What Marlee said about Starkey

I agree. And I support what she's doing. Check out the screen capture on what she said in Twitter just recently.

How true!

Having a fit over "Deaf Trash"

After seeing Barry's video "Deaf Trash" I can't help but think the people who are upset are just probably are so laser-focused on the words "deaf trash" rather than on what Barry discussed in his video. Much the same way on how some tended to focus on the words "ASL failed" rather than the discussion behind it and instead got all upset over those two words.

Now, I'm just thinking here. Bear with me.

Are some people upset because they think they are indeed "deaf trash" in their own minds and felt they were somehow "targeted"?  If they're confident about themselves then there would be no reason to get upset over those words since it would have no bearing on them or of no importance. Perhaps this is a case of people who are simply "context-impaired"?  Barry targeted no one single individual in that video and yet what did some some people do? The run over to Tayler Mayer, the owner of DVTV, and cry about Barry's latest video and demand that he be banned despite the fact that Barry broke no rules in DVTV.  Tayler Mayer knows this. In fact, Tayler had to resort to a video explaining again that members of DVTV have the power to block anyone they want and that DVTV is actually better in terms of being "safer" than YouTube. All this goes to show that Barry has not violated any of DVTV's R-list. Feeling hurt or upset when you weren't personally targeted doesn't count. People have the option to block Barry or anybody else in DVTV. It's easy.

Here's the conundrum.

If people claim to have no interest in Barry's videos then why do they continue to watch his videos on DVTV and continue to complain to Tayler Mayer? Makes no sense. I've a mind that they simply like to whine and complain all the time for whatever reason is simply beyond me.

Barry is a deaf person, he knows that and certainly I understood completely the context on what Barry said, for example, about "deafless" which was simply to mock all the new invented words out there such as the a-wordism.  Words like that are simply not in the dictionary. It was also to point out that the word "deaf" is not all that overly important, either. Much the same way he explained in context and concept in a video on the word "ageless" of an 80 year old man still actively hiking, biking, running or swimming. The 80 year old man knows he's old but that doesn't stop him. Same way with "deafless." Though he does admit he's deaf, too.  Get it? Many don't.

Yet Barry's videos gets the number one spot on the average number of views to each of his videos (60 videos) with OhBuckaroo (24 videos), Barry's son, coming in a 2nd place. All that makes me wonder about the people who don't like Barry and his videos do not make the effort to simply block him on DVTV.  Sure, there will be disagreements. That is to be expected. People can disagree and state their arguments in a good way. Nothing wrong with that. That's what makes debating great.  But run over to Tayler Mayer to complain about Barry's videos doesn't make it all very "adult like." Staging an effort to "walk out" of DVTV over Barry's videos isn't a good thing either but they're free to do what they want in voicing their displeasure. But I think it's rather a dumb thing to do when one can always use DVTV's block feature. The first walk out was a dismal failure. That didn't stop DVTV from its goal on making it as "safe" as possible for all members.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I do understand. The problem here is that members continue to watch in DVTV knowing they have the full power to block out vloggers for whatever reasons instead of demanding the owner of DVTV to ban certain vloggers they don't like. They are an adult. They need to act like one and use the block feature in DVTV.

Oh, btw, happy 4th birthday DVTV. It all began four years ago on May 7th. It is still running strong despite to continual whining.

Barry continues to make a big impact on the deaf community. His message continues to reach out even to the hearing community and the people who don't know sign or know very little with the help of his subtitling efforts in YouTube. He continues to evolve as a person who is a part of the deaf and hard of hearing community, and yes, even the culturally deaf community as well. Love him or hate him, he belong to no one.  His journey is his own personal journey and that no one can tell him what he can or cannot do.

Happy Mother's Day

Thank you, Mom for all the things you've done for us while we were growing up. With your love and dedication to help me as a child with a hearing loss you made sure I get the best help in education. I'll always remember how you helped me with my speech and listening skills, and all the fun books you helped me get so I could read everyday. I remember the times when you spent many hours standing in the rain to watch me play soccer at those soccer games. And the reward of seeing my hard work pay off with my team winning the soccer state championship. And the wrestling matches where I ended up in 2nd place in the final match, and the little league baseball games with my team winning the championship in Tacoma. All with your love, encouragement, and dedication not just to me but for my brother and sister, as well. We all turned out great!

