Deaf man kills deaf sister and deaf brother-in-law with rifle

Gruesome. Thomas Simich, Jr, a 46 year old culturally deaf man who cannot speak or hear at all, does not wear a hearing aid or cochlear implant and has history of mental illness while growing up with his deaf parents just upped and killed his deaf sister and deaf brother-in-law with a rifle blast to their bodies at close range. Thomas was living with his deaf parents at the time of the killing. 

More postings on the brutal double homicide are found here, here, here, here and here.

Several years before the killing he began to act strange which lasted for several years.  You have a mentally disturbed person living with his deaf parents. What caused Thomas to snap? What caused him to be mentally undisturbed? Was it because of the deaf family environment? Why make up stories of talking voices inside his head (as opposed to "talking hands") and blame it on his own psychosis for the killing? Was he a product of bad deaf schools with ASL only programs? Bad English programs? Bad advices from deaf counselors? Bad deaf teachers? Bad deaf parents who refused to speak or encourage Thomas to learn how to speak? Bad deaf parents who decided against use of hearing aids and AVT since after all he was hearing voices in his head which perhaps signal a longing desire to speak and listen?  Bad medical industrial complex, the pharmaceutical companies and the medical community that influenced Thomas to take his medicine even though it probably didn't help? Maybe he was a product of a bad ASL environment? Maybe he was a product of deaf bullies while going to a deaf school growing up? Whatever it was, those silent murders took place in a town, ironically, called Freedom.  Nothing funny about it.

Please calm down, folks.

And, oh, yeah, that crime took place eight years ago. He's already in jail in Pennsylvania for those murders. And, yeah, I made these assumed over-generalizations by blaming certain things on purpose just to make a point. 

Special Ed teacher at Birney school shot and killed

A special ed teacher was shot and murdered on the grounds of Birney School in Tacoma, Washington today right before children arrived to school. The suspect was killed in a police shoot-out. A case of a stalker who was infatuated with this teacher.

The school's main webpage has already set up a memorial page for Jennifer Paulson for those who want to contribute and remember her. This is a school known by many former deaf and hard of hearing students over the years. I went to Birney elementary when I was little along with many other deaf/hh kids such as Greg Allison, Amy Mcinelly, Sheila Jackson, Keri Bays, BJ Bopple, Cindy Zaddack, Dorothy Humphrie, and many others who went to Birney elementary's oral/aural program.

R.I.P., Jennifer.

Separating Facts From Fantasy

Why is the author of Deaf Anthology writing up fictional stories about CI and kids with CIs who are somehow terminally depressed enough to kill their own parents, friends or whatever like this fictional story emblazoned at the top of one Deaf blog page "SHOCKING NEWS: CI DEAF CHILDREN KILLED THEIR PARENTS IN LOS ANGELES, DEAF ANTHOLOGY EXCLUSIVE! " ? Despite the clear warning that all Deaf Anthology blogs are fictional and the warning is prominently displayed at the very top of the blogsite, even that wasn't enough to get the readers' attention, some actually believed that the story was true (read the comments, you'll get a kick out that). The story was either so believable or repugnant to readers the fictional story ended up being taken down by the blog author.

I guess because so many people objected to it and that it was starting to become a rumor (scroll down until you see the yellow highlight) on the internet? Who knows exactly why this fictional story was taken down. But the question I have is that are some people simply desperate to try and paint a bad picture about cochlear implants and the people who wear them in the form of a fictional murder story? Is this good or bad form?

Do stories like these are looked upon with a certain subtle glee hoping that these things would happen hoping it'll give them enough to make a point (and that would be anybody's guess). But in the real world when was the last time you heard about a deaf guy or a kid with a CI go on a murder rage? All I can remember in the news about a deaf or hard of hearing person committing murder crime that received a lot of press or are reported in the Deaf community are mostly by criminals who are Deaf. A crimie where a Deaf person murders another Deaf person who are either a relative, an in-law, friends, lover or a by-stander. Now, I'm not trying to be one sided but that's all I can remember. I guess stories do become sensationalist news because it's about a Deaf on Deaf crime. So, I don't know if the media are biased in reporting these stories but I suppose the guilt lies in the Deaf community for reporting these stories far and wide in their blogs and emails that enabled me to remember these specific stories.

The stories I remember are:

The Simich Jr's murders "Deaf Man (Simich) Kills Deaf Sister and Deaf Brother-in-law. Silent Murders. "

The Joseph Mesa murder case where a Deaf man murdered two Deaf classmates at Gallaudet University.

A 43 year old Deaf lesbian who murdered a Deaf woman and then hacked her body into several pieces.

And this year's murder which is actually a 27 year old murder case that was recently solved that led to the arrest of a Deaf man who officials believed he murdered his 15 year old Deaf girlfriend back in 1981.

Sure, it could be a matter of time until a deaf person with a CI commit a murder crime against a deaf, hh, Deaf or hh person. But will the Deaf blog world go on a sensationalist blog spree talking about how CIs are bad and how wearing a CI may have caused the deaf person with a CI to commit this heinous crime against a hearing, deaf, hh, or Deaf person? But just let us hope that day will NEVER happen just as we hope that we will NEVER see another Deaf on Deaf murder crime again or any deaf on deaf, hh or hearing crime.

But this Deaf Anthology thing is a blog that produces some fictional stories that squarely shows that the author is against cochlear implants. Although it is a literary expression and doesn't "mean anything" just as writing a fictional book about assassingating a current U.S. president may not "mean anything." I'm sure many people will take a jaundice view of such a novel or writing even if they claim that it doesn't "mean anything." Somehow, as it seems to me, I wonder if there is ever the possibility that some people are actually hoping that those stories will someday come true like this one here. But for now it's just a fantasy for some Deaf readers to enjoy. And I wonder how would hearing people react to those stories?

All in all, it's better to separate facts from fantasy or else people will believe just about anything even if you do have a disclaimer clearly displayed saying it's all a fantasy or fiction. Still, some people will believe what they want regardless even if the evidence is right before their eyes.

UPDATE: Despite what the Yahoo cache says it did have the disclaimer up but I was informed that there was no disclaimer at the top at the time when "CI Deaf Children Killed" was written. I suppose a disclaimer went up later as an afterthought (probably by people asking if the story was true) and the fictional story was subsequently removed for unknown reasons (but I can make a pretty good guess why).