually MS Word). We pay to have that format re-written in PowerPoint,” Edelman explained. “I go through the PowerPoint and make changes consistent with the flow of the show. The PowerPoint is transferred to the Audio Description System’s dedicated lap-top. We hook up the transmitter in the theater, hand out the receivers, explain the process and we’re ready to go.”

The Mobile Demand can be placed on a music stand for hands-free viewing during the show, or be held in the patron’s lap. Using the music stand requires specific, accessible seating; holding the device enables the patron more freedom to sit where they like. Once you are at the performance, Edelman explains, the “Presentation Manager will come to your seat, give you the device, explain its operation and turn it on for you.”

All of Theater League’s shows are available with captions, with the exception of shows that have no spoken dialogue or lyrics (such as Tap Dogs, Stomp or Blue Man Group). Click here for a complete list of upcoming Theater League shows in Kansas City.

If you would like to see a show from the Theater League, using the captioning device, simply contact the Theater League with the name of the show and the date(s) you are available to attend. With only two captioning devices available, it’s possible that you may need to choose alternate dates if the devices are in use somewhere else or otherwise spoken for. Catherine Cone, the Director of Ticketing for the Theater League, will help you purchase the appropriate seat for your needs.

Catherine Cone
Director of Ticketing
Theater League
9140 Ward Parkway, Suite 220
Kansas City, MO 64114
816-559-3863 (direct phone)
816-421-4979 (fax)
catherine.cone@theaterleague.org

The Theater League also offers audio description for visually-impaired guests. For more information about the Theater League, please visit their website or email Mark Edelman at tlmedelman@gmail.com.

Thank you, Theater League, for helping make the arts more accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing community in Kansas City!

Do you know of other captioned live events? Let us know in the comments or send us an email at hlaakc@gmail.com.

Show Us the Captions – come to the movies with us!

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Show Us the Captions is almost here! This nationwide advocacy campaign is the brainchild of Sarah Wegley, the social chair for the Chicago chapter of the Association for Late Deafened Adults. Sarah blogs at Speak Up Librarian and tells the story of how Show Us the Captions was born here. The campaign is sponsored by Collaborative for Communication Access via Captioning.

You can find out more information about the national campaign by checking out the Show Us the Captions Facebook page, or by checking out CCAC’s “Show Us the Captions!” page on their website.

HLAAKC is proud to be part of this advocacy effort; movie captioning is a subject near and dear to our hearts! If you would like to see a movie with friends from HLAAKC, some of our volunteers will be at the following theaters and times on Saturday, Nov. 17:

AMC Studio 30 – Olathe, KS – noon
Cinemark 20 Merriam – Merriam, KS – 2pm
Cinemark Palace at the Plaza – Kansas City, MO – 2pm
Regal Kansas City Stadium 18 – 4pm 

AMC 30 and both Cinemark theaters offer CaptiView devices, and will have several movies and times to choose from. If you would like to join us at one of the theaters listed above, please sign up on our event page on Sign Up Genius. This allows us to ensure that there will be enough CaptiView devices available for everyone for that time period.

If you are interested in seeing an open-captioned movie, Regal 18 will be showing the movie Skyfall open-captioned at 4pm. You do not need to reserve a captioning device for this showing, but please sign up so we know how many people to expect. Friends and family are welcome – the more, the merrier!

And if you can’t make it to the movies with an HLAAKC group, no worries! Please feel free to attend whenever you can make it – we simply want to thank the theaters for their accessibility and increase public awareness of movie captioning. So grab a friend or two and go to the movies!

If you would like to see a movie on your own, here are links to the theaters in Kansas City that have told us they have captioning available for their movies. Captioned content and movie times are subject to change, so be sure to check with the theater before you go.

 AMC Studio 30
12075 S. Strang Line Road
Olathe, KS 66062

AMC Barrywoods 24
8101 Roanridge Road
Kansas City, MO 64151

Cinemark 20
5500 Antioch
Merriam, KS 66202

Cinemark Palace at the Plaza
526 Nichols Rd.
Kansas City, MO 64112

Regal Kansas City Stadium 18
3200 Ameristar Drive
Kansas City, MO 64161

If you have any questions or are having trouble signing up, shoot us an email at hlaakc@gmail.com. We’re happy to help!