I am sure you still relishing to this day your prediction when I was a little boy that the doctors and educators would eat their words about me thinking that just because I have a hearing loss I wouldn't amount much past the 4th grade level. You were right. The moment I graduated from high school with a 'B' average and at age 18 went to Valdosta State University striking out on my own for the first time was the day when they ate their words by the buckets. It was long road I took where I finally ended up with a M.S. degree in geology from University of Idaho with enough credits to get a 2nd degree. You still gave me lots of encouragement and hope even while I was working nights, raising a family and getting my graduate degree during my time at University of Idaho all by myself. Going to that university was one of the more memorable times I've had because it was a time when I was raising my own family showing my love and encouragements to my own daughters in return. Even the newspaper photographer captured that loving moment I had with my first child and I swinging together on one swing where our picture ended up in the Moscow, Idaho newspaper. Your 18 years worth of love, dedication and help paid off in spades and got me going in the right direction. I will make sure parents of deaf and hard of hearing kids that nothing is impossible when it comes to raising a child with a hearing loss.

Happy Mother's Day......and yes, they will continue to eat their words. And don't stop acting in those wonderful plays, too!

Sign No Evil

Bordering on hate speech with derision and contempt against a deaf man and his kids and wife. Mental objectivity is no longer there when that happens. Carl needs to learn to let it go.

Imperium of Man - spacey out of this world stuff

UPDATE: That tattoo belong to "trinitysite72" and is confirmed, which looks great by the way! Carl owes him an apology plus that video need to be yanked off of Carl's YouTube channel. He knows exactly who that guy is.  

UPDATE II: My next question, where did Carl get that photo? On what web page did he get it from?

UPDATE III: Just realized something. Since this info is out and I'm pretty sure he and others knew who this guy was in the first place. If not and he's just finding out who this guy is but decides to leave those videos in, then I have no choice but to call that action as an example of a deaf person committing a "hate crime/speech" in action. Wot irony! Especially after going on a failed mini-lecture "tour" about "deaf hate crime."   
 
UPDATE IV:
YouTube removed two of his offending videos. I'd say it was because of his bullying attempt (and slandering and hate speech, if you ask me).

This video has been removed because its content violated YouTube's Terms of Service.

Good riddance. For a professor who tried the "deaf hate crime/speech" lecture circuit which ultimately failed his reprehensible act of obvious hate shows the irony and hypocrisy. Real class and professionalism there, folks.



Carl needs to revisit history (or perhaps do a bit of online investigation first) before going on a wild goose chase (videos have since been remove for violation of YT's Terms of Service) about how there is NeoNazism within the culturally deaf community, a "secretive racist movement," that is. All because over a picture of a guy wearing a hearing aid with a double headed eagle tattoo on his back justified this assumption? Did anybody even bother to read what the words said below the eagle tattoo?

First of all, if you managed to read the words below the eagle tattoo it says, "Imperium of Man." It is a group that participated in an online Space RPG (role playing game) which officially disbanded last year. They carried that exact same double headed eagle on its page. You can look it up on Google and find a whole bunch of information on "Imperium of Man" including that same graphic double headed eagle.

The Imperium of Man is the galactic empire under which the majority of humanity is united. The founder and ruler of the Imperium is the god-like Emperor, the most powerful human psychic to date. Founding the Imperium ten thousand years ago, he continues, at least nominally, to lead it.

The Imperium is the largest and most powerful political entity in the galaxy, consisting of at least a million worlds, which are dispersed across most of the Milky Way galaxy. Consequently, an Imperial planet might be separated from its closest neighbor by hundreds or thousands of light years. As a stellar empire, the size of the Imperium can not be measured in terms of continuous territory, but only in the number of planetary systems in its control.

Several aliens and forces (the forces of Chaos, Tyranids, Eldar, Dark Eldar, Orks, Tau, Necrons) challenge the supremacy of the Imperium. From within, the Imperium is threatened more insidiously by rebellion, mutation, dangerous psykers, and subversive cults.

Without the protection of the Imperium, mankind would fall prey to the countless perils that threaten it.

Nothing remotely like NeoNazism.

And if you want more double headed eagles go here. But don't let your imagination run wild about this whole "Deaf NeoNazism" stuff. Except maybe for a good laugh or two. I'm sure that guy with his hearing aid isn't a part of that group. How about making a wild run with this CC tattoo instead?

Brain to brain? More like fried.

Meh.

Maybe this video would be to Carl's liking?

When signing could be hazardous to your health

Mostly it's the lack of education but people who use sign language in public places to communicate could potentially be perceived as to be something else and get attacked thinking they are a part of a gang by other gang members. So, it's not a real good idea to go along with this whole "hoodie" mentality when people can easily mistake you for a gang member.  It's bad enough when you have hearing gang members think deaf people belong to a gang just because of their signing. It'd be a bad idea wear a hoodie jacket with the hood up while signing might cause some real gang members to think they're seeing a bunch of new gang members flashing their own signs. It actually happened to a deaf guy who recently who got stabbed in the back for signing in a bar thinking he was flashing signs. Crazy world, yes. But that's just an unfortunate byproduct caused by a lack of education on the general public.

Gallaudet University gets bad grades on environment

Interesting report. Three years in a row Gallaudet University gets an average "D" grade from The College Sustainability Report Card. For 2011 an overall grade of "D-" was given. In 2010 an overall grade was a "D" and in 2009 they get an overall grade of "D."

