From Teacher and Instructor to Broadway and TV Stardom: Lauren Ridloff, Tony Nominated Deaf Actress Receives SignTalk Award

NEW YORK, Oct. 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- SignTalk Foundation is pleased to have selected Lauren Ridloff for their 2018 Outstanding Achievement Award. Ms. Ridloff was the lead actress and Tony nominee of the Broadway revival Children of a Lesser God (COALG). She now joins the cast of the AMC highly popular series The Walking Dead Season 9 (Rumor has it that her first appearance will be on Sunday, October 28^th).

Ms. Ridloff's personal background and the character she portrayed in the Broadway play both embody the missions of the SignTalk Foundation -- to advance American Sign Language or ASL as a mainstream language and advocate for the Deaf and signing community.

Enjoy this one minute video of Lauren Ridloff accepting her Outstanding Achievement Award from the SignTalk Foundation, http://bit.ly/2NwVMwz.

Two years prior to her Broadway debut, SignTalk worked with Ms. Ridloff in developing and launching its acclaimed Continuing Education (CE) webinar program for sign language interpreters. The pioneering three-part series "Professionalism and Ethical Practices" remains the foundation and underpinning for all SignTalk's CE webinars, as well as best practices for interpreters. Ms. Ridloff is a gifted and natural envoy for the signing and Deaf communities, skillfully conveys the layered nuance existing in the interaction between the Deaf and hearing. SignTalk was immediately impressed with her intelligence, depth of character, creativity, and charm.

SignTalk is a national referral service for Sign Language Interpreters and a resource for the signing community.  Clients include school systems, vocational training, Fortune 500 companies, media and entertainment venues, and hospital systems. It is also a leading approved provider of continuing education for professionals. SignTalk's state-of-the-art webinars boast a live chat that is recorded. Webinars may be viewed at any time for CE credits.

A most recent webinar was presented by Ruth Kraft, a Yale trained attorney who is widely recognized as an outstanding advocate for the Deaf community. Ms. Kraft's sensitivity to the ADA rights of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing go a long way in ensuring that individual hospitals and large hospital networks and medical offices adhere to best practices and is designed as a resource for those responsible for ADA compliance/risk management.

"We are grateful to Lauren for setting the standard for our webinar series launch and congratulate her for her amazing achievements and all that she does on behalf of the signing community," Executive Director, Dr. Joseph Geliebter, stated.

Ms. Ridloff made the decision to communicate exclusively in sign language at 13 years of age, in what she termed, "an act of self-preservation" (NY Times, February 14) opting to communicate in the language she felt most closely conveyed her intelligence, ability and talent —a decision similar to the one made by Sara, the main character in the Broadway production.

Alexandria Wailes, COALG's Director of Artistic Sign Language, explains how the revival allowed "many people who, currently, have very limited interaction or exposure to the Deaf community…to get a glimpse of how people were treated, forty years ago."  

Lauren's emerging talents as an actor have brought her to her next project, a recurring  role on The Walking Dead as Connie, a survivor who is deaf and uses ASL to communicate. "As a fan of Lauren's, I look forward to seeing her artistry on screen and am certain that her presence will inject 'new life' into the series," said Dr. Joseph Geliebter.

Lauren's husband, Douglas Ridloff, Executive Director of ASL Slam, is expanding his global audience this Fall with visits to Norway, Austria, and Australia.

Congratulations to the Ridloff family on their most impressive accomplishments and wishing them continued success.  

SignTalk^® LLC recently celebrated its 21^st anniversary in serving as a resource for sign language interpreters and the signing community. www.signtalk.com

The mission of SignTalk Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit, public charity,  is to promote, foster, and advance public awareness of the use and standards of sign language interpreting services; to protect the interests of and to develop programs and technology for the Deaf and hard of hearing community. www.signtalkfoundation.com

For inquiries, please contact [email protected]

SOURCE SignTalk, LLC

Related Links

http://signtalk.com