Oral Deaf Man Criticicizes Other Oral Deaf Man for Using His Voice

It was pretty incredible, bold, and foolish at the same time for Tim Riker (chapter president (Sacramento) of California of the Deaf) to criticize and demean a deaf man, John Fortius/Fortias, as seen in his response to my blog yesterday for using his voice in show of his support of the AB2072 bill on June 23, 2010 at the California Senate Health Hearing.

(Tim Riker) - I was a little disappointed with one of the supporters of AB 2072 who testified because his voice was unintelligible. If he had known ASL and used an interpreter, perhaps the audience would have understood everything he said and Senator Alquist wouldn't have interrupted him several times. Maybe his parents were misinformed or information about ASL was withheld by the audiologists, physicians, and his private oral school. I can see why they would withhold or distort this information; it would negatively impact their cash flow. We can't turn back time to correct this egregious mistake, but it's not too late to learn ASL and there are many in the Deaf community who will welcome and support him.

Since Tim Riker didn't say exactly who but there is only one man who used his voice and supported the AB2027 bill in the video recording of the meeting and that was John Fortius, a volunteer deputy district attorney in Stanislaus County. Tim Riker can only be talking about John Fortius. There can be no other person he could be talking about except John Fortius.

What is galling and irresponsible for Tim Riker is to criticize without any merit saying that John Fortius' (profoundly deaf since birth) speech was "unintelligble." Tim Riker's comment was done in poor taste. It was rather unprofessional for Tim Riker to use his position as chapter president of CAD to go after another deaf man for using his voice when in fact he also used his voice on that same day as well. It is rather an unsavory move for him to use his position to try and convince many others of that false claim in order to push his ASL agenda and lob a few conspiracy bombs about audiologists while he's at it.

Tim, I can tell you for a fact that John Fortius' speech was indeed intelligible and was understood for perhaps 98% to 99% of his speech. Mind the fact that were two unofficial transcripts (see below) that recorded all of his speech that day. Also, one ASL interperter was able to interpret what he said as seen in the video starting at 20:48. I was able to understand most of his speech just by listening to the recorded video. And he spoke fine to me. There is no need to get into details on how his voice sounded like which is, of course, not like what a hearing person's speech would sound like. His speech was "unintelligble" only to Tim Riker who is deaf and uses a hearing aid. Perhaps he should consider the fact about his own hearing loss and the limitation of how he can discriminate another person's speech? Perhaps he could not understand John Fortius' speech because he has a deep voice? Tim Riker needs to understand that some deaf/hh people are able to hear better when people's voices are in the higher frequency range than lower ones like men's voices. Or vice versa. Or that some deaf/hh people can hear very well in both the higher and lower frequency range of a person's voice. In this case, it was only Tim Riker who could not understand him while everybody else could to one degree or another.

Secondly, Senator Alquist did not interrupt John Fortius "several times" as Tim Riker tried to put it. In fact, she only interrupted him once to ask him to speak from his heart and not look at his notes. That can be seen in the video. You can also see that in the transcript, too. How disengenuous of Tim Riker to say those things in order to push his ASL agenda while as chapter president of CAD, no less. He even contributed to a heavily biased "eugenics" article called California Eugenics-Style Bill Creates Uproar Among the Deaf Community. Anything to do to push an agenda, eh? Kick another deaf man down for using his voice and then try and prop him up saying that the Deaf community would welcome him?

Nice move.

Here's the unofficial transcript below and in the video John Fortius begins to talk at 20:48:

JOHN FORTIUS: Good afternoon, my name is John Fortius, I am 32 years old, and I have been profoundly deaf since birth. I’m here today in support of this bill. At a young age, when my Mom found out that I had lost my hearing, she decided that she was going to do the oral-auditory approach, and this in part because she had prior training to my birth, she had a speech pathologist. As a result of her guidance and some education through oral-auditory school, I was mainstreamed in preschool and on. Some of my [accomplishments] since then, is I was an honor roll throughout high school, I was a sport athlete and captain, graduated with honors from Williamette University in Salem, Oregon. Was a college football player, and just a year ago, I recently graduated from law school. And continuously, from the time that I graduated from college, I’ve been continuously employed when not in school. Just most recently I have been working as a deputy district attorney in Stanislaus County as a volunteer. Currently–

SEN. ALQUIST: And why are you supportive of the bill?

