Echoing Sentiments

Chris Heuer produced a piece in Deaf Echo basically lamenting over Sarah Churman's YouTube video that went viral by going over his own little history and hinting that he may just take back his sincerity about Sarah Churman.

Sarah Churman, if you’re reading this, let me start out with a disclaimer. What I’m about to write isn’t about you. If your implanted hearing aid works for you, that’s great. For the moment I say this with all sincerity.

Some of you, including Sarah Churman, might be wondering what I mean by that remark: “…for the moment.” By way of an explanation, let me tell you a story.

The one thing that many, many people continue to forget about the viral YouTube video of Sarah Churman was that the Churmans never expected it to go viral in the first place. In the first 8 days since YouTube aired, she has been on the Today Show with Matt Lauer and the Ellen DeGeneres show, and was featured on CNN with Anderson Cooper. Webwise, she was all over the place as well. Pretty good in just a few days time. Technically it'd been about 5 or 6 days time rather than 8 days because it took a few days before the video went viral and that's when the media caught wind of it, both the web and on TV. It went viral with no fault of Sarah's own. She didn't put the video up, her husband did with the encouragement of his mother so that their families and friends would be able to witness Sarah's reaction to her implant being turned on. The video captured accurately that Sarah was hearing herself for the first time. And now some people are heaping scorn at her for a variety of reasons. 

Strange world indeed.

Why is it so hard to congratulate a grown deaf adult seeing the immediate (and emotional) success from her implantable hearing aid in a video? A result that took Sarah by surprise at the clarity of sound that was coming in. Why reserve such congratulations to her and instead lament about one's own history struggling with his hearing aid wishing his story was video-taped and had gone viral, too? Had Sarah Churman's video received only 2000 views, all of this would've been essentially a "non-story." But instead it churned out some 7.2 million views/hits so far in less than two weeks.

Of course, I don't expect that everybody will share the same sentiments echoing mine when it comes to congratulating Sarah on her successful use of her implantable hearing aid. My approach is to separate myself from Sarah's and leave it at that because I recognize that each of us is different when it comes to our hearing loss, our experience, our upbringing, our preferences to communicate, and whether we successfully used our hearing aids, cochlear implants, other implantable hearing devices (e.g. Baha, Envoy, etc) or none at all (e.g. signing) to our benefits.


Off topic:
I'm disappointed and sad to report this but I am left with no recourse but to report this behavior and continued misunderstanding.

I left a comment at Deaf Echo on a blog piece about Sarah Churman just a few minutes ago. I went back to see if any responses came up (Patti's came up) only to see that my comment was once again removed. I am guessing this has to do with a disagreement and misunderstanding over what I wrote, my opinion several months back (and here) in Febuary 2011.  But I wasn't sure if I was still on the banned list (seven months later) and made a screen copy of my comment submission just in case. Sure enough, I'm persona non grata (the new commenting rules can be seen here while the old seen on Feb 2, 2011 can be seen here) for petty reasons, I suppose.

Before at 9:50 AM PCT (Oct 9, 2011):

Removed at approximately 10:10 AM PCT (Oct 9, 2011):

As you can see my comment was deleted. Nothing demeaning, hateful, derogatory, or abusive about it as you can clearly see from what I wrote seen in the screen capture. No ad-hominem attacks.  No foul language. And certainly not a spam. I think whoever removed my comment needs to have the cojones to look past his/her own petty feelings when it comes to a difference of opinions instead of hiding behind claims of "abusive comments" as reason for the continued blocking. Incredibly, the moderator(s) still refuse to point out exactly which or what comment of mine back in February 2011 was considered as an "abusive comment" which can, frankly, be anything they would want it to be and call it justified.  All of my comments have not been abusive nor disrespectful as Candy pointed out before as a witness to this whole charade. Clearly my recent comment seen in the screen capture above is not abusive nor disrespectful at all.  Folks, let's learn to let go such pettiness since after all Bobby (one of the moderator of Deaf Echo) said:

We love a good discussion that drives things forward, and we act aggressively to maintain a good environment for our readers and writers.

I've always loved having a good discussion that drives things forward in my blog and in other discussion forums, too. Nothing in my responses were shown to breach that "good environment for our readers and writers" as you can see in my latest comment that was conveniently deleted.  But then again, it's their blog and they have every right to do what they feel is right even if it means letting misunderstanding getting the better of them. Yet, I find all this incredulously humorous. And I certainly have a right to blog my opinions on people who simply cannot accept alternative viewpoints and opinions who are unable to simply agree to disagree. Agreeing to disagree is a show of professionalism. Pettiness is not.

Captioned Video: The Doubters of Sarah Churman

Remember the phrase people, deaf people can do anything...even speak really, really well just like Sarah Churman. Even hear pretty good, too! But we still have a hearing loss at the end of the day when we turn off our hearing aids or cochlear implant.

Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Churman

I predicted this would happen a few days ago that Rush Limbaugh would discuss about the YouTube viral sensation of Sarah Churman and the Esteem implantable hearing aid remarkable result and impact on her and to the rest of the viewers. I heard Rush discussed the whole thing over my radio this morning. And his transcript can now be seen on his website.

The video of it on YouTube has gone viral. Millions of people are watching it. They got one thing wrong. She was not deaf. For the Esteem to work, you have to have some hearing. If you're a hundred percent deaf it won't work because it restores your natural hearing using your own eardrum. It's a prosthetic hearing implant, just became available last year, totally invisible. If you were to meet her today you would not see it. The Esteem works with her natural hearing to restore it to near optimum levels. The video I mentioned, you can actually see Sarah, the minute the Esteem is turned on she can hear herself laugh for the first time. She can hear her own voice clearly for the first time. She's so overwhelmed by all of this, something that we all take for granted, that she starts to cry.


Now, the video's only a minute and a half long, but it's a couple-Kleenex video. She's crying and laughing so hard, she goes through several tissues. Her husband, Sloan Churman, videotaped the moment for her, and he posts it for family and friends to see that could not be with her in the doctor's office when they turned the thing on. So one person tells another, the video starts to go viral and a week later six and a half million people have seen it or there have been six and a half million views of the video and what made it all possible was the Esteem from Envoy Medical. Now, you can see the video on YouTube, and we're gonna post it at RushLimbaugh.com, too. You can see the Esteem at EnvoyMedical.com, or call them, 800-518-7320.


But you should see this video. The moment it's turned on for the first time in her life she can hear, and it's an amazing thing. If you've never lost your hearing you have no clue what it's like and it's just an amazing thing to see, and it's a fabulous product, and when I saw the video, I said, "That's it! That's the Esteem, that's our client, that's our sponsor." I was proud as I could be, as we only associate with the best.

One thing Rush got wrong was that, yes, Sarah was born deaf. Maybe Rush was thinking in the context as stone deaf but yes, she's deaf and even hard of hearing, too. And now, she's easily hard of hearing to the point when people would automatically assume her to be hearing the way she would speak so clearly.

Congratulations, Sarah!

The Sarah Churman Effect

It was amazing to watch a YouTube video of Sarah Churman having her implantable hearing aid called the Esteem turned on for the first time and see her reaction to the clarity of sound around her. Her husband, Sloan, video taped the whole thing and was reluctant to put it on YouTube since it was supposed to be a private moment like getting married or having a baby as Sloan said.

There are one of three things I'm seeing in YouTube comments and elsewhere from people who objected to the whole video taping thing:

1) It's fake. The whole thing was acted out in order to help promote the Esteem implantable hearing aid.
2) The title of the YouTube video was "misleading" and that she didn't really hear her voice for the first time.
3) Her voice sounded too "hearing-like" and could be heard clearly raising questions if her hearing loss is really severe.

First off, check out Sarah Churman's first blog soon after her Esteem was activated describing her awareness about the new sound around here.