See you on November 17!

Cochlear Implant Panel – THIS Saturday, Nov. 3!

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Ever wondered about the different types of cochlear implants? Have you ever considered getting one? Do you have one and want to know about the future of the CI technology?

You can find answers to all of these and more at our FREE CI Panel this Saturday, Nov. 3. We are pleased to present this event to the public to give the community a chance to learn more about CIs and the surgical process from renowned national and local resources.

The panel starts at 10am at KU Edwards Campus (12600 Quivira, Overland Park, KS 66213) in BEST 120. We’ll start serving complimentary refreshments at 9am – come early to enjoy free coffee and to meet new friends!

CART (real-time captioning) by 20/20 Captioning & Reporting and interpreting services from Able Hands will be available.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at hlaakc@gmail.com.

See you Saturday!

Who to visit and what to win at this weekend’s picnic!

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Our fourth annual summer picnic is coming up this weekend! Several professionals in the hearing loss field will be hosting booths with information about their services and will be on hand to answer questions and share their resources. Be sure to visit our wonderful vendors!

20/20 Captioning
Associated Audiologists
Deaf Cultural Center
Hamilton Relay and KS Telephone Assistance Program (TAP)
Hearing Loss Association of America – Kansas City Chapter
Hometown Hearing and Audiology
KS Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Kansas School for the Deaf
Med El
Meniere’s Resources, Inc
Midwest Master Loop
MO TAP
MO Vocational Rehabilitation
Omron Healthcare
ZVRS

This year, we are hosting our biggest raffle ever! Funds from the raffle will help send steering committee member Lucy Crabtree as the HLAA-KC delegate to the HLAA National Convention in Rhode Island. We look forward to learning from her experience when she returns! Extra funds from the raffle will also go toward equipment costs for our regular meetings and printing costs for promotional materials. Here are some of the amazing prizes up for grabs (donors are listed in parentheses):

Gift certificate for two free hours of sign language interpreting services (Able Hands Interpreting Services)
Custom iPod ear buds or custom solid hearing protection – winner’s choice! (Associated Audiologists)
Kansas School for the Deaf: A Pictorial History, 1861-2011 (Sandra Kelly, Deaf Cultural Center)
Milo hearing aid (Hometown Hearing and Audiology)
Autographed copy of the novel “Lip Reader,” by Shanna Groves (Shanna Groves)

“Silence,” an original painting by Daniel Pancy (Sherry Mason)

One year free membership to HLAA (Terri Shirley)
Switched at Birth DVD (Lucy Crabtree)
Mary Kay lotion set (Minda Nelson)
Applebee’s gift card (Hometown Hearing and Audiology)
Starbucks gift card (Minda Nelson)
Chipotle gift card (Minda Nelson)
Barnes and Noble gift card (Anna Rundle)
Best Buy gift card (Dennis Selznick)
Chiefs scarf (Dennis Selznick)
Sonic Alert alarm clocks (2) (Teltex, Inc)
Pocket Listenor (Teltex, Inc)

For more information about the picnic, please check out the Facebook event page or send us an email at hlaakc@gmail.com.

See you there!

Fourth Annual Summer Picnic – June 2, 2012!

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Join us for our fourth annual summer picnic at Shawnee Mission Park! Our biggest event of the year will offer FREE food and drinks, booths hosted by local organizations with hearing loss resources, and a chance to meet others in your community who are familiar with hearing loss. We have some awesome vendors lined up, including:

20/20 Captioning
Associated Audiologists
Hamilton Relay
KS Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Med El
MO Assitive Technology
Omron Healthcare

If you are interested in hosting a booth to share your resources with the hearing loss community, please email us at hlaakc@gmail.com no later than Friday, May 19. We’d love to have you!

This year, you will also have a chance to win some awesome raffle items, including:

Gift cards
Switched at Birth DVD
One year free membership to HLAA
… and more!

