Teach baby sign language to your baby using the Babystrology free Baby Sign Language Video Dictionary.
The animated videos of baby signs are free for you to watch and learn baby sign language.
The Baby Sign Language Dictionary uses American Sign Language (ASL) - the standard amongst baby sign language books and classes and a growing number of daycare centers.
So far only the 3 basic baby signs (eat, milk, and more) have been added, but the Baby Sign Language Video Dictionary will grow every week - so check in often to learn new baby signs!
As additional games, tools, toys, and learning activities have been added to the Babystrology website the navigation has somewhat suffered. The Babystrology site redesign hopefully improves navigation confusion by organizing the site into 4 major sections: Learning, Tools, Toys, and Games. A grid layout was also implemented in this update to improve the consistency from page to page. Hopefully it makes things easier to understand. Other minor updates include make the Peepee Teepee Launcher game larger and redesigning the layout of the Baby Name Finder to optimize the available screen real estate.
I look forward to hearing any feedback about the new site design.
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| The Deaf women's volleyball players (photo: http://ryukyushimpo.jp/) |
The Digits prototype is part of an effort to create a mobile device that would allow its owner to control a range of equipment using hand gestures. The firm said it could be used as a virtual TV control, a way to operate a smartphone while it is in the user's pocket, and to play video games. It is designed to be less cumbersome and uncomfortable than sensor gloves. However, some experts question whether consumers would want to wear such a device during their day-to-day activities.
The online-streaming giant is already captioning 82 percent of its videos, according to the consent decree filed in court yesterday. Now, it's bound to finish its entire library, reaching the 90 percent mark in 2013 and 100 percent by 2014. The company has also agreed to speedily caption new content. The agreement says that Netflix will put captions on new content within 30 days by 2014; within 14 days by 2015; and within 7 days by 2016, "and shall strive to reach a point at which Conforming Captions are provided simultaneously with launch at all times."
Seven-month-old Paige Evans will undergo a cochlear implant after doctors gave the go-ahead for the treatment. Cochlear implants can improve people's ability to hear and understand speech if they cannot benefit from a hearing aid. They enable children who are deaf to learn language, speak more clearly and perform better at school. 
Whew! Thank goodness for Google Analytics. It looks like prettyis not always better. After giving the new website redesign about a week it was obvious that the new layout and navigation design were confusing people - traffic dropped by 50%. All the CSS trickery and XHTML optimization were for naught so it's back to the old design with a few minor tweaks.
The new/old design makes more room for content by moving the navigation bar to the top of the page next to the logo. This should hopefully make it easier for people with smaller screens to be able to see everything without scrolling horizontally.
Unnecessary large images have also been removed to speed up page loading.
I can't say that this new/old design is beautiful, but it seems to work better than the version that I thought was beautiful - traffic went right back up to normal levels as soon as the new/old design was posted.
Hope you like the new/old design. Now I'm back to creating widgets...
Test your baby sign language knowledge with Baby Sign Racer, a free baby sign flash card game.
A baby sign word appears at the top of the game and you have to select the corresponding baby sign animation. Select the correct baby sign as quickly as you can and race against your best time.
Before playing the game you'll probably want to visit the Baby Sign Language Video Dictionary to learn a few baby signs.
Andy is Babystrology's new baby sign language baby. Andy enjoys short walks between the couch and coffee table, afternoon naps, and enjoys playing with toilet paper rolls and colorful blocks. Andy's favorite foods are milk and bananas for eating and avocado for pure squishy fun. When not sleeping, Andy loves communicating with baby sign language. Maybe Andy can help you learn baby sign language too?
Each day over the next several weeks Andy will be showing off a new baby sign language sign based on American Sign Language (ASL).
The baby sign for milk is a great one to start with because it is easy to perform and is often one of your baby's favorite foods.
Milk can be signed with one or two hands. Hold your hand(s) at chest level and use the S hand shape with your right hand, palm(s) facing inward. Open and close the S shape several times as if milking a cow.
Discover more baby signs at the Babystrology baby sign language dictionary.
Bed time is the perfect opportunity to introduce the baby sign for sleep.