Anyway, I'm supposed to hold the remote up to the device implanted in my skull to activate it and I kept moving it which delayed it being turned on. Just about fainted, then 'viola!' it was on. For you mothers out there.......it was like that moment where time stands still as your baby slips into this world.......I just started crying, then crying more because I could hear myself crying. Then laughing, then freaking out over my laugh. That lead to the shakes and partial hyperventillating. Sloan's boisterous laugh and the grins from the docs was the icing on the cake. Then the tapping of the keys as the nurse lady did something on the computer, followed by the remote being set down on the counter.......I could HEAR it!!! Felt like quite the idiot as I left the center (OMG, Sloan just sneezed in the shower, too funny!) grinning ear to ear.........worse case of 'perma-grin' I've ever had! Stepped outside while Sloan was telling me I was whispering, and walked to the car taking it all in. Foot steps, car doors, engine starting, already tired of hearing myself swallow. Lol. I kept asking "Is this normal? Do you hear that? Does that always do that? Is there a cup rattling around in the back of the car? (WHOA). Made my first phone calls. Called Lari and immediately heard the girls in the background. *Let me take this time to apologize to anyone I've ever called while the girls were chattering..............how the heck do you 'normal folks' hear anything with them in the background?!? Lol. She had Oli tell me "I love you Mommy", then Elise said "I ove you".......I started bawling and had to hand the phone off to Sloan. THAT was an awesome moment. Called my Mom and she was like "Are you talking to me now with the new ear?!?" Called my Dad and if I'm not mistaken I think I heard him get a little choked up. Got to Outback to eat with Alexis and was blindsided by the road noise upon stepping out of the car. The place was on a service road and WOW the highway is NOISY! Hurried up and got inside to get relief from the noise. Could actually hear the servers speaking instead of doing my usual routine of smiling politely and praying to God that they haven't said something I've ignored or not answered. When the waitress brought our drinks on the table I asked Sloan "Do you think she'd find it funny if I asked her to stop slamming the cups and plates on the table?" (I of course knew she wasn't actually slamming anything, I just found it amusing) Real shocker was when she brought my salad and I started to eat. WOW was that loud..........eating a crouton is like fireworks going off. I was certain people 5 tables over were thinking 'you hear that cow chewing?' Sloan and Alexis assured me that no one could hear me chew. Sloan got much satisfaction out of the fact that I promptly started eating with my mouth closed. I've been an avid 'smacker' my whole life.........

Her blog description of sound around her and her reaction on YouTube video doesn't strike me as a fake video or that Sarah is faking it. What's interesting is that those noise she's hearing are in the higher frequency range.

Secondly, about people who objected to the title of Sarah's YouTube video need to chill since her hearing loss precluded her from hearing anything of clarity and loudness, especially her own voice, despite wearing a regular hearing aid. We don't even know exactly the kind of frequency loss she has (one guy is asking for the whole nine yard requesting more hearing loss details from her). She could have a higher frequency hearing loss which may prevent her from hearing her own voice and would hear better at a lower frequency such as a male's voice, hence her picking up a Texan accent. I don't know but this is not really a case worth arguing over the title of her YouTube video. Some people are just plain picky and overly demanding.

Thirdly, her voice sounded too much like a "hearing person"? So what? She obtained her hearing aid at age two enabling her an early start on acquiring sound around her. Her speech training must've gone extremely well and with family support. Until more details come forth I'm not overly concerned on how well she speaks. What's surprising is to hear from people who are basically saying that it's impossible for a deaf person to speak to clearly and well that one wouldn't tell if the person is deaf. Those people need to take their brains out of the gutter and stop with the stereotyping of what deaf people can or cannot do, especially on the ability to speak well. This is especially true coming from deaf people themselves which serves only an ironic and hypocritical reminder.  Yet people continue with this conspiracy theory thinking something's afoot. Practically insinuating that she is not deaf because there is no way she can speak that well. No way!! Well, get over it folks, she is deaf. She speaks very well. And she has a slight Texan accent. And she wears a $30,000 implantable hearing aid. Her life has improved dramatically with the Envoy Esteem implantable hearing aid allowing her to her the sound around her with increased clarity for the first time in her 29 years of her life.


Congratulations, Sarah!

Dream Team of Scientists Collaborate on Cure for Hearing Loss in Ten Years

Looks like a goal is set by a dream team of stem cell scientists and researchers for hearing loss that sensorineural (nerve deafness) hearing loss would be cured through biological means in ten years from now.

The Hearing Restoration Project (HRP) is a Consortium made up of some of the most talented, creative, inspired researchers in the area of cell regeneration in the ear, both mid-level and senior-level investigators whose work has already contributed significantly to the field. The Consortium is an alliance of scientists working collaboratively and interactively with the goal of developing a biologic cure for severe sensorineural hearing loss in the next decade. At the Summit, experts discussed an area of particular promise: hair cell regeneration in humans.


"Hearing Health Foundation understands that it is important to invest in researchers who are working in hair cell regeneration as this will be an important component in the next wave of hearing treatments," said Andrea Boidman, Executive Director of Hearing Health Foundation. "Hearing research needs to be a national priority, and people need to know that there are treatments on the horizon that could really impact their lives."

In fact, a summit was held in New York city today.

Hearing Restoration Initiative 2011 Summit
The Promise of Cell Regeneration
On Monday, October 3, 2011, DRF will host a Summit on Hearing Restoration at the New York Academy of Medicine, at 103rd Street and 5th Avenue in New York City. As a part of DRF's Hearing Restoration Initiative, this landmark summit brings together the leaders in the field of cell regeneration research in the ear to discuss what it is, where it is going and how one day soon a therapy for cell regeneration in the ear will be a reality.


Doors open at 12pm.
Exhibit Hall hours 12pm to 6pm


Exhibitors include:
- AARP - Caption Call - Caption First


This event is open to the public. Online registration has closed, but you will be able to register on-site.


ASL and CART services will be provided.
For more information, please contact Melody Seiling at mseiling@drf.org.

That's pretty ambitious to say that a biological cure using stem cells for sensorineural hearing loss would happen in ten years time. Certainly would be loads better than an Esteem implantable hearing aid.

When haters gonna still hate....and the clueless ones continue to be clueless...

Amazing and touching video of a young woman turning on her implantable Esteem hearing aid for the first time. This YouTube video has gone viral with 4.8 million views and counting with over 20,000 comments along with over 49,000 likes and over 700 dislikes. Good thing the majority knows better and knows what a good thing looks like. Kudos to Sarah Churman for a successful implant but then the sad thing is that you'll get your usual haters in the comment section as always by a bunch of idiots who don't know any better. And then you have a bunch of ignorant people who can't even understand that deaf/hh people can speak just fine. And if you look further you might find a few gems.You'll have to spend some time to find and read those comments including the Today show. And, of course, you gotta go to this forum with the discussion on whether the video is a fake or not. 

Being ignorant is not an excuse.

Next, I bet with this viral video it will push a 2nd wave of interest from people wanting to know more about the Esteem implantable hearing aid and perhaps get even more investors for the makers of Esteem. Last year Rush Limbaugh helped advertise the Esteem hearing aid and saw a huge wave of interest in this new albeit very expensive hearing technology.

Thanks in large part to Limbaugh's plug on his radio show, White Bear Lake, Minn.-based Envoy recently raised another $16.4 million, including $10 million from hearing aid powerhouse Starkey Laboratories Inc., for its Esteem implantable hearing device.

Nice of Starkey Laboratories to donate $10 million dollars to Envoy as a worthy cause.

And lastly, as I mull this thought, I wonder what are the odds that Limbaugh will read about this YouTube viral on his radio show? I'd say it'd be pretty good odds over the next few days or so for that to happen.

UPDATE: For the naysayers, haters and doubters:

The Texan woman had been wearing hearing aids from the age of two, but had mainly relied on lip-reading, because 'hearing aids only help so much'.

Supportive messages have poured in from viewers, including one who wrote: 'This is one of the most beautiful and moving things I've witnessed. We're all so happy for you.'

Mrs Churman replied on YouTube: 'Thank you for all the positive comments... thanks for all the people who are kind.'

In response to viewers who were amazed at her ability to speak clearly, the formerly deaf woman said: 'My whole life I've been complimented on how well I speak.

'I don't really have an answer for you other than I have always had a passion for reading, grammar, and English.

'My hearing loss was/is considered severe to profound. I've worked very hard to be able to interact and blend in... only thing I can say is 'God is good'.'