A grade was given for each area of concern and how they deal with it on the environmental level on Administration, Climate Change & Energy, Food & Recycling, Green Building, Student Involvement, Transportation, Endowment Transparency, Investment Priorities, and Shareholder Engagement.

For example, for 2011:

Administration

Grade: D 

A committee of faculty, staff, and students has been formed to assess the feasibility of Gallaudet joining the Presidents' Climate Commitment. The university has shifted to electronic distribution for one of its major publications.
===========

Climate Change & Energy

Grade: F 

The university participates in an energy conservation program run by a utility and went carbon neutral for the duration of Earth Day in 2010. The administration is working to develop a greenhouse gas emissions inventory. Energy efficiency improvements are expected to save the university $500,000 in fiscal year 2010. A recent energy audit by Johnson Controls, which revealed $2 million worth of potential annual savings in energy efficiency improvements, is now under review by the administration.

============

Food & Recycling

Grade: C 

Dining services spends 7 percent of its food budget on local products, including produce, meat, and seafood. The majority of eggs served on campus are cage free, and most chicken and milk is hormone and antibiotic free. In order to reduce waste, used cooking oil is recycled for biodiesel production; discounts are offered to students who use reusable bags; and almost all meals are trayless. Fair trade coffee is available at all campus locations. Dining services has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent over the next three years and has set aside a Low Carbon Diet Day in support of Earth Day, pledging to use all low carbon impact foods.

See complete survey data

============

Green Building

Grade: F 

Gallaudet maintains one building that meets LEED criteria. The university only uses 100 percent organic fertilizers, and 20,000 used tires were used to create the turf of a new football field. Most cleaning products used in campus buildings are Green Seal approved.

============

Student Involvement

Grade: D 

An environmental intern works with the administration to address sustainability issues on campus. The environmental student organization Green Gallaudet has worked on a number of initiatives, including hosting Earth Day activities and a climate change awareness event, as well as raising awareness on sustainability improvements in the dining hall. The student government committed to using exclusively biodegradable dishware for all sponsored events on campus, and the student newsletter hosts a green column to spotlight environmental issues.

See complete survey data

============

Transportation

Grade: D 

The university partners with a car-sharing program, and a free shuttle service provides transportation to local, off-campus destinations.

============

Endowment Transparency

Grade:F 

The university has no known policy of disclosure of endowment holdings or its shareholder voting record.

============

Investment Priorities

Grade: C 

The university aims to optimize investment returns and has not made any public statements about exploring or investing the endowment in on-campus sustainability projects, renewable energy funds, or community development loan funds.

============

Shareholder Engagement

Grade: F 

The university has not made any public statements about active ownership or a proxy voting policy.

Let's compare Gallaudet University's grades to that of nearby universities like George Washington University (nice school, I went there) where it received an overall grade of a "B" for 2011. 

American University in D.C. gets a B+ for 2011. 

Georgetown University in D.C. gets a B for 2011. 

Nearby University of Maryland gets an A- for 2011. 

George Mason University in D.C. gets a B- for 2011. 

Howard University in D.C. gets a C- for 2011. 

And Catholic University in D.C. gets a D+ for 2011 although in 2010 they got a "D" and in 2009 they had a bad grade of "D-."  You can see that Catholic University when you read the reports have slowly improved their standing. But for Gallaudet University they actually gotten slightly worse going from a "D" in 2009 to a "D-" in 2011. Of all the major universities in the District of Columbia, Gallaudet University turns out to be the worse one when it comes to grading on their sustainability for the environment.

What are they thinking? What's going on over there? Lack of enthusiasm? I wonder what their excuses would be?

ADDENDUM - An angry white blogger writes this:

No, this hearing impaired blogger sadistically enjoys writing about Gallaudet University with a negative perspective without any solution.

I dare this impaired blogger write the same about Howard University to a Black blogsphere.

Enough is Enough!….he needs to get a life and spend more time with his family.

John Egbert need to learn to be less angry instead of always talking about me and my family who has a history of making personal attacks against me by using a DBC site, for example. Very professional of him.  If Gallaudet University had gotten good environmental grades then it'd be a different story here. Unfortunately, for the third year in a row, Gallaudet University failed to improve their environmental stewardship. 

When oralism pays at the Royal wedding of the century

Yes, oralism literally pays when you are an excellent lip-reader at the Royal wedding of the century.

And according to one lip reader he even cracked a joke to his father-in-law, saying: "We're supposed to have just a small family affair".