Sleep is signed with your right hand at head level. Use a relaxed 5 hand shape with your palm toward your face. Close your fingers into a flat O shape as if closing your eyes. You can try closing your eyes as your hand closes and add an appropriate facial expressions for greater effect.
Discover more baby signs at the Babystrology baby sign language dictionary.
From Kickoff in the UK:Footballer Michael Essien is the latest star to put his name behind Rollaball.f you've never heard of Skate soccer, that could soon change. Skate soccer has taken hold in parts of West Africa, but a new documentary, Rollaball, is in the works that aims to elevate the sport and its participants to paralympic status.Skate soccer is a fast and physical team sport which combines soccer, skating and handball. It is played by people with physical disabilities, who roll around the field (a concrete surface) on homemade skateboards, trying to put the ball in the back of the net. Like soccer, the team that does not have the ball will do whatever it takes to prevent that from happening.Competitions are already being held at both club and international levels."The first game of skate soccer was in Lagos, Nigeria, but it’s now spread throughout West Africa, Albert K. Frimpong, coach of The Rolling Rockets, said. "We played our first international game recently against Nigeria and are hoping to host an Africa Cup of Nations next year."Rollaball tells the story of the Rolling Rockets -- a team of Ghanaian polio survivors -- who find a new sense of purpose and dignity through playing the sport. During the games, these skate soccer pioneers become sports heroes in their communities, despite living with the stigma of polio and homelessness.Rollaball director Eddie Edwards spoke about the everyday challenges skate soccer players face. He hopes the movie will help them improve their lives, according to a press release."When I first met the team two years ago, I knew they were something special," Edwards said. "These guys face massive challenges off the pitch, as polio is still stigmatized in Ghana, so many of them live on the streets and beg for a living. But despite all the odds, they’re incredible athletes who deserve to be stars. They have inspired something in me and I believe they’ll inspire many others. Both on and off the field, their stories are legendary."Producers are currently crowdsourcing funding to help complete the documentary project, and a 30-day campaign is under way on Kickstarter.
This documentary-in-progress tells the inspiring story of The Rolling Rockets – a team of Ghanaian polio survivors who are pioneering an extreme sport combination of skating and soccer.
Rollaball is currently crowdsourcing production funding via a 30-day campaign on Kickstarter, the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects.
“Skate soccer is one of the most inspiring forms of the beautiful game I've seen and shows how the sport can be adapted and enjoyed by anyone,” says Essien, who recently moved to Real Madrid on loan from Chelsea.
“These athletes' determination, strength and creativity is inspiring and makes me proud to be Ghanaian. I hope the Rollaball documentary will give them the exposure they deserve and I look forward to seeing Ghana host an African Cup of Nations for skate soccer in the near future.”
Michael’s endorsement follows similar shows of support from the likes of AC Milan midfielder and Ghanaian international Sulley Muntari; paralympian Anne Wafula Strike; World Cup Skateboarding; and Australia’s National Skateboarders Association.
“Michael’s endorsement is an inspiration for the entire team and makes us even more determined to host the first Skate Soccer Cup of Nations in Ghana next year,” says Albert K Frimpong, coach of The Rolling Rockets and executive director of SYDOGhana (Sports and Youth Development Organisation).
Big World Cinema’s Steven Markovitz is producing the documentary, which won the Puma Creative Catalyst Award in partnership with BRITDOC, and has already been featured as a Kickstarter Staff Pick and on the curated Kickstarter pages of both Good Pitch and Okayafrica.
Markovitz co-founded Encounters, Africa’s most prestigious documentary festival; co-produced MTV’s Best African Movie 2010, Viva Riva!; and is producing the upcoming Jambula Tree, winner of the Arte Prize for Best Feature Film Project at Durban International Film Festival 2012.
Rollaball is being directed by Eddie Edwards, who also helmed the award-winning sports documentary The Fight, about South African boxing champion Andile Tshongolo.
To help make the completed documentary possible, visit http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rollaballmovie/rollaball-skate-soccer. Pledges start from as little as $10.
As part of his endorsement, Essien has donated five autographed 10x12inch photographs of him taken after his Champions League victory. This reward is exclusive to the first five people to pledge $600, who will also receive Batik cloth wrap from Ghana; a box set of four DVDs from Africa; special thanks on the film end credits; and a digital download of the completed film, among other perks.