Funds from the raffle will help send steering committee member Lucy Crabtree as the HLAA-KC delegate to the HLAA National Convention in Rhode Island. We look forward to learning from her experience when she returns! Extra funds from the raffle will also go toward equipment costs for our regular meetings and printing costs for promotional materials. If you would like to donate an item to the raffle, please send an email to hlaakc@gmail.com and let us know by Friday, May 19.

Shawnee Mission Park rests on 1,236 acres and boasts a beautiful 120-acre lake and other exciting amenities such as nature trails, play areas, a disc golf course and an archery range! We look forward to hosting our picnic there and hope you’ll join us for the fun!

Dinner will be served at 5pm in Shelter #8. Meat, chips and drinks will be provided. Dessert and side dish contributions are welcome, but not required.

Please RSVP so we can be sure to have enough food for everyone! Either join the event on Facebook or send us an email at hlaakc@gmail.com.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Come see Gael Hannan in May!

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You’re at a restaurant or coffee shop. Your hearing aid, cochlear implant or other assititive listening device has fresh batteries. You’re in a prime lip reading spot: Your back is to the light, you’re facing your friend, you’re aware of the conversational topic. But try as you might, you just can’t understand your friend. You adjust your chair for a better view of her lips. You remove the centerpiece that partially blocks his face. Still, nothing. Sometimes, lip reading just doesn’t work. You can do everything right and still not understand the other person.

Our May speaker, Gael Hannan, understands this phenomenon all too well, and addresses it in her poem, “If I Could Move Your Lips For You,” as published in Hearing Health Matters:

If I could move your lips for you, I would.
We’ve been friends forever and I can read your emotions, easily.
But reading your words is tough because your lips don’t move,
Not much.
Friendships with new people, wonderful people, have not flourished
Under the strain of communication, but
You are my friend – I want to keep talking with you forever.

….

So whose fault is it – yours, mine or ours –
When for the ten thousandth time
I must ask you to repeat yourself?
I sense your invisible eye-rolling and sighing.
Immediately, I’m both apologetic and resentful

- excerpted from “If I Could Move Your Lips For You,” by Gael Hannan. Click here to read the poem in its entirety. A special thanks to our friend and HLAA member Sarah Mosher for sharing this poem with us!

Gael Hannan is a writer, actor and public speaker who grew up with a progressive hearing loss that is now severe-to-profound. We are excited for our upcoming seminar with Gael, who will be presenting on “The Masks of Hearing Loss: Bluffing 101.” Every person with hearing loss “bluffs,” pretending to understand what’s going on, even when they don’t. Some of us do it on occasion, while some of us move from one bluff moment to another! This amusing workshop looks at why and when we bluff, why we should or shouldn’t, and how we can ban the bluff in our lives.

We’ll be Skyping live with Gael on location on Saturday, May 5 at KU Edwards Campus, Regnier Hall, Room 153, 12600 Quivira Rd., Overland Park, KS 66213. CART (real-time captioning) will be provided by 20/20 Captioning.

Even if you have not yet RSVP’d, it is not too late to come! We’re excited to hear Gael speak and want everyone to have the opportunity to enjoy her humorous and engaging presentation! Please come – and bring your friends! You can find more information about this event on our Facebook page or by sending us an email at hlaakc@gmail.com.

See you there!

Reminder: RSVP for our upcoming events

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Don’t forget to RSVP by this Sunday, April 8, for two of our upcoming events: The Moon Marble Company tour and Gael Hannan’s presentation, “Bluffing 101.” Clicking on the links will take you to each event’s page on Facebook where you can click the “join” button to indicate that you will attend. You may also RSVP for these events by emailing us at hlaakc@gmail.com.

Moon Marble Company Tour
We will meet at the Moon Marble Company at 10:15 on Saturday, April 14, for an hour-long tour of the marble-making factory. All ages are welcome! Tickets are $6 per person, but children age 3 and under are free.

