[www.deaflibrary.org]

Companies that sell Deaf related products

by Karen Nakamura (and Kevin McLeod)
[N/A]is our new counter. This page was last updated on April 21, 2006.

This page lists some companies that sell products for the Deaf community. It was originally created by Kevin McLeod and is now being maintained by Karen Nakamura, but is still very much a work in progress. We have the following categories:

If you are looking for a general catalogue of Deaf related merchandise and books, my suggestion is to request the Harris Catalogue, below. It has the broadest reach of any of the catalogues I have seen, has prompt service, and reasonable prices (and no, I don't receive any money from them).

Amazon.com is also an excellent resource for finding and buying Deaf related books. Run "Deaf" or "American Sign Language" as search topics in their search engine. You can also try Gallaudet University Press.

There's also a section of the main Deaf Library page on Deaf Owned Businesses. Click here to go back up to the main Deaf resource library.


Bookstores and Deaf Products

This lists various bookstores and retail stores that sell Deaf products. It's been compiled from various places and I haven't verified all of the entries. Caveat emptor. Please also see Les Wilson's letter at the end of this page detailing his experiences.

For another listing of Deaf businesses, see DeafBiz.


ADA Enterprises

ADA Enterprises is a manufacturer and distributor of fire, smoke detection and other unique safety products. Our principal product line consists of a 2-In-1 combination smoke detector/light fixture in a single unit. Additionally we manufacture a line of smoke detectors for the hearing impaired that meet all protocols established by the Americans with Disabilities Act. -- Vendor's Blurb
     ADA Enterprises
     9 Abbey Lane 
     PO Box 768 
     Middleboro, MA 02346 
     Tel: (508) 947.9880 
     Fax: (508) 947.2247 
     WWW: http://www.life-light.com/

Butte Publications

"Butte publishes and distributes resources for schools, parents and sign language interpreters. Free catalogs can be obtained by mail, phone, fax or email."
	Butte Publications, Inc.
	P.O. Box 1328
	Hillsboro, OR 97123-1328
	VOICE:  503-648-9791 
	FAX:    503-693-9526 
	E-mail: 

	WWW: http://www.buttepublications.com

Communications Unlimited

Communications Unlimited sells TTYs, telephones, alarms, pagers, and books.
 
	Communication Unlimited
	9618 Oregano Circle
	Houston, Texas 77036
	1-800-735-2988 (Relay)
	713-271-7818 (TTY)
	713-271-8709 (FAX)
	E-mail:	
 
 	WWW: http://www.communltd.net/

Dawn Sign Press

DawnSignPress is a Deaf owned and operated publishing company located in San
Diego, CA. We publish ASL instructional and Deaf culture educational
materials for the deaf and hearing, children and adults. Our most
recognized title is the Signing Naturally curriculum, which is the best
selling ASL instructional curriculum in the US and Canada. We also produce
and sell many other outstanding books, videos, and now, DVDs. Currently we
have approximately 60 titles in print.

DawnSignPress
6130 Nancy Ridge Drive
San Diego, CA 92121-3223

800-549-5350 V/TTY
858-625-0600 V/TTY
858-625-2336 FAX
comments@dawnsign.com
www.dawnsign.com

 

Deaf Resources

"Deaf Resources brings a large selection of unique, hard-to-find American Sign Language, Deaf products and gifts to the Web." -- from web site

 
	WWW: http://www.deafresources.com/


DeafWorks

DeafWorks sells TTY trainers, alarm clocks, X-10, etc.
	DeafWorks
	P.O.Box 1265 
	Provo, UT 84603-1265 

        TTY: (801) 465-1957 
	FAX: (801) 465-1958 
   	RELAY: 	(800) 877-8973 (USA)
		(800) 346-4128 (Utah)
    WWW:www.deafworks.com
    E-mail: 

DeBee Communications

DeBee Communications, a Deaf-owned company founded in 1993 by James R. DeBee, was formed to produce documentaries, commercial and educational video/film/multimedia. They also produced
 
	DeBee Communications
	1709 South Braddock Ave. 
	Pittsburgh, PA?15218
	TTY: (412) 241-0545
	FAX: (412) 241-0383 
	Voice: 800.654.5984 ext  (412) 241-0545
 	E-mail: 

 	WWW: www.DeBee.com 

DEAFWORKS

DEAFWORKS manufactures TTYSCREENER and low-cost TTYs.