The Kickstarter campaign ends on 22 September. Edwards says: “If the full target of $35 000 isn’t raised, Kickstarter will not charge any of the contributors, meaning that we won’t receive any of the funding needed to complete production, so please help us spread the word. Thank you for your support; we can’t do this without you.”
From The Guardian in the UK:The Channel 4 chief executive, David Abraham, is preparing a bid for the TV rights to the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Paralympics, but could be derailed by a BBC plan to snatch back the rights.
Abraham said he is hopeful of retaining Clare Balding – who was highly praised for her presenting work during the London Olympic and Paralympic Games – as anchor if Channel 4 can win the upcoming bid for the UK TV rights to the Rio event.
"Clare is the face of our racing, so you know she is going to be working for us [at that time]," he said. "Everything is in place but we are four years out, no one gets a contract for that long. I am very positive about re-assembling the team, there was a lot of good chemistry."
Channel 4's coverage of the London Paralympics attracted record viewing figures, with the International Paralympic Committee hailing the event as exceeding its "wildest dreams".
The success has spurred Channel 4 to bid for the UK TV rights to the Rio Paralympics.
"International TV rights are managed by the IPC and we obviously have a very good relationship with them," Abraham said. "We are talking to them about how we plan Rio, and how we go about doing that."
However, the BBC is thought to be planning to snatch back the TV rights to the Paralympics, which it lost when Channel 4 tabled a record bid in 2010.
"We are not getting distracted by that," said Abraham. "We are very confident we have great ideas and a great relationship [with the IPC]. We have great presenters, everything is in place."
The viewing boost of a home Paralympics means it is unlikely that Rio will deliver more record-breaking audiences.
However, Abraham said that Paralympics GB athletes such as sprinter Jonnie Peacock, wheelchair athlete David Weir and swimmer Ellie Simmonds are now household names and likely to be a big draw in 2016.
"Rio is an amazing brand and the time difference is not as challenging as Beijing [in 2008]," he said.
He added that Channel 4 is not letting its commitment slip after the glow of the London event dies down, recently announcing a further £250,000 investment to search for more disabled talent to host programmes and subjects to cover beyond the world of sport.
In each Olympic/Paralympic cycle, the local organising committee for the event has the power to decide how it wants to sell the domestic TV rights.
The London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games took the unprecedented step of asking other UK public service broadcasters – Channel 4, ITV and Channel 5 – to submit tenders to host Paralympic coverage as well as the BBC.
The BBC's bid is thought to have been well short of the £8m to £9m tabled by Channel 4.
"We demonstrated quite well in this instance the degree to which two separate organisations [Channel 4 and the BBC] can focus resources to deliver two great events," said Abraham.
From Reality TV World:
TLC has announced it will premiere Little People Big World: Wedding Farm -- a new weekly series that will follow the Roloff family as they operate a new wedding venue on their recently expanded Oregon farm -- on Tuesday, November 13 at 9PM ET/PT.
In addition to chronicling Matt and Amy Roloff's attempt to refurbish a historic barn and launch the new wedding business, Little People Big World: Wedding Farm will also show viewers the day-to-day lives of the couple and their four children -- including Molly preparing to leave for college.
Little People Big World ended its original six-season run on TLC in 2010, however the family has continued to star in a series of occasional specials for the network since then.
According to TLC, the network will also continue to produce additional specials despite Little People Big World: Wedding Farm, which will initially consist of six one-hour episodes.
Little People Big World: Wedding Farm is being produced by Gay Rosenthal Productions -- the same production company that produced Little People Big World -- and executive produced by Gay Rosenthal, Joe Freed, Sven Nilsson, Amy Roloff, and Matt Roloff.
From the San Francisco Chronicle:Guido Abenes (pictured) appreciates their concern, but he'd really like his parents to stop worrying about him.
He's 25, he says, and he's doing fine. But he's also autistic, part of the generation of young adults who were born during the first big wave of autism cases in the United States two decades ago and are now struggling to strike out on their own.
"I tell them sometimes, 'Stop it, I'm doing things, I'm resourceful,' " said Abenes, who is a student at Cal State East Bay. "They're getting the message, I think. But they still worry."