When hearing people complain of their communication rights

You think only deaf people do this? Here's a case of hearing people complain about not having communication access with deaf people. In this particular case you had a deaf federal employee who preferred only an interpreter but the interpreter was only available once a week for one hour leaving the rest of the 39 hours without an interpreter during the work week.  This deaf employee has access to a typing communication device that would allow him/her to communicate to a hearing person face to face but refused to use it. Hearing federal employees were all too willing to use the typing device to communicate fully with their deaf employee. The refusal by this deaf employee to use the easy to use face to face communication device puts the work of everyone else in the office on hold for 39 hours. By doing that, the deaf employee also takes away the hearing employees’rights to communicate, ironically so. So, who is hurting who here? A case of a selfish deaf employee?

Comments are now open...again.

Looking at the survey I did last month I realized that there are more people wanting to see my comment form stay open and be available rather than have it closed to the public. And, so, I decided to turn my comments back on.

One word for ya'll.

Behave! And with less mewling, too.

Husband and wife - deaf farmers

In an old Deaf Mosaic video that was produced in 1994 I came across an old married deaf couple who were Oklahoma farmers for over 50 years known as Ruby and Harold Moeller. You can watch the video of the Moellers starting at the 21:19 mark. The Deaf Mosaic video of the Moellers was taken some 17 years ago when they were almost 70 years old. I'm sure they are probably not around anymore. And so the question becomes, where are the next generation of deaf farmers? And exactly how many deaf farmers are there in the United States? To have a deaf farmer, much less a married deaf couple who are both farmers, is a rare thing to come across. Much is appreciated to any and all farmers who help grow our food and other products for the United States. It ain't easy.

Midwest Living magazine

Here's something I found interesting. Dan Kaercher who helped start Midwest Living magazine grew up with deaf parents.

Kaercher compiled his travel notes into a chatty book, "Best of the Midwest: Rediscovering America's Heartland" released this May. His observations and experiences also formed the basis for "Dan On the Road," a one-hour special airing on Iowa Public TV and other Midwest PBS stations this spring and summer. A series of half-hour programs based on the trip will debut this winter.

It was Kaercher's ability to read other signs, though, that fostered such storytelling abilities. Kaercher's parents, Edward and Lillian, both were deaf and mute.

"Some of my verbal skills came from the fact that I was their interpreter many times from an early age," Kaercher says during a phone conversation from his office in Des Moines. "They would call on me to talk to the guy at the furniture store, to call my grandmother in Omaha. I had to develop my verbal skills very early."

It was a unique parent-child bond that came to an end only last summer when Kaercher's mother died at 95 years old—days before he was to begin the second leg of his journey. Lillian Kaercher caught a cold, then developed pneumonia. She spent one day in the hospital before dying. "Somebody who's 95 dying that mercifully and swiftly, if you will, was a blessing to us," Kaercher says.

Still, "it was a shock. It was tough. We buried her in Council Bluffs on Monday and then Tuesday afternoon I had to be in Chicago to start the next leg of the trip. I thought, ‘How can I get through this?' But . . . sometimes parents are helping you along when they're not physically along."

Roots

Married later in life, Edward and Lillian Kaercher were "totally not expecting a child" when their son came along in 1949. "Life was hard for my parents because life was hard for disabled people then," Kaercher says. "It's not easy now. Employment and things like that were very difficult."

Kaercher's father, a Philadelphia native, graduated from Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, Gallaudet College and Lutheran Theological Seminary. He is cited in the book, "Deaf Heritage: A Narrative History of Deaf America," as being the first deaf Lutheran pastor to be ordained, in 1929. Edward later established "preaching points" in various East Coast cities before illness forced him out of the pulpit in 1942.

Sometime after that he came to Nebraska, ostensibly to visit his sister, Hilda, who in 1943 formed Immanuel Lutheran Church in Bellevue. His real motivation was to meet a woman spoken of by a friend from Gallaudet College—Lillian, a Nebraska School for the Deaf graduate and recent widow. "There aren't all that many people to pick from, sometimes, if you have this disability of deafness," Kaercher says. "At that time, a deaf person almost always married a deaf person."

Edward and Lillian did just that, then moved to the Finger Lakes region of New York. Kaercher was born there, in Elmira, N.Y. "Despite that blemish," he jokes, "I can claim safely that I've been a Midwesterner for 52 out of my 56 years. I couldn't have asked for two better parents. Both very loving. My father . . . really opened up the world to me. He loved to travel."

When he was 4, the family "got a fresh start," moving to Omaha. They lived in Logan Fontenelle Homes, segregated public housing in North Omaha. Edward began a new career, teaching at Iowa School for the Deaf. Their son attended Kellom Grade School at 24th and Paul streets. "The project we lived in was segregated until the mid-'50s," Kaercher says. "The school was integrated. The majority of students in my grade school through fourth grade were black, which opened my horizons, too. At the time, I thought it was just normal."

The family moved to Council Bluffs in 1959, Kaercher attending Hoover Grade School and Abraham Lincoln High School (which has inducted him into its hall of fame). At Hoover in the fifth grade he met his wife-to-be, Julie. The two didn't begin dating until their senior at A.L., however. They graduated in 1967, Dan heading for the University of Omaha, Julie for Iowa State University.

Just to let you know that Julie and Dan Kaercher donated money to the Iowa School for the Deaf and was mentioned in the 2009/2010 newsletter. But upon researching the video magazine of Midwest Living as seen in YouTube isn't captioned which is strange considering Dan Kaercher's background on having deaf parents. I wonder if he realizes that there are over 30 million people in the United States with hearing loss that could benefit a lot from captioned videos? 

The mummified remains of Deaf Bill and hauntings

Here's an interesting story about Deaf Bill who died in 1915 at age 52 and was essentially "forgotten" when left in a closet and over the years the body essentially "dried up" and was mummified. Many believe Deaf Bill haunts Mineral Springs Hotel where he once worked and lived there in Alton, Illinois.

Comments are now closed

Comments are now closed. It was open for three days over the Labor Day weekend. You had your chance.

Comments are now open.

You can put your comments in now.  Comment box will remain open until Tuesday, Sept 6, after the Labor Day weekend. Say your piece while you still have time.

Bullying and mocking only because they look different?

A recent news of a deaf boy who was bullied and mocked on a school bus only because he was different and wore hearing aids. It got so bad when kids grabbed his two expensive hearing aids and threw them out of the bus window. The deaf boy explained using his clear and articulate voice  on what happened and you can tell he was upset by it all. This reminded me of an incident when I was a sophmore in high school during lunch in the school cafeteria. One hearing guy at the cafeteria table mocked me by putting up an empty paper cup (for ketchup) on his ear as if it were a hearing aid. A fake hearing aid. I wrote that one off as purely a case of immaturity and lack of education. What he did would be construed as a sort of bullying when done in such a mocking manner.

That incident also reminded me of the coda brothers, who are hearing, when they mocked cochlear implant wearers on camera by wearing fake cochlear implants.  There was also another video example with one of the coda brothers who mocked by pretending to be an oral deaf person by making exaggerated lips and mouth movements, and talking loudly thus painting a false stereotype of deaf people who prefer to talk or can speak.  There are deaf and hard of hearing people who talk just fine (for example, see here, here, here, here, here, here, and here).  They may look different, they may speak differently, but so what? Why the need to mock and bully deaf people for who they are?

Watch the video below and turn on the CC button to get the captioning on the main YouTube page by clicking on the YouTube icon first.



Now, you wouldn't like it if hearing people go around on videos and mock deaf people by doing a bunch of fake signing, would you?

I hope that deaf boy's mother will get her money back for buying those expensive hearing aids and there'd be some justice in all this.

Meeting halfway....

I don't really get it when you have people who make the claim on how easy it is to set up an electronic face to face communication method such as using one or two laptops or tablets to communicate with a hearing person but do deaf people really take advantage of that technology? Instead I think many deaf people would rather opt out for a paper and pen situation in a family, social setting and make excuses for using such a method. From Deaf Echo one commenter gave an example of that of the pen and paper limitation.