Although via the Drudge Report it headlined "Networks employ lipreaders to catch private moments..." even though in the actual article it linked reported only one lipreader who caught the royal groom's comment to his father and no indication whether networks actually employed a bunch of lip-readers, either. If networks did employ lip-readers then I wonder how much those people were getting paid. Heck, maybe lip-readers are bad ones or fake ones and just wanted the cash and make up stories along the way? Who knows? At least the Drudge Report captured my attention on that one today. And that is what they're supposed to do. I do that sometimes yet some people actually take the time to whine about my methods. Gotta laugh whenever that happens.

ADDENDUM: More on the lip-reader and additional comments that were captured.

Having an apoplectic fit over "ASL failed."

It's one thing to have a discussion about Barry's "ASL failed" vlog or ScorpionAZ's vlog on the merit of the topic itself by delving deeper to understand why and how ASL or sign language "failed" and how it could be improved versus using the opportunity to make personal attacks against that person instead. You have two line types of crowd of people. One type of crowd is the kind of people who leave open the possibility for improvement or that such examples of "failures in communication" or misunderstandings do exist. Another type of crowd is the kind of people who would rather attack a person just because they don't like the analysis that was presented.

I understood where Barry and ScorpionAZ were going with the whole "ASL failed" topic when I watched both of their vlogs. I never once considered that they were attacking ASL with the phrase "ASL failed" but saw as how they noticed problems with ASL instead. I also noticed that they are ASL signers, too. It'd be quite unconvincing for someone to tell me that they were actually attacking ASL. We should know better.  Yet, and with no surprise, many people used the opportunity to personally attack Barry and ScorpionAZ in their vlogs rather than discuss the merit of the topic itself, and not about the person. Some attempted to do so under the guise of an "objective intellectual discourse" but their body language and sarcastic tone say otherwise. It's not end of the world when someone says "ASL failed." Learn to get past the "ASL failed" discussion and go a bit deeper in what they were trying to convey. We all fail at one time but only to dust ourselves and keep going.  At the very least attack the topic being discussed (or better yet simply disagree) instead of personally attacking the person who brought up his/her own points based on his/her observations. Disagreeing is one thing and that's acceptable but to make personal attacks is entirely a different matter. Doing so is example of an infantile behavior at work.

I have a good friend who is deaf and is quiet fluent in ASL. He grew up signing in SEE and later in life transitioned over to ASL without any problems. Yes, ASL. Not PSE. Although he has no problem doing that, either. One time during a court proceeding an ASL interpreter (Level 5 RID) was voicing what he was signing. He said "I did not mind" to the judge but the interpreter said "I don't care." He caught her saying that and made clear to the court that he didn't say that. With the intricacies of English, context is everything, especially in court. And in ASL a simple "I don't mind" was horribly mangled and translated into as "I don't care" to the judge. Both phrases are not the same thing on what he tried to specifically express to the judge in court. Context is everything.

More on that later but it won't be coming from me. You'll see.

Keeping it simple

I like to keep things simple in life and try to look for the more positive things. For me, I refuse to use my disability or my hearing loss as a crutch or an excuse in life. There are ways to educate people that's simple when it comes to communication access. People continue to learn new things when it comes to those with hearing loss. Many people I work or associate with have mild hearing loss and some do wear hearing aids. Few I know have moderate hearing loss. Sometimes in one ear or both. One is a young adult who has a hearing loss but only in the high frequency range but hears just fine but no hearing aids. And of course those who have much severe hearing loss and know signs.

Nothing is worse than to have people look down on you with pity especially if the person plays the game using deafness as his/her crutch. I refuse to see myself as a victim or behave like a victim all the time. Playing the victim card at every waking moment isn't a healthy life while accusing and blaming people all the time.

Accentuate on the positive. Keep it simple by keeping the path clear.

Deafhood truth??

Dripping with sarcasm and heavy with hyperbolic facial expressions signifying suppressed internal rage and anger in a video and at around the 12:30 mark where Ella essentially proclaimed (or was it blessed?) Barry to be free of "deafhood" saying Barry doesn't want to know or acknowledge the "deaf truth" known as..."deafhood."

I thought that piece was a bit arrogant. "Deafhood" is all about truth now?

Sounds so very new age-y there.

The real truth is that each person's journey is a deeply personal one. I cannot tell you what your deaf or hard of hearing journey should be. Or how your journey should emulate. No one has that right to define exactly what your journey should lead to. There is no need for a label because a journey is unique and very personal to begin with. That's really up to each person. I cannot stress that enough. All we can do is acknowledge that a deaf or hard of hearing person's own journey is unique. Our own identity is unique. Just like our whorls on our finger tips. Each whorl of our own fingerprint is unique.  We may look the same but we are indeed unique and different. We travel different paths.