Abenes, who wants to be a therapist someday and travel the world, is fortunate. He joined the College Internship Program in Berkeley, which provides him with a two-bedroom apartment he shares with a roommate, along with intensive, daily academic and developmental support to help him continue to thrive into adulthood.
But Abenes' situation is unusual, say autism advocates and experts, who are bracing for a flood of adults with autism who lack the support they had as children, and are entering a world that isn't ready for them.
It was in the late 1980s and early '90s that rates of autism started skyrocketing in the United States. A condition that once was considered rare, with fewer than 2 cases per 1,000 births in the United States, is now thought to afflict 1 in 88 children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's unclear exactly what has caused the increase, but factors could include greater awareness and better diagnosing of the condition, as well as an actual rise in cases, perhaps related to environmental factors.
For those born in that first wave and now entering adulthood, it's a tough, uncertain future. Some, like Abenes, will go to college or find jobs and eventually move out on their own.
But most will not, studies show. Most will continue to live at home and will, at best, find part-time, minimum-wage work - or no work at all. Many will suffer setbacks in their condition. Two recent studies found that only about a third of autistic young adults had jobs or went to school.
"A majority of our adults are underserved or not served at all. They can't access the same services as adults that they had as children," said Jim Ball, board chairman of the Autism Society, a national advocacy group. "We are doing a lot for our kids, but these kids are going to live to 80 or 90 years old - they're going to live the majority of their lives as adults. What are we doing for them in that realm?"
Twenty-two years old is an important turning point for many young people with autism. That's when they officially age out of the public school system that offered them educational and other supportive services.
Kids with intellectual disabilities - most notably, an IQ under 70 - often have post-high school opportunities for continued improvement and some measure of independent living. Most of them will continue to get supportive care daily for the rest of their adult lives from state and federal programs.
And the young people at the opposite end of the spectrum - the ones identified as having Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism, who may have above-average IQs or skills that will aid them in college and careers - often manage adult life just fine.
It's the ones in the middle who suffer the most, autism experts said. They don't have enough of a disability to get major supportive care, but they're clearly disabled enough that they have a hard time finding, and keeping, jobs or attending college classes.
"These are kids who seem like they could do things and be successful, and they just end up staying at home because there are very few resources for them," said Dr. Carl Feinstein, director of the Stanford Autism Center at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital.
"Their parents are frustrated because they don't know how to help and they aren't so happy with their kids living in their home," he said. "Meanwhile, these kids grew up thinking they would have a driver's license and an apartment of their own, and they'd get married and have all these things that aren't happening."
That's where something like Berkeley's College Internship Program comes in. The program was started in the 1980s on the East Coast by a man who was diagnosed with Asperger's in his 50s. It serves young adults ages 18 to 26 who have autism or other types of learning disabilities, many of whom fall in that middle range of needing support.
The goal of the program is to provide the support services these young people may need to be successful in school and start a career, as well as teaching life skills to help them become independent adults.
The students live in housing provided by the program in downtown Berkeley, and they usually attend classes at nearby community colleges. At the program center, students get lessons in cooking and banking and other basic living skills. They learn how to budget their time, how to apply for jobs and how to get along with co-workers and bosses.
But it's expensive: The program costs $30,000 to $70,000 a year, not including housing or tuition at other academic institutions. Scholarships are available and insurance may cover some or all of the expenses.
For those who can afford it, or whose parents have the time and energy to seek the help, there are other, similar programs. Many college campuses, including Cal State East Bay, offer extra services for autistic students.
Some businesses are starting special programs for hiring autistic employees, especially if those employees possess skills like focus and an attention to detail that can come hand-in-hand with autism. One company, Palo Alto-based Semperical, is based entirely around a model of hiring high-functioning autistic employees as test engineers.
But those jobs and support programs aren't large and there aren't many of them. Meanwhile, the group of autistic adults needing these services is only going to grow. The first generation is entering its 20s - but they'll be hitting middle age soon enough, and there are even larger generations on their heels.
It's not just a problem for the autistic children and adults, but for their families - especially for the parents, many of whom worry they won't be able to care for their adult children much longer.
"I hear from parents in the Baby Boomer generation who have kids in their 30s now," said Kurt Ohifs, executive director of Pacific Autism Center for Education in Santa Clara. "They come to me and say, 'I'm afraid to die, because who's going to care for my son or daughter?'
