Am I an oral/aural success?

That's a matter of perspective and wholly subjective based on experience and ability as a deaf/hh person who grew up speaking and listening.  I grew up with a lot of hearing friends and some deaf friends. I grew up playing sports such as soccer, baseball and wrestling and I excelled in them. My soccer team was a state championship team in 1975. One of my baseball team in early 1970s that I was in was a championship team as well. I placed 2nd in my weight class in a wrestling tournament. I competed in high school marching band competitions as a drummer and competed in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.  And so on.

But was I an oral/aural success?

My first words were “bye bye” at 14 months old.
At 18 months - “Jamie,” “Baby,’ “DaDa,” “Bye Bye,” “Car” and “Hot”
By 30 months or 2 ½ years old I had a vocabulary of 20 to 24 words
At 2 ¾ years old I was forming sentences “Dada bye bye,” and “Dada eat.”

At this point after a year and half of oral training with John Tracy Clinic and Birney school I was progressing fast and saying many words.

At 2 ½ years old all of my words were hard for me to pronounce them because of my deafness. I received my new body hearing aid at that point and with the help of my mother and John Tracy Clinic my vocabulary grew. By 3 ½ years old I was forming questions. “Where is Jamie?” “Where is Dad?” I even said to my brother, “No no. Momma pretty” in reference to her hair. By 4 ½ years old I could recognize my own name and names of my classmates in Birney school in Tacoma. By 5 ½ years old I was able to read basic words, identify colors, count number from 1 to 10.

I was in a class of hearing first graders for ¾ of the day. At first I was emotionally upset for awhile with the big change from an oral setting in Birney School to a regular classroom with hearing students. But I finally adjusted and did well. According to my mother’s notes I was above average in most subjects. In March 1973 I received my first behind the ear hearing aid to replace my worn out body aid. I wore my behind the ear much better and was able to get more sound out of it. The miracle of advancing hearing aid technology.

I went regular school from 4th grade to 12th as a hard of hearing student. Did theatrical plays, played in the middle school symphony band, took piano lessons starting at age 7, and I was on the high school marching band that competed in the southeast marching band competitions.  I was your typical middle and high school student.

Am I an oral/aural success?  Certainly.

I still can order my food and listen at the drive through speaker and make sure they got my orders right. I can speak to my family, friends, and strangers in person or over the phone without problems. In a physical setting with people around me the acoustic environment must be conducive enough for me to carry on a conversation.

I've come to think of myself as a person with a hearing loss. A person who is deaf. Also a person who is hard of hearing. Or even person who is hearing impaired with the focus that my hearing is impaired, not just myself.

I'm an oral/aural success? Certainly.

Despite that, I still cannot hear completely and my hearing aid helps me tremendously. I can keep up with conversations in small group conversation but the settings have to be right.

I did well in regular school in a non-mainstreaming setting. I relied on my hearing aid to listen. Sometimes they needed to repeat what was said. I got good grades. I went from high school to a hearing college and then to Gallaudet University as a lark and curiosity to see what a deaf/hh setting was like. I learned how to sign and communicate in ASL. While going to Gallaudet University I also attended nearby George Washington University without the need for note-takers, interpreters or any other support services and did well in those courses.

After Gallaudet University, and George Washington University I attended a graduate school at University of Idaho and successfully got my masters degree in Geology. I did well in classes without the need for note-takers, interpreters or any other support services. I was successful in defending my thesis during an oral thesis defense that lasted almost 2 hours.

An oral/aural success? Certainly.

Throughout my life while attending regular school from elementary, middle and high school I had more friends than I could count on my fingers. I had hearing friends in my neighborhood that we skated together and did a bunch of fun stuff. These friends of mine weren't the "misfit" or "outcast" types. I still have them in my Facebook.

I was never really bullied though a few tried to do that to me but I pushed back and made myself clear. I wasn't worried about being shunned or quietly ignored by the “cool kids” because I learned quickly early on that such "coolness" was highly over-rated.  I never had a mental breakdown because I've always spoken my mind.  I was a good friend to many, and I considered them good friends to this day.

Am I an oral/aural success? Certainly.

But also, because of Gallaudet University, I am successful in sign language. I learned to sign while an undergrad at Gallaudet. I made many new deaf and hh friends. And also learned a great deal the insidious problem of identity politics. I was in the Honor Program. I worked as a math tutor. I spent time focusing on my education but had time to play with my friends, attended a few Rock Festival events, football games, and so on. I graduated from Gallaudet within 3 years. After that I attended graduate school at University of Idaho for 5 years with enough credits for two degrees but only got one degree in Geology and yet made some more hearing friends while there, too.

Now, I have many deaf, hh and hearing friends. 

Today, my working environment involves working with mostly hearing people. I still use the phone to speak and listen with no assistance needed. I still use the field radio when I go out into the field alone in the woods. I still deal with wildfires. I strive to meet other employees who are deaf or hard of hearing.  I strive to help educate hearing people and co-workers about people with hearing loss whether it's mild or profound hearing loss or those who communicate primarily with sign language. It's a win-win situation for me and others when people understand better on the issue of clear communication.

I have never dread sitting at a table surrounded by people who are hearing as long as I feel the acoustic environment is suitable, I'll join. I don't dread meeting different deaf people at bars during deaf nights, either, as we sign away through the night with my wife. I enjoy meeting different people whether deaf or hearing but I do enjoy my solitudes. At work I like calling the shots on when I need CART, a microphone or online captioning for those video conference calls that have a lot of people participating.

Am I an oral/aural success? Certainly.

Am I deaf? Sure.

Am I hard of hearing? Sure.

Am I hearing impaired? Sure. I won't let a little identity politics get in the way. That term doesn't bother me.

But that's not important.

What I like to see today is to help other deaf and hard of hearing people (signers and non-signers) achieve their own brand of success in life with the help of technology whether it's at school, work, play or at home. I serve as a source of inspiration to many deaf and hard of hearing people. Other deaf and hard of hearing people serve as an inspiration for me. I like seeing hard work rather than listen to people complain about how unfair life is. Or hear people make stupid excuses when they are really lazy or ignorant. I like seeing people take the imitative and be pro-active about something positive in their life. Grab the bull by the horns and get busy. Complaining about your past life won't do anything for you or get anywhere. Best you can do is to move forward and make the best of what you got. Me? I take the best of both worlds, hearing and deaf. And I'm making the best of it the best way I know how one day at a time.

I am me.



You are not me.

Don't try and be me but be yourself on the things that you do best at.

Focus on your own successes and what works for you. Success is relative. Success is subjective. I see myself as an oral/aural success. I have never regretted my life and the things that I have done. I continue to go down that path. If you complain about what I do and/or say in this blog then you need to stop focusing on the negative and do something constructive in your life for a change.


Bonus video for hearing people only:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9QwOC4ZxDM

Enjoy.

Scavenger Hunt Video Part III

Here' the final video Part III of a scavenger hunt. A big surprise is revealed in this video. What could it be? What is "Project Black"? Where will this scavenger hunt end up at? Who is that weird looking guy? Be sure to watch this video and find out. If you missed Part I or II video you can watch either one of them near the bottom of the page and see if you missed anything.

