The meaning of "organic."

The "organic" word is hippy! Cool! Naturrral! Or with the more provocatively French you could say "Au naturel!" For a deaf or hard of hearing person not to do anything with hearing aids and cochlear implants one could try and claim as being the "organic" wholesome deaf person.

Sure. If you believe in that.

Although I do have my "organic" moments whenever I take a shower.  Even going for swim at a remote swimming hole and go "au naturel" within the volcanic bedrock deep in the territory of Oregon could constitute as an "organic" wholesome moment.  Make that pretty darned wholesome moment. Even singing some songs as you hike the trails would be an "organic" moment because it comes naturally to use your voice. Even if you're tone deaf. Nothing more "organic" than using your voice and scream "Hello" and hear the "organic" echos reverberate off the canyon walls.

Just because one action, belief or way of doing is considered as "organic" or "wholesome" doesn't necessarily mean it's natural. Having an "organic" moment by running nekkid through the city streets in broad daylight with your dingleberries bouncing like leather Hacky Sacks will certainly earn you a trip to the nearest asylum. So, is using your voice to yell "fire" in the most shrieking "organic" way will certainly be a guaranteed way to get yourself arrested.

But I'm sure speaking and using your voice constitute as an "organic wholesomeness" action. Something like the time when one deaf person decided to to speak at the Senate Health Hearing in California decided to go really "organic." The whole nine yards, vocal cords and all. After all, to speak and use one's voice is quite natural for many deaf and hard of hearing people. I don't think you can't get any more "organic" than that. Signing is also "organic," too.  The Native American Indians were doing their own "organic" stuff for a long time until a better, improved "organic" way of communicating stepped in.


I end my thoughts here with a captioned 1967 song called "Born to be Wild" by the Steppenwolf band. Crank up that volume and enjoy your "organic" moment whether by feeling it or by listening to it.

Six year old deaf boy gets a cochlear implant...struggles...succeeds!

From Hands and Voices November 2010 newsletter I came across an excellent article from a first person account by a boy he wrote while in the 5th grade four years after getting his cochlear implant. Both the boy and his mother recount their experiences and frustrations after he contracted Bacterial Meningitis in an article called "What It Sounds Like" - Jordan Lopez Kinglsey, 5th grader at Tucker Maxon. Be sure to read the rest of the story in a link at the bottom and find out what happened.

(I recently heard what it apparently sounds like for my daughters' with their cochlear implants and I was really upset by the type of sound that was conveyed. In talking about it at a parent group one mom told me her story. Her son, Jordan developed Spinal Bacterial Meningitis at age 6. As a result he lost his hearing. Following is a recount of his experience. Thank you, Jordan for your story. It really put me at ease! Like most parents it is important to me that my girls hear me and now I know they can! Helen)

"... after 11 days the doctors told my mom I was all better but I could not even sit up by myself or walk and everything was very quiet. My mom and I always sang songs and said "I love you" you before we went to sleep at night. I remember that my mom's voice was getting very quiet and far away. On September 13th I woke up and was afraid because I could not hear my mom's voice anymore and she was crying. I cried too.

For the next four months I couldn't hear anything. I remember my mom teaching me how to walk without falling and how to ride my bike but I was sad because I couldn't hear her voice.

She taught me to read lips and feel my throat so I would know how loud I was talking.She told me we were going to fix my ears.I was very happy and excited!

.... My mom and I went down to San Francisco .... the doctors were going to fix my ears so I could hear again! I was tired of reading lips and not understanding everything people said.

When I was 'turned on' and I heard the beep I yelled, :" I can hear!" and mom started to cry. So did I. Hearing the beeps were good but when I heard my mom's voice, I was upset. Her voice and mine sounded like a computer! The doctor's voice and audiologist sounded like a computer! I was real mad because my ear was not fixed! I did not want to hear like this!

My mom and I went back to the hotel room. She told me in her computer voice that she couldn't 'fix' my ear any better than it was now. I remember being very mad because I wanted my real hearing back, not a computer ear!

My mom told me I could choose to hear or not to hear. To hear, I would have to wear a processor. I took off the processor and went to sleep. I was sad and mad. I remember waking my mom up in the morning so she could put the processor on. I wanted to hear again, but I was still upset and sad.

My mom and I came to Tucker Maxon so I could learn about the processor and so I could hear better. I remember being very mad because I had to wear a processor to hear. I could not hear my friends when we went swimming. I was mad because the teachers told me I was deaf but I was not like the other deaf kids. I did not like learning to hear sounds that I once knew. I had to learn what everything sounded like again and that made me mad.

*READ THE REST OF THE STORY AT HANDS AND VOICES* or go here and click on the November 2010 issue.

A model of success: Hands and Voices

This organization prides itself on showing the positive sides of how communication choices are supported and the wide ranging support to parents of deaf and hard of hearing kids. A safe place to explore options and not get involved with emotional or biased confrontations when you contact the organization.