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| The Deaf women's volleyball players (photo: http://ryukyushimpo.jp/) |
A free public event about the software will take place on Wednesday, October 10 at Waterstones’ Langstane branch at 7pm. Dr Ernesto Compatangelo, technabling research and development director and lecturer in computing science, will give an insight into the research at the latest in the Café Scientifique series of talks organised by the university.
The Villages was supposed to offer closed captioning, which would cost about $65 a day, depending on whether the channel performed the service or paid a company to do it. The Villages whined in documents filed in 2008 with the Federal Communications Commission that it already was losing $1.4 million annually on VNN, and The Villages owners threatened to close the channel if the FCC imposed the "undue burden" of captioning.
Jacklin, who is hearing-impaired, said he has taken on the role to help increase awareness and exposure of deaf and hearing-impaired golf, and encourage more people to take up the game. “It is vital that we work to promote the game to all members of the community and I am keen to see deaf golf get the profile, support and backing that it needs to develop effectively,” said the 1969 Open champion.
In the desperation to maintain this club, there are suggestions the deaf community social clubs be supported by charitable donation instead. Is there a conundrum there ? or, an suggestion deaf people have still so little access to mainstream, there is no other option but an state-sponsored or charity-sponsored social area for deaf people, or they have nothing.
This doesn't suggest to the authorities and others, deaf people have nowhere else to go, nor an building/base to attend either. More importantly, they are in now the same areas as hearing people are. The only viable argument for some funding support, is via elderly deaf who need areas where they can socialise because of little alternatives for them. We must not forget, technology and access compared with 25-30 years ago has changed for the considerable betterment of deaf people too.
“We have a lot of experience with people who don’t understand forms,” said Robert Pollard, director of the Deaf Wellness Center, who also works for the National Center for Deaf Health Research at the University of Rochester Medical Center. “It’s a simple step that they don’t understand informed consent.” In an effort to improve the process, Pollard, in partnership with National Center for Deaf Health Research, will lead a study that compares three different ways of delivering the message of informed consent. The study is funded by a four-year, $600,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health that was awarded in September. Enrollment is expected to start early in 2013.
From International Business Times:The most-anticipated Tamil action thriller movie "Thaandavam" starring Vikram, Anushka Shetty and British beauty Amy Jackson revolves around a blind-man who uses human echolocation technique to seek revenge.
Directed by AL Vijay and produced by UTV production, the film is all scheduled to hit the screens on September 28.
Vikram and Vijay have reunited for "Thaandavam" after delivering blockbuster "Deiva Thirumagal." In their previous movie outing, they narrated a heart-warming relationship between a father and a daughter, and now they have come up with a revenge story.
Buzz is that Vikram is playing the role of a police officer but doesn't wear the uniform. His character in the movie is said to be inspired by Daniel Kish, an American-based human echolocation expert.
Daniel Kish has been roped in to the "Thaandavam" project by the filmmakers to assist the protagonist to understand the techniques of echolocation and get into the skin of the character.
In his forthcoming film, Vikram set himself on a revenge quest and fights his enemies despite the fact that he is visually impaired using echolocation method.
Human echolocation is a state of the art, where humans are able to recognize the objects/people in a surrounding and sense their movement towards them to spontaneously respond by actively generating sounds.
Vikram had earlier essayed the role of visually-challenged person in "Kasi" (2001). One of his movies "Kanthaswamy", (2009) too has a fight sequence, where he took on his foes blindfolded by sensing their foot movements.
Going by the trailer of "Thaandavam", Vikram figures out his enemies and takes them down by making clicking sounds with his mouth.
"Thaandavam" trailer promises big and assures a sure-treat for the action enthusiasts. The film will also be released in Telugu as "Shiva Thandavam."
From Dan Pescod, who is campaigns manager for the Royal National Institute of Blind People and the European Blind Union.It is a cliché, but true, that we live in an information age. We Tweet from our mobile phones, send emails from our tablets and watch television on our laptops. But how do blind and partially sighted people cope with this brave new world? To try to put ourselves in the shoes of a blind person, let us focus just on access to websites and books. If space allowed I could fill another article explaining how television programmes, TV sets, radios and mobile phones - to name but a few - are also often needlessly inaccessible.
Firstly, the good news is that technology can overcome many of the barriers the information age would otherwise present to blind people. With more and more shops, government and information services going online - it is good to know that some websites are designed accessibly to be 'read' by 'text-to-speech' software and be easily visible to those with low vision. Guidelines for developers exist to achieve this.
As for books, it is possible to either use text to speech software to 'read' digital files or text, or for an accessible eBook reader to hear to a synthesised voice read the book. There are even digital devices that produce 'refreshable' braille on a braille keypad. Here is the bad news, however, summed up in two 'onlys'. Only a tiny percentage of websites are fully accessible to blind and partially sighted people. And only around 5 per cent of books published are produced in formats, whether electronic or physical - like paper large-print books - which can be read by blind people or the machines they use. What has the European Union done in these areas to ensure accessibility?
With regard to websites, in 2007 the European Commission published a study showing that less than 3 per cent of key public and commercial websites in each member state met accepted international accessibility standards. It has since held several conferences on 'e-inclusion', but there has been little practical progress. As online public services are gradually replacing face-to-face interaction, blind people are still waiting for the commission to publish draft legislation to ensure that all public websites and online portals providing basic services to citizens are fully accessible. Proposals were expected at the end of 2011. They have yet to materialise.
One of the ways we can end the 'book famine' in which only 5 per cent of books are made accessible to blind people is by reforming copyright law. To cut a complex story far too short, the European Blind Union is campaigning with the World Blind Union for a treaty at the World Intellectual Property Organisation - the United Nations body that makes international copyright law. Our treaty would allow the pooling of resources by allowing organisations like the Royal National Institute of Blind People, in the United Kingdom, to share scarce accessible books with other countries. The commission has been sceptical about this proposal. In 2010, it got us around the table to try to work out a voluntary agreement with European publishers - mirroring a similar 'stakeholder dialogue' it set up - with modest results on TV accessibility.
The European Parliament has been strongly in favour of the treaty, and the European Council has been against it. So, last October, we petitioned the EP explaining that the commission and council were letting blind people down by not backing the call for a treaty. As a result, the parliament plenary grilled European Internal Market and Services Commissioner Michel Barnier in February. Barnier told MEPs that he would seek a "negotiating mandate" from the council so that the EU could, finally, negotiate at the WIPO for the binding treaty we have long called for. We await the council's response. In summary, there have been repeated public commitments from the council, from as far back as 2002, and support from the European Parliament - to legislate as well as discuss accessibility for blind and other disabled people.
The entry into force of the 2008 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has not yet spurred the EU into strong enough action on access to information. Stakeholder discussions and conferences only take us so far. Now is the time for the commission to propose clear and useful EU accessibility legislation and for the member states to help blind people worldwide by unambiguously backing a WIPO book treaty. The commission and council can make 2013 the landmark year in which they demonstrate they mean business when it comes to blind people's access to information. The technology is there. Now we need the political will to match it.
From RIA:The achievements of Russia's Paralympians can act as a powerful stimulus to stop parents from abandoning their disabled children, six-time Paralympic swimming gold medalist Roman Makarov (pictured) said Sept. 13.
Disabled people are marginalized, often stigmatized, in Russian society, where basic infrastructure such as wheelchair ramps and disabled toilets is lacking in the big cities.
But many old prejudices were broken down in the wake of Russia's best-ever Paralympic performance in London with 102 medals, 36 of which were gold.
“In Russia, parents often abandon children who have some problems with their health,” Makarov said.
London 2012 received the highest Russian television exposure of any Paralympics in history.
“Thanks to the exposure for the Paralympics, thanks to the fact that everyone can see what children like that are capable of doing in the future, there’s hope that fewer people will abandon children like that, that lots of them will have a complete family.”
Five-time gold medalist Oksana Savchenko said after the Games that she was stunned by how much more exposure the Paralympics had compared to Beijing 2008 and that it would breed new respect for disabled people.
Makarov won gold in the 100 meters butterfly for the visually impaired in London, his sixth career Paralympic gold medal.