Abandoned deaf 8 weeks old puppy needs to be adopted

Here's a breaking story of a deaf puppy, 8 weeks old, that was left abandoned on the side of a road in a cardboard box in Ohio but was saved by the Brimfield Police Department.

Ohio police are looking for the person who left a deaf puppy on the side of the road in a cardboard box. Thanks to the Brimfield Police Department, the dog is getting a second chance. 

According to a lengthy Facebook posting by the chief of police, the dog was found Saturday. Chief David Oliver wasn't shy about calling out the person who abandoned the puppy. 

"I will say that I can tell a person's character pretty well by seeing how they treat animals," Chief Oliver said in his Facebook post. "Whoever did this lacks character, period. It was mopey behavior."

Anybody deaf/hh living in near Akron, Ohio will have the opportunity to adopt this puppy this February. I used to have a deaf white cat that my wife and I adopted when she was a kitten. I spotted her wandering in a parking lot outside of our apartment many years ago and decided to take in her only then we didn't know the kitten was deaf until a few days later when we realized she wasn't responding to sound.

McCaskill speaks

From ABC7 News:

“I’m here back at the university and thrilled to be back here,” she says. “I know there are many challenges ahead for me and I look forward to working with the faculty, staff and students here as we move forward to make Gallaudet a more inclusive university and the area of higher education that shows respect for different points of view.”

But it's strange that university officials would not comment further on why they decided to reinstate McCaskill's position as Chief Diversity Officer saying that it was a personnel matter. Personnel matter? Like president Hurwitz turning it into a circus show by making it public for all to see about their own personnel, Dr. Angela McCaskill?

Dr. Angela McCaskill is correct that Gallaudet University needs to learn to be a more inclusive university that shows respect for different points of view.

Empowerment and Perception

Empowerment.

It's a word that means differently to different people but universally it means enabling themselves the power of choice on their ability to gain their freedom, acquire knowledge, acquire wealth, and even build self esteem and confidence. There are many sides to every perspective on who is taking advantage of who when it comes to obtaining empowerment or losing it. What I have to say here may make some people feel uncomfortable but it is my kind of truth I'd like to speak about though it's not to be construed as an absolute truth but a general truth. Offering a different perspective is good. There is no monopoly here on "empowerment" or truth but just my version.

Let's look at Trudy Suggs' presentation on "Deaf Disempowerment."

Before going further I recognize the fact that there are horrible interpreters, interpreters who are a god-send and those who fall in between depending on the circumstances.  The hope is to have the very best and highly professional interpreters but that is not always the case, sadly, but the United States is experiencing a national shortage on interpreters.  Here I'm offering a bit of constructive opinion regarding Trudy Suggs' "Deaf Disempowerment." Namely it's about true independence versus quasi-independence when it comes to communication choices and how some people deal with them. Sometimes the answer to a difficult or problematic solution can be easily solved. Other times it requires serious intervention and awareness building.

In Trudy Suggs' piece she discussed two kinds of disempowerment: situational disempowerment and economic disempowerment. What I'm about to explain in my blog will show you a simple way to reverse a certain disempowerment scenario into your advantage. You can still have control over certain things in life and not feel helpless in the communication department. Empowerment means you've come to realized certain things about a situation and advantageously learned to move forward independently benefiting yourself as a result. Suggs suggested that people do take advantage of deaf people, and that's true in many instances as in the case of interpreters taking advantage of deaf people by making money off of them. She provided a few examples of that in her piece. But in order to be honest people need to realize that deaf people do take advantage of hearing people. In this case taking advantage of sign language interpreters for their own gain whether it's social, financial, medical or what have you at no cost to deaf people in most cases.

Trudy Suggs explained that she live in a town of 23,000 people with 250 to 300 deaf people (I am assuming they are all culturally deaf people) which represents about 1.3% of the town's population.  A town that is 7 times more populated than the "national average" on the ratio of culturally deaf people to hearing people which is estimated to be about 0.2%of the U.S. population. In Rochester, New York, for example, it has a much higher density of deaf and hard of hearing people. The number of deaf and hard of hearing people make up 3.7 percent (about 40,000) of the Rochester area's 1.1 million people (more here on deaf/hh population). Although no exact figures on the number of culturally deaf people who rely exclusively on sign language to communicate as their preferred mode of communication.  In Suggs' town with 7 times more culturally deaf people one would certainly expect better interpreters.  Interpreters who should be readily available at a moments notice, 24/7. Interpreters who are expected to hold a higher standard of professionalism in a town that have a lot of deaf people. Interpreters' reputations are at stake. If an interpeter fumbles then word gets around within the tightly knit deaf community like a bad gossip.

Let's consider for a moment the fact that there are more deaf and hard of hearing people in the United States that do not sign or know sign language than there are those who do sign (about 50 to 1 ratio or 30 million deaf/hh to 600,000 culturally deaf people). Or for those with more severe hearing loss you have people with severe to profound hearing loss numbering probably about 3 million or so. That would leave you with 1 out every 5 deaf people who know and use sign language.

Trudy Suggs described a story between about herself, her interpreter and a receptionist while waiting in a lobby for her orthopedic doctor for her son's check-up:

After about 45 minutes of waiting in the lobby—very unusual for a town of this size—I asked the receptionist about the severe delay. The receptionist never once looked up from her computer, saying that the doctor was backed up. I asked if we could see the doctor since my children were restless, hungry and my son, in a body cast from chest to toe, needed his medicine—which was at home. She said no. I said, “Could you please speak to the doctor or nurse?” She replied, “Oh, no, I can’t do that,” and I repeated my request. She adamantly refused. 

I finally said, “Could you please look at me?” She looked at the interpreter, and I said, “No, at me.” Once she did, I asked, “Could you please offer a resolution? We’ve been here an hour.” At that very moment, my baby began crying, and the receptionist finally realized the extent of my situation. A nurse came out who was far more courteous and apologetic. After we talked about the delay, I asked how I could make a complaint about the receptionist. 

A few thoughts come to mind.

You have a receptionist who is not familiar with deaf culture etiquette such as looking directly at the deaf person and not the interpreter. Most hearing people are simply not familiar on how to deal with a deaf person with their interpeter in tow. And then you have a situation where a deaf person is either seen as the "third person" or the interpreter as the third person. It becomes a perception issue not mention a certain amount of ignorance and unfamiliarity at play here,too.

Trudy then go on a spiel about "disempowerment" because she wasn't treated adequately by her interpreter and was seen as a "third person" by the receptionist and was not given the opportunity to be seen as an equal.

Let's change the picture here. Like the one below here.

Suppose at the receptionist desk sits a face to face communication device unit called the UbiDuo ready to be used by any deaf person who can use it to converse in real time with the receptionist. The unit is already assembled and ready to go by simply turning it on No third person is involved. Eye contact is easily done because the conversation is now between two individuals, a hearing person and a deaf person. The UbiDuo is a wireless communication technology that allow real time typed conversations between two people facing each other. Just like having two people talking or signing to each other face to face, uninterrupted with more meaningful eye contact, and done directly without feeling like a third person. No worry about having an interpreter carry YOUR conversations for you.

That's true empowerment.