"Who are we? We are parents of ASL signers, cued speech users.... parents of kids with cochlear implants or total communicators... we are people who have common interests connected through the community of deafness. Hands & Voices is a safe place to explore options, get unemotional support (although we can be emotional about it!), learn from one another and share what we have in common. We value diversity and honor the role of parents and family as the single greatest factor in raising a WASK, (our favorite acronym: W ell- A djusted S uccessful K id) "There is room in the community of deafness for an organization like Hands & Voices, and in fact, I think parents, and even many professionals, have been crying out for a group like this," says Leeanne Seaver, Executive Director. "Somehow parents connecting to other parents provides an element of credibility; there's a level of 'knowing & feeling' that only a parent experiences. And parents, especially parents of babies newly identified with deafness or hearing loss, need a way to connect like this without being wary of a sponsoring agenda from a service provider."


Hands & Voices is a non-profit, parent-driven national organization dedicated to supporting families of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. We are non-biased about communication methodologies and believe that families can make the best choices for their child if they have access to good information and support. Our membership includes families who communicate manually and/or orally. From American Sign Language to cochlear implants, our organization represents people from all different approaches to, and experiences with, deafness or hearing loss. We have local chapters comprised mainly of parents along with professionals.

So how did Hands and Voices began? Well, it's a familiar story about poor representation.

In the early-1990s, the Smithsonian Institute in Washington , D.C. , was preparing an exhibit called "Silent America." It was intended to raise positive awareness of the Deaf Community, highlighting cultural and linguistic (American Sign Language) aspects of the Deaf experience. Meanwhile, a number of people who were deaf or hard of hearing, but who were not living with those aspects of the Deaf experience, had a problem with the exhibit. From their perspective, it did not represent who they were-specifically, listening/oral communicators. They resented what they perceived to be the exclusionary nature of Silent America's point of view. Controversy roiled across the land. Both camps fired off angry letters towards each other, and at the Smithsonian exhibit planners. In the end, the Smithsonian scrapped the whole project.

And thus born the idea of coming up with a parental support organization version now called "Hands
and Voices" that began 17 years ago in 1993 in the state of Colorado. What you don't see are leaders who give out marching orders to go out and protest against certain deaf/hh organizations. But instead you have marching orders to embrace all kinds of communication modalities and offer parental support to those who need it. No need to create new words to describe specific oppression. No need to create a new word that describes the concept of idenity, discovery and journey. No need to create phoney hit counts on a website just to look appear authentic. Instead this is about a simple need that all parents and kids with hearing loss want and that is a support mechanism in place for them to help make an informed decision without politics and pettiness getting in the way.

The goal of Hands and voices? See an improved educational and social outcomes for children who are deaf or hard of hearing. And because of the organization's philosopy and support mechanism built in they continue to grow not only in the United States but elsewhere. Today there are chapters in 19 states and one chapter in British Columbia. There are 6 more states underway in getting chapters as well as one in Italy.

So, what are the qualifications in setting up a chapter in your state as a representative of Hands and

 

•Parent as director
•State Department of Education (DOE) representative of Deaf/Hard of Hearing programs as Advisory Board VIP
•Adults who are deaf and hard of hearing
•Members who can effectively advocate for all communication choices, regardless of whatever choice they've made for their own child.
•Teacher(s) of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing
•Educational audiologist
•Representative(s) from Institutions of Higher Education (universities, colleges)
•Parents of children who are deaf
•Parents of children who are hard of hearing
•Parents of children with unilateral or conductive hearing loss
•Parents of preschoolers, elementary-aged, & high school students
•Individuals who represent Deaf culture & community
•Individuals who have expertise with oral communication methodologies.
•Individuals who have expertise with manual communication methodologies.
•Professionals from Part C/infants & toddlers

It's not just parents but people with hearing loss can contribute to this organization as well and the opportunity to provide support they can give to parents looking for help and answers. This is what every parents want. Information about hearing loss while preserving  their parental rights to make informed decisons for their deaf/hh child.

Remember, 90 percent of all babies born with hearing loss are born to hearing parents. That's a big population of parents with deaf/hh children who seek support and answers every day. Not the negative politiking.

And lastly, the Hands and Voices' rallying cry:

If you or your child/student talk or sign... if you talk and sign, or cue, or care, we need you. If you are directly, indirectly, or potentially involved with children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families, we need you. We need to be united by our hands and our voices . We are parents, professionals, adult mentors, consumers, and others who are in so many ways connected to a cause and to each other through the community of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. We are card-carrying members of the National Association of the Deaf, the Alexander Graham Bell Society, the American Society for Deaf Children, and Auditory Verbal International. We are Hands & Voices.

Visit your nearest Hands and Voices chapter if you have questions or are curious.

A "hand wave" to Karen Putz

I've been meaning to blog this after what my wife told me what happened in Chicago during her high school reunion at John Hersey High School meeting up with her former deaf classmates. It's the same high school where both my wife and Marlee Matlin went at the same time and they both knew each other as well. But Marlee wasn't there. Oh well. When my wife went to register Karen Putz, who was at table, recognized the name "McConnell" and inquired if she was married to me. She said "Yes" and soon Karen's face lit up in surprise and inquired if I was around. She shook her head saying "No" saying that I didn't come due to a previous conflict. Karen then explained to my wife how she enjoy reading my blogs. In fact, she also interviewed me for the Hands and Voices article a few years back just a fyi for ya'll.  And now, I'd like to take this opportunity to send a long awaited "hand wave" back at her for the kind words she parted with my wife. And, oh, I do enjoy reading Karen Putz's blogs as well, especially the barefooted ones.