Gallaudet has a history of technological innovation with wide applications. The latest is a helmet

The AP Top 25 college football poll is back every week throughout the season! A new football helmet is the latest step in Gallaudet University’s long history in advancing technology for the Deaf and hard of hearing – and could have far-reaching impacts off the field AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports The innovations outside sports date to at least 1965, when Gallaudet was responsible for the first Dictionary of American Sign Language. “Gallaudet University is really the center of the Deaf community,” junior offensive lineman John Scarborough said in ASL through an interpreter. “This was the experiment — and seeing what this could do and what this could do for not just us but deaf and hard-of-hearing athletes.” Gallaudet football assistant coach Bob Miller, left, talks with quarterback Gabe Segovia, center, and running back Joshua Kelley, right, using American Sign Language during football practice at Hotchkiss Field, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023, in Washington. “So, if you have a deaf worker in a construction site or building skyscrapers, apartment buildings, whatever, you have somebody working up on the second floor and they’re deaf, hearing folks may be on the first floor trying to get their attention thinking how they can communicate with them.” Closed captioning is perhaps the most well-known example of a Deaf-led innovation that has found its way into everyday life.