FORTIUS: Why am I supportive of the bill?

SEN. ALQUIST: Yes, that’s why you’re speaking now.

FORTIUS: It gives people an opportunity–a chance to [pause] have, potentially, a more, what I believe would be a more [unintelligible] life. It would allow them to be just like anyone else. I’m the first to admit, I am not–I’m going off my speech–I’m the first to admit that I am not part of the Deaf Community. I have–I don’t associate with it, but I am an advocate of you know, just the best thing–the best course of action, whatever that might be–for disabled people. And so that is a big part of why I’m here today. And–

SEN. ALQUIST: Just speak to me.

FORTIUS: What’s that?

SEN. ALQUIST: I like what you’re saying. Don’t look at your notes. Just–why are you supportive of the bill?

FORTIUS: OK, basically, what I’m getting from, is when we’re faced with such an important decision in our lives, when is not being fully informed the best solution? And it’s logical, it’s common sense, and I believe seriously that being fully informed in any big decision in your life is very important, and so that is a big reason of why I’m here today in support of this bill.

SEN. ALQUIST: Thank you very much.

FORTIUS: Thank you.

This transcript follows almost exactly in another unofficial transcript as well which goes to show that John Fortius' speech was indeed quite intelligible that day.

My advice to you Tim Riker? Leave out your business of criticizing other deaf or hard of hearing people's speech and their choices to use them or not. Not doing so will make you look bad as chapter president of CAD.

And lastly, Tim Riker complained that I used his name without permission of which I find humorous.

Next, this blog is offensive to Deaf people and my name was used without my permission.

No permission is required or needed in this case. Tim Riker gave his name and spoke at the June 23, 2010 AB2072 Senate Health hearing which was captured and recorded on video for the public made possible by California taxpayers. This means that the mentioning of his name in that video and what he said are now a matter of public record and for public consumption. What I did was copy the verbatim part of Tim Riker's comment in one of the transcripts. It's all part of the public record, Tim. No permission is required.

I support both John Fortius and Tim Riker's use of their voices regardless of the situation when there are interpreters available. I'm not in the position to criticize other deaf/hh people choice's to use their voice or sign using ASL or SEE (or whatever). The important point here is that deaf/hh people have the right to decide which methods to use to communicate. For Tim Riker to criticize another deaf man's use of his voice is a serious step back on CAD's own credibility as an organization. This time, I and many others doubt Tim Riker's sincerity after he criticized and demeaned John Fortius by saying this:

...there are many in the Deaf community who will welcome and support him

Really, Tim? After what you have done so far? Unity for whom now?

*shakes head*

AB2072 votes officially confirmed

Just as I thought.

It was 23 Ayes and 11 Noes. The bill will go to Assembly either on August 26 or shortly after that. And then when all good and dandy the bill will go to the Governator's desk for his signature. And the rest will become history.

BILL HISTORY
2010
Aug. 24 In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after August 26 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
Aug. 24 Read third time, passed, and to Assembly. (Ayes 23. Noes 11.)

Which means only 6 Senators did not vote out of 40 Senators. I'd say with all the amendments and changes the people have mostly been heard. And this will be the first time that ASL is to be recognized legally in a bill with the Governor's signature. People need to move on and take the time and plan for this by seeing this as a huge opportunity to help ASL be recognized for parents of deaf and hard of hearing babies. After all it is the parents who must decide for their babies. No one else owns their babies. Not even Deaf organizations or Deaf people. Some of these Deaf groups, organizations or people have for the longest time had this sense of "ownership" or "entitlement" over babies born with hearing loss. That attitude simply need to be dropped. Many of us has been saying that for awhile. It'd be better to show the positive side of ASL rather than get all ugly and call people "Nazis" or accuse them of "eugenics" in the worst way. All that posturing simply backfired dramatically in the worst way and it can only paint them in the public eye with more negative images seeing them as "extremists." I can only imagine what Senators may have been thinking when they got this flyer in their inboxes. Or the public reading an article about the bill and protest for the time and not know anything about Deaf culture or ASL and read those Nazism remarks. If anything I'd say the whole protest took on a rather sloppy approach.

It's one thing to protest and make your case known but it's another to hurl insults, lob accusations and use Godwin's Law to try and link Senators as if they were a bunch of Nazis. Not cool. Not smart. And it won't win any hearts this way.