 
 	WWW: http://www.deafworks.com

Gallaudet University Bookstore

The Gallaudet University Bookstore has apparently stopped their mail order service. A shame since they were a premier source for textbooks. The on-campus store is still in service for in-store purchases.

Garlic Press

Garlic Press specializes in educational material and has a sign language series for children. WWW: http://www.garlicpress.com/

Harris Communications

The Harris catalog is considered by many to be THE catalog of Deaf related products including books and those oh so adorable/annoying ILY bears. KM

I've personally had very good luck with ordering from them. They are fast, efficient, and very considerate. Two thumbs up! -- Karen

	Harris Communications
	15159 Technology Drive
	Eden Prairie, MN 55344-2277
	1-800-825-6758 Voice
	1-800-825-9187 TTY
	1-612-946-0924 FAX
	1-800-211-4360 VCO
	E-mail: 

    WWW: http://www.harriscomm.com 

Hartling Communications, Inc.

"Hartling Communications, inc. provides goods and services to persons who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. The company president, Virginia Hartling, is Deaf. She also happens to be my mother... smile." --Vendor's blurb. If the prez is your mom, you know they work hard!
     Hartling Communications, Inc.
     44 Mall Road,  Suite G17
     Burlington, MA  01803

     (781) 272-7634
     (781) 270-6710  TTY
     (781) 229-9161  Fax

     WWW: www.hartling.com

Hear More Products

Hear More Products sell lots of things at wholesale prices. They have things like TDD's, alarms, CC's, clocks, a couple of programs, etc. this entry courtesy of Michael Farrand
	Hear-More, Inc.
	P.O. Box 3413
	Farmingdale, NY  11735.
	(516) 752-0738 v/tty
	(516) 752-0689 fax
	WWW: http://www.hearmore.com/
	

HITEC Group International

HITEC Group Int'l, the National Assistive Decive Center for Ameritech and Nynex, strives to help make persons with special needs lives better by offering assistive listening devices to these people. One of the main ways, is by having amplified telephones, TTYs, Loud ringers, etc. --Vendor's blurb
        HITEC Group International
        8160 Madison Street
        Burr Ridge, IL 60561
        (800) 288-8303 v/tty
        (708) 654-9200 v/tty
        (708) 654-9219 fax
        WWW: http://www.hitec.com

NAD Bookstore

The NAD bookstore is also very comprehensive and includes discounts for members of NAD. See Kevin's list of Deaf magazines for subscription info on NAD. KM
	NAD Bookstore
	814 Thayer Avenue
	Silver Spring, MD 20910-4500
	TTY:  (301) 587-6283
	Voice:(301) 587-6282
	Fax:  (301) 587-4873

NexGen

"NexGen supplies the complete line of visual alerting products from Sonic Alert, at the lowest prices. They want to get these products to the people who need them as quickly and inexpensively as possible." - company blurb
	NexGen Products
    779 Circuit St.
    Hanover MA 02339

    Voice/Fax: +1 781 924 1059

   Web  http://www.nexgenproducts.com

NotePage

"NotePage, Inc. provides paging service that allows alphanumeric messages to be dispatched from a tty/tdd to an alphanumeric pager. All pagers are equipped with a vibrating alert to descreetly notify individuals of an incoming page. Additional information on our services and software products can be found at http://www.notepage.com/dahoh"

NXi Communications

"NXi Communications designs and manufactures products for deaf communications including TTY compatible high speed modems (NexCom 300) and accompanying personal communications software (NexTalk for Windows)." -- vendor's blurb
    NXi Communications
    E-mail: 

	WWW: http://www.nxicom.com

Signing Fiesta

"[Produces] educational sign language videos in Spanish/English/Sign Language and Tagalog (Language of the Philippines) English and Sign Language. [Are] also distributers for a Mexican Sign Language book and viddo." -- Vendor Blurb
	WWW:       http://members.aol.com/signfiesta/
	

Sign Media, Incorporated

Sign Media has been producing sign language instruction, Deaf culture, interpreter training materials since 1979. SMI's products are developed by Dennis Cokely,Ph.D. one of the top linguistic experts in this field, and Verden Ness, who has over twenty years of experience in the field of Deafness related television production. This team with the help of other notables in the field such as: MJ Bienvenu, Betty Colonomas, Charlotte Baker-Shenk, and Patrick Graybill, have produced over 350 titles.--Vendor's blurb

        Sign Media, Inc.
        4020 Blackburn Lane
        Burtonsville, MD 20866-1167

        Voice: (301) 421-0268
        TTY:   (301) 421-4460
        Fax:   (301) 421-0270
        Orders:(800) 475-4756