I have no interest on wanting to be a part of a fold that thrives on negative energy attacking people who decide not to embrace their ideology of "deafhood." Why get upset? Pretty silly to get personally upset over that. It's a personal decision. Myself, I have no need for labels like "deafhood." I know who I am. I know what my identity is. I have friends who are culturally deaf, deaf, hard of hearing and hearing. I don't have a need to peel their skins back like a banana and see whether if anyone of the people I meet are "deaf centric" enough or not in behind closed doors. Right, Don? I don't have the need to judge others whether if they are "deafhood" enough. If Barry doesn't want to do anything with "deafhood," then so be it. His decision isn't hurting anyone. He still provides inspiration to culturally deaf, deaf, hard of hearing and hearing people. He is sensitive, respectful and understands about Native American Indians and their ancient culture. His past videos and blogs have shown that.

Again, Barry, thanks again for the subtitles. Thousands of other people down the road will appreciate your effort to include subtitles to your vlogs. That's the true spirit of including people who are deaf, hard of hearing and hearing who do not know (or very little) sign language to understand your message. That's true inclusion and not discrimination or segregation.

Leader and a follower.......a short story.

A leader clears the path though a little slow here, be patient with the video.


Who is the leader and follower here?


The dancing begins. Figured out the leader yet? Hint: It's the lady god who pressed the buttons to get the robots moving after training them first.



Does any of that remind you of this whole "deafhood" mentality? No one defines anybody's journey. It's a deeply personal journey involving many aspects of your life into one big journey. It just so happens that hearing loss is one of those aspects.

ADDENDUM: Also, note in the Roomba dance video (the third one down) near the end of the video the lady god comes in yank away one of the Roomba robot for not properly following orders or maybe noticed a defect and retired that Roomba.  Hmmmm.

Maybe I need some Roombas for my house and help keep the floors clean and just watch them amble around for fun?

And, oh, as a bonus, we have this funny video where you have kittens having fun with a Roomba robot just following orders.

Yes, Ella, you are a leader in the eyes of your followers.

Back a few years ago in 2008 Ella first brought it up saying that she wasn't a leader but a "follower" and brought it up again in her recent vlog. Well, I don't know about that one since that's heck of a lot of people lining up behind her to do what she says. But that's rather strange because in 2007 there was an press release from the California School for the Deaf Fremont that mentioned her where she posted that article in her old blog.  CSDF described her as a "community leader."

A community leader and California Association of the Deaf Board member....

I certainly did not see her object to that description where she proudly displayed the press release on her own blog.

Not a leader? Um, right.

David Eberwein certainly didn't seem to mind being called as one of the Deaf leaders described by one follower/admirer.

#5. A Great Leader is always in high demand. Take Ella Mae Lentz, for example. Her personal and professional contribution, advocacy and stewardship of the language and culture of Deaf people in our world today has been profound. Yet, even after her retirement, Ella Mae continues to change the face of the Deaf World today with her contributions and discourse on empowering concepts, such as those ideas involved in the term Deafhood. And, she’s not alone. Deaf Leaders such as David Eberwein, Genie Gertz and many others also share such contemplative devotion. It’s an enviable gift. Focus and endurance are clearly the cornerstones of their creative genius and leadership.

David certainly didn't mind being seen as a Deaf leader if you read his comments. By de facto he approved LaRonda's blog piece which tells me that he agreed with her analysis that Ella is a leader, too, by basing on "specifically identified behaviors" on what makes her a leader.

Picking myself off the floor. What a great blog.

Yes - it is probably your best (so far), not because you named people, but because you SPECIFICALLY identified behaviors, ideas, etc

Not a leader? Not even one of the "deafhood" leaders? Um, sure!

From the mouth of an ex-founding DBC core member who identified Ella as one of the (top) DBC and "deafhood" leader

I’ve thought long and hard about this. I have encouraged DBC twice to become more transparent. I’ve asked two DBC leaders to vp with me, so we can discuss this further, but they both weren’t ‘available’. In e-mails, I asked them why they don’t want to acknowledge to the Deaf Community that they practice Deafhood heavily but received no response. Transparency and integrity are essential as these will benefit the organization and also the Deaf Community.

Since the top DBC leader, also the Deafhood leader, Ella Mae Lentz had accused me of assumption and confusion in the comment section of a vlog, I have no choice but to come forward. These are the facts.

I was one of the founding core members of DBC. When it started, we had a very simple mission: baby signs for deaf babies. Later it was expanded to include deaf babies and deaf children by several members. Two Deafhood leaders began to push Deafhood on us. The majority wasn’t comfortable with that as they only wanted to focus on Bilingualism and nothing further. However, these leaders persisted, ignoring the moderates’ objections. As Anne Marie Baer said, there was no voting or due process, including an election of DBC leaders, though we wanted to set up a formal system, etc. Finally two moderates, including me, resigned and four other moderates were pushed out summarily without notice afterwards. Then I found out two other leaders, including a strong Deafhood proponent, were appointed one month prior to my resignation and none of us knew about this new development. We went ahead and set up our organization which addresses to deaf bilingualism only. Some wanted to disclose to the public, but another former member and I asked them not to mention anything. We still want to see DBC succeed. Looking back, I wonder if that was a mistake keeping quiet as afterwards Dr Hocokan volunteered his hard labor for four months, believing in bilingualism only to find out the Deafhood agenda has been infiltrated into the organization. What Dr Hocokan had described so far, run parallel to what we experienced. Very recently, Dianrez and Anne Marie acknowledged being booted out without any notice.