Gael Hannan – The Masks of Hearing Loss: Bluffing 101
On Saturday, May 5, we will be presenting a FREE seminar featuring Gael Hannan. Ms. Hannan is a writer, actor and public speaker who grew up with a progressive hearing loss that is now severe-to-profound. Her presentation, ”The Masks of Hearing Loss: Bluffing 101,” looks at why and when we bluff, why we should or shouldn’t, and how we can ban the bluff in our lives.

We’re looking forward to these events and hope to see you there!

Update on March events

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Thanks to everyone who came to our March 10 meeting! We were delighted to have Jeanette Christian from 20/20 Captioning present on CART and you can find the transcript of her presentation here. Thanks, Jeanette!

Our next event is Monday, March 19 at the Overland Park Fire Department Training Center. Click here for more information on the event. It’s not too late to let us know you’re coming, so send us an email if you plan to join us. Hope to see you there!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Church Services

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In light of the holiday season, we’ve compiled a brief list of area churches that will offer Christmas Eve and/or Christmas Day services that are accessible to the D/deaf and hard of hearing. We hope you find this list helpful as you make your holiday plans. If you know of any other churches that provide accessible holiday services, please let us know in the comments or send us an email at hlaakc@gmail.com. 

Happy Holidays!

-The HLAAKC Steering Committee

Captioned service

Olathe Bible Church
13700 W 151st Street
Olathe, KS 66062
Christmas Eve Servce: Saturday, Dec. 24  at 4:30pm
Christmas Day Service: Sunday, Dec. 25 at 10:30am
The first two front rows of the main auditorium are reserved for those utilizing the captions. 

Sign Language Interpreted Services

First Baptist Oak Grove
400 SE 14th Street
Oak Grove, MO 64075
Christmas Eve Service: Saturday, Dec. 24 at 6pm
Christmas Day: Sunday, Dec. 25 at 10am

Heartland Community Church
12175 S. Strang Line Rd.,
Olathe, KS 66062
Friday, Dec. 23 – 5 p.m.

Deaf International Community Church
Center of Grace
520 S. Harrison
Olathe, KS 66061
Christmas Eve Candlelight Service: Saturday, Dec. 24 at 6:30pm
Christmas Program: Sunday, Dec. 25 at 10am
*Services are conducted in ASL with voice interpretation

Overland Park Church of Christ
13400 W. 119th St.
Overland Park, KS 66213
Christmas Day, Dec. 25 at 8:15am
Deaf-led service in ASL with voice interpretation at 10:45am

St. Paul Catholic Church
900 S. Honeysuckle
Olathe, KS 66061
Christmas Eve Midnight Mass: Saturday, Dec. 24 at midnight
Reserved seating for the D/deaf in the front of the church on the north side; arrive 25-30 minutes early as the church will probably be full


The content provided in this post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement by HLAA-KC or HLAA.

A peek into 2012

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I have a confession to make. As much as I was looking forward to our holiday party last week, I was tempted to talk myself out of going. It was raining that day. I was cold and tired. I didn’t want to drive that far. Would the restaurant be too loud? What if my white elephant gift is too silly? I’m a little self-conscious about the way I sign.

But something that I have learned with my hearing loss is that sometimes, I just have to do things even when I think I’ll be uncomfortable. How else will I grow? What amazing experiences am I missing out on when I choose isolation over activity? So I went to the party and as always, had a wonderful time! It refreshes me to be around other people with hearing loss because I know they get it. We might not all use the same methods of communication but we always find a way to chat and connect with each other.

So thank you SO MUCH to everyone who braved the rain and the distance and even the unknown to party with us! We had a great turnout at Carino’s at The Legends and I enjoyed seeing so many new faces – I hope we’ll see even more of each other in 2012!

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Our next formal meeting will be Saturday, Jan. 21 from 10:30am-12pm at the Plaza Library in Kansas City, Mo. Our goal for these workshop-style settings is to bring in members and professionals in the deaf and hard of hearing communities to present on topics of interest to those with hearing loss. We have CART available at each meeting and transcripts of past presentations are available under our White Papers tab at the top of this page. Keep an eye on the blog and your email inbox for more details about our January meeting.