        WWW:   http://www.signmedia.com/


Silent Connection

Silent Connection was originally opened in 1995 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Silent Connection carried merchandise for hearing-impaired people such as alarm clocks and baby cry, TTY, and a wide range of books in sign or for sign language. Silent Connection also carried a large variety of t-shirts. Alphabet, friends and love t-shirts were the big ones back then. Due to losing our lease Silent Connection closed after almost two years.
Now eleven years later we are opening again. This time we are on the web were we couldn’t lose our lease. This time we are starting with
T-shirts and sweatshirts and hats. This way you can shop from the convenience of your home.
The objective of our business is to provide a high quality product at an affordable price. We hope you will enjoy visiting our web site and using our products as much as we enjoyed providing them for you
. --Vendor's blurb

     Silent Connection
     Fort Wayne, Indiana 46835-4057
     (260) 486-5635 V/TTY 
     http://silentconnection06.com

 

Sonic Alert

"[A] leading manufacturer of visual signaling products for the deaf for over 20 years. " -- vendor's blurb
    Sonic Alert
	WWW: http://www.sonicalert.com

SoundBytes

"Your direct source for a comprehensive selection of the very best products available to help you overcome your hearing loss [sic]. Whether you have minor or profound loss [sic], SoundBytes' products and services will enhance your communications." -- Vendor's blurb (I hate the "loss" part...)

   
	SoundBytes
        11 East 44th Street
        New York NY 
        TTY/Voice:  (212) 661-1777 
	E-mail: 

	WWW: www.soundbytes.com

Sound Choice Assistive Listening, Inc.

Sound Choice Assistive Listening, Inc. manufactures the Model SC-186K Assistive Listening System, a high-tech portable infrared audio transmitter that provides an affordable ADA compliance solution for the hearing impaired. --Vendor's blurb

	Sound Choice Assistive Listening, Inc.
	PO Box 843
	Doylestown,  PA   18901   USA
	Phone: 215-230-8600
	Fax:  215-345-1389

	WWW:  http://www.eclipse.net/~synergy/soundchoice.html
	E-mail:  


TJ Publishers, Inc.

"We sell a wide variety of books and publications related to deafness, sign language, and Deaf culture. We are , however, probably best known as the publishers of "A Basic Course in American Sign Language" by Humphries, Padden and O' Rourke (the "ABC Book")." --Vendor's blurb

	 TJ Publishers, Inc.
     817 Silver Spring Ave., Suite 206
     Silver Spring, Maryland 20910-4617

    Orders: (800) 999-1168  Voice/TTY
    Information: (301) 585-4440  Voice/TTY
    Fax: (301) 585-4440

WESTCOMM'S BATTERY CLUB

"Westcomm distributes worldwide, by mail, Rayovac premium zinc air hearing aid batteries. In the U.S., S&H is free. Prices are as low as 64 cents a battery when purchased in quantities. How much are you paying now? Westcomm has now started distributing TTYs at very competitive prices, as well as phones for the hard of hearing and other hearing aid related products. Check out our site at http://www.wwdir.com/westbatt.html"

Wynd Communications

"Products for Deaf and HOH:" http://www.wyndtell.com"

Other Stores -- addresses not verified

	Campus Connections
	National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID)
	P.O. Box 9887
	Rochester, New York   14623
	(716) 475-2504 (tty?voice?) 

Other Deaf Product Vendors


Other Commercial Service Providers

Closed Captioning

CCMaker

CCmaker, a video production company in Maine, adds open or closed-captions to your existing videotape to make it accessible to the DEAF or HOH; meets the requirements of the ADA. It normally cost $12/video minute, but we have a half off for each customer's first order.
	CCmaker - G&G Video
	1030 Congress Street
	Portland, ME 04102

	800-527-0551 voice/tty (m-f, 9-5 est)
	207-773-0316 voice/tty (m-f, 9-5 est)
	207-773-0328 fax

	WWW: http://www.ccmaker.com
	E-mail: 


ASL Educational Services

DeafWide Services

DeafWide Services teaches various ASL classes in the New York/Long Island Area. One of their most popular events is the annual ASL Only Weekend which they hold each August. It's a three-day event and quite good. I (Karen) went to one and had lots of fun. For beginners to advanced (pre-terps).
        DeafWide Services
        Voice: 1-800-421-1220 (NY Relay) then ask for 516-364-3899 or 516-384-8710.  
        TTY: 516-364-3899 or 516-384-8710
        Fax: 516-364-4612
        E-mail: 
 

