The "cultish" test - Part I

When it comes to organizations there are sometimes certain signs to watch out for if you think about joining or be a part of somehow. Red flags that is. Below are 100 things to "watch out" for which was taken from a cult test. Below are some of the bold highlights which I think points out rather eerily the commonalities found the behaviors seen by some "pro-deafhood" proponents or even certain organizations.  The links I provided below are the ones that seem to stand out the most while others do not quite fit or apply in those situations. Although I am not prepared to say on what I've seen and heard would constitute on calling them as a cult.  However, actions when combined with others that I and others have seen do raise red flags with such cultish-like behaviors, attitudes and thinking. People are free to create new words like "deafhood" and such. That's not a problem. The problem is the practice of using "deafhood" as an exclusionary tool when there shouldn't be any lines drawn at all in the first place.

Remember, the links I provided below are the ones that I feel that do apply on what I and others have seen and/or heard when it comes to organization that are proponents of "deafhood."


# 1. The Guru is always right.

Always right? Wellll, sometimes a guru can be wrong, too.

# 2. You are always wrong.
# 3. No Exit.
# 4. No Graduates.
# 5. Cult-speak.

The cult has its own language. The cult invents new terminology or euphemisms for many things. The cult may also redefine many common words to mean something quite different. Cult-speak is also called "bombastic redefinition of the familiar", or "loading the language".


"Loaded Language" is one of Dr. Robert J. Lifton's Eight Conditions of Thought Reform — an essential part of any effective brainwashing program. The cult-speak may include a bunch of well-worn slogans, which Dr. Lifton called "thought-terminating clichés. The special words constrict rather than expand human understanding, and the slogans stop thought.


Beginners have to learn all of the new terminology in order to fit in, and understand what is being said. Then, the new language has the effect of separating the newcomer from his old world, and from his old circle of friends. His new cult friends will tell him that "Only another cult member understands", and it will be true. When he babbles nothing but cult-speak, nobody but another cult member will be able to understand.

This "cult speak" reminds me of newly loaded words that were tossed around heavily early on such as "deficit thinking," "deficit thinker," "colonialism," "dysconscious," the a-wordism, "Deaf-centric," "linguicism," "intergenerational unification," "subaltern," "minority imperatives," "subaltern-elite," and many more. Enough to dazzle all new comers with such impressive array of words. All that talk reminds me of Scientology speak.

# 6. Group-think, Suppression of Dissent, and Enforced Conformity in Thinking

Group-think usually means no real thought at all; just repeat the buzz-words and slogans and follow the program.

Jeffrey Schaler wrote in his paper Cult Busting:

One way of testing the cult nature of a group is by challenging the ideology binding the group together. We can discover something about the nature of a group by how well its members tolerate opposition to the ideology that holds the group together. How well do members tolerate difference of opinion, opinion that challenges the very ideological heart of the group?

Members of the cult are like a colony of insects when disturbed. A frenzy of activity and protective measures are executed when core ideologies are challenged. The stronger the evidence challenging the truthfulness of the group ideology, the more likely members of the cult are to either lash out in a more or less predictable fashion, fall apart, or disband into separate cult colonies. .

Such an example on group think could be when a group tries to determine how "Deaf-centric" a person is by discussing it behind closed doors. Or figure out whether if dysconscious a-wordism is occurring by questioning deaf/hh individuals' own background like a witch trial gone bad.

# 7. Irrationality.
# 8. Suspension of disbelief.
# 9. Denigration of competing sects, cults, religions.

This is commonplace, and hardly needs any explanation.


What is curious is the degree to which the hatred of others is based on similarity. That is, the closer two groups are in their beliefs, goals, activities, philosophies, appearances, and everything else that defines the group, the more they seem to hate each other.

Not about sects but rather of other organizations. Example #9 isn't quite that complete because it goes both ways where two separate organizations hate each other but I choose this one because it's the closest thing on explaining what I've seen. A one way hatred towards certain deaf/hh organizations such as taking a personal, extreme aim at AG Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing or to a lesser degree making aim at HLAA.

# 10. Personal attacks on critics.

Anyone who criticizes the Guru, the cult or its dogma is attacked on a personal level.


Rather than honestly and intelligently debating with critics, using facts and logic, the cult will resort to low personal attacks on the critic, using name-calling, slander, condescending put-downs, libelous accusations, personal slurs, accusations of bad motives, and casting aspersions on the critic's intelligence and sanity --

Another red flag to watch for is how angrily cult members react when the cult or its guru is criticized. Most ordinary or "normal" people can tolerate some questioning and criticism of their organizations and leaders without blowing up and insisting that the critic is satanic, or working for the forces of evil, or part of a big conspiracy to destroy the organization, but cult members often cannot. They go non-linear very rapidly when you point out too many faults or shortcomings of the group or its leader — especially when they cannot refute that criticism.

Of course, what views, facts or opinions that I and others have presented do not constitute an attempt to "destroy the organization." No. It's all about the content that counts, not the book cover.

# 11. Insistence that the cult is THE ONLY WAY.

Scientology regards Scientologists as the only sane people on the planet. They are "Operating Thetans", which is something like "functional intelligences", or more like "immortal god-like functional intelligences." All of the rest of the people on Earth are considered to be so brain-damaged, non-functional, and insane that they are hardly worth dealing with. But Scientology is working tirelessly to rescue as many people as possible, by bringing them into the cult and "auditing" them into new Operating Thetans.

This one comes close. Actually I think the last sentence comes close, that is, the rescuing and "auditing" part.Though I'm not sure if what they are saying is the "only way."

# 12. The cult and its members are special.

Frequently, the cult members even regard themselves as The Chosen — the elite, chosen people who will do something grand like save the world, usher in the New Age, or go to Heaven.

I'm glossing over this one somewhat since it's a bit loose and dicey here. Not about the heaven part but something akin to ushering in a "New Age" of enlightenment sort of deal. Or sumthin' like that. Nothing "speshul" about "speshul" deaf/hh people.  We're unique in our own rights.

# 13. Induction of guilt, and the use of guilt to manipulate cult members.

For example, the brainwashers would criticize a white prisoner for having lived a live of luxury, never caring about the fate of the poor Negroes, being just an uncaring heartless monster who went along with the Capitalist agenda because he personally benefited from it, even if it was killing others. Then the confused white fellow had to confess all of that in public self-criticism sessions. Then, to make amends, he had to do something like snitch on a fellow prisoner, or memorize and espouse Communist dogma. And then it went on and on like that until a few prisoners had switched sides.


Margaret Thaler Singer also wrote that one of the essential ingredients of any effective brainwashing or mind control program is "Create a sense of powerlessness, covert fear, guilt, and dependency."


Thus, any cult that combines guilt induction with confession and self-criticism sessions has a good start on a mind-control or brainwashing program. The cult will simply offer the member some other form of self-sacrifice, usually a life spent fund-raising or recruiting or working for free.

I'm sure there's some kind of a guilt trip sort of thing going on. Perhaps it has to do with admission, some kind of confession of sort or even self-criticism. Kind of like AA but in perverse way I suppose. But really, it's the last sentence highlighted in bold is probably what I see as the main altruistic concept hitched with some sort of guilt in tow. Maybe. Maybe not. A not really about powerlessness here.

# 14. Unquestionable Dogma, Sacred Science, and Infallible Ideology.

"Unquestionable dogma" is also called "Sacred Science", which is one of Dr. Robert J. Lifton's Eight Conditions of Thought Reform. The cult's "truth" is the absolute truth, sacred and beyond questioning. The cult's laws, rules and regulations are absolutely correct, always, and therefore to be followed automatically.


There is a reverence demanded for the leadership. They have ALL of the answers, they say, and only to them is given the revelation of "truth". The ultimate moral vision becomes the ultimate science and the person who dares to criticize it is considered immoral, irreverent, and "unscientific".