I brought a bunch of notepads and pens to a family Thanksgiving dinner once and at the start of the evening, politely informed everyone that I didn't want to miss anything, so would they please write to me? I got two messages the entire night (both from the same distant cousin). One was "How is school?" and the other was some other statement I don't remember anymore. Very superficial. I responded in voice... was perfectly willing to meet everyone halfway... didn't happen. That was the last big family gathering like that that I ever attended. No bitterness or anger... I just stopped going. The burden of communication shouldn't be only on the deaf person. It should be shared by everyone, especially by those who profess to love that deaf person the most (his or her family). If that's not going to happen, especially if the deaf person in question directly ASKS for that, then there's no point in keeping up with pretenses. Just my view on it.

Using the paper and pen route isn't exactly an ideal way to communicate effectively, especially in this day and age of communication technology, with your family members and not have real conversations using one liners which makes the whole conversation a tedious and boring process.  Not a very engaging and interactive way of communicating.  For example, read what Richard Hurst, Clois James, and Ashleigh Smith had to say when they took advantage of an existing communication technology in social settings with their family members using a face to face communication device.

If a technology exist that makes face to face communication possible, regardless what that device is,  then why not take advantage of that technology instead of using the boring pen and paper method? Using such a technology can certainly help make conversations that much more engaging. Hearing people or non-sign language users would be much more apt to converse using a face to face communication technology than the old pen and paper method.

Just getting started

It's been 32 days since I turned off the news spigot save any weather-related news which I need to stay on top of as it's related to my work.  The news generated nowadays are the same old, same old news with some variants in between. Also turned off is the participation or reading any discussion forums which can become an easy way of trapping yourself into a vicious cycle that never ends when it comes to commenting that go nowhere but steal valuable time. It can become an insidious addiction problem if one isn't careful. But that spigot was decidedly turned off months ago for the better.

Looking back, posting on average 5 to 7 comments a day might seem innocuous enough but it's the amount of time on reading that can take up a lot of your time prior to posting comments. Let's take an average 6 posting a day and multiply that by 365 days which will equal to 2,198 posts in a year or almost 11,000 posted comments over a 5 year period. Posting a comment can be anywhere from one line long to 5 paragraphs long. Writing 35 lines of comments is enough to fill one page in a book. Assuming all comments are on average one line long for each posted comment, then over a 5 year period a person would've produced the equivalent of a 300+ page book!

I began in July 2006 in Alldeaf and ended my discussion forum days (so far) in July 2011 after seeing I had over 11,000 posts in 5 years did I realize how much postings I've done. And that comes out to an average of 6 postings per day since July 2006 leaving me with almost 12,000 posted comments. I call that an addictive behavior. Just when I thought 12,000 posts over a 5 year period was too much did I find other members such as Jiro (joined in 2007) and Jillio (joined in 2006) with over 45,000+ and 50,000+ posts, respectively, the last time I remembered before I left in July.   But with 50,000+ postings, that comes out to an average 30 postings per day if you do the math. If I thought posting 6 posts a day on average was too much, imagine posting 30 comments a day on average for 365 days a year. Heck, that's like writing one 300 page book a year!

It's an addiction problem whether one wants to admit it or not. You don't have to be a psychiatrist to figure that one out. Denying it will only make your problems worse.

It's like the realization on the amount of time you sleep on average when added up can become a humble awakening moment that you might be sleeping your life away even though I get my usual 6 to 6 1/2 hours of sleep over the last few decades. I just find the numbers intriguing as the reason for my blog posting. The same goes for realizing the amount of postings I did in a discussion forum but only this time I have the numbers to show for where I believe I exhibited an addictive behavior over at Alldeaf by posting too much over a period of time. But seeing somebody post over 50,000+ posted comments over a 5 year period makes mine look like nothing. Not to say I won't go back but like in life everything in moderation.

Some might become reticent and stubborn, and call their reason for such participation in a discussion forum as part of their socialization needs. The problem is that not everything posted is about socializing but about the psychological and emotional needs to post comments, regardless, and the deep seated need to respond to posted comments at every turn. That's when it becomes a problem. Though I'm not saying that participating in a discussion forum is bad. There's always a balance when it comes to those things, and which area you prefer to make use of your time with. Just be aware of the amount of time spent and realize that.

Long story short. I figure I make better use of my time for other projects and goals in my life.

The "Art of Solitude"

Exactly what is it? What's the difference for a deaf, hard of hearing and hearing person if one wants to practice the "Art of Solitude"? How can it be an "art"? The "Art of Solitude" sure sounds like a book title but it's certainly not something that you have to be a monk to enjoy it.  This is about being in a place without distraction with none of the clatter and noise (the noxious visual, auditory and smell). It's an opportunity to delve into yourself with greater introspection about the world around you. Solitude isn't dependent on having no sound at all such as having a hearing loss. Solitude could mean lying on a grassy bank, under a warm sun while next to a creek listening to the soothing, babbling noise of water flowing downstream. Or it could mean only the sound of nature be the soothing medium. Or it could mean complete and still silence. Solitude means different things to different people. Your solitude is not necessarily my kind of solitude.

First, let's get the definition of the word "solitude." It's defined as 1)The state or quality of being alone or remote from others; or 2) A secluded place.

So, having that solitude doesn't mean going out into the wilderness or forest alone. It can be anyplace where you can be able to shut yourself off and away from the outside world. But if you can get yourself some solitude outdoors then that's probably the best way to do it. I've many moments of solitude such as walking a sandy beach on an island for almost two hours with nary a soul basking under the summer sun. I've hiked the forested mountains alone and not meet anybody for miles but let nature be my companion that soothed my soul. I sat on a grassy knoll at 10,600 feet high after a few hours of hiking just to get that coveted spot and experience the vast openness with the world below me. Hiked the desert full of Chihuahuan shrubs such as creosote bush, mesquite, agave, ocotillo and the lechugilla while I enjoyed the full view of desert life. And swam in a swimming hole 200 feet below into the basalt canyon with no one around save some rattlesnakes, badgers and birds. There are times when solitude meant being by yourself to experience nature around you when you get the chance and opportunity.

Several months ago I watched a show "Flying Wild Alaska" where one guy and his wife lived in a cabin 25 miles inside the Arctic Circle in Alaska for over 25 years. The place is so remote the nearest road is 250 miles away and the only way to get there is by airplane. That couple is the only couple that live year round as a resident of his own home.  If anything, those couple mastered the art of solitude as they call it "home." If you can live there for over 25 years basically alone and not suffer cabin fever, heck, bow to that master of the Alaskan wilderness and solitude.


“I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.” ~Albert Einstein

Why no swear words in captioning?

I wrote an email to the National Captioning Institute asking the question on why swear words are bleeped out on captioned television shows when in the audio portion of the same show you can hear them clearly? The response I got may surprise you as well as raise questions about the not-so-logical reasoning for allowing bleeped out captions.

The policy for captioning swear words is set by each network, not by the various captioning companies. Our standard policy is to make all captions verbatim, so if a swear word is bleeped out, then it is also left out of the captioning. Some networks tell us to never caption a swear word and let them know if one gets left in the audio of prerecorded programs. For live programs, we just have to leave out swear words for these networks. Some networks tell us to caption all swear words. Other networks only allow us to caption certain swear words. I cannot explain why some networks feel that it is O.K. to have swear words in the audio but not in the captioning.

So, in other words, the shows you watch on a network that have a habit of bleeping out swear words when the audio is clearly heard, you'll have to write to that network asking them not to request from their captioning company to bleep out swear words if they allow audio version of it in a a television show. Write to your network and not to the captioning companies that permits the bleeping of captioned swear words.

Noelle's blog

Noelle produced a blog recently on calling out NAD for its association with a seemingly questionable organization who defaced a sign (although not permanently) by covering up the words on an AGBell plaque on the side of AGBell's building in D.C. last month.  Noelle is re-iterating or pointing out that the image of an organization would be perceived negatively or even militant for its approach even though she supports the use of sign language.

Instead of attacking and protesting a rival organization, they should be promoting ASL and the benefits of bilingualism at the local, state, and national level, and asking for it to be included in ALL communication modes in legislation.

Putting it into picture on what Noelle and many others are trying to say is this:

Whether it's SEE, ASL, PSE, or even cued speech, anything that helps with the visual aspect of communicating with a language is a pretty good start for kids with hearing loss. Of course, that probably depend on the amount of hearing loss if we're talking about those with mild versus severe/profound hearing loss.

