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Yes, indeed, ladies and gentlemen, it's on! It's on like the one and only Keith Wann!

Y'all wave your hands. Look who's on. It's the CODA Man Keith, and he's Number Wann!

Now, you might think Wann's youth was sad, because he had a Deaf dear mummy and dad. But that ain't the case. It wasn't his fate. No, the Wanns never struggled to communicate! Wann don't trip, man. Never had a choice. So he transformed hands right into great voice. Deaf Brother Wann make many peeps laugh. Now the kids want to get Wann hot autograph!

Y'all wave your hands. Look who's on! It's the CODA Man Keith, and he's Number Wann!

Welcome to That Keith Wann Show! Like the song says, Keith's parents were Deaf, but that hasn't slowed him down one bit. He's a comedian, writer, ASL expert, and he is the CODA Man. From YouTube to the movies, Keith Wann is on. And now it's time for That Keith Wann Show on Toginet.com. Keith is all about building cultural bridges that enhance understanding and establish trust between communities. Guests will include ASL performing artists, interpreters, teachers, and other ASL community members. Listen with an open mind and willingness to learn, and help with a cultural bridge. It's That Keith Wann Show on Toginet.com. And now here's your host, Keith Wann!

Number, Number Wann. Keith's Number Wann.
KEITH: This is the favorite part of my show where I get to say happybirthday. Happy birthday, Marlene. Now that we've got that done,Wink, how you are doing?
WINDELL: I am doing well.
KEITH: I am excited. Today is another historical day. As you know,we have a guest on our show that I've been working the last two --pretty much I started this show and I had a list of people I wanted toget. And our guest today is one of them, as you know. You see myboard here in front of you.
WINDELL: Your dream board?
KEITH: Is that what they call it? What's a bucket list?
WINDELL: Stuff that you wanna do before you get married, I think.
KEITH: Is it married or died?
WINDELL: I'm pretty sure it's the same thing.
KEITH: I jumped out of a plane. What list is that?
WINDELL: The jumping out of a plan list.
KEITH: You're not... Conan O'Brian has better help. I'm a littlesad. We're gonna take a break after this show. We're gonna do thisshow and take a couple weeks off, maybe a month off, and then you andI are just traveling too much. We don't have time to come in thestudio here and do the ASL videos.
WINDELL: Yeah. But it does take time to recover after a vasectomy.
We have to...
KEITH: Is that your bucket list? Nice... Um... We all need goals.Oy. So you know... Growing up... You and I are both CODAs. I wish...There's things on TV now that I wish we would have had when I wasgrowing up. One I think it would have given more credibility to meand my parents. I don't know if that's the right word. The right wayI'm trying to go. Growing up as a kid in the '70s and '80s, youknow, people back then asked stupid and silly questions. Your parents are Deaf? La la la. A CODA who is born today, or who's a teenagernow... They have so much support out there. They have -- well, one,they don't have to interpret for their parents anymore. They have theVRS system, they have TTYs, which are outdated, they have the closedcaptions. Everywhere you go. And now on TV, there's programs thatpromote Sign Language. For me, I had, what, Linda Bove on SesameStreet. Out of an hour segment, they would fit the Deaf lady therefor 2 minutes. I always thought... Where's the interpreter? How arethey able to understand what she's saying? I never could figure itout. But I'm excited today to talk with Rachel Coleman from signingtime. Rachel, how are you doing?
RACHEL: Great!
KEITH: I'm a little sad you weren't around when I was growing up.
RACHEL: Well, I was, but I was growing up too.
KEITH: Couldn't you have had a Deaf daughter when you were younger?
RACHEL: No, I grew up in the '70s and '80s as well. So it tooktime to get married, have kids, find out she was Deaf, and createsigning time.
WINDELL: Did you do everything on your bucket list before you gotmarried?
RACHEL: I did a lot of things on my bucket list before I got married.But not all of them.
KEITH: Before we go into Signing Time, let's go into your background.I believe you were a music artist first.
RACHEL: Yeah. I'm a singer/songwriter. And I played locally in SaltLake City, performed with a number of bands, went to college to becomea nurse because I wanted to make a difference and help people, andthen I dropped out of college to be a musician. Because I'm terribleat math. So that all happened. And I gave myself a year after Idropped out of college to become a musician. I didn't want to justdrop out and not... I don't know. I mean, how many people -- everyone
drops out of college to be a musician, kind of, is the thing. So Isaid I'm only dropping out for a year. And by the end of that year,I'd recorded with two local bands, I had my own album, and my band hadbeen flown to San Diego to be the pool party band on a Disney special,made for a movie.
So by the end of that year, I was like... I'm doing all right. MaybeI'll do this music thing.
KEITH: I dropped out of high school to make ASL YouTube videos. Nothigh school. College, I guess.
WINDELL: I dropped out of kindergarten, I think. It was just toohard.
RACHEL: Perfect. Yeah, not the best. When I tell my kids, I'm like-- you know, you don't have to go to college to be successful. And Ithink that's a different conversation than most parents have.
