Why can't regina sign anymore?
At some point in the series, Regina was diagnosed with a hand disorder that forced her to stop signing and quit her work as a hairdresser. Aside from an angry outburst from Melody that she's never heard of that happening, the show never mentions it again.
Since the girls are technically each other (Bay Kennish is Daphne Vasquez and Daphne Vasquez is Bay Kennish), wouldn't their official documents become nullified (beginning with their driver's licenses) — unless they legally changed their names and resubmitted their real birth certificates to everyone who needs them?
Did Regina&Angelo originally surname Daphne after her father, and then re-surname her after Regina's maiden name after Angelo left? Or if they gave Daphne her mother's maiden name at birth, was there a specific reason for that?
Buckner Hall and Carlton face off against each other in the Missouri State Girls' Basketball Championships in Springfield (not that one). But wasn't it established that Buckner's in Mission Hills which is in Kansas?
At some point in the series, Regina was diagnosed with a hand disorder that forced her to stop signing and quit her work as a hairdresser. Aside from an angry outburst from Melody that she's never heard of that happening, the show never mentions it again. Since Kathryn took up signing a little earlier in the season, the dynamic settled into each girl drawing closer to her birth mom, changing the dynamic and, frankly, giving the Bledsoes less to do on the show. Does anyone know why the hand disorder was necessary?
Why did the girls wish they were switched at birth on the season 3 finale? If they weren't switched, Angelo wouldn't have left, Bay would have a biological brother (and could date Toby, who wouldn't be her brother in any way but still like her a lot), and both girls would be successful professionally.
In "Yuletide Fortune Tellers," Bay discovers in the alternate universe she's Daphne and therefore deaf, but (unlike Katie Leclerc) Vanessa Marano gets to speak in her regular voice and not don a "deaf accent" for most of the episode. Daphne-as-Bay handwaves it by mentioning she must have had a lot of speech therapy, but therefore shouldn't regular Daphne have had it as well (especially since regular Daphne doesn't have a brother to put more strain on Regina)?
Was Daphne homeschooled up through the third grade? If not, how did she make it to third grade before the other kids being horrible to her made her and her mother consider other options? (I realize the Internet wasn't a huge deal back then, but if a kid is being bullied that severely, usually many options will be considered, as long as the kid brings the issues up with his/her parents.)
If Noah lost most of the hearing in his right ear, why does Bay always sit on his right when talking to him?
In Season 5, Bay tells Travis he can't live with her because Daphne will. The three supposedly lived together in China, so it was seemingly a matter of space. However, in the 100th episode, Bay tells Ally they have plenty of space.
In The Awakening Conscience, Angelo tells Regina about his unborn child and Regina has a run-in with Lana.
In Duel of Two Women, Regina tells Adriana and Daphne about Angelo and Lana baby. Regina finds out from her new doctor that she can't sign anymore.
In Dressing for the Charade Regina runs into an old friend while out with Kathryn.
In The Acquired Inability to Escape Regina has her first drink of alcohol.
In Human/Need/Desire Regina butts heads with John and Kathryn over how to handle the situation with Daphne's food truck.
In Drive in the Knife Regina is fired from her new job after the first day and turns to alcohol after being sober for many years.
In Tight Rope Walker, Zane tells Regina what Bay told him. Regina confronts Bay about telling Zane about her being an alcoholic and angrily scolds her for it. Bay is severely hurt, but forgives Regina for her outburst after she comes into Bay's bedroom to apologize. The two then decide to keep it a secret and Regina promises to go back to her classes and get help. However, she goes back on her word when she leaves a voicemail for a sponsor and then deletes the message instead of sending it.
In Introducing the Miracle, an intoxicated Regina shows up at Angelo's.
In Mother and Child Divided Regina returns early from rehab. Bay is the only one who is happy to see her. Regina finds that Daphne has grown closer to the Kennish family. Feeling left out Regina goes to stay at Angelo's place. Bay finds out and goes to Angelo's place to talk to Regina about why they don't hang out and bond together. Regina told her the first time she met Bay she was scared to get close to her. Bay ask if she can stay. Regina said yes stay as long as she wanted.
In The Good Samaritan, Regina and Bay's messiness frustrates Angelo.
In He Did What He Wanted, Regina gets a second chance at the job she was fired from.
In The Awakening Conscience, Angelo tells Regina about his unborn child and Regina has a run-in with Lana.
In Duel of Two Women, Regina tells Adriana and Daphne about Angelo and Lana baby. Regina finds out from her new doctor that she can't sign anymore.
In Dressing for the Charade Regina runs into an old friend while out with Kathryn.
In The Acquired Inability to Escape Regina has her first drink of alcohol.
In Human/Need/Desire Regina butts heads with John and Kathryn over how to handle the situation with Daphne's food truck.
In Drive in the Knife Regina is fired from her new job after the first day and turns to alcohol after being sober for many years.
In Tight Rope Walker, Zane tells Regina what Bay told him. Regina confronts Bay about telling Zane about her being an alcoholic and angrily scolds her for it. Bay is severely hurt, but forgives Regina for her outburst after she comes into Bay's bedroom to apologize. The two then decide to keep it a secret and Regina promises to go back to her classes and get help. However, she goes back on her word when she leaves a voicemail for a sponsor and then deletes the message instead of sending it.
In Introducing the Miracle, an intoxicated Regina shows up at Angelo's.