Having the ability to carry a conversation with a hearing person using the UbiDuo, for example, where conversations can be done privately and directly is an example of empowerment. The chance for misunderstanding decreases because words are typed word for word with the UbiDuo. Conversations done in real time seeing what the other person is typing while responding at same time. Just like talking to each other. Just like signing to each other. No worry about the "lack of signing fluency" from interpreters. Face to face conversations take place fluidly.

A deaf person can have a choice between using an interpreter or a face to face communication device such as the UbiDuo. It is there for the taking. You have that choice. That's true empowerment.

DYV...before and after

Totally surreal when it comes to the depth of absurdity.  Six days ago I posted about DYV's dishonesty blogging about a lightning strike saying a deaf man with a cochlear implant was struck but offered no sources or proof that it was the case. In fact, that video was already proven to be a fake.  A week later offered such a banal, dishonest response if not a totally paranoid one leaping into the fire and now into the frying pan.

Notice: This article has been no proven which is no information and none of sources due to the cochlear implant industry possibly cover up of this incidental situation to prevent avoid bankruptcy. perhaps, only a theory which could it be possible happen to everybody like this video.

The cochlear implant industry is in collusion to cover up on sources to the fake lightning video? What an utterly moronic claim. Again, the video has already been shown to be a fake. No need for a "theory."  If a deaf person with a cochlear implant was hit by a direct lightning strike he would most likely be dead or severely maimed for life. Whether the cochlear implant gets damaged isn't really worth writing about.  How about being honest for a change and admit that you, DYV, were just making things up out of thin air on a whim?


Before:

After:

Update: Good grief. Now, he/she is claiming in his/her blog piece was merely an opinion piece. How can it be an opinion piece when it's littered with so called "facts" stating unequivocally that the (fake) lightning victim is a cochlear implant user with no way of confirming it and no sources to support that claim?   Below you can his post-response to my blog response to his first blog piece about the (fake) lightning victim video. His reference to me as "Mickey Mouse" was my old user name during the VAX days at Gallaudet University.  Not afraid to show my face around here.

And lastly, it is in poor taste to list links under the "Surfer Deaf Websites" a link to Candy's blog as "Extreme Radical Gina Sutton" while all the other names linking to other sites are neutral.

UPDATE II. More on DYV involving counter hits. It's easy to see the difference between the visitor map (clickable) and see the hits total and the hits number displayed below the map. This is a similar incident with the DBC's own mess.

Deafened mice hear again

A drug that can regenerate damaged ear hair cells in mice.

Now, Edge and his colleagues have tested several gamma-secretase inhibitors to find the one with the strongest regenerative effect on inner ear stem cells. They then tested that drug on adult mice that had been deafened after 2 hours in an extremely loud sound chamber. The drug prompted supporting cells in the inner ear to become hair cells, and the treated mice regained some hearing, the group reports online today in Neuron. 

The gamma-secretase inhibitors were originally developed as a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease, but clinical trials showed little effect on symptoms of dementia and serious side effects in the gut and the immune system. Giving the mice one of the drugs orally triggered similar side effects, the team reports, so they tried applying the compound directly to the membrane between the middle ear and the inner ear. That required minor surgery in the mice, but could be achieved with an injection in humans—a technique already in common use, Edge says. The direct application produced as much hair cell growth as the oral treatment, without significant side effects, the team reports. The drug isn't ready for clinical trials, Edge says, but "it's a foot in the door."

"This is a major step forward," says Yehoash Raphael, an auditory neuroscientist at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, who led the gene therapy study in guinea pigs. Although the treatment didn't restore full hearing, the improvement is significant, he says.

This is indeed a major step forward in regenerative medicine for the treatment of sensorineural hearing loss. It'd be a matter of time until clinical trials begin.

The McCaskill Saga, Example of Intolerance?

Here's a great article about tolerance when tolerance means learning to agree to disagree such as in the case of the McCaskill/Gallaudet snafu as a result of a very public witch hunt.

Practicing true tolerance requires disagreement; it requires dissension.

But as the administrators at Gallaudet prove, our society has discarded real tolerance and has replaced it with a kind that says, “You disagree with me? Then you’re intolerant.”

It necessitates complete neutrality, and it limits people from picking sides on social issues.

This is dangerous.

It's better to learn tolerance than to automatically brand people as bigoted merely for disagreeing.

Interest on ASL on the Decline?

Not just American Sign Language that has been on the down trend over the last several years in Google search but interest in terms like "deafhood," and "a*dism" are also on the downturn as seen in Google Trends. Check out the graphs below.  

Just a bit of factoid thrown in here I think that would interest you.

Scavenger Hunt Part Deux

Watch Part II of a scavenger hunt. A hunt that will be revealed progressively over the next few weeks every Tuesday by sComm, the maker of the UbiDuo Face to Face communication device. A big surprise will be revealed near the end of January this month. What could it be? What is "Project Black"? Where will this scavenger hunt end up at? Be sure to follow this video each week to find out. If you missed Part I video you can watch it first at the bottom of the page.

Part I - The Scavenger Hunt

Hurwitz Caves...McCaskill reinstated

Yesterday Washington Post reported that Dr. Angela McCaskill was given her job back as Chief Diversity Officer.

Her reinstatement was announced Monday in an e-mail to students, staff and faculty from university President T. Alan Hurwitz. “I personally look forward to working with Dr. McCaskill,” he said.

Hurwitz’s announcement said that many members of the school community had reached out to him in a “clearly heartfelt manner.” Recent weeks were “a period of reflection for all of us,” he said.

He also praised the “overall maturity” shown in the community’s willingness to consider the “differing views others may hold.”

It's no surprise that president Hurwitz backed down on proceeding on the removal of Dr. McCaskill after realizing Gallaudet University had no legal case against Dr. Angela McCaskill for removing her as Chief Diversity Officer. The moment she hired a lawyer in October last year and 5 days later president Hurwitz backpedaled furiously the comment he made earlier about the suspension truly showed which direction the case would go. It's no surprise that Dr. McCaskill retained her original position and title. Gallaudet University/Hurwitz had no case at all to begin with to act upon the faux pas suspension. Dr. Bienvenu had no case to go through this witch hunt in the effort to get her fired. In the end, Dr. McCaskill was most likely well compensated with Gallaudet University settling this out of court on what could've been a potentially expensive lawsuit. That's my guess. And something that Gallaudet University wouldn't have been able to financially afford the lawsuit and all of the continuing negativity - a potential PR nightmare for Gallaudet University. Firing her would've been the worse course of action. President Hurwitz and Gallaudet University's lawyers realized this. Glad this has been resolved before the start of school.

There may have been some "overall maturity" shown in the community but there were enough of them who were quite vicious and very immature rather than to agree to disagree on differing views with respect and aplomb.  We know who they are. Full of hate rather than full of introspection and respect of the situation. Witch hunts do not belong in the age of learning and enlightenment.

Classes will resume on January 22, 2013 with Dr. McCaskill back at work doing what she does best at her job. May the students and staff show their warm welcome for Dr. McCaskill's return.  Time to move past this awful saga and snafu.

See previous blogs on the McCaskill/Gallaudet University snafu.