KEITH: I'm sure you know this. But you are like a rock star amongthe signing community. When I announced you were gonna be our guest-- we usually announce the guests with two or three weeks' advancenotice. I just posted this Monday. And Twitter and Facebook prettymuch just blew up. I got so many emails. You have a huge fan baseout there. How does that make you feel?
RACHEL: With the internet and just... Everything... You're connected,but it's so separate. And really, like, the day-to-day life ofours... I just got the girls out the door, and Aaron and I... We'rehanging out here in the living room. And I put Lucy on the bus. Andour real day to day life... That stuff doesn't show up. I go toCostco, and if I'm in flip-flops and cut offs and no makeup,inevitably, someone will come up to me and go... Oh my gosh. Are youRachel Coleman? Note to self. Rachel, it's been 10 years. Putmakeup on when you go out in public. But it surprises me. I'm alwaysshocked when people recognize us. Just completely shocked.
I love it, because there's nothing better than people coming up andsaying -- wow, you've made this difference. You've impacted ourchild. Or whatever their disability was, that affected communication,or they just started signing before they could speak, but... It's suchan acknowledgment of the long journey, and just the parenting lifesurprises that we've had. It's... I don't think I really grasp howvast it is, honestly. I don't think I could. You know? I think itwould be overwhelming.
KEITH: Right. And I'm serious. If there would have been a programlike this when I was growing up... I think your program helps... Idon't know if the world is normalize, but it just... Back then, whenmy friends are asking me all these questions, I could have said -- youknow what? Just watch this program. And you'll see how normal SignLanguage is. You made it mainstream. You helped make it mainstream.
RACHEL: Well, thank you. I take it very seriously. Like, it's quitea responsibility. And I don't know if people even imagine that.Like, before a shoot, I am stressing out. I wasn't even supposed tobe in the show, number one. Alex and Lia were supposed to carry theshow. And Alex was 2 when we started filming, and Lia was four. Andby the time we were done, he had turned 3. And we have an editedversion where they hosted the show. They were terrible. They were 3and 4. What do you expect? They just couldn't model the signs well.So really it was signing time with Alex and Lia. That was theoriginal show. And when we watched it, Alex is my nephew. Lia is mydaughter. Lia is Deaf. Alex is Hearing. I'm assuming that noteverybody knows what we're talking about. So just backing up a littlebit there. My sister Emily, when we watched the edit -- that's Alex's
mom. She said you're in the show. I'm like... No, I'm not. I hadsuch stage fright. I was horrified at the thought. And she was like-- no, you're in. You're Lia's mom. You have to do this. So I camein to be the sign model for the first episode. If you saw theoriginal episode, where I'm not in orange, I look as horrified as Iam. Because of the responsibility.
We created it, because... We were frustrated with how few people couldcommunicate with Lia. You know? So Lia's Deaf, and we found out shewas Deaf when she was a year old. And she was being left out more and
more by the time she was 4 years old. When you're 1 and you're Deaf,no one cares. 1-year-olds -- it doesn't matter. You play withwhoever you're near with. When you're 4 and you're Deaf, it wasdifferent. As a mom, it was breaking my heart to watch her being leftout more and more. And I realized that just a couple signs made thedifference between a child completely writing Lia off and beingcuriously excited to communicate with her.
KEITH: Right. And before we dive into Signing Time -- as a parentnow who signs, I'm sure you're approached all the time by Deaf peoplewho say -- I wished my parents signed. As Wink and I travel around,we meet a lot of peopleharbor... Certain feelings against theirparents. Saying they never learned to sign with me. Do you ever getasked to speak on that subject? To talk about that? To help convinceall these other Hearing parents out there to learn Sign Language?
RACHEL: I present and I speak all the time. That's my favorite thingto do. And also through my Facebook fan page and through Twittermentor and coach a lot of people, and when I'm doing signing timeconcerts, there's always a meet and greet afterwards. People line upand share their stories and ask me for advice. We heard the samething. When we found out Lia was Deaf, we were able to get a Deafmentor, a woman who came to our home 1 to 2 hours every week, andteach us ASL. It was voices off, sink or swim. And that was the besttool that we were given.
She was a Grandma. Her name was Diane. Her husband was Deaf. Someof her grandkids were Deaf. And we were able to ask her everything.And she really got us involved in the Deaf community, and as we met
Deaf adults, that was the recurring complaint. My parents neverlearned to sign. Or if a parent learned to sign, it's the mom.Right? The mom learns to sign. And so Aaron and I just jumped in andsaid... Obviously we're both gonna sign. She's our daughter. It'snot like I'm gonna have a relationship with her and he's not. And it
was... I can't even tell you how many times in our life we would beout and about with Lia, we'd meet Deaf adults, Deaf people, and wewould ask me and Aaron -- which one of you is Deaf?
KEITH: Hold on. We're gonna take our first break here and when wecome back, we're gonna talk about this. This is a very importantsubject. And we have a lot of people out there with the potential tomake young Deaf children. We want them to know how important it is tolearn Sign Language. When we come back, more with Rachel.
WINDELL: Not before I finish my bucket list.