Not a "deafhood" leader? Right. Right. Who was doing all the "deafhood" pushing again? Of course, she's not the only one doing that but people *are* certainly following her. Yet she says she's a "follower." So, who are those people following her? Man, that's a lot of followers following the "follower." 1150 subscribers to be exact. 

Heck, even one well known culturally deaf person, he who shall not be named, in his own right called Ella as a leader.

.....by bashing Deafhood/DBC leaders from day one. You see, Ella Mae Lentz, David Eberwein, Barb DiGiovanni and John Egbert made a lot of leaps and efforts to reach and educate people of social injustices upon Deaf individuals and communities.

Not..a...leader? He just made a ringing endorsement calling Ella, DE, Barb and John as "leaders."

BTW, Barb G. resigned from DBC. You could probably figure out why, too, if you study up a bit of history first.

There is no bashing here but simply pointing out the facts that perhaps the majority of culturally deaf people who know Ella already see her as a leader in their community, a leader of "deafhood" and a leader in DBC. For a follower, Ella sure act like a leader.

Professionalism or name calling?

When you are tied to name product, service or an organization where the community sees you as a "leader" you are an extension of that name recognition. Abusing that name recognition does not help. Going onto a public (as opposed to private) online discussion group (e.g. Facebook, YouTube comments, discussion groups, etc) and addressing people you do not agree or don't like you call them names instead. As leaders or "leaders" as in this case, such attitudes WILL reflect poorly on a product, service or organization as a whole. And in this case, I call on the poor professionalism on some of the "leaders" in Deafhood Foundation. If they are unable to address people by their proper names then it's best to say those things in private and not online in full public view for all to see.

Legally blind woman advice to the world....stop with the labels!

As I've said before, no need for labels because we're all human beings where we are unique in our own way. And this includes people with hearing loss. Be sure to click play and the subtitle feature will come on. Choose "English."

Two books on a life's journey - burn one and keep the other.

We continue on with own our unique but deeply personal journey in life as people with hearing loss and how we identify ourselves as and whatever makes us happy. We recognize the value of diversity. We support and respect all forms of communication and language.

We say "no thanks" to "deafhood" because we recognized right away such labeling would lead to acts of discrimination and segregation. Even threats of violence if one disagrees. It has simply become a glorified ideology specifically and mainly for culturally deaf people, and nothing more.

That's the problem.

It's not really about for anybody with hearing loss when it comes to a personal journey. There's a certain sine qua non when it comes to "deafhood." 

We don't presume who has "deafhood" and who doesn't, and that was the trap many people recognized at the very beginning.  

We don't figure out whether if a person is "deaf centric" or not in private meetings to see whether or not a person meets their main criteria. That's called "looking at a person's label on his shirt" behind him instead of looking at the person for who he is.

We prefer to move forward and not backward and would rather follow ICED recommendation to accept and respect ALL forms of communication and language whether combined or used alone be it PSE, ASL, SEE, cued speech, oral-aural, oral, the use of hearing aids and cochlear implants to help with the communication, or plainly just do without them.  In fact, we have respected and accepted those differences since day one even before ICED came out with their own recommendation.

This is about accepting a person for who she/he is and not about what the person is when labels are concerned.

You cannot force or fool a person's own personal journey in order to align it with your own journey. Otherwise it'd be a description of selfishness and dishonesty.  

Think for yourself.

Embrace diversity and everybody else for their uniqueness on their hearing loss and how they live their life with culturally deaf, deaf, hard of hearing and hearing people and the respect and acceptance for all forms of communication and language. And be open with everyone.

Or...

Embrace conformity based on requirements, norms, memberships, restrictions, and expectations that people expect from you as a closed group.

A simple test here.

Watch what happens when you say, "No thanks," and see how certain people respond. Instead of acknowledging your personal decision on what you want to do with your life and how you spend it you will be attacked for your decision because they have lost their ability to own you, (see below as an example):

Four days later seemingly upset or mad he made a vlog on June 9th "Where is our money going?" raising a ruckus about why $656 (of fake Monopoly money) was going to an "unworthy" organization and how dare they use "our" money for that (Whose money again?? "Our"? Quite presumptuous, ain't it?) so-called organization.

Your money is your money and not "their money." It is your personal decision on how you see fit to spend YOUR money. It is not their decision. And if they get angry about your decision then that's a red flag on something wrong with that picture.

Remember, your life's journey is a deeply personal one. No one should tell you how you must live your life. You shouldn't be made to feel guilty on what you do with your life or even how you wish to spend YOUR money.

You have two books that addresses a life's journey. You have a choice. An important choice. Embrace one book and burn the other book in an incinerator. You cannot have both books since they are not mutually compatible.

I *know* which book I want.

Bleached article

Reading this bleached article piece again and again I can only conclude it to be a non sequitur piece. It made no sense, intellectually so. What I saw is an emotional piece in the guise as an intellectual discourse simply because of the attempt to insert the idea of "neglect" into the whole picture when it comes to parents' decision on implanting their deaf child. That agenda is clear. A subtle message without overtly saying it. Hence, my question to the author. What is he trying to say? What is his official stance on cochlear implantation for children?

You have parents making an informed decision on getting a cochlear implant for their deaf child versus making an uninformed decision of Jamaican parents who apply bleaching agent to their children's dark skin in the effort to lighten their skin color.  The former is not a neglect or child abuse issue while the latter is definitely considered as a neglect and child abuse issue because of the increased inherent medical risk, health issues and side effects to the child where it can disfigure the skin on the face, the most prominent feature to be bleached. An attempt to play "doctor" while using unsafe chemical products on the skin.

It's not even close between the two examples. Nothing to compare when it comes to parallels.

One is based on an approval from doctors and specialists before getting a cochlear implant while the bleaching example has nothing to do with any medical issue but about vanity and peer-pressure. The decision process on getting a cochlear implant is a long one that require many visits and researching before deciding on implantation. As for the bleaching part, it's an impulse decision without any regard to the child's own health and well being.

Again, no parallels. Nothing to compare.

The bleaching of skin is a fad much like tattooing. Cochlear implantation is not a fad. Bleaching is not a medical issue while getting a cochlear implant is a medical issue. No different from getting Lasik surgery for your eyes to help improve vision or getting the right prescription glasses for those blurry eyes. There is something to be said when senses are impaired do people seek medical correction or assistance.  Changing the color of one's skin isn't a medical correction or a need but purely a cosmetic one, just like using Botox to enhance the face.

Again, nothing to compare.

The bleaching of skin is due to peer-pressure based on the need for social acceptance and survival. Getting a cochlear implant addresses the need to access sound and not about peer-pressure or survival. However, cochlear implantation does allow the opportunity to develop listening and speaking skills over time. Bleaching one's own skin does not improve anybody's skills but it's purely on the basis of social acceptance. You cannot compare between the two as having parallels. Simply irreconcilable. 

Getting a cochlear implant does not preclude a child from learning sign language. Nor does it preclude a child from a social aspect on the opportunity to mingle among his or her signing, deaf, hh or hearing peers. You have a child's right to hear from the very beginning when the opportunity to develop listening skill would be at its peak (0 to 4 years old). Once that opportunity is past then it is too late to have that upper hand for the rest of the child's life.  It's purely a medical fact. Timing is everything when it comes to the brain's development on learning new sound and words. Having said that, the introduction to deaf culture can occur anytime during a child's life from birth to adulthood should child decide later or get introduced with the help of his or her parents.

Again, noting to compare when it comes to parallels.

That blog piece appears to covertly impart guilt on parents by using emotionally laden words like "cultural genocide," "neglect," and "criminal" and parallel them with the bleaching of children all in the guise of an intellectual discourse as far as I'm concerned since the author refuse to clarify his reason for that blog piece. I am left to make this observation on my own.  It turns out to be a non sequitur piece since one example is considered to be a medical issue while the other is obviously not. 

Marlee Matlin stands out....literally.

Here's a tweeted note from Marlee Matlin thanking Donald Trump for allowing her the opportunity to raise $1 million for Starkey Hearing Foundation and a shout out thanks for the stunningly beautiful dress she wore at a recent award event.

MarleeMatlin 

So indebted @marcbouwer for my BEAUTIFUL dress http://tinyurl.com/3sf92px & @DonaldJTrump for allowing me to raise $$ for @starkeyhearing

All I can say is, whoa!

What beautiful music! But I can't hear it.

Indeed, words can be powerful such as in this short video clip of a blind man quietly begs for money as he sits on a city sidewalk with a sign that says "I'm blind. Please help." Very few coins were tossed his way until a lady comes up and changes the wordings on the backside of his cardboard sign with a positive message, "It's a beautiful day and I can't see it." The resulting effect was an increase on the amount of money given to him by strangers passing by. The power of words has changed for the better for this blind man who sat quietly and without complaints.

Imagine this next scenario.

You have a troupe of musicians nearby in a park playing some beautiful music that wafts through the warm summer air while a deaf beggar sitting on the ground with a sign that says,

"I'm deaf. Please help me."  