DYV Disinformation and Fakery

DYV linked to a YouTube video (video seen also at LiveLeak) of a man that was apparently struck by lightning two times in a space of seconds and supposedly lived afterwards with no apparent injury.  I spotted the DYV piece in Deafread. The problem is that DYV claimed the lightning victim wore a cochlear implant. For a victim to put his right hand to the right side of his head isn't proof that he was wearing a cochlear implant. This is nothing more but an attempt to generate misinformation, disinformation and interest on the subject of cochlear implant.  DYV offered no links to sources that the supposed victim is in fact a cochlear implant user or even the fact that he is "hearing impaired."  No links on DYV blogsite to sources that says anything about the victim as a "hearing impaired cochlear implant" user. No interview of the victim. No verification that the implant, if any, was damaged by the strike. Nothing. Nada. Kaput. Pure hokey made up cotton candy fluff that dreams are made of.

I'd say this is a prime example of really bad blogging like a case of bad food poisoning run amok. Now, if DYV attempt to come up with an excuse for blogging about an old, already proven fake video lightning strike and inserting "cochlear implant" as a justification I'll call it BS on his part if that happens. So, don't even bother DYV on producing an excuse to blog misinformation and disinformation claiming the victim to be hearing impaired and a cochlear implant user, and go even further without any supporting evidence or sources saying the cochlear implant was damaged by the strike because it never happened. Pretty wild if not totally irresponsible to pass that kind of junk around. Below is a screen capture of what DYV wrote as proof.

Video is fake, of course. Shadows in front a vehicle that show up shouldn't be there when the lightning bolt should have lighted 360 degrees all around it. The second strike showed shadows to be unlighted just like the first one. All indicative of a fake video. This was an impossibly rare video capture of a man apparently getting struck by lightning two times in a row in virtually in the same spot in such a short space of time, and the guy lived? All that point to an apparent fake video of a lightning strike that was supposedly captured on camera. 

Here is a real and verified video produced by CBS of an (indirect) lightning strike captured on a surveillance camera. The victim was interviewed afterward which add credibility to the story. You have a reputable source that provided tangible proof of a person getting struck indirectly by a lightning strike and surviving it with no permanent or lasting effects. A victim would be darned lucky to survive a direct strike otherwise he'd likely be dead or seriously injured with side effects for the rest of his life. 

The Holism

With my house suddenly quiet, kids off to bed, and TV off I decided to spend some time going over some of the earlier The Holism videos in YouTube that I have not seen before.  Out of curiosity I did some number crunching.   The Holism vlog gets on average over 6,300 views. I believe that is something that no other deaf vloggers can claim when it comes to average viewership.  Even one of his videos is clicking upward to almost 30,000 views, an unheard of number for any deaf vlogger to attain. My best vlog video has over 14,000 views (averaging 5, 177 views) but mine is an altogether different story when it comes to blogging. Yet Barry wins it hands down on getting the most on average viewships for his YouTube vlogs. 

If you don't know Barry you will find out that he provides a lot of useful insight. Watch his videos and you will see him as a down to earth person who is in tune with nature in the outdoors.  Although he has retired from making vlogs be sure to watch some of his videos (many are captioned) and you might learn a thing or two. One of these days I'm sure I'll meet him in person soon.  Who knows?

5 years later cochlear implant baby revisited

Almost 5 years ago a YouTube video of an 8 month old deaf baby boy that went viral when his cochlear implant was turned on for the first time capturing the hearts of millions of viewers.




When this video came out many in the culturally deaf community weren't as welcoming and some were just down right cruel while some in deaf run discussion forums were intent on banning hearing parents of deaf children with cochlear implants. Most others were more understanding and reflectively mature about such procedures performed at such a young age on a deaf baby.

The Today website revisited the baby boy who was implanted is now 5 years old shared with readers on the some of the things that weren't known about the circumstances surrounding the reason to implant Jonathan at such a young age.

He's also a bit of a miracle. On Christmas Eve of 2007, when Jonathan was just four months old, he contracted bacterial meningitis, an infection of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord that can result in brain damage or death. He was hospitalized and recovered; however, the infection took a heavy toll on the boy and his parents.

The article goes on to explain that Jonathan uses a walker to assist him with the walking since the bacterial meningitis he contracted gave him the equivalent of cerebral palsy. It has also left him deaf as well. The parents were given a now or never decision on cochlear implantation on the basis that Jonathan's cochlea was ossifying.

"We were in the hospital and because of the meningitis, we only had a couple of weeks to decide if we were going to do the cochlear implant," says Mark. "The cochlea was hardening because of the meningitis. We had a limited window to make a decision and if we didn't make it, it would completely ossify and we would never be able to do the implant in the future."

The Breauxs decided to go ahead with the surgery -- and to post videos of the results on YouTube in order to help other parents going through the same experience.

The parents explained:

"We spent lots of time praying about it," says Brigette. "We didn't know the side effects of the meningitis. We didn't know his physical limitations, if he'd be able to sign. We tried to give him the best quality of life."

Both parents say they're now positive they did the right thing. Indeed. If the boy was faced with the possibility of physical limits brought on by cerebral palsy like condition he should be afforded every opportunity on access to communication and language, and that includes having the cochlear implant.

How is he doing today?

Today, Jonathan is in kindergarten, attends speech therapy three times a week and uses both sign language and speech to communicate with others.

"In the last year, we've noticed his vocabulary is growing," says Mark. "A year ago, he was speaking barely one or two words but now he's combining words and enunciating much more clearly because of the speech therapy and just being able to process what we're saying. I think all of the input -- sounds, speech as well as sign language -- have given him multiple elements for communication."

There is another video that has gone semi-viral of baby girl, Marielle, that was implanted about the same time as Jonathan but received received her hearing aid at 3 month, and cochlear implant at 2 1/2 years old.

She is now 6 years old and can speak and read better than majority of her classmates at her neighborhood school. In the YouTube video the parent left a caveat for those haters in the pro-ASL/anti-cochlear implant camp:

Before posting any ill informed comments - she has been exposed to both ASL and cued speech but prefers speaking.

The girl was given three communication options, 1) ASL, 2) Cued Speech, and 3) speaking. It's not a wonder that the girl prefers to speak.  Yet, I think it's good to combine both cochlear implant and sign language at an early age so you have the best of both opportunities and language acquisition.

Project Black - a new year begins

Click on this link to watch a video of a scavenger hunt that will be revealed progressively over the next three weeks every Wednesday by sComm, the maker of the UbiDuo Face to Face communication device. A big surprise will be revealed near the end of January this month. What could it be? What is "Project Black"? Where will this scavenger hunt end up at? Be sure to follow this video each week to find out.

Happy New Year

Goodbye 2012 and the memories. Welcome to the new year 2013 for more fun blogging and new memories. Hope you guys had a great New Year kickoff. And thank you for visiting my blogsite.

2012 Blog Year in Review

2012 was a good blogging year for me. I posted 150 blogs in 2012, not counting this one.  In 8 full complete years I averaged about 247 blog posts a year or roughly one blog post every 1.5 days on average.  The most I ever blogged in a single year was 470 blogs in 2005. Last year I blogged 269 times. The lowest number of blogs in a single year was 69 blogs in 2009.

This year my blog saw three milestones. I reached my 2000th blog piece becoming the most blogged deaf/hh blogger around. I passed my 8 years of blogging earning the longest running deaf/hh blogsite around. I am now in my 9th year of blogging. And lastly, in my third milestone my blog received one million hits last month in November earning me the berth as the only deaf/hh blogger to have one million hits to his/her credit.

