Boy, a lot has happened over the last several months beginning late last year. I can think of four major controversies or events that have happened. The arrest of 26 people in the latest VRS scam with notable Deaf names like John Yeh (owner and CEO of Viable), Joseph Yeh, Anthony Mowl, and Donald Tropp; the arrest, jailing and sentencing of Micah Brown who was at one time an adjunct professor of Gallaudet University and at one time a well known Deaf Democrat blogger who is now a registered sex offender; the AB2072 bill brouhaha in California that were rife with conspiracy theories about "evil" audiologists and California Legislature members; and the arrest of he-who-shall-not-be-named for charges that remain unclear at this point who is also probably the best known Deaf blogger and vlogger around whose trademark is to trash Deaf, deaf and hard of hearing people and call them names. Everyone of them, high profiled events with well known names associated with them. All within a span of 11 months.So, which ones are the more damaging to the image of the Deaf community? That depends on who you ask. But the damage has already been done. And one of the effects of getting arrested is if you have a blog or vlog and it is not set on moderation people will take advantage of that like in the recent he-who-shall-not-be-named YouTube site. The latest news of his arrest will continue to reverberate in the Deaf community for some time, especially it being the growing number one controversy discussion in YouTube by various vloggers.
All in all, when combined with these past events did they help tarnish the image of the Deaf community in various ways and perception? What are the lasting effects? No one knows for sure. Paper bag anyone?