Sleeping your life away....

Some interesting math for you all on how much of your life you sleep away.

Assume a human's average life span of 75 years. Let's start at age 20, a time when we are working or going to school, so that leaves us with 55 years to mess around with.

For every extra hour of sleep you get you will have slept away 2.3 years worth over 55 years.

1 hr x 365 days = 365 hours divided by 24 hr/day = 15.2 days lost in one year. 15.2 days/yr x 55 years = 836.5 days or 2.3 years.

Let's say people get 7 hours of sleep on average, if you slept 8 hours on average that would be 2.3 years lost through sleeping over the span of 55 years.

If you slept 9 hours on average that would be 4.6 years lost through sleeping over 55 years.

If you slept 10 hours on average that would be 7.9 years lost through sleeping over 55 years.

Little things add up over time and before you know it, you wondered where all that time went. Enjoy that early morning sunshine folks and make the best use of your time, including me for typing this little nonsense out.

Economic Power

Economic power is what gives you that freedom to do what you want to do. But with economic powers come with greater responsibilities not to yourself but to other people as well who helped. Not too long ago Ryan Commerson produced a video that was published on August 4, 2011 on asking salient questions on the lack of deaf-owned businesses, why economic power continues to be beyond their grasp, how some companies in the telecommunication industry continue to cater to and take advantage of the deaf and hard of people their money with little or no real representation or support on their behalf and noting the fact that there is only one deaf-owned VRS company out of many VRS companies (but certainly there are some deaf-run companies). At one minute and 40 seconds into the video Former executive director of TDI, Alfred Sonnenstrahl, was at a loss for words when asked a question by Ryan Commerson if there are any deaf-owned VRS companies.



Perhaps Mr. Sonnenstrahl wasn't thinking about ConvoRelay which is a deaf-owned and operated VRS company that was founded in March 2009. On the FCC website it lists telecommunication companies that offer VRS (although ConvoRelay isn't on the list).

The FCC over the last few years had to address the high cost of re-reimbursing VRS companies due to in many parts fraud and abuse by recommending a new per-minute rate compensation plan and reform the VRS industry in a July 28, 2011 notice to the public on the potential ruling. Some in the deaf community feared that such a newly proposed compensation rate plan will further diminish the VRS competition field (although Claude Stout, Executive Director of TDI doubt it would cause that as seen in the video). After Ryan Commerson asked Alfred Sonnenstrahl (formerly of TDI), Claude Stout (Executive Director of TDI), Shane Feldman (CEO of NAD), and Gregory Hlibok (Chief, Disability Rights Office) in his video on what they are going to do about the proposed FCC compensation rate and new rules did they all of sudden help write a letter on August 9, 2011 to the FCC which was electronically filed on August 11, 2011:

On August 9, 2011, Claude Stout, Executive Director, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. ("TDI"); Shane Feldman, Chief Operating Officer, National Association of the Deaf ("NAD"); Andrew S. Phillips, Policy Attorney, NAD; Sheri A. Farinha, Vice Chair, California Coalition of Agencies Serving the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. ("CCASDHH"); and the undersigned met with Karen Peltz Strauss, Deputy Bureau Chief, Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau; Gregory Hlibok, Chief, Disability Rights Office; and Diane Mason, Disability Rights Office to discuss a likely
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ("NPRM") about the per-minute rate of compensation mechanism for Video Relay Service ("VRS") and potential alternative compensation mechanisms.


TDI, NAD, and CCASDHH urged the Commission to undertake a Notice of Inquiry ("NO!"), rather than a NPRM, if the Commission wishes to consider possible alternatives to the per-minute compensation mechanism, including a per-user compensation mechanism. They also discussed the Commission's intent to reform VRS services.

TDI, NAD, and CCASDHH emphasized the importance of a compensation mechanism that fulfills the original Congressional intent of functional equivalency as more fully described in the Consumer Groups' TRS Policy Statement - Functional Equivalency of Telecommunications Relay Services: Meeting the Mandate of the Americans with Disabilities Act dated April 12,2011 (the "Policy Statement").' They expressed concerns that any reform should first take into consideration feedback from consumer representatives as well as providers to develop solutions to improve VRS. They also
expressed strong concerns regarding the idea of changing compensation from a per minute rate to a per-user rate. A per-user system would create incentives for providers to cut costs and avoid high volume customers and diminish the quality of VRS services and training, thus decreasing consumers' functionally equivalent use of the telephone system.

Further, providers may tweak the system to reduce number/length of calls from customers (i.e., longer answer times). The consumer representatives explained that the business model for the provision of services does not need to be identical to hearing consumers. In VRS, interpreter costs are generally paid by the hour and not a flat fee, whereas hearing consumers generally pay a flat fee for telephone services. The consumer representatives also raised questions about the per-user compensation approach, including what data would be used to calculate a per-user rate. They recommend that new ideas not be introduced in a NPRM, but rather urge the Commission to explore ideas with
consumers and providers through a NOI and workshops.

I can't help but wonder their action to pen a letter to the FCC was on their part and effort to save face after being confronted by Ryan Commerson and after releasing the video to the public last week for non-action.

It is great to voice concerns on how best to explore ideas with consumers and providers but the bottom line is that VRS companies are mostly hearing owned. Despite that I'm sure there are still room for competition to see more deaf-owned and operated VRS companies which will help shift more of the economic power and opportunity over to the deaf and hard of hearing communities. In fact, there are plenty of room to see more deaf-owned businesses that can cater to deaf, hard of hearing and hearing customers and clients. It all comes down to global microbranding your product and services. It's all about the hard work, the long hours, pounding the pavement and slowly build a network of clients and customers. Nobody said it'd be an easy thing.

Global microbrand.

Think about it. What does it mean to have a deaf-owned and operated business? What can a global microbranded product do for potential deaf, hard of hearing and hearing customers or clients? For a business it's not merely about having a product to sell but about believing in a product and what it can do for that potential customer. Believing in the power of transformation and what a product can do for people who can use it are powerful motivations that draw them to that product or service once they see the bigger picture of what success means. It's about making the customers and clients think that they are brilliant in choosing your product and services that keeps them coming back and recommending your product and company to other people, hence the whole global microbranding business.

But is it better to cater to a deaf-owned and operated business that know who their customers and clients really are or would it better to cater to a hearing company that pay lip service? That depends on which companies you feel the most comfortable with and the type of quality and services you get from that company. Just because it is deaf-owned doesn't mean it is the best one to go to.

Back in February 2007 at Gallaudet University's first ever blog/vlog conference I made the point to the internet audience and the people sitting in front of me that for deaf and hard of hearing people to move ahead and achieve success they would require to essentially bootstrap themselves and believe in their work and philosophy by relying more on themselves to get the job done rather than rely on hearing people for their particular products and services. Economic power is the key.

There's certainly a difference on the responsibilities of having that economic power when it comes to helping people attain greater freedom and independence versus wielding an economic power to push an ideology that reeks of office politics.  And grey areas do exist. Running a company for the sake of ideological AND political purposes will only limit your market and the customers you deal with. Keeping your nose clean of politics in a business can become a crucial business strategy in surviving and expanding your business.  The difference can be between having your company look like a feeding ground for militant zealots or not.

Economic power. Your choice, your motivation, your responsibility.

South Korea

Congrats to the Deaf Nation winners for a free trip to South Korea. One of the winners is a good friend of my wife and I was surprised when my wife told me who. I met her a few times when we visited her and her husband. I won't mention her name but I'm sure all of the winners deserved that trip to South Korea. Let's hope those who didn't make the pick were gracious enough to congratulate the winners instead of being bitter about it and target DN. If you ain't gracious about it, then you're bitter. Again, congrats to the winners.