This year saw the good, the bad, and the ugly comments. The ugly and outrageously bad comments typically came from anonymous cowards who come in here thinking ad hominems make valid arguments. They don't. So, I take comfort in the fact of their continued stupidity. But then again I get a lot of good comments that provided good insights and good arguments. Those are the more interesting ones.


Most outrageous comment: "Nobody bullied Celia May Baldwin."

Most uninformed comment: "HUH? this is so outdated (very old information like 2 years ago) where have you been? You must be in the basement and studies to sterotypes the deaf community? Sadly. Occupy KokonutPundit." (Note, my response:"Anony #1, It is not old information. This is relatively new. The study began in April 2011 and will continue for three years while they get qualified candidates to do their year long Phase I study.")

2nd most uninformed comment:  "This blog is an example of a*dism and ignorance at its finest."

Most insightful comment: "Some prefer remaining blissfully ignorant. There's nothing much anybody can do for them. Is it crossing the line when they decide to ask for disability checks?"

2nd most insightful comment: "Yeah, well. Writing an open letter wasn't smart."  The Lotus flower wilts in shame.

Most desperate comment: "Thanks for promoting our new forum. We're forever indebted to you."
Maybe contribute to that forum and do a "pity" visit?   That reminds me of a homeless guy on a street corner bugging me for money and I can smell his foul, alcohol odor emanating from his mouth. Yeah, sure.


This year also saw a lot of failed petitions by the usual whiners and complainers who have nothing better to do than gripe and do mindless petitionings that go no where.

Petition against stem cells (scroll down for link) for babies who lost their hearing after birth. Link to petition is no longer. Ultimate fail.

Petition against one deaf character, Daphne,  in the Switched at Birth show because she wasn't "deaf enough." Petition only gained 99 supporters. Go figure.

Petition to get CSD to remove "The Bear Hunt" statue from campus. Petition collected only 146 supporters. Petition is closed. Common sense prevailed.

Happy New Year fans and supporters of Kokonut Pundit! Another year awaits for Kokonut Pundit.

ADDENDUM:

Forgot to include a petition to get show comedian Chelsea Handler to apologize to deaf people for making fun of sign language. As most petitions go, they don't go anywhere on achieving results.

And also, must not forget the failed petition to get a certain author from publishing her book on dirty signs.  Petition is already closed.

Hearing lawyer clueless about deaf lawyers and attorneys

Here's one hearing lawyer out of San Francisco in a legal advice webpage who was asked a question on whether if there are deaf lawyers in the United States. The response given is an example of lawyers who are not aware of the fact that, yes, there are deaf lawyers out there.

Q:Are there deaf lawyers? If there are, do they have a translator who explains what the deaf lawyer is signing and/or saying? Or is the judge supposed to be able to understand the deaf lawyer? 

A:   I do not know of any lawyers who are hearing impaired, nor have I observed any in court. Typically, though, a participant would either bring his or her own signer, or the court will provide one upon reasonable advance notice. Many courts provide listening devices for participants who require amplification, again upon advance notice.

Apparently if you do a Google search you will find that there are deaf/hh lawyers in existence and the number continues to grow with well over 200 lawyers or those seeking law license. There are culturally deaf lawyers as well as deaf/hh lawyers that do not know or know little sign language who may wear cochlear implants or hearing aids as a result of being born with a hearing loss or acquired hearing loss later in life. 

Deaf Lawyers and Cochlear Implant Users

Calvin Shaw in Australia is deaf and wears a cochlear implant. He has worn a cochlear implant since the age of 2 after contracting Meningococcal meningitis causing profound deafness. Beginning in 2012 he is now working as a graduate lawyer in the litigation practice group at Freehills.

And then you have Holly Taylor who was the inaugural winner of the prestigious Graeme Clark Scholarship in 2002 and is now a corporate lawyer with Mills Oakley.  She received her cochlear implant at the age of 4 in 1987 who was at the time the youngest cochlear implant recipient.

“I decided I wanted to be a lawyer rather than an economist (a passion at high school) after being a summer clerk and graduate lawyer at Clayton Utz and really enjoying the work, the clients and the challenges,” said Taylor. 

Taylor said that, while her hearing condition has never been a barrier to her legal career, lawyers with hearing difficulties who don’t have a cochlear implant still face barriers in forging legal careers.

“I believe that a deaf or severely hearing-impaired person without a cochlear implant would have great difficulty in successfully pursuing a similar career,” she said. (see Gary Donovon, late deafened lawyer) “It is difficult to imagine how the profession could change this, particularly in respect of corporate law, which is competitive and fast paced.

“On a micro level, the best thing anyone in the profession can do is to support and train those they work with.”

Not just lawyers but those who grew up with cochlear implants are working towards other future professions like a Certified Public Accountant, a profession in the medical field, an intelligence analyst for a government agency, or in the law profession while studying at an Ivy League university.

Is having an interpreter 24/7 really that important?

Having a sign language interpreter available 24/7 is nice and necessary in some instances but not necessarily in all instances. There comes a time when a deaf person relishes his/her own independence and freedom on communicating with other deaf and hearing people on a more individual and personal basis.  Although sometimes I get the feeling that some deaf people purposely use an interpreter as a way to create this "wall" between  themselves and hearing people rather than finding a way to deal directly with hearing people. Or it could be the simple fact that they are overly reliant on such interpreters and do not really know how to break away from that kind of mindset. The same can be said from the hearing person side as well when it comes to using an interpeter. Eye contacts between a deaf and hearing persons get reduced when interpreters are used. Ironically, interpreters become the focus during the communication process between deaf and hearing people.  I believe this type of interactive dynamics provides a limiting personal relationship and understanding to develop.

There is a common occurrence depending on a particular situation where deaf and hearing people would experience a common fear called, "communiphobia" - the terrifying fear that sets in when deaf/hard of hearing individuals and hearing individuals attempt to communicate with each other.  And as a result of that fear many deaf people rely exclusively on sign language interpreters which helps with the communication process but still can act as a barrier between deaf and hearing persons where bonding and better understanding become limited. Bonding and understanding are done better when individuals share the same language while communicating in real time such as ASL to ASL, or speaking English to English, or, in this case with the UbiDuo, writing English to English. 

If you watch Noah Bucholtz's Part 2 Series on how he communicates with hearing people you will see how personal bonding on creating friends occurs on a much more personal level using the UbiDuo to communicate in real time rather than be dependent on using an interpreter. More eye contacts mean more "human-like" connections that have more meanings during real time, interactive conversations. The importance of having personal, interactive, real time conversations without a third person creates a welcoming atmosphere. The realization of unlimited potential when a communication barrier is removed. This potential was realized for Peter Downey who was promoted 3 times because he was able to use the UbiDuo on a daily basis where he works at Sam's Club. Using the UbiDuo allowed him to increase his interaction with his Sam's Club customers, co-workers, and supervisor. Peter now supervises his group of employees. All without the need of having an interpreter 24/7.  So, ask yourself this question, is having an interpreter 24/7 really necessary in every instances?  Maybe ask these people that question the next time?

