News from the Deaf Wellness Center

Updated 1-5-2012

Revamped DC-S Area of Website

We have completely revamped the sections of our website dealing with the Demand Control Schema for Interpreting (DC-S). To beging exploring these new pages, click on the Demand Control Schema link at left.

Partner Violence Research Project

The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, a branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,awarded the DWC a $1.2M grant to study intimate partner violence (IPV) affecting the Deaf community. This three-year project, now in its second year, is investigating characteristics of IPV perpetrators who are involved in relationships where one or both partners are deaf and communicate via American Sign Language. The project also examines IPV behaviors that are associated with the greater risk of injury. Dr. Robert Pollard, Director of the DWC, is leading the project. The project involves a series of 90 in-depth interviews with: 1) individuals who provide services to deaf IPV perpetrators or victims, 2) deaf IPV victims/survivors, and 3) individuals who have perpetrated violence in a relationship where one or both partners is a deaf ASL-user. We are now in phase 2 of the study, interviewing IPV victims/survivors. The study team will compare their findings with information regarding IPV perpetrators gained from studies of hearing perpetrators and victims.

Read more about this study or volunteer as a research subject.

View further information regarding ongoing grant-supported projects at the Deaf Wellness Center.

Recent Publications

  • Fellinger, J., Holzinger, D. & Pollard, R.  (in press).  Mental health of deaf people.  Lancet. 
  • Dean, R. K. & Pollard, R. Q  (in press).  Beyond “interesting”:  Using demand control schema to structure experiential learning.  In K. Malcolm and L. Swabey (Eds.).  In our Hands: Educating Healthcare Interpreters.  Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press.
  • Dean, R. K., Pollard, R. Q & Samar, V. J.  (2011).  Occupational health risks in different interpreting work settings:  Special concerns for VRS and K-12 settings.  Across the Board (quarterly publication of the Australian Sign Language Interpreters Association), 6(3), 4-8.
  • Leigh, I. W. & Pollard, R. Q   (2011).  Mental health and deaf adults.  In M. Marschark & P. E. Spencer (Eds.).  Oxford handbook of deaf studies, language, and education, 2nd ed. (pp. 214-226).  New York:  Oxford University Press.
  • Barnett, S., Klein, J. D., Pollard, R. Q Jr., Samar, V., Schlehofer, D., Starr, M., Sutter, E., Yang, H. & Pearson, T. A.  (2011).  Community participatory research with deaf sign language users to identify health inequities.  American Journal of Public Health, 101(12), 2235-2238.
  • Dean, R. K. & Pollard, R. Q  (2011).  Context-based ethical reasoning in interpreting:  A demand control schema perspective.  Interpreter and Translator Trainer, 5(1), 155-182. 
  • O’Hearn, A., Pollard, R. & Haynes, S.  (2010).  Dialectical behavior therapy for deaf clients:  Cultural and linguistic modifications for outpatient mental health settings.  In I. Leigh (Ed.).  Psychotherapy with Deaf Clients from  Diverse Groups  (2nd ed.) (pp. 372-392).  New York:  Oxford University Press.

Copies of these and other DWC publications are available from Robert Pollard.

View all our available publications.

ASL FLU Films Produced for the CDC

Under contract from the CDC, the Deaf Wellness Center completed two films about flu prevention and treatment, one geared toward deaf adults, the other geared toward deaf parents (regarding their children). Both films can be viewed on YouTube (search for "Deaf Wellness Center") as well as on the CDC's website. Both films feature deaf characters conversing in ASL and both films have English voice-over and captions. You can view the YouTube versions here:

Upcoming Lectures and Workshops

February 10, 2012, Buffalo Psychiatric Center, Buffalo, NY
8:00 - 9:30 a.m.
"Serving Deaf Patients: Understanding Normalcy and Psychopathology"
with Robert Pollard

5th World Congress on Mental Health and Deafness
May 21-26, Monterey, Mexico
"Results of the American Consensus Planning Conference on Research Priorities in the Deaf Mental Health Field" (plenary keynote)
"A Potpourri of Innovations from the Deaf Wellness Center" (6 hour workshop)
both with Robert Pollard
For schedule and other conference information, see: 5th World Conference Website

Contact Information

Videophone (for voice callers or VP users)

  • 866-637-7314 or
  • 585-286-5041

Telephone

  • 585-275-6785 (voice or TTY)
  • 585-273-1117 (fax)

Location

300 Crittenden Blvd.
Rochester, NY 14642

Maps & Directions