And....

Relatively new members rise in status and confirm their membership in the group by showing their skill in attacking dissidents and critics with the standard dogma and arguments — that is, by showing their skill in parroting the party line.

Certainly there's dogma.  However, there seems to be an internal dogma being followed rather than allow a concept overlap boundaries between hearing, hard of hearing, deaf and culturally deaf people. I'm not sure if I can make this clear but even hearing people have this sort of "deaf experience" they can relate to and understand, and even want to learn from what other deaf/hh people have to say and hear their perspectives.

# 15. Indoctrination of members.

Members have to learn and believe all of that dogma. The indoctrination can be anything from merely making people listen to sermons to prolonged intense study to industrial-strength brainwashing. Christian cults are notorious for having "Bible Study" meetings every night. Other cults listen to lectures by the leader, or meet to study his writings, or listen to his tapes, or watch videotapes...

Indoctrination is certainly going on although not exactly at the "industrial-strength brainwashing" level hyperbole.  But certainly there are a lot of videos to watch.

# 16. Appeals to "holy" or "wise" authorities.

The authorities can be anything from the Bible or other religions' holy scriptures, to the words of someone deemed to be a knowledgeable authority on some subject, to the words of dead saints, real or imagined. And all of them are supposedly endorsing the cult.

Nothing holy or wise here but there's certainly a level of gushing idolatry going on. Respect and admiration are one thing, but idolatry is going a bit too far. It gets rather obnoxious when people do that.

# 17. Instant Community.

You get a ready-made extended family when you join the cult. Sometimes, you move into their living quarters upon joining, and really get an all-encompassing community. Or you just spend all of your spare time at the temple or center or meeting hall, only associating with other members, who are your new circle of friends.


A common characteristic of this instant community attitude is, "We love you because you are one of us." The cult members will instantly love you, and consider you a beloved part of their family, because you chose to join their group. You are automatically one of the Good People because you joined the cult.

Perhaps there's a bit of the "touchy feeling" going on that I'm sensing.  Maybe it's an illusion? Perhaps the last sentence outlined in bold letters is probably more correct than not? Not the cult part but the reaction to those who  joined their group. This goes in line quite well with #11 about "rescuing" more people which make you one of the "good people."

# 18. Instant Intimacy.

Intimacy? Reveal our deepest, darkest secrets to a bunch of strangers? Gawd I hope not. At least there appears to be some sort of "auditing" process going on but certainly not at the Scientology level.  Not even close.

# 19. Surrender To The Cult.

Nope on the surrendering part.  Although there are certain expectations once that you are "in" and that loyalty is demanded.  Divulge from their constrained parameters then you might be labeled as a traitor very quickly. Even just being friends with, according to them, "deficit thinkers" or "non-deafhood" folks might earn you that boot. Maybe earn a racist title by being called a "yellow dickhead."  How much one can "surrender" to "deafhood"? Why even bother?

# 20. Giggly wonderfulness and starry-eyed faith.

Oh, please!

# 21. Personal testimonies of earlier converts.

When you go to meetings, cult members will all tell you that the cult is wonderful and the best thing that ever happened to them. (And if there are a lot of former members who think that the cult totally sucks, well, they won't be around to tell you that, will they?)


In some groups, a standard part of every get-together or church service is a session where people "testify", or "witness", or "share", and tell stories of what wonderful things the cult has done for them. That helps to both indoctrinate the newcomers and strengthen the "faith" of the current members. In some groups, members graduate from beginner status to regular membership when they can stand up before the whole group and recite an acceptable speech about the wonderful benefits they have gotten from belonging to the cult.

I have a question here. Where does education start and indoctrination ends? Are there any trophy heads on display? Anybody with a 30 db hearing loss on display here? Any group of late-deafened people with their in-the-ear-canal hearing aids that proponents can proudly display? It sure look awfully small when the group is mostly culturally deaf compared to the rest 30 million people with hearing loss.

# 22. The cult is self-absorbed.

That is, the cult is the most important thing in the lives of the cult members. Sometimes, it is their entire life.

Maybe so but I have a few questions about that one.

Ok. Enough for now. There are 78 more "cultish" questions left to go. I'll pick up on that again soon and blog some more. Lots of questions and red flags out there for me to explain my perspective as to why I say, "Deafhood? No thanks."

Not an Optical Illusion but a reality.

No. It's not an optical illusion by a book written by a profoundly deaf man. The title of the book is "Obstacle Illusion: Transforming Adversity into Success." It went officially live today on Amazon where it has rocketed from 746,000th place at 5:30 am to 3,800th place by 10 AM this morning. Numerous well known writers such as Marci Smimoff, the # NY Times bestselling author of the widely known book "Chicken Soup for the Soul," writes:

"Obstacle Illusions is a powerful account of Stephen Hopson's life experiences ranging from defeat to triumph. Readers will find themselves laughing and crying and contemplating life in a deep, meaningful way."

My favorite soup is in fact chicken soup along with some diced celery, egg whites, and a handful of green onions to make a delightful and hand-warming soup to eat and enjoy. Stephen Hopson isn't an illusion. He has made his obstacles in his life as nothing more than a series of challenges to overcome. Mind over matter as some people would say. It's also all about perspective in life and how you deal with it.

I met Stephen through email a few years back or so and corresponded with him several times and I even blogged about him a few times. This was a guy worth keeping an eye one. And sure enough. He wrote a book! People with the right thinking and attitudes are what attracts me to them regardless of their level of hearing hearing loss or background. It's the "can-do" attitudes that count and not a defeatist attitude blaming everyone and everything, always complaining. Negative attitudes suffocate the soul when one says, "I can't" when in fact you....can!  Just like how I continue to face my own kind of adversity. I even had the audacity to become a forest fire fighter and help fight 100,000 to 200,000 acres fire on the front line with my ax and shovel. I'd say that's certainly a different kind of adversity in its own right on fighting wildfires with my fellow fire fighters on the front line in Washington, Idaho and North Carolina. It's not about overcoming oppression, it's about overcoming obstacles in life successfully. Sometimes you have to take risks in life to know what it really means to overcome obstacles life. Even if it means you're the only one to have done that like fighting forest fires for two weeks at a time.

You can order Obstacle Illusions through Amazon. Order one today!

And, oh, I just now ordered the book. It should arrive on March 23. I'll be looking forward to reading it!

UPDATE:  It is now #9 in the Happiness genre and #23 Self Help and #793 overall (out of 8 million books)!

UPDATE II:  Since the book is in the top 1000, Stephen Hopson now qualifies as a "bestselling author" with his book.

UPDATE III: Read in the Huffington Post "Obstacle Illusions: A Conversation with Author Stephen J. Hopson" on their interview with Stephen Hopson. 

Free Real Time Radiation Map of U.S.

With the latest worry of possibility of a full scale catastrophic meltdown in Japan and with the jet stream's path to the U.S. fears are mounting on how much radiation will hit the U.S. Here's a free radiation map of monitoring stations located in several states that measure environmental radiation levels updated in real time every minute. The "hot spot" city based on a typical jet stream's path where this "plume" of radiation may probably hit first would be city of San Francisco.  This radiation map does have San Francisco as one of several monitoring stations across the U.S. seen below as yellow circles.

Real time map of current background environmental radiation count (CPM)

There are 3 cities that have radiation monitoring on the west coast - San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver, B.C.   Seattle has its own "real time" radiation map.  As you can see from the radiation map, San Francisco's current radiation level is 30 CPM (Counts per Minute). The "Alert Level" would be at 130 CPM.

Any Monitoring Stations with CPM value above 130, further indicated by an Alert symbol over those stations, it probably means that some radioactive source above and beyond background radiation is responsible.