Facebook Peer Pressure on "Unfriending"

This isn't new in the deaf community but I do have an opinion on this subject when it comes to "unfriending" any mutual friends in Facebook. First and foremost, it is none of my business to try and force people in my mutual friends list to "unfriend" certain people just because I don't like them. Threatening to expose my mutual friends or friends publicly by shaming them for friending certain people that I find unsavory, undesirable or not likeable for whatever reason in order to get them to "unfriend" is really not my business to do so.  Doing so is a petty and immature thing to do. The people on my mutual friends or friends list are capable of making their own determination in their own time on whether to unfriend a person or not that I happen to not like. I have my own reason to unfriend certain people but that doesn't mean I hate them. Just that I have my reasons.

I consider it as a mob mentality when people in Facebook try and force others (peer pressure) on their mutual friends or friends list to "unfriend" certain people they do not like once they discover who they've friended with. And in the process threaten to unfriend them if they don't do as they say while they attempt to shame them in the process. First and foremost, if people do that to me then that means they do not respect me as a friend and in turn I would find them to be not credible friends in the first place for behaving like that.  I don't what to be a part of a petty group who work on using peer pressure just because they have some insecurity issues they can't handle. Save that for pimply faced teenagers. But the incredible thing is that these are adults who have behaved in that manner.

Now, I have several mutual friends who are friends with undesirable people in Facebook that I don't like but I don't make it my mission to shame them into "unfriending" the people I don't like and threaten them that I'd unfriend them if they don't. Nor do I run to other people and create a buzz buzz about so and so who is friend with this really undesirable person in order for the group to create a peer pressure to try and get the person to "unfriend" this undesirable person. Really, it's none of my business to do that and it shouldn't be yours, either. In time in Facebook you will eventually get to see who your real friends are but once they cross the threshold of being petty to try and use peer pressure on you then you know what to do. For many in the deaf community peer pressure is what they do best and they use that to bludgeon  people in order to get them to follow their petty agendas.

Not good.

This whole mob mentality thing is just like mad gossiping run amok. We just don't know who is telling the truth or the whole story.  People who are friends with certain people in Facebook that you don't like may not know the whole story. Maybe they don't care because it amounts to gossiping and they have no need for it. Maybe they don't want to get involved. Or maybe they just don't know the person they've friended with to make any certain determination to "unfriend" him or her for the time being. There are two sides to every story and people have the capability to make their own determination in their own time without the need of petty peer pressure telling them that they better "unfriend" the person or I will "unfriend" you! Or something to that effect.

Sad, really.

Respect is a two way street. Being a part of a mob mentality and using peer pressure to "force" others to change their friends status is not about showing respect. Respect is about recognizing a person's capability of making their own determination on when to "unfriend" a person in Facebook without the need of using peer pressure, shaming, or threats of "unfriending" him or her. It becomes a sad state of affairs when I see those things happen in the deaf community. It makes it a more uglier world out there.

If you are a victim of peer pressure or fear losing a friend because of your friending certain people in Facebook that he or she doesn't like then that "friend" of yours is no friend at all if she or he behaves like that. That's probably a signal for you to step back and see who your real friends are in the Facebook world.

The vilification of Dr. Karl White

Generally, I'm not surprised by the utter hate and vilification that get thrown at Dr. Karl White by some in the culturally deaf community only because this is to be expected, unfortunately. This is true even in a YouTube video he was in recently. Dr. Karl White holds a different opinion when it comes to helping parents of deaf children and the Early Hearing Detection Intervention for babies that he supports. As a result on the differences of opinions when it comes to deaf children charges against Dr. Karl White run the gamut of "verbally attacking" culturally deaf people to calling deaf protesters as "terrorists" to accusing him of blocking submissions of papers on ASL at EHDI conferences.  All this even though Dr. Karl White is fluent in sign language. 

There are a place and time to agree to disagree and state your case but to vilify Dr. Karl White with slander and character assassinations won't go anywhere. Hearing parents will see these vile attitudes and see them as deaf zealots and assume the worse thinking the culturally deaf community acts like that and are nothing more than a group of people with extremist attitudes. Not exactly an ideal way to boost the image of the culturally deaf community.

Instead of throwing temper tantrums it'd be better to be more involved in the EHDI process and help spread awareness just like Dr. Beth Benedict has been doing.

It was established ten years ago, and not one deaf person attended the first conference in Atlanta, Georgia, where the latest conference was also held. Dr. Beth Benedict, a Communication Studies professor at Gallaudet University, heard about the EHDI conference, went to the second one and has been a loyal attendee ever since. She and the Alpha Sigma Pi fraternity hosted three workshops on EDHI, explaining how you can become involved and what you can do to spread awareness. 

That is a much better alternative than going online on YouTube just to piss and defecate every where in the comment section about Dr. Karl White like some 3 year old kid not yet potty trained.That's not spreading awareness. That's being petty and immature. Spreading awareness in the most positive light about sign language, early detection and intervention for babies born with hearing loss are what get hearing parents' attention. And certainly by not acting immaturely.

Gallaudet University and Global Warming

There's no better place to indoctrinate new and unsuspecting students on anthropogenic global warming claim by inculcating them (i.e. brainwashing) into the consensus agreement games in college courses instead of learning how to dissect critically such (mis)information. Long gone are the days at Gallaudet University during the late 2000s when "global warming" was on almost everybody's lips, er, hands. That sort of fervor has largely evaporated save except nowadays a few professors or courses that still teach the misinformation game instead of teaching students on how to acquire critical thinking skills to realize whether or not we have an "environmental crises" on a global scale all because we like to belch, "dangerous" CO2 gases! Gag them please!

HIS 323 Geography and the Environment (3)
This course is designed to survey the relationship between human impact on geography and the environment. By looking at different cultures and their values, examining urban and rural environments, learning about less developed and more fully developed nations, and by considering the role of race, religion and gender in human relations, students learn about the complexity of dealing with environmental crises such as global warming. In essence, this course will examine how changes in geography and the environment influence each other. By studying specific areas of the planet, students will be able to consider alternative solutions from those considered in the United States.

Now, if you think that consensus by the "entire global scientific community" has happened then let me tell you, it's already a myth thinking there's actually a consensus. That "entire global scientific" agreement on "global warming" or consensus came from a 2009 survey inquiry by the American Geophysical Union (AGU) survey that had two online questions submitted to some 10,257 Earth scientists where only 3,146 of them responded.

Here are the two questions:
1. When compared with pre-1800s levels,do you think that mean global temperatures have generally risen, fallen, or remained relatively constant?
2. Do you think human activity is a significant contributing factor in changing mean global temperatures?

Out of all those Earth scientists that responded only 75 climate scientists said "Yes" to the number two question. (Doran, P.T. and M.K. Zimmerman (2009), Examining the Scientific Consensus on Climate Change, Eos Trans. AGU, 90(3), 22, doi: 10.1029/2009EO030002)

Internet source: http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2009/2009EO030002.shtml

Doran's paper: http://tigger.uic.edu/~pdoran/012009_Doran_final.pdf

Doran commented in the paper:

"It seems that the debate on the authenticity of global warming and the role played by human activity is largely nonexistent among those who understand the nuances and scientific basis of long-term climate processes. The challenge, rather, appears to be how to effectively communicate this fact to policy makers and to a public that continues to mistakenly perceive debate among scientists." 

