exactly how 5% of the world feels and
that 5% is why I’m here today
I have tons to talk about but I’m only
gonna tell you a few of the most
important things you should know I am a
coda
which stands for child of deaf adults
and the biggest question I get is how do
I speak so well well first of all my
parents were very involved in making
sure that I didn’t feel left out or that
they would hold me back just because
they were deaf so they brought me to
speech therapy arranged tons of
playdates and encouraged me to read tons
of books so now that you know a little
bit more about me let me elaborate on
what you’re probably thinking there has
to be a difference between me and a
normal child okay so there’s one thing I
can think of the average kid hates going
to parent-teacher conferences well I was
usually at most of them because I had to
interpret good thing I was a good noodle
we have been socialized to think that
everyone we encounter will speak as I
was growing up and I introduced my
parents I was shocked at people’s
reactions they would just apologize to
me say my life must be sad or weird and
ultimately I would just get nervous and
embarrassed because who wants to be
different in today’s society and this is
what my TED talk is all about in our
society we’ve created this narrative of
the deaf community as uneducated a bad
kind of different and that they have low
jobs being deaf is a disability but it’s
an incapability in fact there have been
many notable deaf persons throughout
history for all the girls listening
today
Juliette Lowe was the founder of Girl
Scouts and for all the boys who love
superheroes Lou Ferrigno played the Hulk
in the original series and personally my
parents have shown me that anyone can do
anything the desire they were the first
Brazilians to graduate from Gallaudet
University and together they run and
founded an international business my
dad was also the first to bring Brazil
the tty system which is a system that
allows the Deaf to communicate through
typing messages back and forth almost
like a typewriter
despite their accomplishments the deaf
community struggles with society’s views
and structure a few weeks ago on the
news there is a family from California a
deaf family who barely escaped the
unforgiving flames of the California
wildfire
they were sleeping unbothered unaware
and separated from the rest of the world
that was vocally alarming all the
residents to evacuate immediately this
is just one example of what the deaf
community goes through and I want to
find these solutions as a business major
I’m always thinking of unique invention
that will forever change the world or
make me a millionaire
on that note technology has been a
breakthrough it has expanded the human
knowledge mind and capacity according to
Forbes magazine the top incredible
technologies have changed the world
where self-driving vehicles voice
interface technology such as new Google
home Alexa blockchain which is the
technology underlying Bitcoin 3d
printers and micro service architectures
as you can see anyone can attest the
fact that our hearing world is booming
with technology yet the same cannot be
said for the deaf world we have been
inventing and developing technologies
for multitude of reasons that all seem
to make our lives better but some
problems especially for the Deaf go
beyond recognition now how do you
contact your doctor your plumber or your
child’s teacher you just call them right
you pick up the phone dial the number
and you call them now how do you watch
Netflix watch YouTube or check your
email the answer is one word that anyone
in the world would know Wi-Fi now what
if your Wi-Fi decided to shut down in
the middle of your Netflix series what
do you do simple you call them pick up
the phone dial the number and you speak
to them however a deaf person is very
limited to their options in fact the one
and only sister
they have to call on is the video relay
service which allows a deaf to call in
to an interpreting service who then
speaks the phone user essentially it’s
the middleman between the person on the
phone and the deaf person this video
relay service only uses Wi-Fi the
problem doesn’t just lie and the lack
the technology is great but it requires
a human component interpreters something
that is often brushed off when a deaf
person requires an interpreter whenever
my parents would arrange a doctor’s
appointment I would usually have to tag
along to tag along to interpret even
though they scheduled their appointment
almost three months in advance so that
interpreter would be present the
unfortunate reality is that there’s not
enough assistance readily available or
enough individuals who care enough to
take the priority to understanding that
interpreting for the Deaf is very
important doctors are supposed to be
there for us they’re supposed to help us
but for some reason the Deaf is always
left out their appointments ended up
consisting of notes back and forth to
each other which often doesn’t get the
message across and leaves a lot unsaid
the problem doesn’t lie with just the
lack of interpretation but also the lack
of relaying the information accurately
recently during a police conference they
found out the interpreter present was a
fraud the access to information is a
basic human right and when there isn’t
enough people to relay that information
accurately the Deaf falls behind this
fake interpreter shows that we don’t
hold the same standard for the Deaf
today we talked about my life growing up
in society’s perceptions of it being
difficult the technologies for the Deaf
and how interpreting is very important I
hope that you all adopt that not
everything the same is the same for a
deaf person but it’s not any less of a
life nobody should feel left out not the
not a cent a sec thank you [Applause]