Members of the Lions Club were treated to some deaf comedy at their weekly lunch meeting, yesterday.

Dr. Roslyn Rosen entertained the members but also advocated for serious change for deaf people currently living in Bermuda.

Dr. Rosen peppered her speech with humour and for those audience members who were not hearing impaired, Dr. Tom Baldridge was on hand to interpret.

"I have a man's voice," Dr. Rosen said. "I'll have to work on that."

A visitor to the Island, Dr. Rosen spoke on behalf of the deaf who currently live in Bermuda. Many of them had talked to her about issues they felt were important and also their specific needs. Dr. Rosen said that issues concerning deaf people in Bermuda were a top priority for Jennifer Fahnbulleh, president of the Bermuda Islands Association of the Deaf, who joined the Lions Club to attend the speech.

Dr. Rosen explained some of the systems and technology that are currently in place in the US for deaf people concerning the use of telephones. She spoke about how through financing the same type of system could be brought to Bermuda.

As of now, in the US deaf people use the Visual Relay Service. This service provides them with a web camera hooked up to a computer. When they need to use the phone an operator can interpret the sign language to the receiver of the call and the response shows up on the computer.

"Now, when I'm hungry I can call for a pizza with little hassle," Dr. Rosen said.

Helen Keller was asked once whether she would rather be deaf or blind, Dr. Rosen said. She said she would rather be blind because blindness separated a person from objects while deafness separated people from people.

"Deaf people are just as capable of doing things just like everyone else. They just have differences but just like everyone," Dr. Rosen said.

Dr. Rosen is currently a professor at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. and the executive director for the Council on Education of the Deaf.