We also plan social events each month and our next social event will be Thursday, Jan. 26 from 6:30pm-8:30pm at the Central Resource Library in Overland Park, Kan. Sarah Mosher and Alex Vetor will be leading a beginning sign language class for those who are interested in learning sign language or in brushing up on their signing skills.

So mark your calendars, people, because we want to see more of you soon! We hope you can make it to our January events and as always, if you have any questions or comments, you can email us at hlaakc@gmail.com. You can also find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Have a safe and happy holiday season!

Upcoming HLAA webinars

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At our last formal meeting in November, Dennis and I led a discussion on how to manage your hearing loss during the holidays. At the national level, HLAA hosted a webinar on the same topic just a few days before our meeting and if you missed that excellent presentation, you can read the transcript or replay the webinar.

The next webinar is Thursday, Dec. 8 at 6pm CST. Brad Ingrao, Au.D., will be discussing “Basic Acoustics and Electronics.” (Click link to register) From the website: “People with hearing loss are dependent on the electronics in their hearing devices as well as the physics of sound (acoustics) of every room they listen in. This webinar will describe the basics of both acoustics and electronics as they relate to hearing loss and hearing technology.”

For a complete list of upcoming webinars, please visit the webinar schedule at hearingloss.org. For more information on what a webinar is and how to register for one, visit the webinar page.

October Social – Coffee and Chat Night!

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Our October social is coming up! You are invited to join us at the Black Dog Coffeehouse (12815 W 87th St. Pkwy, Lenexa, KS 66215) on Monday, Oct. 24, from 7pm-9pm. We’ll just hang out, grab a cup of joe (or tea or hot chocolate or an Italian soda or a scone or…) and get to know each other better. It’s a great and informal way to meet new friends and learn a little bit more about HLAA-KC!

This event is open to the public, so feel free to bring a friend or 12 – the more the merrier!

Hope to see you there!

New monthly social events

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When the steering committee met this summer to discuss our plans for 2011-2012, we decided to make some minor changes to our scheduling. Normally, we alternate between meeting at the Plaza library for formal presentations and having social events that are more casual.

However, this year, we decided to add regular social events so instead of having those every other month, we will be planning something fun to do every month! We want to vary the locations of our monthly social events, so if you know of something fun going on in your neighborhood, please let us know! In June, several of us met at the Nelson Art Gallery to enjoy some culture. In July, we went to Crown Center for their free Friday Night Flick – the awesome people at Crown Center turned the subtitles on so we were able to enjoy Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone with the rest of the Kansas Citians who came.

This Saturday, August 13, we are headed to the Shatto Milk Farm in Osborn, MO for a tour. The tour begins at 10am and a sign language interpreter will be provided by Nexus Interpreting. Check out the event on our Facebook page for more information – hope to see you there!

We will continue to have our formal meetings every other month. Our next formal meeting is Saturday, Sept. 17 at 10:30am at the Plaza Library. We will have two guest speakers sharing about hearing loss in the medical profession. You can find more about our upcoming events on our new Events page.

As always, if you have any questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact us – we’re happy to answer any questions and are always open to ideas to how we can expand our advocacy and education efforts in Kansas City. You can links to our Facebook page and Twitter feed to the right and our email address is hlaakc@gmail.com.

Have a great week and hope to see you at Shatto this Saturday!

Cinemark gave me the freedom to choose

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When I was a child, I didn’t have a lot of options when it came to my hearing loss. I could only choose from the few analog hearing aids available. Going to see a movie in the theater was the stuff my dreams were made of. Talking on the phone was out of the question. I could only be accommodated as much as technology would allow.

Today, I get to choose. My hearing aids have gone digital, my CapTel phone gives me the freedom to chat and – at long last – my movie dreams are being fulfilled. I heard that Cinemark added a new closed captioning device called CaptiView to their Plaza location and decided to give it a try. My friend and I went to an evening showing of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. We ordered our tickets and received the equipment without incident (though one of the employees didn’t seem quite sure what we were asking for… the manager came along and helped us out, though).