Again, this whole "consensus" thing is a myth saying that scientists mostly agreed that CO2 caused human emissions is the culprit on causing Earth to "warm up." Climate has warmed up many times. It has also cooled many times. In fact, the IPCC acknowledged in their latest 2013 second order draft report confirming that the sun's irradiance plays a huge role on helping Earth warm up rather than CO2. A shocking admission by the IPCC.

Many empirical relationships have been reported between GCR or cosmogenic isotope archives and some aspects of the climate system (e.g., Bond et al., 2001; Dengel et al., 2009; Ram and Stolz, 1999). The forcing from changes in total solar irradiance alone does not seem to account for these observations, implying the existence of an amplifying mechanism such as the hypothesized GCR-cloud link. We focus here on observed relationships between GCR and aerosol and cloud properties.

 As the leaker explains, this is a game-changer:

The admission of strong evidence for enhanced solar forcing changes everything. The climate alarmists can’t continue to claim that warming was almost entirely due to human activity over a period when solar warming effects, now acknowledged to be important, were at a maximum. The final draft of AR5 WG1 is not scheduled to be released for another year but the public needs to know now how the main premises and conclusions of the IPCC story line have been undercut by the IPCC itself.

Indeed. All those years the students at Gallaudet University were unwittingly inculcated into the whole line and sinker that man was the sole reason for Earth's climate to warm up with the excess CO2 spewed into the atmosphere. A gas that plants and even algae that depend and thrive on. Yet, even former Gallaudet University assistant swim coach, Bill Snape, still believes the global warming theory/meme by buying recklessly into the Hurricane Sandy hype and scare.

First, any climate change conversation must highlight the steep price of inaction. Recent polls show that Americans are increasingly aware of the link between climate change and extreme weather. But that connection is still underreported and underappreciated – and absolutely critical to understanding why we must act.

Hurricane Sandy, the hybrid “Frankenstorm” now menacing the East Coast, offers an example of the kind of catastrophic storms we’re likely to see more of in a warming world. That’s because climate change has huge impacts on the hydrological cycle, increasing the risk of flooding and intense precipitation. That hydrological effect has a flip side: Climate change also increases the risk of events like this year’s horrific drought, which drove up food prices and brought down natural disaster designations on more than half the counties in America. Much of the globe is already suffering from climate change. One in every 100 humans on earth became a forced migrant last year, according to a new report from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and climate change often worsened their plight. Thousands of Vietnamese, for example, are being driven from their homes by recurrent flooding in the Mekong Delta – a not-so-natural disaster created by climate-change-driven sea-level rise.

A little scientific education is in order here, especially for Gallaudet students and teachers who may still follow Bill Snapes' environmental global warming, global climate destruction, climate change  tirades where Bill gets it wrong on several examples seen here and here.

There is nothing to connect the so-called "Frankenstorm" to that of "anthropogenic caused climate change" because the number of hurricanes has not increased when in fact the number of hurricanes has actually gone down. In fact, we have gone the longest period since the Civil War without a major landfalling category 3 or larger hurricane to hit the United States. Just as well the number of tornadoes has not increased over the last 60+ years according to NOAA's data even though the number of U.S. tornadoes makes up 75% of all tornadoes around the world. Bill Snape simply does not make any sense and would rather appeal to emotions aimed at low information students and people gullible enough to take his words at face value without questions. In spite of the fact that Earth has NOT warmed up over the last 15 years when nearly one-third of all human emissions of CO2 has occurred since 1998.

As for the Mekong Delta that Bill Snape discussed it is known for its annual floods which are always a natural part of the environment that people expect to happen every year. In fact, for flooding to happen it requires 3 major factors to occur at the same time.  High flow discharge from upstream, continuous heavy rainfall and the high tidal flow from the East Sea that pushes against outgoing river water. The outgoing water in the Mekong Delta gets pushed upstream causing water to back up and spread out beyond the banks and flood the surrounding areas.  Ninety percent of the flooding stems from the high flow discharge from upstream and the high tidal flow from the East Sea that pushes the river water upstream causing the area to flood.  High tidal flow accounts for 30 percent of the flooding and a major reason why the Mekong Delta gets flooded every year, a natural event. Some years get some serious flooding (high floods) that have caused damage to property and lives lost. And that is attributed to mostly the tidal events rather than global warming or rising sea levels which has risen over 2 inches since 1993. People have adapted to this annual flooding to reduce fatalities and they have a motto: "Avoiding the Floods, Living with floods and Controling the Floods." They have for hundred of years learned to adapt to this natural yearly event.

Sorry, Bill Snape. Not much of the globe is suffering from the so-called man made climate change as you have tried so hard to scare people into changing. We will still have floods, tornadoes, wind storms, blizzards, excess rain, droughts, glacial ice changes, snowpack changes, and tidal surges. Climate change is a natural event that is influenced by much larger natural factors than man alone. I wonder, did any of the students at any time over the last several years ever stood up and challenged the prevailing notion about global warming on campus by professors and other people? Or did they just meekly sat in their chairs and nodded without fully understanding how things work? 

The moment you call people "deniers" means you have bought into the hype without the full understanding or knowledge of how things work and the fact that you are buying into the theory of anthropogenic global warming rather than on facts alone by using both misinformation and disinformation. The biggest giveaway is the use of hype and fear to cover up much of their lacking information that would've otherwise showed the opposite the understanding about climate change and that there are natural factors at work much larger than CO2 that influences our climate. Global climate is by far an extremely complex system. None of the climate models that have been used has ever accurately modeled past climate changes using CO2 as the forcing agent. That's problematic, folks.  The biggest and obvious most influential factor on our climate is our friendly sun located 93 million miles away with Earth located at the right distance, the various long scale periodicity, the right orbital path around the sun, the right amount of magnetic field around Earth, and the right amount of precision over time to make Earth an extremely livable planet. And that's just a few examples of natural factors that influence Earth's climate. No sun. No Earth. No people or animals. That's a fact.

2013 EHDI Annual Meeting

For interested stakeholders on attending the 12th Annual Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Meeting on April 14 - 16, 2013 in Glendale, AZ.

In its 12th year, the EHDI Meeting has built a strong reputation for bringing together a wide variety of attendees including those who: work in state Early Hearing Detection and Intervention programs; assist in EHDI efforts on the federal level; provide screening, diagnostic and early intervention support at the state/ local level to young children with hearing loss and their families; champion Medical Home activities within each state; are parents of children with hearing loss; or are deaf or hard-of-hearing adults who are helping to expand opportunities for young children with hearing loss. EHDI Meeting participants will range from state and local programs to the federal level and from academics to families.

The goals of the meeting:

1) Enhance the implementation of comprehensive state-based Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) programs.

2) Participants are better able to identify and promote knowledge and awareness of successful strategies for implementing comprehensive state-based EHDI programs that include screening, audiologic diagnostic evaluation, early intervention, medical home, reporting, tracking, surveillance, loss to follow-up issues, data integration, and other related surveillance components. 

3) Participants are better able to interpret and describe current research and research methods related to EHDI. 

4) Participants are better able to examine cultural competence of providers and assess their ability to work with children who are deaf or hard of hearing, their families, and communities. 

