Gallaudet University's announcement on the news of hiring Dr. Genie Gertz with all the wonderful plaudits and coverage of her background experience when she was the Dean of the Deaf Studies Division at Ohlone College in Fremont, California. But there's an interesting omission in that announcement. It didn't say the one thing that Dr. Genie Gertz is well known which is her push for "Deafhood." And her strong ties with Ella Mae Lentz and the Deafhood Foundation, a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization (tax identification number is 26-2603125). And in turn Deafhood Foundation's strong ties with DBC and AFA who are basically their "shock troops" in terms of their activism or militancy (i.e. protest) against cochlear implant companies, AG Bell, John Tracy Clinic, Oberkotter Foundation, Hands and Voices, and so on.
Their background and association:
Lentz and Genie Gertz, dean of the Deaf Studies Division and Special Studies at Ohlone College in Fremont, Calif., have led workshops for deaf adults around the country since 2005. Deafhood Youth Northwest on Tuesday at Mount Tahoma was their first presentation tailored to teenagers.Tailored only to culturally deaf teenagers is what they meant.
These presentations, workshops or conferences (free or fee) were the "ASL-only" or "Deaf people only" types which meant no voice interpreters or sign language interpreters or any other accommodations provided such as CART. An overt display of practicing segregation, communication discrimination and even indoctrination in some cases. Never taking into account of people new to signing who may have difficulty in understanding in an ASL-only environment, those who may have language processing issues with sign language, or those who are deaf but do not know sign language and want to know more about their presentation but cannot due to communication discrimination. Or even for parents of deaf/hh children who want to understand better so they can make an informed decision regarding their child's education, language development and communication option. What is remarkable is to see how these workshops have practiced segregation and discrimination as you can see with these announcements below.
The flyer (click on pictures below to expand):
More presentation :
More pushing of Paddy Ladd's book and presentation:
More association with Deafhood Foundation.
More announcements:
Most recent flyer this year:
And other spinoffs:
Compare those announcements to that of the HLAA (Hearing Loss Association of America) announcement in the area of communication accommodation.
There are four things here to think about.
1) Indoctrination.
2) Communication discrimination - against those who may have limited sign language skills or have other communication preferences.
3) Segregation.
4) Exclusionary practices.
Dr. Genie Hertz is now working for Gallaudet University but here is a stark reminder for her.
According to Section 504, Gallaudet University has an obligation to ensure accessibility to students with disabilities, including those with hearing loss and the need for communication accessibility because Gallaudet University is a recipient of Federal financial assistance as a post secondary institution.
An important responsibility of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disability against students with disabilities. OCR receives numerous complaints and inquiries in the area of elementary and secondary education involving Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 794 (Section 504). Most of these concern identification of students who are protected by Section 504 and the means to obtain an appropriate education for such students.
Section 504 is a federal law designed to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities in programs and activities that receive Federal financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Education (ED). Section 504 provides: "No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States . . . shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance . . . ."
OCR enforces Section 504 in programs and activities that receive Federal financial assistance from ED. Recipients of this Federal financial assistance include public school districts, institutions of higher education, and other state and local education agencies. The regulations implementing Section 504 in the context of educational institutions appear at 34 C.F.R. Part 104.Services students and staff should be able to request at Gallaudet University:
* American Sign Language Interpreter
* Signed English Interpreter (SEE-Signing Exact English or PSE-Pidgin Sign English)
* FM Systems and Conference Microphones
* Voice interpreter
* CART
* Remote Captioning
* Cued Speech Transiliterator
* I-Communicator
* Typewell/C-Print
* Professional or Volunteer Notetakers
* Tactile communication
Even though Gallaudet University obviously supports ASL many are calling for the exclusive use of ASL for all or ASL at all times. That'd be fine if the educational institution in question became a private educational institution receiving no federal funding then it wouldn't fall under the rules of Section 504. But since Gallaudet University does receive annual Federal funding for as long as it has been opened it must abide by Section 504 laws. Section 504 gives the power over to students who may request communication accessibility that fit their communication needs other than just ASL.
That's a stark but humbling reality there.
Since president Hurwitz of Gallaudet University supports the new ICED resolution which does call for pluralism and to "accept and respect all languages and all forms of communication," and that Gallaudet University must follow the laws under Section 504. The question today is will indoctrination continue at Gallaudet University?
19 comments:
I believe Genie is in it for a huge lesson. As big as she thought she was... will only learn how insignificant her radical stance is going to be. In short, she could try & promote herself all she wants to but her radical views won't fly very far. It just won't.