Capitalizing on what works

There's this fixation over the word "fix" when it comes to certain people with hearing loss, especially of those with greater hearing loss.  The word "fix" doesn't necessarily mean a permanent solution but rather a way to utilize a solution that best improve a condition. It's more of a correction and supplement to an existing condition rather than a "fix" per se but I understand exactly where people are coming from when they say that. Just as glasses helps fix poor eyesight or people with a variety of vision loss. You take off your glasses, you still can't see well. You take off your hearing aid or cochlear implant you cannot hear very well or none at all. It's utilizing what senses you have left by capitalizing the power of technology. Each of us has a hearing loss that is different ranging from mild to profound, bilateral or unilateral hearing loss. It's a fix, it's a correction but there is nothing permanent about it when comes to those adjustments being made. The question becomes whether people with hearing loss will capitalize on that or not. Some do. Some don't. Some won't. What works for me, works for me and has nothing to do with you. All we can do is respect the diversity out there. Not everybody signs. Not everybody can hear like the next person. We're all different. It doesn't matter if a person prefers to speak and listen, and don't know sign language, what matters is that we understand that diversity exists and we must respect that and the communication and language options for all those deaf and hard of hearing people out there. What works for me doesn't mean it will work for other people with hearing loss, deaf or hard of hearing with bilateral or unilateral hearing loss. What works for you doesn't mean it'll work for other people as well. I simply capitalize on what works for me.

Fixed

Fixed...a captioned video on disability and super-ability.

Point of View

Let's get this straight. No one is saying that having different point of views is censorship. As in the case for Deafread, people have been and are trying to force the owner of Deafread through intimidation, protests, slandering, harassing, and conjuring up myths about the owner of Deafread, Tayler Mayer, in order to get him to acquiesce and run an aggregator site that accept only Deaf POV videos and institute a so-called better "R-List." Thus pushing the practice of censoring to the extreme.

What is "censor"?

cen·sor
noun
1. an official who examines books, plays, news reports, motion pictures, radio and television programs, letters, cablegrams, etc., for the purpose of suppressing parts deemed objectionable on moral, political, military, or other grounds.

In fact, Tayler and his moderators do censor what's allowed in Deafread since there are certain requirements to be met in order for a blog or a link to be posted in Deafread. But the big irony is that because of Deafread there are loads of POVs from all kinds of people who are deaf, hard of hearing, late-deafened, culturally deaf, CODAs, cochlear implant wearers, signers and non-signers alike, those who prefer to speak and listen, and hearing parents of deaf/hh kids.

Tayler Mayer made it clear that he does not want to censor Deafread by restricting it even further and have it accept Deaf POVs only but rather have Deaf, deaf, hard of hearing and hearing POVs instead.

One central reason for developing DeafRead is that Jared and I wanted to empower the deaf community; we wanted to allow everyone a voice, a place where people could speak out.

What is censorship?

the actions or practices of censors; especially : censorial control exercised repressively

So what Don and others are advocating? More censorship and control through force and intimidation against the owner of Deafread, and get him to capitulate at all cost.

If Don and others want to create their own aggregator site that accepts only Deaf POVs they are more than welcomed to create an alternative aggregator site that reflect their own policies, rules and ideals. Deaf Village did the same thing by breaking away from Deafread to create its own blog aggregator site. A place to provide aggregated and filtered online content that reflects a spirit of inclusion, collaboration and partnership among the diverse members of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community.  They didn't whine and moan for 3 or 4 years when they disagreed with Deafread's actions or policies. They up and left and created their own blog aggregator site in a matter of months which is now in its 4th year.

There's a similar situation for vlogs as well. You have DVTV for signers which is an aggregator site for vlogs via YouTube. At one time people got upset with Tayler Mayer's (DVTV) policy regarding the ground rules on accepting vlogs and decided to create their own vlog aggregator site and the first one was ASLrocks. That attempt failed spectacularly and ASLrocks didn't even last for one year probably due to the rampant cyberbullying that went on.  Next came along Deafcube and it is still going.

Instead of complaining, go out create your own if you're not happy with Deafread. Using the strategy to try and bully Tayler Mayer into changing will not work. That tactic has obviously failed. It's better to hear from all sides than to be fed with only one viewpoint all the time.

Looking for a deaf farmer or rancher in the midwest

Are you a deaf farmer? A deaf rancher? Do you own a piece of land of at least 300 acres? Well, somebody I know is looking for deaf farmers or ranchers that own land out in the midwest such as Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and Illinois. I would like to speak to them and discuss a potential project on their land, especially if you own land in Missouri. Contact me and I'll direct you to a person who is looking for such a farmer or rancher people by emailing me for more information. This could turn out to be a rewarding experience!

To contact me email me at: mmcconnell2004(at)hotmail.com

Should comments be turned on?

I got a few grumblings from a few deaf people filtering in to me about wishing that my comment was turned on so people can respond here. I purposely turned it off so as to not have comments come in prior to approval of some idiot ruining my day/week/month/year by telling me the news of what's going on recently. I don't want to know!

WHY?

Here's why.

I decided to create a poll so at least people can at least respond in some manner and get their input but be forewarned, I am not likely to change my mind and will want to see myself through in this experiment of mine. If you want to respond, respond in Facebook. Of course, I'll hear from my friends of mine only rather than from a bunch of deaf hand wringers.




And a super YAY! that I made it through my first week on no news. No Drudge Report. No CNN. No Foxnews. No politics. Sports. And all that junk.

Deeeeeeeeeestruction!

10...
9....
8....
7....
6....
5....
4....
3....
2....
1....

*click*

*no noise*

Whaaa?

What's wrong?

A dud?

Bad wiring?

Nah.

Just a lot of grumbling from a bunch of people instead. And no destruction but rather about destructive behaviors through making assumptions, myth makings, by making things personal by contacting employers, making threats, doing the whole childish gossipy games in YouTube, being hypocritical, the name callings, doing the whole "subaltern" pseduo crap talk, getting heavy with the a-wordism and deficit thinkers on other deaf/hh people and so on and so forth, etc, etc and all that over the years on what I've witnessed on some occasions from those in the Deaf community while as a blogger (and vlogger). It just gets surreal. Let me take that back. It is and has been and continues to be surreal as I look back now.

Tis what it is. Tis so.

But if ya ask me I say you've entered the Twilight Zone!

*insert sound of T.Z. music*

Some tend to be the "head of the pack" type of people who think they are the epitome of leadership quality.  Yeeeehaw! Whooeee! And all that stuff. Bunch of mirage, I'd say!

*rolls head back and laughs*

Giddyap!

But isn't it odd that these "leaders" try so hard to raise money, act friendly but at the same time take the time and effort to vilify people in blogs and vlogs their rants? When people ask, I shrug and point to some examples of such behaviors. I nod my head and exclaim with a whisper, "Yeah...watch out." And recommend they keep a tight hold on their wallets. You know the word "facade" doesn't always mean the front of a building.

CommUNITY ain't possible. The facade crumbles. Naked and exposed.

Just yesterday I ran across several Deaf people near my town in a small town Mom and Pop take out place. I noticed them signing and approached them by introducing myself. I had a nice but a brief 5 to 10 minutes conversation with them. Never seen them before and was told they lived nearby in a small town. Conversations were cut short as I sat down with my daughters while we waited for our food. For a moment I quickly remembered a time recently when I came across a bunch of HLAA people when one wore a HLAA badge. I also made the initiative to approach them and had some great verbal conversations with them as we talked and listened to each other. It lasted maybe twenty minutes. Then it hit me as I sat at my table. I realized the stark differences between the two groups of people when it came to communicating with people with hearing loss.  I was able to connect with them both using their communication preferences. That's sounds awful lot like commUNITY to me. You see, signing isn't everything and the only thing here. The key is to connect people with their communication preferences and needs. And not on political ideology alone because that will surely fail.

"Hey...there's a bunch of deaf/hh people signing! I'm gonna go over there and introduce myself!"

"Hey...there's a bunch of deaf/hh people with hearing aids and cochlear implants talking! F*ck 'em. They're losers!"

Here's the deal.

We're deaf. We're hard of hearing. People see themselves as hearing impaired. Some simply say, "I have a hearing loss." Some will say "I'm deaf" or "I'm hard of hearing," while fewer still say "I'm Deaf" by signing. Some wear cochlear implants. Many wear hearing aids. Some do not at all. Each of them has an opinion and preference when it comes to their own hearing loss, deafness, communication and language options. I don't begrudge them for that but the problem is that many people still do out of sheer pettiness. And they haven't gotten past that yet. And that's the sad thing.