5) Participants are better able to discuss the importance of enhancing and creating new and ongoing working relationships among federal agencies, non-profit organizations, state health departments and educational agencies, advocacy groups, families, and professionals.

This is an opportunity for qualified people or professionals in the culturally deaf community to get involved and properly make submissions according to EHDI rules of participation.

The EHDI Annual Meeting opposes the disruption of any meeting sessions or events that results in the inability for dialogue to take place. The EHDI Annual Meeting reserves the right to withdraw the name badge, and therefore deny access, to participants who do not adhere to these Principles of Participation.

This is the best way to get on the "inside" of the EHDI organization and have a stake or say on various matters relating to early hearing loss detection in babies and join other professionals and parents who are also intent on improving early hearing screening, diagnosis, and intervention for infants/young children and their families.  As part of the intervention package it could include the use of sign language for deaf/hh babies and combine that with various other intervention options. Instead of accusing EHDI, CDC, NCHAM, etc, everything under the sun and throwing hissy fits for supposedly not including sign language as part of the whole hearing screening, diagnosis, and intervention system package for parents of babies with hearing loss, it's better to have more meaningful inputs at an EHDI conference than not by getting in on the "inside" and have a say as professionals. Protesting, raising a ruckus and making fools of themselves and giving the culturally deaf community a bad image with the public thinking they're a bunch of militant zealots will not "help the cause." It's better to go in and be a part of the system (ie. EHDI conferences) and help change certain mindsets regarding hearing loss, communication access and language development. In other words, act professionally and play by their "rules" when you register and participate at the EHDI conference and have a say that including sign language for children with hearing loss is really beneficial on many fronts.

Let's hope proposed papers were already submitted even though submittal for abstracts is now closed and see whose papers got accepted. If it's anything like last year we should see more than just a couple of papers on ASL. The key is to be a part of the process, and when you do become a part of the process you then have a voice and a chance to reach out educate people. Stop with the nonsense accusations, participate and be a part of the process instead.

Dr. Karl White's YouTube Controversial Video?

Controversial only because people appear to be unwilling to watch on the TEDx YouTube presentation of what Dr. Karl White has to say about language, speech, and early detection and intervention on hearing loss in babies based on some of the comments received in YouTube. Virulent comments were made attacking Dr. Karl White for not supporting or recognizing ASL when in fact Dr. White covered ASL at the 6:20 mark to 6:44 whcih discussed two deaf children in their baby car seats who were communicating with each other in ASL.

"In short, American Sign Language is a complete language. They aren't just repeating words or naming things. They are having a conversation with each other. and ASL, if children are given a fluent example in their homes, and if we start early, is capable of doing that. They can communicate every bit as well as hearing people can communicate."

A pretty strong acknowledgement there by Dr. Karl White on ASL and deaf children.

From 1:10 to 2:16 in the video he discussed at length about Helen Keller by showing a video reel of her "reading" the manual alphabet in her hand. Dr. Karl White gets to the point the importance on the ability to engage and communicate with people rather than experience isolation from people. He even put up pictures of well known deaf or hard of hearing successful people such as Marlee Matlin, Beethoven, Vinton Cerf (Father of the Internet), Thomas Edison, Juliette Gordon Low (Founded Girl Scouts of America) and Jonathan Swift (author and clergyman). People who went on to accomplish great things and that deaf people can be extraordinarily productive and successful.

Yet the vindictiveness continue to fly and I wonder if anyone ever bothered to watch the whole video of Dr. Karl White?

I suppose it's not surprising is to see people who think Dr. Karl White made a statement saying that one communication mode is better than another. Hardly. Watch the video and see for yourself. He provided examples on the benefits of providing deaf children early access to language and communication. He even acknowledged that sign language is a "completely appropriate option that is chosen by many." He isn't even excluding the possibility of incorporating sign language as part of parents' early language and communication access for their deaf children if they choose to go that route. He has not once put down ASL in his video.

The whole point of Dr. Karl White's was the importance of early detection on hearing loss in babies and the need for early intervention when it comes to forming a foundation for early language development and communication access. Granted.  His oration was about access sound for language and communication development and the advancement of hearing technology and the huge strides on making those advancements compared to 25 to 35 years ago. He hasn't put down anyone and yet some comments in YouTube were explicitly aimed at Dr. Karl White with vindictive words.  A group who does not respect the right of those who have a different approach on addressing language and communication access in the sincere effort to help deaf children. Dr. Karl White certainly made it clear that his organization focuses on Listening and Speaking and that was the subject of his oration on TEDx.

Deaf News Galore

Deaf policemen of Mexico.

Bullet kills deaf man in home robbery attempt.

Author implores deaf students to chase their dreams - “Deaf people can do anything,” Willman told a group of students and faculty at Iowa School for the Deaf.

I. King Jordan Proves That ‘Deaf People Can Do Anything—but Hear’ - “In the past, people saw limitations,” he says. “People defined me and other deaf people by what we couldn’t do.”

Free ASL classes for families with deaf children.

National Geographic Founder and Deaf Daughter

From National Geographic piece called So That We May All Know More of the World Upon Which We Live covers a piece about Gardiner Greene Hubbard, one of the 33 founders of the National Geographic Society, about his deaf daughter, Mabel, who grew up and married Alexander Graham Bell.

The thirty-three founders of the National Geographic Society were an adventurous and accomplished group. They included scientists, explorers, a journalist and a superintendent of the National Zoo. In recognition of the National Geographic Society’s upcoming 125th anniversary this series takes a look at their stories.

Hubbard’s progressive ideas encompassed education, and when confronted with the challenge of a deaf daughter, he did not shirk from the challenge. Young Mabel lost her hearing at age five after a bout of scarlet fever, and many children like her would have sidelined for the rest of their lives, kept out of society if not actually put in an asylum. However, Mabel received the best of educations, and when she was a teenager, a friend introduced her to a new teacher of the deaf in Boston. Alexander Graham Bell immediately took Miss Hubbard on as a pupil. Bell was a gifted teacher and Mabel thrived even though they had only a few lessons before Bell transferred her to the care of a colleague. For he was falling in love with Mabel. His explanation to her mother, Gertrude Hubbard, was somewhat evasive, but one suspects she grasped the situation immediately. She was sympathetic to the somewhat shabby professor, making sure he was a frequent guest at the house. One night, while seated at the piano, Bell turned to Mabel’s father and said, “Mr. Hubbard, sir, do you know that if I depress the forte pedal and sing ‘do’ into the piano, the proper note will answer me?” His performance produced an instant partnership that would change the world.

Read more at National Geographic. 

Read more about Alexander Graham Bell's wife, Mabel, who is the daughter of Hubbard seen in the article above, in a previous blog I did called The Adventurous Life and Love Story of Mable.

National Geographic covered many stories about deaf people such one article written earlier this year on how cell phones through texting enabled and empowered deaf children in Uganda to communicate with other people. Or even about the Bhutanese School for the Deaf.  Or an article on why deaf people have enhanced vision.

If you use the search feature of National Geographic and plug in the search word "deaf" you will find 24 pages (235 results) of links to pieces or articles on deafness issues, hearing loss, deaf animals, or deaf people. There are also 3 pages of search results for "hearing impaired," too, like a search result with a link to on which president inaugurations had its first closed-captioned TV broadcast for the hearing impaired.

Check it out.