I didn’t get a chance to take a picture while the movie was playing, but I did snap this one after the movie was over. This is the CaptiView screen:

The screen attaches to a bendable “neck” which is connected to a solid “anchor” that fits in your cup holder. If you’ve ever used Rear Window Captioning (RWC), the general design is similar. Unlike RWC, the CaptiView system is much steadier – the screen mostly stayed in one place when I adjusted it. However, the anchor part had a hard time staying in the cup holder – I think the CaptiView could use a minor redesign so that the screen part isn’t heavier than the anchor. I ended up holding the anchor in place so I could enjoy the movie without moving the screen every few seconds.

The captions run on a different technology than RWC and do not reflect captions from a screen at the back of the theater the way that RWC does. Instead, the captions run on a “wireless band frequency” and I will tell you right now that means nothing to this former English major. ;-) What it does mean is that I did not have to sit in a specific area of the auditorium in order to reflect any captions – I got to choose where I wanted to sit!

The CaptiView screen is not very large, less than a foot wide and a few inches tall (I hope you appreciate my precise measurements there… again, former English major. I don’t speak numbers.). There are three slants that divide each line of dialogue. The CaptiView information sheet explains that this is to ensure privacy and minimize disruption for neighboring patrons. The slants did not bother me too much but because the CaptiView would tilt slowly (even while I was holding the anchor), the slants would obscure some of the text, so I would have to fidget with the screen every now and then.

The text itself was easy to read and I was able to (mostly) position the CaptiView device so that it was, from my perspective, right underneath the screen. While following the movie wasn’t quite as effortless as it would have been with open captions (seeing all the action and dialogue on the same screen), it still was a much more seamless experience than my past encounters with RWC technology. The text size was not an issue for me, but it was definitely much smaller than open captions or TV captions are. Some people may find it helpful to bring their reading glasses or be prepared to adjust the screen so that it is closer or further away.

When we dropped off the devices after the movie, I was able to chat briefly with one of the customer service representatives. She confirmed that the Plaza location has eight CaptiView devices and – my favorite part – ANY movie that is offered in digital format is available with captions (the only caveat is that 3D movies are currently not available with captions)! This means any movie, any showing (just be sure you are looking at the digital showings and not the standard format showings)… can you hear the Hallelujah Chorus right now?! Because I certainly can! :)

There were, however, a few downsides and some of them just boil down to my personal preference and perception. I’m not crazy about the extra work required for someone who is deaf or hard of hearing to see a movie. Requesting the equipment sometimes creates an awkward exchange if the employee behind the counter isn’t sure what you’re talking about. Walking through the theater with the device and then fidgeting in my seat to adjust the screen draws a bit of attention and I’m a shy lady… so feeling a few more eyes on me is not the most comfortable experience. I found it hard to get “lost” in the movie because I kept flickering back and forth between the CaptiView and the movie screen and had to adjust it every once in a while… I had to think about what was going on in the movie AND whether or not I was getting all the information. I’m still pining for the days of open captions, but I think that the CaptiView system is a valiant effort to fill the gap between RWC and open captions.

Overall, I had a good experience with Cinemark and CaptiView and would definitely go again because I have so many more options… I’m still trying to wrap my head around any movie, any time! :)

If you’re interested in seeing a movie at Cinemark on the Plaza, you can check their website, give them a call at 816-756-5877 or email them at E271@cinemark.com.

Local fire departments offer free smoke detectors

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(photo credit)

I have a smoke detector with a strobe light in my apartment now and I promise it works effectively… do not ask me how I know this. It is definitely not because I tend to burn food or do silly things like put wax paper in the oven. Nope, not me! ;)

I’ll be moving across town in a few weeks and when I told my new landlord that I would need a smoke detector with a visual alert, she happily and graciously agreed. I thought I would have to do all the legwork and research and procure the device myself, but she beat me to the punch and got one from the fire department!

I’m thankful to have such a thoughtful landlord but you don’t need a landlord to get a free smoke detector with a strobe light. Simply contact your local fire department and ask about smoke detectors for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Kansas City, KS Fire Department
Overland Park, KS Fire Department
Kansas City, MO Fire Department