*Twilight Zone music*

Swim Day

Had a great time at the East Fork Lewis River yesterday with my kids. This is one of the most popular swimming hole because of the many ledges and height one can jump into this large pool. This river is a fairly short drive from my house and easy to access to. There are lots of swim holes up and down this river but this one here is the best so far. Last year was at Sunset Falls which is a good place to go and has ample parking provided you get there early enough. But Sunset Falls is much further out to drive to than this swim hole we went to yesterday although parking can be challenge. These pools can be anywhere from 12 to 15 feet deep, plenty deep to jump into from 10 to 20 foot ledges. The kids here in the photo on a ledge is about 20 to 22 feet up. There's a spot to the left of the picture (unseen) where one can jump off from a 25 ledge.  If jumping into a deep pool of water isn't your thing you can ride a mini-rapid that flows into another pool downstream if you have an inner tube to ride on.



Water was refreshingly cool. It took a couple of swims to get used to the water temperature while swimming in the sunny, 85 degree weather. Ideal temperature for us would be into mid-90's but today was a good day.

Important truths.....

Just when you think you know it all out comes the truths when people tried to obscure them in so many ways but really it's about diversity and respect.

Truth #1: Dr. E.M. Gallaudet started it first several years after the Milan Conference of 1880 by agreeing that "oral teaching should be included" and believed that "the oral method as a necessity in any system that aimed to reach the highest good of the deaf." Although he does support sign language as well, the oral-aural component simply cannot be ignored coming from Dr. E.M. Gallaudet. 

Yet, technology today has changed everything in terms of how we approach language and the various communication methods that are out there. That cannot be ignored and how it impacts people with hearing loss. Even social interactions and the outcomes are much different today than it was 20 years ago simply because the internet was barely on the radar and 30 years ago the internet wasn't even around. Today we have the internet, video phone, chat features, CART, closed captioning, face to face technology such as the UbiDuo, discussion forums, blogs, vlogs, YouTube, Facebook, smart phones, and so on. The socialization aspect on how we interact with people, deaf and hearing) has certainly changed and that there are many levels of socialization nowadays.

Truth #2: ICED issued a global call to "accept and respect all languages and all forms of communication" in the education of deaf and hard of hearing people. This is a simple and straight-forward if not common sense announcement.  Although there are no mention of how its done or whether one method or approach would be satisfactory enough or the combining with other methods for a more rounder, comprehensive approach that's more suitable. No. Nothing like that. Just that people simply need to accept and respect all languages and all forms of communication when it comes to the education of deaf and hard of hearing people. Short, sweet and to the point.

Truth #3: Diversity is real. It's a natural feature to be expected from people with a variety hearing loss ranging from mild to profound who have various preferences on how to communicate. Marlee Matlin made it abundantly clear when it comes to diversity

I sign, I support deaf culture. And I support ALL CHOICES of communication, all kinds of people. If you don’t like my choices, well….

Ain't that the truth? And there are people who do not like to offer or support choices but make these demands on mandatory requirements instead.

Truth #4:  Parents of children with hearing loss hold the trump card on making a decisions regarding communication methods, language development, and eduction for their child. All we can hope is that parents will have enough information to make an informed decision. People cannot force parents to do their bidding. It's a fact of life, parents are the ones to who make these informed decisions. Not you or anybody else. The best thing people can do is to supply parents with all of the necessary information that are balanced and unbiased.

Truth #5: Be comfortable for who you are and not about what you are. If you love to talk and listen, so be it. If you love to sign and watch, so be it. Just don't become lemmings.

Dufur

A picture of a farm land pasture on the edge of Dufur, Oregon looking west toward Mt. Hood hidden behind some clouds. June 2011 on a sunny, warm day. Photo below is the same farmland but more to the east.

Day 4

Not much as I head into Day 4 of no news. I've no idea what's going on out there which is good because that's less noise and distraction. Seems like with each passing day on abstaining from news it gets easier as I shift over to other things that require my attention. No biggie.

Day 3...pictures!

Ok. No big deal. It's only day 3 and life continues to churn. I went through my picture folders I spotted a picture I took in 2008 on a hike on a trail that go to Sierra Blanca in New Mexico. It was one of those splendor that managed to catch my eye and decided it was a good spot to take a picture.  I stopped at an elevation of 10,500 feet, looked across the mountainous expanse and took a picture and below is what I got.

Here's me hiking the mountain hills at around 10,000 feet with Sierra Blanca in the foreground. It was the same day when I took a picture seen above. A lot of hiking that day in New Mexico, 2008.



Same picture as above but without me in it.





I spotted this odd setup. A tree growing through an old, upside down and obviously abandoned car. This was taken near Weed, New Mexico about 10 miles or so down the road. Thought it was neat and took a picture of it in 2007. Thought you might enjoy it.

Cochlear Implants and Nuclear War

There is this one terrible side effect from a nuclear explosion or electromagnetic bomb and that's called  "EMP" or Electro-magnetic Pulse and how such a pulse can easily destroy cochlear implants.

This pulse of energy, which produces a powerful electromagnetic field, particularly within the vicinity of the weapon burst, is called an electromagnetic pulse. EMP can also be produced from non-nuclear sources, such as electromagnetic bombs, or E-bombs.  

High-altitude nuclear detonations and electromagnetic bombs can generate EMP that has the potential to damage or destroy electronic devices over widespread areas. Electric power systems would also be at risk from surges produced by such weapons. However, the EMP from a kiloton-range surface nuclear explosion would not be expected to produce serious damage outside the radius of severe destruction from blast.

A 1.4 Megaton bomb launched about 250 miles above Kansas would destroy most of the electronics that were not protected in the entire Continental United States. During the brief return to atmospheric testing in 1962, a 1.4 megaton nuclear weapon was detonated over Johnston Island at an altitude of about 250 miles.  The effects of EMP were observed in Hawaii, 800 miles east of the detonation.  Streetlights and fuses failed on Oahu and telephone service was disrupted on the Island of Kauai.

So, basically any electronic components are at risk of failing outright from an EMP burst which includes cochlear implant, hearing aid, laptop, television, cell phone, automobiles, trains, planes, video phone, and many, many more.  What I don't get is why people even feel the need to bring up about cochlear implants (and hearing aids) in an EMP scenario? If this happens everybody is basically dead in the water where there's no communication, no food being made, no water delivered to your faucet, refrigerators no longer work, and so on. Everybody would be effected. Of course, for hearing aid users, they can put their spare hearing aids in a box that is covered and encased in metal and a couple years worth of batteries (that is in this situation hopefully the use of batteries would be judiciously used and stretched out for a period of 3 or 4 years).

There are two basic ways to protect or harden items against EMP effects. The first method is metallic shielding. Shields are made of a continuous piece of metal such as steel or copper. A metal enclosure generally does not fully shield the interior because of the small holes that are likely to exist.  Therefore, this type of shielding often contains additional elements to create the barrier. Commonly, only a fraction of a millimeter of a metal is needed to supply adequate protection.  This shield must completely surround the item to be hardened. 

The second method, tailored hardening, is a more cost-effective way of hardening. In this method, only the most vulnerable elements and circuits are redesigned to be more rugged.  The more rugged elements will be able to withstand much higher currents.  This method has shown unpredictable failures in testing, though it is thought it may be useful to make existing systems less vulnerable.

At least by protecting your hearing aids that way you'd have a fighting chance and your survival would increase because of your additional ability to hear what's going on around you.  Cochlear implant wearers would be out of luck.  Those who cannot use a hearing aid would be at an obvious disadvantage unless, of course, you have hearing guide dogs.  At any rate, it wouldn't really matter because in that situation you'd be fighting for survival every step of the way.  And hearing people would already be at an advantage in this situation no matter how you look at it when it comes to surviving this incident which could last for several years.  But then you might argue about the use of a hearing guide dog. Sure, but so can a hearing person to increase his/her survivability even further. No matter how you cut it and play the Deaf political card the fact of the matter is when that EMP goes off the most disadvantaged people will be the first to go such as those need dialysis or need medication to survive and live and so on. And it goes up the ladder with the next line of disadvantaged group of people. In short, it all comes down to survival of the fittest and being deaf in this situation will certainly prove perhaps almost seemingly impossible to survive in such a manner over a length of time.