 Pretty typical signage, wouldn't you say?

But suppose a music conductor walks by and sees the situation and the pitiful amount of money so far collected in the deaf man's collection can. He gesture's to the deaf man telling him that he has a better idea for his sign hoping it'll net more coins for the deaf beggar.

And sure enough, coins and bills began dropping into the deaf beggar's can like summer raindrops.

How different would this situation be from that of the blind man?

Equating cochlear implantation of kids with bleaching?

It's sad that it had to come to this but I asked for clarification from an author in Deaf Echo who wrote a piece called "Jamaican Skin Bleaching… Parallels with Cochlear Implantation?" on exactly what was his definitive stance on cochlear implantation for kids. And there was a reason for asking. This was in response to an article where the author attempted to draw parallels of parents getting cochlear implants for their kids to that of black Jamaicans with very dark skin on their efforts to bleach their children so their skin color would appear much lighter in the name of "cultural acceptance." A rather odd approach I thought and wondered exactly what was his official stance regarding kids with cochlear implants. A legitimate question.

And the response?

And in a space of several minutes apart, too.

For what it's worth, I don't see anything wrong on asking for clarification from an author on where he stands regarding cochlear implantation in children in light of that recent blog piece, um..... article. It's pretty fair question to ask for a more definitive statement than to make an assumption. Wouldn't you say? Perhaps he was playing the devil's advocate?  Or maybe the author is neutral on this? I don't know. But asking that question earned me another ban instead of hoping for an honest, forthright and open dialogue.

This wasn't the first time, either, in Deaf Echo which left me and others puzzled by that action as well.

I don't know who removed my comment and banned me. Although I must emphasize strongly to my readers that any comments in blogs or website's commenting area is a privilege and not a right. And a blogger has every right to decide on deleting comments or ban participants in his or her own blog space. Although I'm not exactly sure what rule I broke as you can see here folks.  It was certainly not harassment because I was asking for clarifications in light of that article seeing it as not a "neutral" piece, or so it appears.

I agree that the debate on cochlear implantation on kids is a controversial one as explained in Deaf Echo.

If you’re familiar with the Deaf community at all, you probably already know how ferocious the debate can become on the merits of getting an implant (and especially having a young deaf child implanted).

But does that warrant deletions or bans if one disagrees, or have additional questions? 

Anyways,  this whole cochlear-implantation-parallels-to-bleaching article thing seems to hinge rather on a more emotional level than not. The two are not the same. But since Deaf Echo left me with no recourse to participate as equals, I must address it here in my own blog, unfortunately. I had hoped that I would've gotten a clarification first so I can respond accordingly and appropriately.  But that opportunity is gone, however, I do have a recourse in here.

Cochlear implantation involves a decision process that requires more research along with multiple meetings with specialists, educators, doctors, other people such as those who have CI, culturally deaf people, and so on. It is a process that takes many months before the actual implantation takes place if parents ultimately decide to do so as part of their informed decision process. It is quite obvious this is certainly not the equivalent of doing a procedure on yourself or on your kids on a moments notice.

Also, I don't see it as a neglect issue when cochlear implantation is concerned but rather on what happens afterwards. As long as parents are active participants in an implanted child's life on helping develop language and communication skills then there is no neglect at all. Is it neglect if culturally deaf parents implant their deaf child? But by reading that blog piece you would think so yet the blog piece falls into the category of plausible deniability on making that inference. Hence, again, the reason why I asked that question.

Here's what Russell, a deaf parent with cochlear implant with an implanted son, had to say:

This is living proof Cochlear Implants works! The sound quality is beyond exceptional. Currently, my aided digital hearing aid is barely producing sound. My CI has taken over and it's indescribable what it's like to hear at the 15db to 20db range. It hasn't been 2 weeks since my activation and it is a life changing for me that I'm looking forward to.

Children ages 6 months to 4 deserve to get one without question. It's selfish to deny anyone the right to hear especially our children. The hoodized Deaf population needs to refrain from using myths, lies, and deception to prevent those who can benefit from CI's, particularly parents of deaf children.

Speaking of myths, lies and deception.

I understand the attempt on outlining those parallels in Deaf Echo but I must question first the reason behind it, hence, which is why I had to ask first about the author's stance on cochlear implantation just to be sure.  Now I'm left with an even bigger question mark.

As for my stance, I made clear many times that as long as parents make an informed decision on whether or not to implant their deaf child then I'm fine with it. The decision belongs to the parents, and not to the culturally deaf community or anybody else, hearing or deaf.  I'm not afraid to make a statement as a matter of record and clarification to my readers. But I tell you this, the opportunity to hear is a serious consideration not to be taken lightly where it has the potential to open up even more opportunities and skills in life. That decision alone does not preclude a child from learning sign language or the opportunity to meet with others in the deaf culture community.