Other ASL related companies


Software for ASL/Fingerspelling Training

HyperSign

"HyperSign is $95 for the Teacher's version. $79.95 for the Personal version. The only difference is that the Teacher's version has special utilities for creating student rosters and tracking student use of the program. Available for both Windows and Macintosh. Our website has a detailed description of the program." -- vendor blurb

	Trinity Software
	Village Square, Suite 215
	607 Tenney Mtn Hwy
	Plymouth NH  03264
	Voice: 603-536-9661
	Fax: 603-536-9951
	e-mail:  

	http:  http://www.hfk.com/trinity.html

Very Basic American Sign Language Software

We are currently selling Very Basic colorful animated American Sign Language software to teach and practice reading finger spelling and signing words for low low price $39.50. I would be appreciated to list us in Deaf related products. -- Vendor's blurb

For further information or questions, please feel free to ask:

Kenneth Kazmierski
Kazy & Smitty Associates
1779 Algonquin Rd.
Mt. Prospect, Ill 60056

847-981-8992 (tty) e-mail:
 or 


Les Wilson's "Best Prices for the Deaf"


Date: Sun, 21 Apr 1996 23:30:44 -0700
From: Les Wilson (
)
To: 

Subject: Best prices for the deaf...

Hello again, Karen!

Here's some information that you and others in the deaf community may find very useful.

As most deaf people are aware, there are many companies who cater to the deaf, but at outrageous prices. If you shop arould a little bit, and look at companies that do not cater to the deaf, directly, you will find the same items, but for much cheaper!

There is a company here in Rochester that caters to the deaf, and is owned by the deaf. Their prices are the most reasonable prices I have ever seen. For example, an Ultratec Superprint 4425, which normally sells for $499 in most places, can be had for $449 (and I think they are having a special now for $434), and it has free shipping. The name of the company is:

  LS Systems, Inc.
  1200-C Scottsville Road
  Rochester, NY  14624
  1-800-598-1TTY (v/tty)

They also sell a variety of alarms, bed vibrators, signalling devices, fire alarms, and other deaf goodies, all at very reasonable prices. Call or write for a catalog. I have no affiliation with this company at all, except that I am taking ASL classes thru them over the summer. But their prices are good for a deaf company.

Speaking of TTY's, they can be obtained thru many local telephone companies for a very low price. Rochester Telephone sells the Ultratec Superprint 4425 TTY to their customers for $420, and for $352 if you are certified deaf. Perhaps _the_ lowest price anywhere for that TTY. They also allow to you purchase these units and have the cost billed to your phone bill, with payments spread over a 25 month period, interest free (in the case of the 4425 for a certified deaf person, works out to $14.08/mo). Contact your local phone company for more details (usually some form of "outreach" program).

For those looking for a good visual fire alarm, the best place to go for these is to a company who supplies the burglary/fire alarm industry. In a recent fire to a home owned by a deaf woman (see my letter to Karen elsewhere on this web-site), the fire investigation report stated that there was no smoke detector found, which is not unusual for a house with deaf occupants. These are also the good, commercial quality units made by companies such as Gentex. Here's a comparison of prices for a Gentex 710CS hard-wired smoke detector with 177 candela strobe and 90 dB alarm:

  129.00 -- Harris Communications, Eden Prairie, MN
  111.95 -- Hear More Products, Farmingdale, NY
  109.00 -- LS Systems, Rochester, NY
   95.31 -- William B. Allen Supply, Co., New Orleans, LA  --  ($33.69 savings over Harris)

The William B. Allen Supply, Co. caters to the security industry, but is indeed the lowest price I have ever seen for these types of alarms. You can also find other stuff there that you may find useful, such as suveillance cameras (great way to keep an eye on the baby sleeping upstairs, or see who's knocking at your door), X-10 stuff, etc... They can be reached at:

  Wm. B. Allen Supply, Co., Inc.
  301-99 North Rampart St.
  New Orleans, LA  70112-3106
  1-800-535-9593 (v)
  1-800-444-1726 (fax)
  
 (e-mail)
  http://www.wmballen.com (World Wide Web)

So, the moral of the story is, don't buy from a deaf company who is just going to take advantage of your situation by reaming you with ridiculously high prices. While it is good to support the deaf by using their businesses, it is unfair for them to cash in on you. There are other sources to spend your income on, and at a better price.


Miscellaneous Companies that Offer Deaf Services

These are a few companies that offer services to the Deaf and HOH: