I’m from New York City, and my parents still live there, so I was watching the news coverage of Sandy all evening and all night to see if I could tell if they’d be okay. So while watching the coverage, I couldn’t help but notice how delightfully entertaining and animated Mayor Bloomberg’s ASL interpreter was! I thought it might be a bit silly or snarky to write about her that night, as the gravity of the situation was pretty heavy. But apparently I’m not the only one who noticed.
There was an article on Yahoo! today about her, and how much everyone enjoyed her translation. Her name is Lydia Callis, and a lot of people have sat up and taken notice of her. She was so wonderfully animated, it seemed like dancing and comedy at times. It was a nice bit of informative levity and encouragement, and I think she’s the first ASL interpreter who stole the show at a press conference I’ve ever heard of. I’ll attach a video of her from the other night below. But in tough times, even little bits of sunshine can help a lot, and she was definitely a ray of sunshine on a dangerous and catastrophically stormy night.
Now, I don’t watch Sesame Street much anymore, as I’m an adult, but they really should get her to be a guest on the show and teach sign language to the kids. (Maybe they already do this?) She could make it seem like a game, rather than just another boring lesson, and kids love to learn through games. Think of how many kids could get interested in ASL and serving the community in other ways through her appearances on shows like Sesame Street!
Here’s a video of her signing for the Mayor during Hurricane Sandy:
And here’s that Yahoo! Shine news story:
