THE KEYBOARD CONFERENCE
for Hearing and Deaf people and for use in Classroom English Instructions of Deaf Children

3 or More People in English Language Conferences Using Face-to-Face Communication Equipment Around the Conference or Classroom table.

English language conferences between deaf and hearing people without using interpreter assistance or sign language never happened before. Now they can, and they should. Face-to-face communication equipment is used. Such a forum gives deaf people the opportunity not only to express thought and judgement face-to-face with hearing people on important matters, but also enables deaf people to share equally with hearing people in decisions affecting the common good. Conference topics for discussion should be controversial to insure the greatest audience interest and attention, and participant involvement. Conference proceedings can be published in professional journals, or “aired” on Radio for The Deaf. A large electronic digital display allow live audiences to witness a conference in progress.

NOTE: The following rules apply to children in a classroom Writing-Communication English Instruction. The teacher may modify and simplify these rules as he/she sees fit. The object is for students to learn the value of the orderly and productive flow of information and ideas among students and teacher around the classroom table.

CONFERENCE RULES - WHO GOES FIRST, WHO GOES NEXT, ETC.

The Conference can begin with opening remarks by the Moderator during which he will introduce the panelists. Introductions are made in a right to left manner. The flow of communications is made in a right to left manner. The first panelist to begin communicating and addressing the topic of the Conference is the panelist on the Moderator’s immediate left. That panelist first types his first name followed by a colon. If his name is Harry, he will type:

HARRY:

and then press the space bar 2 times to create space on the printout and the display before he begins typing his statement. This identifies Harry as the person about to speak. Everyone at the Conference table simultaneously sees Harry’s name on the displays of their equipment. and knows that Harry is about to communicate. Harry proceeds to type his statement, and when Harry finishes saying what he wants to say, he presses the space bar 2 times and types:

GA

Remember: press the space bar 2 times following the colon before typing GA. This tells JACK, the panelist on Harry’s immediate left, to “Go Ahead” and start communicating. Jack will wait 5 seconds when the Moderator hits

the Return Key twice to advance two lines on the printout. Jack then types out his first name followed by a colon. If he wishes to say something, he’ll hit the space bar 2 times and then type his message. He may want to pass and say nothing in which case he will press the space bar 2 times and type.

JACK PASSES GA

The panelist on Jack’s left is next in line to make his/her statement.
Any panelist may use regularly used abbreviations for TTY language, but this is not mandatory. I personally prefer to spell out everything I’m saying in TTY conversations. It’s up to the individual panelist to decide how he wants to communicate.

PRINTOUTS ARE ORGANIZED AND EASY TO READ

With the printer hooked up to the 090 TDDs, only the Moderator’s Q90 is directly hooked up to the printer and can activate the Return Command Function on the printer. All other 090s at the Conference table cannot activate the Return Command. The Return Function provides spacing between lines. This is
important in order to produce an orderly-looking printout that’s easy to read. In
this situation, following every “GA”, the Moderator’s job is to hit the Return Command key twice on his 090 which will advance printed copy 2 lines. This will make the printout look like an easy-to-read playwriter’s script.

WHEN A PARTICIPANT HITS THE GA KEYS INDICATING THAT IT’S THE NEXT PERSON’S TURN TO COMMUNICATE THE NEXT PERSON IN LINE TO COM¬MUNICATE SHOULD WAIT 5 SECONDS BEFORE
COMMUNICATING WHEN THE MODERATOR WILL HIT THE RETURN KEY TWICE FOR A 2-LINE SPACING. THIS WILLPRODUCE A PROPER PRINTOUT FOR EASY READING.

Here’s what a printout should look like:

HARRY: GOOD MORNING, EVERYBODY. GA

JUNE: GOOD MORNING, HARRY. GOOD MORNING, EVERYBODY. ENOUGH OF THIS POLITENESS.
CAN ANYONE HERE TELL ME WHY EVERYBODY IS SO LATE FOR THIS CONFERENCE? GA

BILL: THAT’S EASY. WE’RE ALL INHERENTLY LAZY, FORGETFUL PEOPLE. BEING LATE IS NORMAL AND ACCEPTABLE FOR ALL OF US.. GA

NANCY: YOU’RE ALL A BUNCH OF HYPOCRITES! I WANT
NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY OF YOU! GA

ANYONE MAY INTERRUPT

If anyone such as Harry who wants to interrupt a communication in progress may do so by typing XXX HARRY. This tells everyone at the Conference table that Harry is interrupting the Conference and wants to say something. The appearance of the Xs tells everyone that an interruption is in progress.
Harry is not allowed to say anything until he is given permission to do so by the person he is interrupting. The person he is interrupting may say,

WAIT JUST ONE MOMENT, HARRY. BE PATIENT. GA.

or he/she may say,

GO AHEAD, HARRY. SAY WHAT YOU WANT. GET IT OFF YOUR CHEST. GA

and Harry, now with permission, will say what he wants to say. When he has finished he will type,

GA SPEAKER (or name of person he interrupted)

and the person he interrupted will resume his remarks by first typing his name followed by a colon so that everyone knows that the interrupted person has resumed communicating

JUST TWO PANELISTS MAY WANT TO DISCUSS SOMETHING TOGETHER BY THEMSELVES

It is possible and probable that just two panelists will get into a discussion and wish only to respond directly with each other and no one else when communicating. For example, Harry and Jane might get into a heated exchange. When Harry wants to say something directly to Jane, he begins by typing,

HARRY TO JANE::

This informs all other participants in the Conference that Harry is directing his remarks only to Jane. When Harry finishes his statement, he tells Jane that he awaits her reply by typing,

GA JANE

Jane will commence typing,

JANE TO HARRY::

When Jane finishes replying to Harry and awaits Harry;s response, she may type,

GA HARRY or just GA

WHEN THE MODERATOR INTERRUPTS

When the Moderator interrupts with MODERATOR XXX, the person being interrupted must immediately type, GA MODERATOR, allowing the Moderator to speak.

NOTE.. These rules are provided as a guide. It is understood that as conferences of deaf and hearing people get underway, participants will evolve their own applicable rules. It is expected that a consensus of usable conventions and rules will evolve which will be accepted and used by others conducting their own conferences.