Anyway, this bill is a step closer to get the Governator's famous signature.

AG Bell on AB2072

The AB 2072 bill is about choices, obviously. It discusses that parents of newborns with hearing loss get information that covers,

American Sign Language(ASL), Total Communication, Cued Speech, and Listening and Spoken Language communication options for children with hearing loss, including, but not limited to, information about deaf and hard-of-hearing organizations, agencies and early intervention centers, and educational programs.

The problem is that those who oppose this bill often spend more time going after AGBell and other similar organizations rather than to focus and promote ASL itself. AGBell has a position paper written up some 5 years ago on their position on ASL.

AG Bell acknowledges that a chosen approach depends on culture, family interests, and desired communication outcome. AG Bell believes that the language and communication approach chosen should be based on an informed decision made by the child’s parents/family and based on their own unique circumstances.

With respect to American Sign Language (ASL), AG Bell acknowledges ASL as a language in and of itself. AG Bell also recognizes ASL’s importance in Deaf culture as a unique feature, and a language that many take pride in learning. AG Bell does not believe that ASL should be prohibited or restricted as a choice, nor does AG Bell advocate against learning ASL as part of a child’s overall development if that is what the child’s parents desire.

Regardless of chosen language or communication approach, AG Bell believes that families should have early access to professionals with specialized education and training in the desired language or communication method."

Again, it's about parental choice but parents need to be informed of all communication options, including ASL, the educational choices and the many services and advocacy groups on hearing loss that are available to the parents. AGBell believes in choices and believes that the AB2072 bill is about that in a letter to Tony Mendoza.

AG Bell believes that the language and communication approach chosen should be based on an informed decision made by the child's parents/family and based on their own unique circumstances. Regardless of chosen language or communication approach, families should have early access to professionals with specialized education and training in the desired language or communication outcome.

AG Bell believes it is important that organizations that advocate for or work with individuals with hearing loss work together to broaden health care providers' understanding of all communication methods so that upon identification, unbaised information about all options can be made available to parents and their children.

Senator Elaine K. Alquist who is the chair in the Senate Health Committee wrote up an analysis (on June 9, 2010) on the AB2072 bill, deafness, the issues involved, and about the deaf culture and community. This analysis has a firm grasp of everything. Senator Elaine K. Alquist makes a conclusion and recommendation to the committee (note the bolded portion):

Both supporters and opposition to this bill agree that any information provided to parents of deaf children should be unbiased, based on scientific facts, and come from a reliable, neutral third-party source. To address this, the committee suggests amendments to require that either DDS or CDE develop or approve the use of standardized, objective pamphlet of information about communication options for children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, that is sufficient to allow the child's parents to make an informed decision. This information shall be decided upon by the department in conjunction with a stakeholder panel, comprised of representatives of the various communication options. The cost for developing the pamphlet and conducting the stakeholder panel shall be covered through the development of an additional state fund to accept private donations for this purpose. The provisions of the bill shall only be made operative after sufficient funds have been collected to cover necessary expenses.

Both parties agree that information ought to be in an unbiased format and that stakeholders in each of the communication option shall be a part of helping the development of this pamphlet for parents of newborn babies diagnosed with a hearing loss.

No conspiracy theories.

No AGBell boogie monster under the bed.

No Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies in the attempt to label this bill and Tony Mendoza.

And none of the eugenics stuff that Edwin Black erroneously tried to infer about the Deaf community and culture's own future.

Just a straight up bill that is designed to help parents make an informed decision regarding their child diagnosed with a hearing loss.

If you disagree, disagree on the merit of the argument itself and not about trying to concoct some "end of the world" scenario here. The bill does include ASL as one of the many communication options whether used alone or in conjunction with other options. So, that is an important step. The ASL community will still have a stake in this once this bill is signed by the governor which, ironically so, at one time played a deaf and mute hit-man for a mob in a 1973 movie "The Long Goodbye."