In Mother and Child Divided Regina returns early from rehab. Bay is the only one who is happy to see her. Regina finds that Daphne has grown closer to the Kennish family. Feeling left out Regina goes to stay at Angelo's place. Bay finds out and goes to Angelo's place to talk to Regina about why they don't hang out and bond together. Regina told her the first time she met Bay she was scared to get close to her. Bay ask if she can stay. Regina said yes stay as long as she wanted.
In The Good Samaritan, Regina and Bay's messiness frustrates Angelo.
In He Did What He Wanted, Regina gets a second chance at the job she was fired from.
In The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, living Angelo offers Regina help in bringing in some business.
In The Merrymakers, Regina is sad that Bay is moving out because Regina was so happy to have Bay for the whole summer.
The TV show Switched at Birth is the first mainstream television series to have multiple deaf and hard-of-hearing actors, as well as scenes shot entirely in American Sign Language (ASL). The ninth episode of the second season entitled "Uprising" made television history by becoming the first episode of a national mainstream television series to be told almost entirely in American Sign Language.
Switched at Birth tells the story of two teenage girls who discover they were accidentally switched as newborns in the hospital. Bay Kennish grew up in a wealthy family with two parents and a brother. Meanwhile, Daphne Vasquez, who contracted meningitis and became deaf at an early age, grew up with a single mother in a working-class neighborhood. Things come to a dramatic head when the families discover that the girls were switched at birth.
Signing Savvy users love Switched at Birth and have submitted several questions to ask Lizzy Weiss, the creator of Switched at Birth. A big thank you to Lizzy for answering the fan questions and thank you to everyone that submitted questions - Jackie B., Courtney B., Denise B., Katie C., Tracy Anne H., Ray K., Chloe L., Sarah P., Julie S., and Lili Lan V.
I’m a writer so I’m always looking for great stories and when I heard about two middle-aged women who discovered that they had been switched at birth, I knew that making them teenagers would make a really interesting examination of nature vs. nurture. The decision to make one of the girls deaf came later, so it wasn’t the primary inspiration for the show; it was more of an extra complication to the main hook.
I took a class in college called Theater of the Deaf in which we had to perform monologues, songs, and poems in sign language. When I decided to make one of the girls different in some way to create more conflict with her birth family, I instantly knew that I wanted her to be deaf. (Take unusual classes in college even if they don’t fulfill requirements! They’ll pay off in ways you can’t anticipate later!)
I saw documentaries on deaf history and the cochlear implant debate; I read memoirs and lurked on deaf blogs and forums; and most importantly, I visited Marlton School for the Deaf in Los Angeles and interviewed multiple classes of students about their lives.
We had an open call for the part of Daphne so that we could be more inclusive and provide an opportunity to someone who wasn’t in the system (i.e. not just people with agents). People drove for hours to audition and spoke to me about the script and how much it meant to them to have a deaf protagonist; it was very moving. Katie nailed the audition in every way: in her acting, being fluent in ASL, plus the extra little magic of having the same coloring as Lea Thompson, who we knew we wanted to cast as the part of her biological mother.
But Katie is hard of hearing (from Meniere’s Disease) and I knew that I wanted Daphne to be more deaf than Katie in order to provide more anxiety and conflict with her bio family. We asked her if she would be comfortable coming back and auditioning again with a deaf accent and she said she felt very comfortable since she has been around deaf people her whole life. She worked with her sister (who is deaf) to map out which syllables would be difficult for her; I think by now, 93 episodes in, it’s pretty much second nature.
Sadly, there was. It was a true heartbreak for all of us that Constance had to stop signing. All of the other actors got to learn gradually because their characters learned slowly over time. But Regina was supposed to be fluent when we met her, so she had to do a crash course in ASL. Everyone’s hands are different and for some reason, the repetitive motion of so much practicing gave her carpal tunnel syndrome (especially after an eight-hour day of shooting a key scene in episode 8, ‘Pandora’s Box,’ in Season 1 in which Regina reveals a huge secret). In any case, her doctors required her to stop signing altogether. Luckily, at the same time, so many of the other characters started signing that it didn’t affect the texture of the show, and the amount of ASL that I wanted.
We have an ASL master (Jack Jason, who is also Marlee Matlin’s long-time interpreter) who teaches all of the actors their signs for their lines weekly. He is available for tutoring; he makes videos for them; and he is on set for every sign language scene to correct or guide them. Sometimes I consult with him as well when new characters are learning ASL and we talk about what level we want them to be at, or what sign to use in a certain scene, or when they should fingerspell, things like that.
I don’t think so but I tell everyone about it! I love the sign of the day. Every morning, my kids (ages 5 and 7) and I check it at breakfast and we learn it together! And I teach my daughter’s kindergarten class a new song every week. This week we are going to do animals and if a kid asks me an animal I don’t know, I’ll just look it up in the dictionary!
Penguin! Pirate. Love. Octopus. Submarine. Turtle. Rainbow. Friend. Always and forever. So many!
Every deaf actor has their own interpreter at all times on set, so when the director needs to block a scene or the assistant director needs them in make-up or I need to give a note, we use the interpreters. I’m trying to use my sign language these days but sometimes we have to be fast so I use a mixture of my signs and the interpreter.
Yes! It has been delightful hearing how many people say they were inspired to learn sign language - or even become interpreters - from the show. I love when people tweet that they felt more comfortable talking to a deaf patient or a deaf customer because of the show, that is fantastic.
Absolutely. Sign language is totally part of my life now, both professionally and personally. I’m pushing my family to learn it so we can have a secret (kind of) language!
New episodes of Switched at Birth are on Mondays at 8/7 central on ABC Family. Find out more about Switched at Birth or watch episodes online at ABC Family. Older episodes are also available on Netflix.