So, I wouldn't even bother bringing up the cochlear implant and EMP scenario in the effort to make these scenarios scary for current and future cochlear implant users almost to the point of implying that perhaps they shouldn't get a cochlear implant. It'd be utter nonsense to do that. If an EMP does go off, you, the non-cochlear implant and hearing aid wearers (i.e. deaf/hh people), would also be....up the creek as well.

Can it be done?

This is my 2nd day on no news with the exception of checking on the weather over the internet. Candy, another deaf blogger, said that I wouldn't last two days without any news. So far, so good. This is day two.  I've not peeked at any deaf news. I've not looked for world, national, local or political news. I've not looked at any deaf blogs or YouTube channels. My kids mostly watch cartoons so there's no danger of picking up an errant news that might come within earshot or visual range. When it's my turn to watch tv I go for movies, the History channel and A&E channel for it's American Pickers, Pawn Stars and Storage Wars, for example. Anything that's not related to news. Most of the time on the news is just a lot of a bad stuff. So, it'll be interesting to see what I've missed after a year of no news, especially when you have about 3 1/2 months left til the national election,too. It's one of those "what if" situations that I'm trying to answer for myself which I won't really know until I've actually done the experiment which is what I'm doing now. And I plan to chronicle it along with my other thoughts. I know that with each passing day it'll get easier to get by on no news. Plus, I don't have to worry about reading or watching other deaf people mewling, complaining, and twisting on what I wrote which reminds me of this picture.

If it's really that bad then the answer is obvious. Don't read it. Seriously, that picture does remind me of some people who behave like that.

I guess this is one of the temporary benefit of my experiment and that is not to hear the occasional bawlings from people who don't like what I write or say. Maybe I'll get a boatload of those responses after my year-long experiment is over? Who knows? Maybe more of the a-wordism from the likes of Deaf Pundit? Oh, wait, she made her blog private now which was publicly available for 4 1/2 years since January 2007.  I can't see her blog except perhaps here. I wonder what prompted the decision to make her blog private? Perhaps Candy's own blogging had an effect on her?  I know Deaf Pundit made her blog private sometime after July 5 because that's when Candy wrote her blog piece on character assassination about Deaf Pundit's recklessness which included a link to one of Deaf Pundit's blog piece that was working that day.  Maybe her blogsite is under-going a three week renovation? Maybe she's on three-week vacation? Maybe she's ducking? I don't know. Just a rather curious observation here but I'm sure you're thinking, "Well, you turned off your comments and you're not reading other deaf blogs or vlogs, you're ducking, too!" Not at all. I've already said that doing my experiment on no news, not reading other people bawling comments is one of the benefits of this experiment.  Why must I read their comments or their blogs? Maybe I will after a year has gone by. I'm sure there will be some bloggers or vloggers out there might end up defending me while I'm incommunicado, a self-imposed one that is.

The countdown clock continues. Is it better to ignore news or pay attention to it? Come back to me in about a year and find out. Meanwhile, I'll continue to write what's on my mind. All you can do is read my blog if you wish. I tell you one thing, it's nice not to hear a bunch of bratty, spoiled kids for a change.

ADDENDUM: Well, at least I was essentially correct that the reason Deaf Pundit's is down (i.e. private only) is that there is a new website (i.e renovation).  Although I never said anything about a demise. Just wondered outloud why the shutdown as I gave out a few possibilities as to why. Now I know. I saw the linking to this blog via my Sitemeter page, so that's how I found out.

Peace or hypocrisy?

 Ok. My countdown has begun. See the countdown clock on the upper left side of my blog. Click on the link for more info on why and you'll understand, and why comments are no longer allowed for the time being.

I'll make this here simple and succinct. I'll present two videos. You decide. Here's a video of Ella just recently.



Here's mine I made back in April.



You tell me, peace or hypocrisy?

Funny thing is that she talks of "groups" ("Deafhood" vs "anti-Deafhood") while I and many others see this:

The overlapping of people with hearing loss from a wide variety of background, experiences, amount of hearing loss from mild to profound, onset of hearing loss and communication preferences. Each of us touches or overlaps with other people with hearing loss based on similarities and experiences. In some circles people experience more discrimination while others not so much but we are more or less all on the same boat.

Which is why people like Ella and many of her cohorts get it wrong time and time again. There are those of us who don't care for "deafhood" or "Deafhood" That is not the equivalent of "anti-deafhood" or "anti-Deafhood." It's like this.  We don't care for broccoli. Are we out to stamp out that vegetable? No. Are we trying to stop other people from eating it? No. It is just that we don't like the taste of broccoli and so we decline and say, "Broccoli? No thanks."  We have no need to put broccoli on a pedestal thinking it's the king of all vegetables and force people to eat it. Simply put, it's just that whenever we see or eat a broccoli it leaves a bad taste in our mouths.

We do understand that there are plenty of vegetables out there to choose from since a broccoli isn't the only vegetable around.  And so we desire not to have any association with broccoli. And for good reasons, too. Mostly it leaves a bad taste in our mouths.

We have our own opinions. There is no conflict here if we agree to disagree.

My Grand Experiment

I've given this some thought for several weeks now and decided to try this out on a self-imposed experiment of mine. I don't know if it'll work or if I have the will power to see it through but it'll be like a time capsule I'm putting myself through. Something different to try my hands on for a whole year. What is it you say? Well, it's an all news blackout for me....for a year. Practically on any news.

Starting on July 25, 2011 on a Monday I will NOT allow myself access to any news information whether it's from my truck radio, television, newspapers, magazines, internet, and even through my blog comments. Any news (sans the weather on the internet) whether its politics, world news, local news, and so on. This may include accessing any deaf-related news as well only because I may inadvertently pick up some outside news along the way, however. It's the day to day news I'm attempting to avoid rather than deaf news. This experiment of mine might prove harder to discipline myself since I will miss my daily political news and editorials on my truck radio whenever I drive to work each morning and back home. Instead I'll pop in some of my music tapes. No FM stations for music because news can filter in that way. If I'm in a store and I come across a magazine rack or newspaper dispenser I'll force to avert my eyes and avoid reading anything where news might filter back to me.  Having said that I'll will also disable comments on my blog for a whole year because some people might try and sneak in some tidbit of news hoping to bait me. I will limit myself from accessing Facebook and YouTube as well because, well, again, news can filter in that way as well. I'll limit myself to certain websites that do not carry any news. Good bye Drudge Report and all that.

Now, I bet there are some Deaf people cheering at this blog news of mine thinking that I won't blog much on anything related to deafness. Be forewarned, I do have a lot to say and will contribute to my blog on a variety of topics, deaf or not. Who knows. This goal of mine may last only a day if I catch myself watching, reading, or listening to any news but I'll try and remind myself not to do that. Bad boy! Bad boy! This experiment may last only a week. A month. Or if I'm lucky a whole year. But I reserve the right to come out of "retirement" which would be a bonafide "threat" to some Deaf people. Ha ha...seriously. They're just that cranky and whine so much you could actually hear them! Ok. Rather a facetious if not hyperbolic response.  

If you look to the left of my blog near the top you can see my countdown clock. On Monday it'll be 365 days til July 25, 2012 when I come out of my self-imposed news ban. The clock says "Seattle" because it was set at Pacific Coast Time and Seattle was the city I selected that I'm not very far away from. This experiment of mine is kind of like this one guy who went below into a cave for a whole year as part of a science experiment and after awhile lost all track of time and any news on the outside world. Only this time for me I want to try and lose track of any sense of news on whats happening "out there."  And when I "re-emerge" back into the world of nuttiness I'll see what I missed and the things I've learned while I was "away."

Starting tomorrow I'll turn off the comments. If you have anything to say, say it now and say your peace. And I'll see you guys in about a year from now. I'll continue to write and blog, and still meet my friends in person. But I'm sure some Deaf people will get angry on what I will say but so what. They can never be happy. We already know that. But the beauty is that they can't respond in my blog and I wont read or watch their responses elsewhere. Tough guano on their part.

See ya in about a year?