When anti-AB2072 group uses Nazi labels

A new article in The Cutting Edge came out late yesterday about California's AB-2072 bill where it laboriously use Nazi examples and labels about that bill. This bill is about allowing parents of newborns diagnosed with hearing loss be given information on communication and educational options where it does include ASL as one clear option. It's a resource that will allow parents make an informed decision after doing their research and who to contact. When people use Nazi examples or references inappropiately as an argument it's called Godwin's Law or Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies. Drenching it with words like "eugenics" and "Nazi-style" elimination won't win the argument. Especially when you throw in conspiracy theories and accusations against other organizations. It'll simply marginalize certain Deaf groups even further onto the fringe by those who opposed AB-2072 bill whenever Nazi references are used. This bill gives parents the necessary resource and power to make an informed decision and by no one else.
I think this is a good bill. It's an opportunity to capitalize ASL even further once passed.

Paranoia, Emotional Baggage, Zealotry, Cult Followers…in no particular order

I want to talk about something a little bit different and slightly off tangent but falls well within the paranoia discussion that will follow shortly. Lately I know that some Deaf people out there have seen my devilish remark, “My plan is working flawlessly *rubs hands* heh heh…,” in a few places such as Paotie’s, my blog and elsewhere. I made up this devilish looking remark first in Chronicles of a Bionic Woman and then proceeded to use that same remark based off of a funny movie in a few other places. Strategically timed I supposed when I placed it. But the result was that several Deaf people began to take note and commented by making up wild conspiracy claims believing my remark had to do with AGBell, the DBC, or thinking it had to do about a devilish plan against the Deaf community at large and so on. Though let me make myself clear that I do have a certain propensity to delve in a bit of quirky humor. I know that some people already know this or don’t take it seriously but when I made that devilish remark about my plan that is “working flawlessly” I said it to hopefully prove a point. And that people will run off with that remark of mine thinking it’s proof that I’m out to destroy the Deaf culture and what not or whatever so- called agenda you want to conspire and bring up. But the thing is….there is no plan! I have no plan that is “working flawlessly.” So, relax. Have a beer and laugh over this one. You’ve been punked big time.

Ok. Feel better now? Now that I’ve officially placed a disclaimer about my devilish remark as a non-issue or of no concern for the Deaf community I go to my topic of discussion.

It becomes an odd if almost comical event to witness bloggers or vloggers resort to using Godwin’s Law (Reducto ad Hitlerum) in their own arguments thinking they’re well grounded in logical, scholarly thoughts. Hardly. The mere act of bringing up Nazism or “playing the Nazi card” to try and make parallels or associations in an argument simply gets nullified on that merit alone. Playing the Nazi card in the hope that appeal to emotions will win out rather than on logic and common sense will simply lose all credibility and everything they say after that won’t mean much. This is especially so when you have group of Deaf people playing the Nazi card to try and create supposed parallels on what’s happening today to deaf and hard of hearing people when it comes to AGBell’s philosophy as an organization. Doing so would be pretty much proof that those people who resort to that tactic are carrying way too much emotional baggage. I’m sure they have legitimate issues based on past experiences but to play the Nazi card will simply nullify their own arguments!

Yet with my odd but uneasy fascination on witnessing cult followers who are hell bent on destroying AGBell at all costs even at the cost of losing all credibility to the eyes of basically everybody which means Deaf, deaf, hh, hearing people and especially hearing parents. Yet the AGBell organization believes that hearing parents have the right to make informed decisions when it comes to their deaf/hh child, even if it means choosing ASL or not. Although AGBell’s philosophy as an organization does emphasize on the listening and speaking aspect for deaf and hard of hearing children. However, AGBell is not the one shooting themselves in the foot but the Deaf adherents or zealots who are basically doing that by continuing to demonize AGBell at every possible turn at a great cost to the credibility of the whole Deaf community. It is simply becomes an unproductive endeavor all in the name to “save” deaf/hh babies from those mean and heartless hearing parents from the hypnotic control of AGBell professionals. There are better ways on getting positive messages across.

Again, all this is rather comical but sad to watch these things transpire in front of our eyes. Zealotry has a way of blinding people and not see the bigger picture. You have advocates with the right frame of mind and then you have those who are simply out of control who use their own emotional baggage to drag the rest of the people down the drain. These are simply an opinion and observation of mine so take it with a grain of salt.

So in review of I what have written today and the things that have been happening lately in the hearing loss community when it comes to paranoia, emotional baggage, zealotry and cult followers, I’d like to make a concluding remark:

My plan is working flawlessly! *rubs hands* Heh heh….muwahhhahahaha!