From Kickoff in the UK:Footballer Michael Essien is the latest star to put his name behind Rollaball.f you've never heard of Skate soccer, that could soon change. Skate soccer has taken hold in parts of West Africa, but a new documentary, Rollaball, is in the works that aims to elevate the sport and its participants to paralympic status.Skate soccer is a fast and physical team sport which combines soccer, skating and handball. It is played by people with physical disabilities, who roll around the field (a concrete surface) on homemade skateboards, trying to put the ball in the back of the net. Like soccer, the team that does not have the ball will do whatever it takes to prevent that from happening.Competitions are already being held at both club and international levels."The first game of skate soccer was in Lagos, Nigeria, but it’s now spread throughout West Africa, Albert K. Frimpong, coach of The Rolling Rockets, said. "We played our first international game recently against Nigeria and are hoping to host an Africa Cup of Nations next year."Rollaball tells the story of the Rolling Rockets -- a team of Ghanaian polio survivors -- who find a new sense of purpose and dignity through playing the sport. During the games, these skate soccer pioneers become sports heroes in their communities, despite living with the stigma of polio and homelessness.Rollaball director Eddie Edwards spoke about the everyday challenges skate soccer players face. He hopes the movie will help them improve their lives, according to a press release."When I first met the team two years ago, I knew they were something special," Edwards said. "These guys face massive challenges off the pitch, as polio is still stigmatized in Ghana, so many of them live on the streets and beg for a living. But despite all the odds, they’re incredible athletes who deserve to be stars. They have inspired something in me and I believe they’ll inspire many others. Both on and off the field, their stories are legendary."Producers are currently crowdsourcing funding to help complete the documentary project, and a 30-day campaign is under way on Kickstarter.
This documentary-in-progress tells the inspiring story of The Rolling Rockets – a team of Ghanaian polio survivors who are pioneering an extreme sport combination of skating and soccer.
Rollaball is currently crowdsourcing production funding via a 30-day campaign on Kickstarter, the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects.
“Skate soccer is one of the most inspiring forms of the beautiful game I've seen and shows how the sport can be adapted and enjoyed by anyone,” says Essien, who recently moved to Real Madrid on loan from Chelsea.
“These athletes' determination, strength and creativity is inspiring and makes me proud to be Ghanaian. I hope the Rollaball documentary will give them the exposure they deserve and I look forward to seeing Ghana host an African Cup of Nations for skate soccer in the near future.”
Michael’s endorsement follows similar shows of support from the likes of AC Milan midfielder and Ghanaian international Sulley Muntari; paralympian Anne Wafula Strike; World Cup Skateboarding; and Australia’s National Skateboarders Association.
“Michael’s endorsement is an inspiration for the entire team and makes us even more determined to host the first Skate Soccer Cup of Nations in Ghana next year,” says Albert K Frimpong, coach of The Rolling Rockets and executive director of SYDOGhana (Sports and Youth Development Organisation).
Big World Cinema’s Steven Markovitz is producing the documentary, which won the Puma Creative Catalyst Award in partnership with BRITDOC, and has already been featured as a Kickstarter Staff Pick and on the curated Kickstarter pages of both Good Pitch and Okayafrica.
Markovitz co-founded Encounters, Africa’s most prestigious documentary festival; co-produced MTV’s Best African Movie 2010, Viva Riva!; and is producing the upcoming Jambula Tree, winner of the Arte Prize for Best Feature Film Project at Durban International Film Festival 2012.
Rollaball is being directed by Eddie Edwards, who also helmed the award-winning sports documentary The Fight, about South African boxing champion Andile Tshongolo.
To help make the completed documentary possible, visit http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rollaballmovie/rollaball-skate-soccer. Pledges start from as little as $10.
As part of his endorsement, Essien has donated five autographed 10x12inch photographs of him taken after his Champions League victory. This reward is exclusive to the first five people to pledge $600, who will also receive Batik cloth wrap from Ghana; a box set of four DVDs from Africa; special thanks on the film end credits; and a digital download of the completed film, among other perks.
The Kickstarter campaign ends on 22 September. Edwards says: “If the full target of $35 000 isn’t raised, Kickstarter will not charge any of the contributors, meaning that we won’t receive any of the funding needed to complete production, so please help us spread the word. Thank you for your support; we can’t do this without you.”