This is That Keith Wann Show! Opening doors, shining the light,building bridges, educating us all. It's the CODA Man, Keith Wann, and we'll back with more, right after these!

Number, number Wann! Keith's Number Wann! Everybody clap, 'cause the CODA Man's on. Number, number Wann! Keith's Number Wann! Everybody clap, 'cause the CODA Man's on.

PAULA: If you were at RID, you saw My Father's Gift, an homage to Wink's parents, of a time in their life that was very traumatic. But he now has it on DVD for you to see, with additional footage, not only of 30 minutes more of the show, but his visit to Minnesota to see the crash site. It is a moving story, and something you definitely want to have as part of your library. He also has SEE Me Fail, which is a comedy DVD that he has produced from his shows in ASL's Comedy Tour. You've got to get it, because you need the laughs. You can get those at www.Wink ASL.com.

At CEUs On The Go, we are committed to the professional development of interpreters. As an approved RID-CNP sponsor, CEUs On The Go provides a variety of services to assist the certified interpreter in obtaining their CEUs. Our main products are instructional articles and videos, which are online and on-demand activities. They can be done from the comfort of your own home, or during a break between assignments. It's that simple! So check us out on the web at www.ceusonthego.com.

KEITH: Hey, there. This is Keith Wann. You've seen us on the ASL radio show, watching the visual videos. You've also heard us, listening to the audio podcast on iTunes. How about getting us live to come to your town? The ASL Comedy Tour is sponsored by Sign Language Access. It's a chance for us to come together and to learn about the different cultures, using comedy. American Sign Language will be used on the stage, and also a voice interpreter will be provided for ASL students to follow along.

WINDELL: And we have affordable packages for you to hire us to come out and provide this edutainment.

KEITH: What do Keith Wann, Wink, Peter Cook, Crom Saunders, Greg Spera, Branton Stewart have in common? They've all performed for the ASL Comedy Tour. Come enjoy a night of comedy and laugh your