Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 7
UR's Pollard is voice of health for the deaf | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle
Robert Pollard has a bit of Alfred Hitchcock in him.
Hitchcock, known as the Master of Suspense, challenged viewers to spot his cameo appearances in films such as The Birds and Lifeboat.
Pollard also takes a secondary role in his works, one that's hidden from his audience. The director of the Deaf Wellness Center at the University of Rochester Medical Center, Pollard has directed 17 videos and films over several years that teach viewers about health topics, including asthma, depression and lead poisoning.
Pollard features deaf people from the community using American Sign Language to discuss the topic. The films have captions and voiceovers, and Pollard often casts himself as the voice of the male lead.
Because the videos are created primarily for people who are deaf, many viewers will never know Pollard was there.
The two most recent videos, Flu Guidance for Deaf Adults and Flu Guidance for Deaf Parents, went on the seasonal influenza page of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website in August and are scheduled to be up for several weeks. The videos were funded by a supplemental contract from the CDC to the National Center for Deaf Health Research at URMC. Since they have been up, the videos have more than 3,000 views.
Jeff Dimond, a CDC spokesman, said that the story format is an effective way to teach because it teaches while entertaining.
Dimond, who is hearing, said that people without a disability often aren't aware that what they take for granted can inconvenience a person who does have a disability. "(Pollard) has gone back and said, wait a minute, we need to make sure we are not leaving this group behind. We have to pay attention to their needs."
Pollard, who holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, learned ASL as an adult. He didn't start out with big- or small-screen aspirations, just the desire to work with deaf people. He said that the 10- to 15-minute videos and the hour-long films fill in the gaps that some deaf people may have about health topics.
"You don't have access to the radio or overhearing conversation," said the 51-year-old. Deaf people also may have trouble seeing a doctor if an interpreter is not available. "There's a lot of health information that doesn't reach deaf people." In some of his videos, actors have explained the concept of a virus and what dust mites are.
Mindy Hopper, Pollard's leading lady, wrote in an e-mail that most deaf people are visual learners, and that gaps in knowledge are filled in by incidental or conceptual learning and by piecing together important information. One of the challenges of the videos is translating health material written in English into concepts that can be expressed in the ways that deaf people use ASL. "When I act, I try to think about those D/deaf who opt to watch the video in ASL ... and try to visualize a D/deaf person who would be having access to this health information for the first time in their natural language."
Hopper, 50, of Henrietta said she never aspired to be an actor but did have parts in two plays. She met Pollard through events in the deaf community years ago.
"I assume he thought my signing style was a good fit for film," she wrote. She explained that signing style is analogous to voice quality for hearing people.
In addition to being in ASL, the videos or films include aspects of deaf culture — videophones, mention of the Americans with Disabilities Act, deaf clubs. The stories are written by the staff at the Deaf Wellness Center. The facts come from health education materials and are used to set a scene in which the topic comes up as a matter of conversation.
"In deaf culture, information is best conveyed through dialogue, not monologue," Pollard said. He has used a more traditional informational style in public service announcements on depression that feature the nationally known Linda Bove, who starred in Sesame Street and played Fonzie's girlfriend on Happy Days.
Anthony Di Giovanni, 39, of Irondequoit said that the story style gives the videos authenticity.
"It's more enjoyable to watch two deaf people have a conversation," he said through the video relay service. "It's more realistic compared to watching a person trying to broadcast, or a talking head giving information."
Di Giovanni, director of business operations for Rochester School for the Deaf, said that being deaf can make it harder to get health information. He has used the Internet but found it frustrating to read page after page and then get directed from site to site.
While the video topics are not exhaustive, he said that they do provide ready access to important issues. "It's clear, the information is in our native language, all of us can relate to it," he said.
Robert Pollard has a bit of Alfred Hitchcock in him.
Hitchcock, known as the Master of Suspense, challenged viewers to spot his cameo appearances in films such as The Birds and Lifeboat.
Pollard also takes a secondary role in his works, one that's hidden from his audience. The director of the Deaf Wellness Center at the University of Rochester Medical Center, Pollard has directed 17 videos and films over several years that teach viewers about health topics, including asthma, depression and lead poisoning.
Pollard features deaf people from the community using American Sign Language to discuss the topic. The films have captions and voiceovers, and Pollard often casts himself as the voice of the male lead.
Because the videos are created primarily for people who are deaf, many viewers will never know Pollard was there.
The two most recent videos, Flu Guidance for Deaf Adults and Flu Guidance for Deaf Parents, went on the seasonal influenza page of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website in August and are scheduled to be up for several weeks. The videos were funded by a supplemental contract from the CDC to the National Center for Deaf Health Research at URMC. Since they have been up, the videos have more than 3,000 views.
Jeff Dimond, a CDC spokesman, said that the story format is an effective way to teach because it teaches while entertaining.
Dimond, who is hearing, said that people without a disability often aren't aware that what they take for granted can inconvenience a person who does have a disability. "(Pollard) has gone back and said, wait a minute, we need to make sure we are not leaving this group behind. We have to pay attention to their needs."
Pollard, who holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, learned ASL as an adult. He didn't start out with big- or small-screen aspirations, just the desire to work with deaf people. He said that the 10- to 15-minute videos and the hour-long films fill in the gaps that some deaf people may have about health topics.
"You don't have access to the radio or overhearing conversation," said the 51-year-old. Deaf people also may have trouble seeing a doctor if an interpreter is not available. "There's a lot of health information that doesn't reach deaf people." In some of his videos, actors have explained the concept of a virus and what dust mites are.
Mindy Hopper, Pollard's leading lady, wrote in an e-mail that most deaf people are visual learners, and that gaps in knowledge are filled in by incidental or conceptual learning and by piecing together important information. One of the challenges of the videos is translating health material written in English into concepts that can be expressed in the ways that deaf people use ASL. "When I act, I try to think about those D/deaf who opt to watch the video in ASL ... and try to visualize a D/deaf person who would be having access to this health information for the first time in their natural language."
Hopper, 50, of Henrietta said she never aspired to be an actor but did have parts in two plays. She met Pollard through events in the deaf community years ago.
"I assume he thought my signing style was a good fit for film," she wrote. She explained that signing style is analogous to voice quality for hearing people.
In addition to being in ASL, the videos or films include aspects of deaf culture — videophones, mention of the Americans with Disabilities Act, deaf clubs. The stories are written by the staff at the Deaf Wellness Center. The facts come from health education materials and are used to set a scene in which the topic comes up as a matter of conversation.
"In deaf culture, information is best conveyed through dialogue, not monologue," Pollard said. He has used a more traditional informational style in public service announcements on depression that feature the nationally known Linda Bove, who starred in Sesame Street and played Fonzie's girlfriend on Happy Days.
Anthony Di Giovanni, 39, of Irondequoit said that the story style gives the videos authenticity.
"It's more enjoyable to watch two deaf people have a conversation," he said through the video relay service. "It's more realistic compared to watching a person trying to broadcast, or a talking head giving information."
Di Giovanni, director of business operations for Rochester School for the Deaf, said that being deaf can make it harder to get health information. He has used the Internet but found it frustrating to read page after page and then get directed from site to site.
While the video topics are not exhaustive, he said that they do provide ready access to important issues. "It's clear, the information is in our native language, all of us can relate to it," he said.