By the way, Genie was one of the few people along with Ella at a dinner meeting discussing ways to get rid of me as a v/logger. I have an eye witness who testified to this fact.
I shake my head and laugh every time I see deafhood 101 flyer popping up around the Internet, knowing that the book is a THESIS written by Paddy so he can get his Masters, is incredulous. But, that aside.....
While I do respect those who want to take the class, those who think highly of deafhood's ideology and what they stand for. I do expect them to respect my views about their ideology. And, I believe in putting out as much truth - out there, so that people are informed and are given the opportunity to 'hear' all sides, if at all possible.
Some things I was told about what was taught in the class, DH 101....
Think of a dart board with the bull's eye in the middle. Deafhood teach others that the bull's eye should be the end of the journey for all deaf people in order to reach their 'deafhood'. Here is a fact, they did put out a similar graphic showing all the circles and the one in the middle only belonging to deafhood.
Yes, indoctrination.
Deafhood teach others that they all were oppressed since birth (or since they were deaf, if they were not born deaf), that AG Bell is their enemy, that Milan 1880 ruined their lives. They emphasized, in order to reach the bull's eye would require a deaf person to achieve deaf centric 'nirvana'. And, in order to win the 'War', they will have to fight back and 're-claim' what was once the Golden Era of the deaf community. This is why historical information they put out in their workshop which covered deaf people and their language and their education, are often 'cherry picked' and purposely mislead to suit their agenda. There was never a "Golden Era" for the deaf. Historically, deaf people are much better off now in many aspects of their lives than they were 50, 100, 150, 236 years ago in America. I only speak of America because the history of deaf people, their language and education is different in other countries. And, that is a fact.
.
Some, if not all, of the deaf people who rejoiced and applauded the latest ICED Resolution: Accept and respect all languages and all forms of communication, are the very same people who are ardent deafhood followers/supporters, yet on the other side of the coin, they are not promoting, "accept and respect all languages and all forms of communication." They only accept and respect ASL, damn other languages and other forms of communication. That is what they are doing, it's clear as day and night.
The deaf centric 'nirvana' aka the bull eye on the dart board CANNOT and DOES NOT include deaf people who accept and respect ALL languages and ALL forms of communication. This is a fact. Evidences of such can be easily procured. Believe me. ;)
No one reaches their 'deafhood' nirvana (bull's eye) except those who ONLY glorifies ASL. Don't be fooled by their ASL/English emphasis. America is a country where one is expected to communicate in English in whatever form. ;)
ASL is beautiful. There is nothing wrong with using it and promoting it. I use it too. I'm fluent in it too, I modify it too and that is not a crime. ;)
"We don't hate you because you have a CI," They said....
"We blame your parents for being gullible for listening to AG Bell'
"We blame AG Bell"
"That is why this is WAR!!"
uh. okay.
They are very oppressive towards other deaf/hoh people.
I will acknowledge that some deaf people who took that class, took it in order to gleen more information about deaf history, and that there are those who are smart enough to not fall into their indoctrination.
Be informed. Always ask questions. Always ask for evidence. Always do your own research.
;)
GinaAS
Hummm....Gallaudet is getting a black eye?
Chuckle.....Shaking My Head.
I was told that Gallaudet has about 85% of those students who came from the mainstream school.
So, Genie will get a bull's eye.
What can she do? That's her biggest problem. Not yours, not ours but hers.....She WILL fall into a trap. There is a but. Surrendering and raising her hands and saying that "I am for Deafhood" won't help. Otherwise, legal wrangling will appear.
Remember, MJ Beinenvu and Anegla Caskill's love-hate triangle? Both of them are still working at Gallaudet.
It's going to be the same thing....what a shame.
:-/
I don't know about the other workshops, but I recently went to a Deafhood "Allies" seminar and interpreters were provided. There were hearing people and non-signers in the audience. However, they were only offering two things: 1.) An one night seminar and 2.) One week class. I went to #1 and there were terps.
This was in San Diego.
JJ,
I have heard elsewhere that they have provided interpreters in other workshops but they had a history of segregation, discrimination, and exclusionary practices. I am pushing for full communication accommodation practices. Not just sign language interpreters but more importantly captioning (CART) as well for any audience for any workshop. presentation.
There should be a minimum three avenues of communication support: 1) sign language, 2) sign language interpreter/voice, 3) CART.
Providing only just an interpreter does not help. There are many deaf/hh people who do know enough sign or very little to get by but cannot always or simply cannot understand enough what's being voiced by the terp. So, they miss out on what's being said. CART helps fill some of that communication gap. And with that provision in place also helps hearing people (for example, hearing parents of deaf/hh children) who may want to learn at the workshop. Many cannot because they do not know sign language because of the exclusionary practices and communication discrimination.
Don't become like them (hearing) who practice discrimination against deaf/hh people.
Excluding people is not the way to get your message known.
My vlogs have always been subtitled. When I am in a group setting with hearing people, I will voice while signing so they feel included. I've come across deaf people who barely knew sign language due to their upbringing and I will try my best to accommodate them as well.
It is simply rude to not welcome everybody.
Richie, I agree. It is rude and inconsiderate of those caught in between or those who don't know sign language.
What's ironic is that this same group have complained in the past experiencing their own lack of communication access/accommodation. And now when they form these non-profit organization, they turn around practice the very same discrimination against the deaf and hh people. It does not matter if the group does not require an ASL terp or CART. If it's an open workshop, conference, or a seminar available to the public then they should always have terps and CART ready and available in the beginning. If they cannot do that then they should not be in the non-profit organization business. Factoring in terps and CART accommodation should have been done from the very beginning as part of the financial cost of running a non-profit business.
Indeed Ms. Gertz has many qualifications, but her Deafhood political views will trip her up sooner or later.
What is most disconcerting about Deafhood's myopic bulls-eye view of "Deaf nirvana" is its claim that Deaf ppl are oppressed while its adherents practice reverse oppression of those deaf and hh who are ASL-deficient.
I wonder what some Gally students (many wear hearing aids and CI's and also use listening/speaking mode in addition to other communication methods, including ASL) must think when and if they ever see this incongruency of the foundation's concepts versus actual practices. It is deception at its worst because the foundation is not being honest about being an "open" organization.
I know full well that in Deaf culture one should never speak when sign language is being used among the Deaf. However, there will come a day when a hearing parent will raise a hand at a Deafhood seminar's Q & A and wonderingly ask why isn't there a voice terp or CART for those seminar attendees who are the MINORITY there, those who don't understand ASL. The incongruency will be glaringly obvious. "Open" indeed.
"Minority"--ah, such a loaded word.
Ann_C
Ann_C..
You said, "I know full well that in Deaf culture one should never speak when sign language is being used among the Deaf"
Says who?
All my life, I have heard deaf speak, if they could speak. They do use their voice, that is..if they could. I have never seen in real life, a deaf person telling another deaf person that they should not use their voice when using sign language.
Sure, we've seen that happening online, a few stating that one should not use their voice when using sign language.
Regarding J.J.'s comment, yes, deafhood does offer workshops that are geared towards hearing, aka deaf allies and they do provide interpreters. I'm not sure how many of these workshops they have offered in the past.
I am challenging anyone to provide evidence that deafhood foundation provided interpreters for their 'deafhood 101' workshop, the same kind of workshop they offer to deaf ASL users only. Using the same workshop materials, etc.
From what I have seen and can find, there has been no 'deafhood 101' workshop for those who do not know ASL.
Deafhood does have classes for 'deaf allies' and the context of these classes/workshop was not the same as the 'deafhood 101' they have for ASL users only.
GinaAS
Gina,
I've heard/read this rule is observed by those in Deaf culture. For someone new to the culture or for a hearing person who has never been exposed to that culture, that person wouldn't know better.
So what happens at Gally, where the no-speaking rule seems to be an unspoken one on campus? No pun intended. It seems that rule is practiced more there than anywhere else, huh? Note that I said unspoken, not enforced.
If that's the case, Ms. Gertz would certainly think she's in Deaf nirvana there, alright. ;)
Mike,
If HLAA offers seminars "open to those with hearing loss", the organization provides access to communication options. Does ADA require the organization to do so?
Is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization required by ADA to provide communication access to all if it offers seminars, free or paid? I always thot that ADA only applies to public venues and institutions, as well as those who provide professional services to the public. Dunno if offering free seminars falls into the professional services category, it's a really gray area.
Just wondering...
Ann_C
Regarding to JJ's comment on the deafhood workshop......
Psst....Per the deafhood foundation.org via "events", the deafhood foundation are desperate to get some more workshops to promote the deafness vs. deafhood, colonialism and audism.
At this point, they are NOT getting many sponsors from the major corporations/colleges to help to make some good workshops since they first formed in few years ago.
They are getting run out of gas. That is not going to work at all.....
The deafhood foundation will be faded in few years from now.
Genie is now Deaf Nirvana? I'd love to wear Kurt Cobain's famous blue jeans! LOL
Why anyone would want to limit themselves, of being a part of mainstream society just because of this pseudo-culture, e.g. Deafhood, Deaf Pride, and other distortions or other of a hypothetical Deaf "nirvana" without understanding the (dubious) goal(s) of these movements, is incredible. These organizations do nothing to help anyone. That so many have succumbed is, I believe, because of bullying within "Deaf" closed society and the process of gradual indoctrination that occurs there. Personal experience -- was bullied and driven out of my teaching job because I can apeak. Grew up "TC" (Total Communication) in a state school for the deaf, but the "Deafs" at the state school where I worked were enforcing a "voice-off" policy. These people do not base performance on merit, ability, or anything else. Their protocol is that you are Deaf, and that alone gives you more "rights" and position than anyone, merit, experience and knowledge be damned. This momvement needs to be exposed for what it is, an extremely divisive and destructive movement that will promote the leadership and those within the core at the expense of everyone else. If you are not Deaf, and you are still trying to become one of them, forget it. They know who you are. If you aren't, you will never be. Leave the "Deafs" to their own self-imposed "devices," narrow thinking and self-limiting behaviors and associations. Go do your own thing, you don't need them. The world is a very big place and can be very beautiful. Don't fall into their stupid trap and limit yourself by allowing them to convince you that you need THEM! With friends like them, who needs enemies?
Haha! "Colonialism" and now "audism"... The Paddy Ladd "thesis" must have been written during the Vietnam war era. Uncle Ho Chi Minh would be proud of you, Comrade Paddy! If the Commies had won the Cold War, I would have already been shot as "an enemy of the (Deaf) People!"
Không chạy! Không chạy! Bác Hồ thực sự là một người đàn ông xấu!
(Do not run! Do not run! Uncle Ho is really a bad man!)
Ann_C
More likely an unspoken rule by few.
More likely unenforceable rule since they would have to SEE people moving their lips and not using their hands.
Still, many elude these few, since many speak whilst signing. The few do not have ears that works.
Ann, many in deaf culture use their voices, that is all I will say.
I shared what I saw online with some people every now and then that involves deaf people throwing a fit because someone used their voice, usually the responses I get are one of shock.
It's just the few, doesn't mean the whole deaf culture has this 'unspoken rule.'
Hope this clears up some of the misconception.
;)
GinaAS
Gina,
Sure, I understand that the rule is more unspoken than enforced, and that "many in deaf culture use their voices".
It's the unspoken part that persists in some Deaf circles, not just online but in some personal encounters with those in Deaf culture. I've had such encounters and I've often wondered how much Deaf ppl lose by not getting acquainted with those deaf who've gone thru different experiences.
It's not to denigrate those who have no usable hearing and cannot speak, I know they depend on sign language and alternative communication methods to live in the world, they are just as intelligent and creative as anyone who has hearing/speaking abilities. I've gone thru a different experience as a deaf person using hearing aids and learning to speak, but that doesn't make me more hearing. The experience didn't make me more "hearing", that's what Deaf cultured folks don't get, I know that I'm deaf as I ever was. Such ppl are just not open to the bigger world out there, I can't explain it. :(
Ann_C
Ann,
What you never had in the first place you will never miss it. What you have tasted from the beginning you already know. If you were born deaf and never had the opportunity to hear whether with a hearing aid or cochlear implant, you will not miss the sound. For those born with a hearing loss who were able to experience the positive benefit from using hearing aids or cochlear implants know what sound is like. And they are much more likely to interact with and enjoy being with hearing people. And thus more open to the bigger world.
wowzers ... I heard Genie got a job at Gallaudet but I never imagined she would be picked for something so lofty as a Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. well, the good news is that a dean's job is almost all administrative so she should be pretty much chained to a desk. I don't think she can do too much harm when she has the other deans, the provost and the president to answer to. She didn't win any hearts and minds at Ohlone, so it's doubtful she will be Miss Congeniality at Gallaudet either.
Anonymous 7:47 PM wrote "She didn't win any hearts and minds at Ohlone."
Opposite to what Anonymous 7:47 PM said. Through Genie Gertz, Ohlone has hired more cultrually deaf people to work there. She climbs quickly from CSUN to Ohlone to Gallaudet in a short span while she's still young. Big success, I'm telling you.
I'm here in D.C. and can fully say this with confidence: GG has made strides towards changing Gallaudet. I applaud her on her efforts.
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