And if the number does jump over 130 CPM over the next 30 days we'll probably know why. This "plume" is said to hit the United States this Friday.

The irresponsibility on posting a video a call for the destruction of SEE interpreters

Diversity. That is what I see whenever I see deaf and hard of hearing people communicate in a variety of ways such as signing in SEE, PSE, ASL, cued speech, writing, and speaking and listening. Just as I see diversity among people with hearing loss whether born with it or acquired it later on life. But to make a video siren call advocating for the destruction of SEE interpreters (Signing Exact English) is not only irresponsible but smacks of what you could call it as a "hate crime" (as much as I loathe to use those words) in action. And how ironic that has become.  If anything, somebody could mistaken that video as a call to arms to threaten SEE interpreters.

Not a smart move.

SEE interpreters provide a valuable service to deaf/hh people who use SEE. The same kind of valuable service on having ASL interpreters for deaf/hh people who sign in ASL. The same goes for cued speech users by using transliterators. And even oral interpreters (i.e. lipreading). As ALDA would say, WHATEVER WORKS! There is no "right" or "wrong" way to achieve effective communication, only that different methods work best for different people and that need to be recognized. But to seek for the destruction of SEE interpreters and get universities and colleges to ban or stop teaching SEE courses are actions that speak of recklessness and irresponsibility. Such an attitude and group think run the risk to be marked as an extremist.

Be smart. Don't play dumb.

Matt Hamill to fight Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

On May 28 Matt Hamill will finally have a shot on challenging one of the top 10 UFC fighters. Dana White, UFC president, made sure of that.

"I was supposed to fight in Toronto against Phil Davis, but I wasn't really happy with [him being] my opponent," said Hamill. "When I found out Rampage had no one to fight, Duff Holmes called Joe Silva and said 'Matt Hamill is available, Matt Hamill wants to fight 'Rampage.' Dana White wanted me to fight anyone in the top ten. Trust me, when I got Rampage, I got very excited. This is the moment I wanted, I'm one fight away from the title. This could be a great fight, it could be a war, it's not going to be easy but when an opponent is ranked better than me it keeps me motivated. May 28, I'll be ready."

Good luck, Matt. Give it 110%!

Deaf Echo Chamber part Deux

In following up with my previous blog Deaf Echo Chamber I did last month where my opinions and discussions were conveniently prevented as I feel was for selfish reasons in Deaf Echo.  Although the moderators have every right to monitor their own blog/website as they see fit, however. Yet, I understand the sensitive issues regarding impacts to deaf education. But that doesn't excuse them from making up a fantasy excuse in the attempt to silence my opinions.

Onward to the Wisconsin protest thingy.

If you didn't know already Governor Walker did sign the collective bargaining bill in a signing ceremony. I have a few questions for you Deaf Echo-ers and readers here. But correct me if I'm wrong, didn't the voters pick Governor Walker?

Didn't the voters understand who they were voting for? Despite fliers circulated during last fall’s campaign by union AFT-Wisconsin who warned voters that Walker wanted to curb the unions’ power to negotiate? But they still voted for him? Why is that?

Maybe the people of Wisconsin want to see their state regain control and get the state's fiscal sanity back for once?

Scott Walker was elected by the people as a fiscal conservative Republican, and he is governing as a fiscally conservative Republican. He is doing exactly what he promised he would do. And because of that campaign platform he won the largest landslide victory of any party in any election since 1928. A 54-45 percent landslide win in Wisconsin.

Isn't that Democracy in action?

And lastly, how it is that public employees in 24 other states — and in the federal government — have managed to survive without collective bargaining rights? Imagine that. 

On collective bargaining when compared to those with no collective bargaining:

The boldest and most effective option is to prohibit collective bargaining entirely in the public sector. Virginia and North Carolina do this. Twenty-two other states forbid collective bargaining for some classes of public employees or allow it only by local option.

Not having to bargain employee contracts makes it easier for elected officials to control employment costs. The Washington Post has written extensively about the different budget environments in Fairfax County, Virginia, which does not use collective bargaining, and Montgomery County, Maryland, which does:

Virginia law denies public employees collective bargaining rights; that’s helped Fairfax resist budget-busting wage and benefit demands. As revenue dipped two years ago, Fairfax officials froze all salaries for county government and school employees with little ado. By contrast, Montgomery leaders were badly equipped to cope with recession.

I strongly suggest you read the link to the The Washington Post above. It's really an eye-opener to understand when it comes to the ability to control cost.

Now, if you want to discuss this, fine. But if you disagree, just say so instead of making up fantasy excuses in the effort to silence me for my opinions. Let's avoid the echo chamber effect.

Everyone has a right to my opinion!

Oh, I like that quote. Nice little twist of words there.

It's a quote from a book title that came from Michael Ramirez, who is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartoonists at Investors Business Daily.  So, when I blog, everyone has a right to my opinions, of course. I won't deny you that right.

The focus on what AGBell believed and understood in the past is really moot nowadays. It's a 120 year old difference. And it's even more ridiculous to go after him and declare him as being ignorant about genetics (i.e. hereditary deafness) and genetic diversity when the field of genetics began in 1866 by the work of the Augustinian friar Gregor Johann Mendel. Alexander Graham Bell had a very weak understanding of what genetics and how it worked, and even less so about on the concept of genetic diversity when he gave a lecture "Memoir upon the formation of a deaf variety of the human race" to the National Academy of Sciences in 1883, a time when the field of genetics was only 17 years old. The concept of genetic diversity was absent during those times simply because the field of genetics was new. Even into the early 1900s genetics was still in its infancy in terms of understanding the importance of genetic diversity.

Back then it was a different era. A different way of thinking. A different cultural crowd of the time. People need to understand that. Unfortunately, some continue to try and find a single scapegoat.

The lack of knowledge in the field of genetic diversity in humans cannot be compared to the lack of heterogeneity of potatoes or diversity of potatoes.  The lack of diversity of potatoes in Ireland resulted in the well known Irish potato famine. Had there been a good diversity of potatoes such a famine could have easily prevented when more resilient potatoes would thrive and others would succumbed to deadly crop diseases.

"Genetic diversity" as it relates to humans wasn't even a concept developed back then. Also, the word "eugenics" had a very different conceptual meaning and understanding back in the late 1800s and early 1900s than how we view it today, especially in light of Hitler's own personal brand of gruesome eugenics program of the mid-1930s and early 1940s.

Silly little arguments and scape-goating.

Yes, people have a right to my opinion!

Weaning....

What is wean?

- to detach from a source of dependence.

In other words, to let go and not be dependent on others. Get rid of that pacifier!

Barry said it in response to the Wisconsin protest, the closing of deaf schools, interpreter services closing, and so on.




Jerome Cain said it....(starting at 0:40 seconds)



Russell warned that unless schools for the deaf improve with better innovative academic programs and beat state academic requirements they'll soon become dinosaurs.



Gallaudet University may need to wean itself, too, eventually.

Of course, some may disagree with the whole weaning concept thinking it's cruel, never living the life of a rancher, when it's a fact of life separating calves from their mother cows as part of the whole ranching business. Whoever said that it's supposed to be a pleasant or uneventful process?

Life isn't a bed of roses.

Let's stop with the namby pamby excuses and learn to be creative, innovative and ground-breaking in order to thrive and compete successfully without the need to be overly dependent.

Japanese Nuke Plant Radioactive Meltdown and How It Could Affect the U.S.

ADDENDUM: Free real time radiation map of the United States.

Just because the Fukushima Daiichi power plant's Unit 1 in Okumamachi, Fukushima prefecture, Japan is located some 4500 miles to the west from Portland, Oregon doesn't mean that the west coast won't be in the path of Japan's radioactive fallout. Most vulnerable states appears to be Washington, Oregon and California that may be first in line to see the effects of a radioactive fallout should Japan experience a catastrophic meltdown. For the rainy west coast radioactive materials could come down mostly in the form of rain and snow. With this scenario there is a concern on how it could affect water, agriculture and even livestock such as cattle for their milk.

Using an online jet stream animation page you can see where the upper 300 mb jet stream fluctuated over the last 2 to 20 days. Just click on "20 days" worth of animation and set it at a 6 hour interval. And then click on "Build Animation" button to see the results the flow of the upper level jet stream.

The only other lesson we can learn from this is the Chernobyl nuclear reactor explosion and fallout and its global radiation pattern and what the United States could expect should a catastrophic meltdown occur over at Japan. Although Ryohei Shiomi, an official with Japan's nuclear safety commission, said that even with a meltdown, it wouldn't affect people outside a six-mile (10-kilometer) radius. Although that could change should the situation deteriorates and becomes catastrophic. Perhaps Japan is attempting to down play this seriousness?

From one commenter:

The explosion is a very very bad sign. They are claiming that they don't know if the the reactor core has been damaged. That unfortunat­ely isn't a true statement they know perfectly well it has been breached. They have announced elevated levels of Cesium in the air. They are talking about "radiation leakage". That is misleading­, Cesium 135 and 137 are isotopes that are byproducts of the fission reactor using Uranium 235 a a primary fuel. Cesium isotopes can only come from the reactor core which means it has been breached. In a best case they are deliberate­ly venting the reactor vessel to try and keep the damping control rods from collapsing­. In a worst case scenario the control rods have collapsed and they have a full scale runaway reactor that will start to produce heat again with no cooling system. If that is the case it can only end one way. A complete core
breach that will allow the core to fall down into the ground water. When that happens the molten sodium and fission mass will cause a massive explosion throwing cubic kilometers of steam containing Cesium, Uranium 235 and perhaps worst of all Plutonium 239 up into the atmosphere­, all the way up into the jet stream. Lets all hope that doesn't happen.

Let's hope not. And this could be another "Chernobyl disaster" in the making. And it could be even worse.

Catherine Murphy responds to nervous Nellies about AGBell

From the Spring 2011 Gallaudet Today newsletter Catherine Murphy, who is hearing (but learning ASL) and is the executive director of the Office of Public and Media Relations at Gallaudet University, respond to the controversy being circulated by angry or suspicious deaf people with dancing conspiratorial eyes.   

From Gallaudet Today newsletter (Spring 2011):

Gallaudet Today: The move from AG Bell to Gallaudet has been controversial in some circles. How do you address those concerns?  

Catherine Murphy: I haven't encountered any negative feedback myself, and everyone here at Gallaudet has been very welcoming. However, I can understand where some people might take notice of my selection for this position. I see my role as acting at the discretion of President Hurwitz and the Board of Trustees in implementing their vision as outlined in the Gallaudet Strategic Plan and in supporting the University's bilingual mission. I am especially interested in promoting public awareness and positive depictions of deaf individuals in the media.  There is a lot this community has to offer that I think is far too often overlooked.  I also see many ways that the alumni can take a greater role in helping to promote that awareness. 

Feel better now, folks?

Catherine Murphy does not do her own Press Releases but at the discretion of President Hurwitz and the BOT.  Gallaudet University is doing what it must do to survive, compete and thrive according to their Mission and Vision of their plan.

I'm sure Josh Swiller, Catherine Murphy, Alan Hurwitz and a few others are all sitting around thei tables rubbing their hands and exclaiming loudly with their crooked pinkies in the corner of their mouths, "Heh heh...my plan is working flawlessly!" And laugh loudly. No. It's was a group effort to initiate this Strategic Plan that began 18 months ago. They have goals and strategies in place. Ambitious in their plan to see enrollment of full-time undergrads, full- and part-time graduate students, and continuing education students grow to 3,000 by 2015. And that's only 4 years away.

Gallaudet University simply need to prove they can compete academically with the rest of their university brethens. But to have a completely all Deaf university is not what diversity is all about at this institution of higher learning. Nor will it help them thrive and survive. It boils down to showing their academic mettle. And one of their goals is to "expand domestic recruiting to become 'top of mind' for all deaf and hard of hearing students, and hearing students seeking deaf/HH-related careers." This is a different time and economy Gallaudet University is facing now. And it'll be their biggest challenge yet to come. Long term survival. But if they can't prove their academic superiority with the rest of the universities and be equally competitive then I'm certain Congress will do something about reducing funding (or stop altogether) to Gallaudet University as Congress continues to struggle with their own deficit and debt problems.  We'll probably know what direction this will go in 3 to 5 years from now. Stay tuned.

Pitchforks and torches.....Swiller, Hurwitz, and more.

Gird your loins, here comes the mob! Upheaval! Get your ax! Get your club! Get your pitchforks! Light those torches! And join the angry mob! Their sacred home of yore is being threatened! How dare they let those war vets in!!

The changing of the guards at Gallaudet University along with a new master plan for the next 10 to 15 years in the effort to keep the university afloat and be competitive but doing so will bound to upset some culturally deaf people.  But Gallaudet University is trying to keep two steps ahead and stay competitive in the effort to make their university an attractive university for anyone with a hearing loss.   Gallaudet University faces a real possibility of dwindling Federal dollars since the university get most of the money from the Federal government to help keep it running.  Not cheap I tell ya.

Now, I understand that there are some concerns over Gallaudet University's direction and people should communicate their concerns in the most appropriate way but to point out how poor Swiller signs or put more focus on him as an oral/aural person is really nothing but done in poor taste. What's next? Demand that Swiller resign? Hurtwitz, too? Just because you noticed he's Jewish?

*sigh*

Whatever.

Josh Swiller may have contributed to the idea to help bring war vets who suffered hearing loss from combat related injuries to Gallaudet University with a new program in mind but I don't think Josh as a visiting faculty member for the past two years has that much pull or influence to change Gallaudet University completely. Gallaudet University has been changing ever since the first student with a cochlear implant came on board some 20 years ago. It wasn't Josh Swiller's idea of change nor was he the one started the change. Change has always been there.

Secondly, we must respect the new International Congress on the Education of the Deaf (ICED) resolution on the global call to "accept and respect all languages and all forms of communication."

All forms of communication. Did you get that?

That's real diversity right there.

And there were a lot of people excited about the new ICED resolution last year in July. But I get the feeling that some people are starting to feel a lot less enthusiastic because people were calling for the acceptance and respect of all forms of communication.

And then we have that Section 504 that Gallaudet University and all other universities who receive Federal monies MUST abide by.

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 . . "

Those qualified individuals include war vets who have every right to attend Gallaudet University. They have as much right as the next deaf or hard of hearing student attending the university.  Those vets cannot be denied enrollment because of their disability or the fact they were once hearing. They are late deafened adults who need our help. But as you can see Gallaudet University has certainly stepped up to the plate and that's commendable worthy of our praise and not our scorn and contempt.

Gallaudet University is committed to America's veterans and has a long history of serving them at our institution. Gallaudet is authorized to accept all GI Bill payments including the additional contributions by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) through their Yellow Ribbon Program. The Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program (Yellow Ribbon Program) is a provision of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008. According to the VA, it is available to veterans who have sustained "a service connected disability." In addition to accepting veterans being supported through the general GI Bill, under the Yellow Ribbon Agreement, Gallaudet will support up to 25 eligible veterans during an academic year for any major for an amount up to $3,050.00 (full time status) in tuition expenses. Gallaudet is listed on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Approved Education Programs website as an institution participating in the Yellow Ribbon Program.

Note the bold words. Up to 25 eligible veterans at Gallaudet University during an academic year. So, if it takes 4 years to graduate then that means after a few years or so you could expect to see up to 100 veterans (for example, 25 vets who are freshman, 25 vets who are sophomores, 25 vets who are juniors, and 25 vets who are seniors) on campus. With a campus enrollment of 1373 degree seeking students (as of 2010) with 1,106 deaf/hh students and 265 hearing students which make the number of hearing students making up less than 20% of the total degree seeking student population at Gallaudet University.  Adding in the vets would only add up a few extra percentages of the total. Nothing to worry about. Move along folks. Move along.

One request from me to the students, staff and faculty members at Gallaudet University.

If you do see a vet who is a student at Gallaudet University, please give him or her your thanks for helping to protect our country.

Here is one way of saying "Thank you" from your heart.

It'd be great if you can do that and say a simple "Thank you" when you see a vet on the campus of Gallaudet University. And be sure to try and take the time to make friends with him or her as well. It'd be mighty stupid of you to make that vet your enemy just because you feel he or she's invading "your" campus. Now is not the time to get selfish.

Embrace diversity!

Deaf Apps for Android based Mobile Phones

Here is a website that tracks the number of apps for Android based cell phones that people can download. Most of them free with a few requiring a few bucks to download. The site targets apps that, supposedly so, could help deaf and hard of hearing people who have internet enabled Android-based cell phones. What do you think? Have you downloaded any of those apps? Do you find any of apps presented in that website which could be helpful to you? What kind of apps would you like to see on your Android based cell phone that could help benefit you as a deaf or hard of hearing person?

Ever have trouble going to sleep?

Visualization is a very powerful tool.

For example, when I was a grad student I had trouble sleeping because my thoughts were always running and thinking about projects I had to do, assignments, etc...that I would lose two hours trying to get to sleep. Less sleep means I can't perform as well the next day. The lost hours of sleep were beginning to interfere with my school work.

Later I heard about visualization techniques to help calm you down. What I did is that I choose a particular time in my life when I was a kid that I found myself enjoying outdoors. A time when it was calming and I was enjoying myself. The time I chose was when I was about 8 years old. I was near the base of a mountain (can't remember if it was Mt. Rainier (WA) or Mt. Hood in Oregon) during a family summer tip. I remember walking around amid the tall green grasses and tons of colorful wildflowers that dotted the mountain meadows where splotches of remnants snow higher up were melting away under the summer sun on the base of a hulking mountain giant. It was a vivid scene I still remember today.

I used that image to focus on that very serene scene I experienced when I was a boy who loved being outdoors. It wasn't easy at first. It took practice just to remind myself to focus on that image because my mind would wonder often as would the case for anybody trying to get some sleep. It took me about 3 or 4 weeks to finally get into it. It took practice, diligence and patience. I would use that particular scene in my past to help calm me and quickly go to sleep. I got to the point where I was able to get to sleep in about 15 minutes, sometimes in less time than that, too. My mind was trained to use a specific calming scene as a signal to my brain to begin "shutting" down in preparation for a sleep. It seems automatic at times that I just marvel at the simplicity of it. I'd suddenly find myself go off to la la land just by thinking about it rather than just focusing on it. It has gotten to the point where it became almost automatic. Of course, I don't realize that right before I go to sleep whether it's working but the next morning when I realized how quickly I went to sleep!

Also, I don't use alarms to wake myself up (only in rare instances when I feel the need to use a backup for an important day), either. I have always had this particular ability to "program" myself or remind myself to wake up. I have been doing this for a very long time. There's an internal clock that each of us has. You have that ability to "program" yourself on when you want to wake up. I've gotten to the point that I can wake up several minutes before my alarm would go off.

That's something I wanted to tell you about.

Ask yourself this question. What is the value of sleep to you? Do you find yourself struggling trying to get some sleep?

No pills.

No warm milk.

No strenuous exercise to tire you out.

No big meals before bedtime to satiate you into sleeping.

Just a visualization technique that works. It has worked for me for over 15 years now.

Try it. You'll thank me for it.

Resiliency on bouncing back, your health and livelihood.

Here's an article (Part 1 of 3) that came out recently on resiliency and how it pertains to everyday health and living. It's an important reminder that we all have the ability to "bounce back" and learn how to find the right avenue and opportunity to do so. What is "resiliency"? It's the power and ability to return to the original form. It can be about your physical health, your mental health and/or your spiritual health. It can be about preventative measures or it can be a pro-active ones to limit the damage and reverse it. It doesn't matter if you have a hearing loss, vision loss, or have other limiting conditions, you have that untapped potential within yourself to increase that resiliency in yourself.

Believe it or not, mental, physical and spiritual health is a growing field in the deaf and hard of hearing community seeking that all important balance in life. You have yoga instruction for deaf people, you have deaf nutritionists like Sandria Graham, Project HOPE (Health Outreach Prevention and Education), Healing Hands using Reiki, spiritual retreats, outdoor retreats which can include a get together mountain hiking in the great outdoors whether you're on the East coast or West coast, and many more.

How you recharge your batteries is up to you.  Explore the numerous opportunities out there. Spring is almost here and summer just a few months away. Start your planning and get out of your winter doldrums.

Mine is hiking outdoors. What's yours?

Hitler was a competent extremist

Yeah, Hitler was a competent person alright. A person who was sufficiently qualified to be an extremist. That cannot be disputed. He knew how to get things done and get his way, unfortunately. What he did in the past during the rise of the Third Reich made him out to be an extremist, and that's an understatement, too. The word "extremist" as applied to Hitler really doesn't suffice.  Although there's nothing incompetent when it comes to carrying out a master race plan going to such extremes calling for the extermination of millions of innocent people. You ought to know that already.  Just as well, Hitler wasn't for diversity and was for the elimination of what he considered as the "weaker race." This includes people with hereditary deafness, mental retardation, and the infirm, elderly, mentally ill and so on. They were considered as "useless eaters" and Hitler and his cronies murdered thousands upon thousands of them, including deaf people .

Deaths of 'Useless Eaters'

In 1939, the Nazi policy towards deaf and disabled people took an even more sinister and horrific turn. Hitler decided that Germany should be rid of 'useless eaters' and that deaf and disabled children should be killed. Newborn babies with physical 'defects' were removed from their mothers and killed. Children who were judged to have mental or physical disabilities were taken to special children's wards and killed by lethal injection or starvation. The parents were often informed that their children had died of natural causes. It is estimated that nearly 2000 deaf children were killed in this way.

And Hitler called these killings as an act of "mercy death."

In 1939, Hitler instructed German doctors to exercise the power of euthanasia or “mercy death.” The term “mercy death” was deceptive, having no relationship with today’s notion of adding terminally ill patients to end their lives in dignity. Rather, Hitler wished to see disabled people killed because they were “life unworthy of life.” Doctors were expected to decide to end the lives of human beings who had no value for the fascist state, or were “eating more than they produced.” The value of a life under fascism is equal to the value that life holds to the state.

Nothing merciful about that. And nothing glorifying about this "competent extremist" as you can see here. He was simply the face of what evil looked like. Hitler was a competent extremist to the nth degree and said that deaf people were simply a bunch of "useless eaters" undeserving the liberty of life.

In closing, I'd be careful about choosing a "competent extremist" over something else even though the phrase itself can take on variety of context and meaning. But without a doubt Hitler was a competent and methodical figure with an ultimate goal in mind. He was certainly an extremist without any stretch of the imagination.

Just thought I'd let you know.

Diversity or is it really discrimination in action?

There seems to be a bit of a diversity "hiccup" making rounds in the blogosphere lately. As for me, diversity is about simply accepting people with hearing loss for who they are regardless of their communication preferences. Accepting diversity is also about understanding their limits and communication preferences.

We should be conscious of that at all times.

Yet I've noticed lately a particular conundrum from people exclaiming from their perches about how they accept diversity but their actions speak otherwise. Simply put. A person should not discriminate against people's communication limitation by being selfish. One good example of the hypocrisy abound is not to include captions/subtitles or at the very least provide a transcript of video made by a person with a hearing loss.

This lecturing of "diversity" really goes down the drain (even laughable to watch) should you gaze your eyes upon a deaf/hh person's YouTube channel and notice that none or very few of the videos are NOT captioned/subtitled. Not even a transcript at the very least.

That alone should cause you to pause and wonder.

Does a person really accept the diversity of people with hearing loss if he or she refused to include captions/subtitles or transcripts for a video he or she just made?

I can already hear the choruses of excuses from deaf and hard of hearing people the reasons for not providing captions or transcripts.

*with a whiny voice*

"It's takes tooo longggg to do it!"
*stamps feet*

or

"I can't do it...it's tooooooo hardddd to translate!"
*throws a pencil across the floor*

or

"I simply don't have enough time!"

*whines*

"I want to keep it pure so it will be less confusing."

Whatever.

I'm sure they'll find a way to come up with their own patented excuses. Kind of like coming up with another "My dog ate my homework" kind of shtick excuse.

It wasn't long ago when I realized my own hypocrisy for not captioning my own videos about three years ago in a blog I wrote and discussed about. It was then when I realized that I have the tools, the software, the means, the resources, the time and the power to include everybody, deaf or hearing, so that peole can understand what I'm saying whether it's by voice or thru signing. The majority of my videos (both signing and by voice) are captioned and only a very few, regretably so, are not captioned (signing videos only).

Accept diversity in a population of people with hearing loss means you understand their limitations and communication needs as well. Hypocrisy stinks to high heaven whenever you see deaf/hh people demand captioning on videos but when it comes to their own vlogs they don't even lift a finger. How convenient if not selfish knowing for a fact that more than 99.5% of the U.S. population out of 310 million people do not know sign language. Never mind the rest of the global population, the results would still the same.

*Checks out the many vlog channels on YouTube to see if some deaf and hard of hearing people included captioning or transcripts.*

Nope.

No captions there.

No transcript either.

*Looks around*.

Nope.
Nope.
Nope.
Hmmm....

*Checks another vlog channel*

Nope.
Nope.
Yes.
Yes.
Even a transcript!
Nope.
Nope.
Nope.

Hmmm...

Rather a curious observation on hypocrisy, I'd say.

By now you're probably thinking, "Ah ha! Yeah, well, Mike doesn't accept diversity of deaf kids and not expose them to sign language."

On the contrary. Sign language is for everybody. And when it comes to parents, they are the ones who decide and make informed decisions (hopefully so) regarding their deaf/hh child.

So, let's not go off topic shall we?

If you wanted hypocrisy from me I could've easily vlogged with my voice and not provide captioning. And hear wailings from deaf/hh people for not captioning my video blogs. But never fear, I do include captions not only to meet the communication access needs of those viewers but about reaching out to a much potentially larger audience out there.

A no brainier.

But I'm sure you're getting the gist of where I'm going with this. If you're going to tout this whole "diversity" thing on your soapbox then you better back it up with your own actions whenever you vlog. Otherwise, your own words, spoken or signed, will literally fall on deaf ears.

Pun intended.

Aborting a deaf baby......

The year is 2025.

The two young hearing couple, vibrant and excited with the news that the wife is along three weeks pregnant. Hopeful that their first child will turn out fine just like all soon-to-be Moms and Dads would hope for. A healthy baby. But they have a nagging concern about their baby. They are apprehensive about the prospect that their child may carry the deafness gene and be born with a hearing loss. Their concerns are rightly noted since both of their parents and grandparents have a history of genetic deafness with a nasty habit of skipping around within each new generation. What makes this even more troublesome for the parents is that both the wife and husband each carry the deafness gene. And they discovered recently that there is high probability that their child would be born profoundly deaf.

With help of biotechnology genetic deafness can easily and quickly be determined in an embryo and with that valuable information the couple can prepare themselves the decision on whether to keep the baby or abort it. Genetic results for embryos are de riguer. So is giving out abortion pills. Doled out like Halloween treats but the consequences of swallowing that pill comes with a terrible cost to the unborn.

The genetic results came in.

Not good.

Their doctor confirmed that their baby if carried to term will be born profoundly deaf in both ears.

The wife wept quietly with a soft sobbing sound at the prospect of giving birth to a completely deaf baby. Her husband wrapped his arms around her and hugs her softly in a shared solace.

The doctor continues with the news and gave them two choices. Keep the baby or the wife can take an abortion pill to help abort their three week old embryo. With the new law in place a final decision cannot be accepted until three days after being informed of the choices. The doctor also warns that because the husband and wife both carry the deafness gene they have a 10% chance of producing a child with full hearing the next time they try and conceive another child. That means after 10 conceptions 1 baby will be born with full hearing.

Three days later. The wife decides to take the abortion pill to abort the embryo diagnosed with the deafness gene. The doctor nods his head and gives her a single white pill, easy to swallow pill. Her hands trembles seeing the white dot of a pill sitting in the middle of her right palm knowing that the pill would end a precious life. She grabs a glass of water and quickly swallowed the abortion pill. She cries and sobs. She made the decision to end a life and, in her mind, to spare a child's lifelong dealing with deafness that she finds cruel, unnecessary and unwanted.

They will try again for another baby very soon. Even if it means doing it 10 times until they get what they want.


From the NIH see graph below (SOURCE):

Comfort Zone

I read for the first time a blog called "SayWhatClub" about a woman with a hearing loss describing her "inner struggle." A struggle about who she is. This is about a late deafened woman who lost her hearing at age 19 who is now a much older woman. She explained she could never feel at ease in trying to fit into with the Deaf community and has already found her comfort zone.

My problem was, I just did not fit in with the deaf/Deaf community.  I wasn’t comfortable.  It wasn’t my world.  I was trying hard to be a deaf person, not a hard of hearing woman when in truth, I was and am a woman with a hearing loss who lives in a hearing world.  I was very comfortable in the hearing world and I’m very proud of the fact that I became extremely skilled at reading people. ASL taught me to be very aware of body language, facial expressions, the movements of the mouth and of course, the eyes tell me a great deal about a person as well as what they are saying to me about the individual. 

It wasn’t until closed captioning and CART came along that I finally stopped to really think about who I am?  Most recently, CART and closed captioning has given me a great deal of hope and  brought me closer to accepting that I have truly found my comfort zone.  I became more involved with SWC (SayWhatClub) and met many people like myself over the years.  Then, I recently became involved with CCAC and realized that between these two major groups,  hearing impaired individuals really do have a culture of their own.

I really do believe that "hearing impaired individuals" do have a culture of their own just and how they interact with their kind. If you ever been to a HLAA meeting you'd know exactly what I'm talking about.  They are a different breed of people who sit between deaf and hearing worlds. A world of sound, sometimes clear, other times garbled. They have their own way of interacting and communicating with each other and other people. They share their own cultural understanding of each other. A diversity all of their own.

A deaf person's fear of hearing people

Phobia. That word comes from the Greek word "Phobos" which means irrational fear. Many People have them. You have this irrational fear and then have this healthy, normal fear that most people would identify easily with such as the healthy fear for height.

Check out the list of phobias.

I'm sure there are many more kinds of phobias out there that haven't been cataloged or documented. But one phobia I'm thinking among deaf people is the irrational fear of hearing people.

Does such a phobia exist?

What I've learned in life is that one cannot simply discount anything that may sound ridiculous out of hand and discard it as hogwash when it comes to the human mind. If you look at the list of phobias in link I provided you can see the many strange phobias enough to wonder whether those phobias actually exist. Well, the human brain is a strange place and when there's fear that strikes deep and hard into the brain it'll manifest itself as a phobia in whatever form for whatever reason.

Now, I am wondering.

Is there such a thing among the deaf population the fear of hearing people? Being around hearing people? Meeting them? Are there deaf people who take pains to avoid hearing people at all cost? Do they get panicky around hearing people? Do their palms get sweaty? Extreme nervousness or the feeling of extreme dread? The feeling of aversion? Do they panic at the mere thought of meeting a hearing person or group of hearing people? The reason for the irrational fear of hearing people could be many. Perhaps the underlying fear has to do with communication and language. There could be more to that as well.

I'm betting that there is such a thing where some deaf people have an irrational fear of hearing people since the human brain is a strange place where fear manifest itself over time. And so I decided to come up with a phobia name for deaf people's irrational fear of hearing people, should it even exist. The key is finding the right suffix word and then simply add the root word "phobia" to it.

Here it is.

Anthroacoutophobia - fear of hearing people.

In other words, a deaf person's fear of hearing people.

The word "anthro" is Greek for people or the human race itself while "acouto" is a Greek word for "hearing, listening, of or for hearing."

Here's my question. If you're deaf, do you have anthroacoutophobia? Fear of hearing people?

Most likely not.

But for what's worth I believe there is a phobia of a hearing person's fear of deaf people.

Could your nose help restore your hearing loss someday?

Don't pick your nose! You just might ruin your chance on the cure of your hearing loss someday!

Ok.

Seriously.

That won't happen.

I mean, the nose picking part. But news came out a few weeks ago on stem cells in the nose could provide a potential source of adult stem cells to harvest that can be used to help restore hearing loss in the cochlea from that same person's own nose.

The findings, published in the journal STEM CELLS, found that transplanting mucosa-derived stem cells, a form of rapidly renewing tissues in the nose, can help prevent sensorineural hearing loss during its early stages.

Scientists transplanted adult human nasal stem cells into the ears of mice that exhibited signs of hearing loss. The mice were 4 weeks old, the typical age when hearing loss in mice first becomes apparent. Dr. Sharon Oleskevich, lead study author from the Hearing Research Group at The University of New South Wales, said her research team found improvements in hearing function one month later when compared against age-matched mice that received placebo injections.

It has been demonstrated in a number of studies that stem cells, such as olfactory stem cells, dental pulp stem cells and hair follicle stem cells have the ability to transform into functional cells of the nervous system," Dr. Christian Drapeau, chief science officer of Stemtech International, told AOL Health. "For example, in animal studies, injection of hair follicle stem cells in the spinal cord was able to restore mobility."

He says the olfactory stem cells injected in the cochlear cavity could help reverse or protect sensorineural hearing loss in the same kind of way.

"Examination of hearing levels one month post-surgery demonstrated that hearing thresholds in stem cell-transplanted mice were significantly lower than those of mice that received a placebo injection, indicating that transplanted mice were better able to hear less-intense sounds," Oleskevich told AOL Health in an e-mail.

Doctors and researchers are optimistic their research could impact future treatments of hearing loss.

Who knows? Maybe they got something going there?

Need a hanky, anyone?

Obstacle Illusions: Transforming Adversity into Success

Neat title, huh? I've done my own version of adversity in a video blog I did a few years ago but as for the title, it's not mine. It belongs to Stephen Hopson, a deaf guy I came to know a few years back when I first did a blog piece on him, sort of.  A guy who has done many motivational and inspirational speeches by speaking with his voice and share stories of adversity to engage his audience.

Over the last few years I briefly had few short email exchanges but I always had him in the back of my head wondering exactly what the heck he's been doing. Obviously he has been doing something positive since the last time I took a peak at his blog because he just wrote a book about adversity. But as you can tell from the book title as seen in the picture, "Obstacle Illusions: Transforming Adversity into Success." His book is due out on March 17, 2011 on Amazon.

Why am I blogging about a guy who was born profoundly deaf who likes to do oral motivational and inspirational speeches?  Simple. It's about hard work. It's about not being afraid of challenges in life. It's about his ability to transform his audience on adversity. The trials and challenges in life. It's about seeing life as one big challenge instead of seeing himself constantly as a victim blaming everyone and everything. It's not about using excuses as your crutch in life to get what you want. You can only go so far in life by playing the ever so perennial victim but the sky's the limit when you see life as one big challenge instead. Stephen Hopson is a human being who is not afraid to step up to the plate.

And, yes, he knows sign language. He's simply a guy not afraid to use his voice and use it as a source of inspiration for thousands of people who have come across his inspirational speeches. I'm simply drawn to positive and successful people who are not afraid of their own shadows.

What makes this situation even more unique is that you have an oral deaf guy who is an inspirational speaker where he finally wrote a book. Not often do you get to see a book written by a deaf guy who is not afraid to use his voice but a guy who actually embraces his ability to speak by sharing it with everybody he comes across with. Because whenever he speaks, people do listen. And listen closely they do. 




I wrote a profound quote at the end of my adversity video blog that should ring true to anybody who reads it:

Adversity is not the same thing as overcoming oppression. 
It's about overcoming obstacles in life successfully.
Mocking those who face adversity in a different way lack imagination.

Josh Swiller - hate vs love

Josh Swiller. Who is that guy? Well, he's a hard of hearing person (deaf, too) who went to Africa to meet with Africans who are deaf and see how they live their lives in silence among the hearing population. But what was interesting was on the event that made him decide to go to Africa that changed everything, enough so for him to write a sobering book about his experience.

In one video below he explained how the people at Gallaudet University didn't accept him. Below are the video still shots with captions.

Imagine back then when he attended Gallaudet University he was actually discriminated against solely because of his speaking ability. And because of that he ultimately ended up going to Africa through the Peace Corps. What is amazing is that even today some Deaf people continue to target him. And for what reason? God only knows why. Envy? Jealousy? Don't like him because he can talk? Because he can hear? For his views? Opinions? Prefer to talk and not sign? Exactly what is it?

Josh has also done speeches before as well at a Toastmasters Club.

In the first video below  is Josh on the phone who gets a call from an old friend back in Africa. The second video below is Josh giving a speech about his book, his experience and how it all happened. Enjoy!





From his blogsite, he currently runs a non-profit dedicated to international advocacy for the deaf and disabled and oversees outreach projects at Gallaudet University where he is a visiting professor. Be sure to buy his book.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Toastmasters Club

What is a "toastmaster"?

A Toastmasters meeting is a learn-by-doing workshop in which participants hone their speaking and leadership skills in a friendly atmosphere. A typical group has 20 to 40 members who meet weekly, biweekly or monthly. The average meeting lasts 60 – 90 minutes.

It's also a place where you can go and practice delivering your speeches in front of an audience. The goal for toastmasters is to become confident in speaking in front of an audience and practice on delivering their content clearly and crisply so the audience can understand you. Really, the main goal is to learn how to speak in front of an audience with confidence. It's a confidence builder. I've done many speeches in front of a bunch of people but I was curious about doing this toastmaster thing a few years ago when I was living in New Mexico. And sure enough there was one in the town of Alamogordo where I lived. I met some new friends there and had the opportunity to pick a topic to deliver my speech. The first few was about educating the audience about hearing loss and communication issues. And later gravitated towards more general topics and themes not related to deafness. It was a neat thing to do that and the chance observe and listen to other toastmasters when they had their chance to speak. The cool thing is that after a speech we the opportunity to help the speaker by giving some constructive and positive criticisms on how to improve their speaking. I often gave advice on not about speaking loudly but rather learning how to project one's voice better. There is a difference between talking loudly versus projecting one's voice.

Since my move away from New Mexico I am in the process of finding a nearby Toastermaster club and I expect it to be a bigger group of people. And perhaps a better chance on meeting people with hearing loss. The one back in New Mexico was a small group and all were hearing people. About 7 people.

But believe it or not there is a website for toastmasters with a hearing loss. In fact, it's common to see once in a while people who are deaf or hard of hearing use their speaking skill at Toastmaster clubs such as this group of deaf/hh teens.

When OSST members Rick Kominowski and Terry Bedard coordinated a Youth Leadership Program (YLP) for a group of deaf teens, they had no idea what an impact this Program would make! This YLP, generally developed by Toastmasters International and sponsored by OSST, was adapted for a group of orally-speaking deaf teens from a support organiza-tion called Hear Here Hart-ford, (www.hearherehartford.org). Who would have thought that 12 teens from all over Connecticut and Massachusetts would travel great distances to come to six weekly meetings on a Monday night—all to de-velop their communication and leadership skills! Each teen gave two different speeches; evaluated each others speeches; and participated in impromptu speaking contests judged by mentor volunteers from Hear Here Hartford. Many experienced Toastmasters volunteered as well by giving educational modules to teach various communications skills such as impromptu speaking, listening, organizing thoughts, and using positive body language. Leadership skills were also developed by allowing each teen to assume roles such as toastmaster, grammarian, and timer.


Does this sound like a typical Toastmaster meeting? In some ways, it was— but the teens definitely made it their own. They chose different themes for each meeting like a Hawaiian theme; costume dress up; 60’s; mismatch; and sports theme. At the last YLP meeting, each teen gave a speech in front of parents, as well as volunteers from Toast-masters and Hear Here Hartford (HHH). Each received a certificate from Toastmasters International evidencing the successful completion of the YLP. As the Pro-gram drew to a close, the teens commented on how they wished the meetings would have lasted longer because they were enjoying them so much. What the adults all noted was the dramatic progress each teen made over such a short time!

Also, an interesting history in what HHH did.

Several HHH teen members who participated in the 2008 HHH Youth Leadership Program spoke at the AG Bell National Convention in Orlando on June 26th along with HHH President, Terry Bedard.

Inspirational speakers at Hear Here Hartford include:

Kathy Buckley, comedienne and author, who entertained our audience while sharing her views on overcoming the challenges of hearing loss.

Patrick Holkins, a Harvard student, discussed his road to acceptance of his hearing loss and how he developed self-advocacy skills.

Miss International, Jayna Altman, inspired our teen members with her message of positive empowerment.

Josh Swiller, a Yale graduate who wrote the book, The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa.

Angus McCusker inspired our Chapter members when he shared his life experiences as a cross country ski racer in the Deaflympics.

Speaking skills come in all kinds and levels of ability. Some strive to use their speaking skill by improving it. Some strive to make better use of their oratory skill by facing their fears in front of an audience. Or polish their leadship skill by speaking. And that's great.  It's a way to develop a skill in order to conquer keep their fear, embarrassment, lack of confidence, or simply the need to improve oneself. There is nothing wrong with using your oral and listening skills. There's nothing wrong if people with hearing loss choose to and prefer to speak. Toastmasters Club is an excellent place to go and practice speaking in front of an audience. It isn't as easy as it sounds. But give it a try. Share what skill you have and not be embarrassed!

The Great Northwest

My hike on Sierra Blanca in NM at 10500 ft (2008). Looking to the East.

Here's a captioned video (see bottom of page) from one of my several hikes I did last year. It's a video of me visiting High Rock lookout point in Washington near Packwood. It was my 2nd time visiting the place. The first time was when I was a young 7 year old deaf boy with my family on a hiking adventure. I specifically remembered this spot and it was like coming home to a spot that I found so fascinating as a deaf boy being at such a high altitude and seeing a majestic mountain in front of me. In fact, that day when I hiked up there as a boy it was that same warm, sunny day. Only this time I brought my camera, my joy and solitude of that place.  Much of my memories growing up as a deaf/hh boy was the numerous camping, hiking, and swimming adventures I had with my family out in the Northwest. The video below is one of the many series of videos I plan to capture the places I've been to in Washington and Oregon when I was a kid. I'll also video-tape many places that I've never been to as well.

In Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina (2001)

Just because you have a hearing loss doesn't mean you cannot enjoy the great outdoors. Yes, it's a cliche'. But it's good see blogs or vlogs with deaf and hard of hearing people detailing their outdoor adventures and visits. Frankly, there's not enough of them. Being outdoor allows you the opportunity to connect with nature and when we die, we return to the ground and become nature again.

I've done several years of hiking in the deserts and mountains of south-central New Mexico. Fascinating and beautiful place. Though it was my time to move again and that was to move back to my old stomping ground in the great Northwest. The only regret is that I didn't take enough pictures or videos back in New Mexico. Video cameras were a bit expensive back then. But today it's cheap and easy to use. It won't be just me having fun but my family will be a part of that adventure as well.

White River Falls swim hole near Tygh Valley, OR (2010

Other hikes I am fortunate in doing is related to my work where such as fire fighting in Washington and Idaho, partake with a fire crew on prescription burns in New Mexico or hike the burned forests and fields for my post-fire mitigation work while the area is still burning and smoldering with the smell of acrid smoke lingering heavily in the air. 

But mostly I do the hikes into the woods to access streams and lakes where I do my analysis inaccessible by vehicle. And frankly, I get to have my lunch breaks in some of the nicest areas deep in the woods, by a stream or sit on perch overlooking the forested valleys with a river or creek winding its way down below on a warm, sunny day. No wild cougars or bears to cross my path. Knock on wood. Of course, I have had my days when it was wet or snowy where I had my lunches there. Part of my job.

This year I plan to visit more of Oregon, one of my favorite state to go and hike and have fun there. The landscape, especially east of the Cascades mountain range where it is drier, is just simply gorgeous. Basically anyplace immediately east of the Cascade mountain range is gorgeous anyway. Perhaps this year I'll chronicle my visit to my old super secret swimming hole located between Dufur

Dufur, Oregon. One of my favorite town to visit. Grew up here playing  there.

and Tygh Valley, Oregon that me and my family had a blast every summer swimming there while growing up. But I won't tell you the exact location cause it's a secret swimming hole! 

Dufur is a quaint, old friendly town in Oregon. It's a town where my mother and father grew up. It's a agriculture community that thrived on growing hay and wheat. I basically grew up there because my family visited Dufur so much during the summers while I was growing up in Tacoma, Washington.

Swimming with my daughter on White River Falls (summer 2010)

My hiking in North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, New Mexico, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon have taken me to some wonderful places of natural beauty from the deserts of New Mexico to the top of a 11,000 foot peak of Sierra Blanca to the jagged rocky peak of High Rock Lookout mountain to the cool river of White River Falls to beat the hot Oregon summer weather to hiking the changing landscape on Gotchen Creek trail. But not only did I witness the beauty of nature but the ugly side of nature when wildfire rears its ugly head temporarily destroying the forest. Only time will these forested ruins come back to life and stake its claim once again. Fire fighting for me as a
hard of hearing person was a tough job to do. Not only was the job tough and physically demanding it was

Myself on a prescription burn in the Guadalupe Mtns of New Mexico

dangerous whenever you are out there fighting fire, the loose rocks above you, the trees that could fall on you at any time (i.e. widow makers), and the ash covered hole that used to be a stump where you can fall in up to your leg and perhaps break it or get burns.

All in all I covered a lot grounds in both the good and bad part of nature. I don't plan to stop. I've just begun.

So, if you're a deaf or hard of hearing blogger or vlogger, please show us your pictures or videos of your outdoor adventures whether it's hiking, white water rafting, camping, mountain climbing, fishing, or swimming in one of your favorite places at a lake, river or creek. What makes you seek the great outdoors? It'd be great to see them. And if you're from the Northwest, then hurrah!

Mike near Conconully, Washington fighting the Tripod Complex fire near the Canadian border (2006)