Growing Deaf-Owned Businesses In Austin

VIDEO: Deaf News - Austin, Texas A Top City For Deaf-Owned Businesses.

KXAN AUSTIN - The number of Deaf-owned businesses in the country is growing, and Austin is leading the pack.



Convo, a Deaf-owned telecommunications provider, reports there are more than 200 Deaf-owned businesses in the country, and counting. In the Austin-area there are 30 Deaf-owned businesses.



One of them is Silent Automotive, an auto shop that provides services to both Deaf and Hearing customers. The owners pride themselves on integrity, honesty and quality of service.

“Sound is caused by vibrations, sound doesn’t come out of its own. So we go to the car and feel the vibrations,” said part-owner, Joel DeChristofaro. “We have to be hands on and find exactly where the sound is coming from. Does take a little more time I assume, but I feel it gives us a clearer picture of what happens with the car.” Danny Blalock first started the business back in 2008.



“Because of communication. A lot of my [Deaf] friends have had bad experiences at auto shops, they felt they were getting ripped off,” said Blalock. “Our goal for our business is to keep growing; we’d like to hire more mechanics, Deaf mechanics, to give them opportunity to grow their resume.”



Blalock says the Deaf community continues to grow in Austin, Texas and is becoming more friendly for the Deaf community. Source



You might also like to see the post: #Deaf Business.

Deaf Woman Brutally Beaten and Robbed

VIDEO [CC] - Deaf woman attacked in broad daylight in Austin, Texas.



KVUE AUSTIN - Austin police are looking for four teenagers, three males and one female, who they say followed and punched a Deaf woman, and stole her purse in North Austin, Texas.



Police said the woman was walking on Redlands Street in the Brentwood neighborhood at around 1:20 p.m. Monday when she noticed a Hispanic teen wearing a bandana over his face following her. She told police she kept an eye on the teen because of his covered face.



The teen stopped to talk to a car and the victim lost sight of him. Police said shortly afterward, the same teen and three others in a tan four-door sedan cut off the victim.



"At that time, the same suspect displayed a knife. Then she was struck and punched to the ground, she fell to the ground and the Hispanic female stole her purse," said Austin Police Robbery Sgt. Will White.

White said the teens took off in the same car. That's when Joanna Fried heard banging on her door.



"She was banging on my door and pushing to get in which was scary," Fried said. "Frantic, like really really crying. There was blood on her hands and her face was swollen, and she realized she was scratched up on her leg. It was really hard to understand what she was saying."



Fried said she then called 911 and kept the victim at her house until EMS and police arrived. Fried said she called the victim's ex-husband and explained what happened.



Russell West, director of support operations at the Texas School for the Deaf, said anytime a member of the Deaf community is the victim of a crime, they often don't know their rights. West said Deaf victims need to ask for interpreters... Read more: http://kvue.com/story/news/crime/2015/07/21/austin-police-say-deaf-woman-attacked-in-broad-daylight/