leigh ann – Modcast — Accessibility, Literature, and Mustachios

Silent Storytellers: Mime Performance vs. Signed Literature

By S. Leigh Ann Cowan Contrary to some assumptions, mime and sign language are not the same. Perhaps what people are noticing is one major similarity between mime performances and signed languages such as American Sign Language (ASL): Both are visual methods of communicating ideas. That’s about all they have in common. The key difference?Continue reading “Silent Storytellers: Mime Performance vs. Signed Literature”

Poem: “Lip-Reading” by Leigh Ann

4 by 3 grid showing different cartoon mouth shapes for English phonemes. Top left to right: A, E, I; then an O shape; then a mouth labeled C, D, N, S, T, X, Y, Z; and a mouth for G, K. Second row: a shape for L; then a pair of pressed lips for B, M, P; then a mouth for F, V; then a mouth for Ee. Bottom row: mouth shape showing the T-H sound; then a mouth for C-H, J, and Sh; then one for U; and last for Q and W.

It’s like putting together a jigsaw puzzle With no reference picture and, sometimes, With no edge pieces. I stare hard at moving lips, always a phoneme (or two, or three, or four) behind the conversation, While my brain plays the matching game With puzzle pieces that constantly change Colors and shapes and get lost among Continue reading “Poem: “Lip-Reading” by Leigh Ann”