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 this is so outdated (very old information like 2 years ago) where have you been?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.

Karl White's Speech at a TEDx Event on ASL and Speech/Listening

Here is a captioned video (Establishing a Sound Foundation for Children) of Dr. Karl White who is a Professor of Psychology at Utah State University and the founding Director of the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management (NCHAM) presents a talk about newborn hearing loss detection and early intervention, deafness, ASL, speech, speech intelligibility, listening, hearing aids,
and and cochlear implants.

 


In one examples Dr. Karl White provided in the video was two young boys (around 5 or 6 years old) with their cochlear implants and the level of speech intelligibility they have virtually indistinguishable from other typical hearing boys. Dr. Karl White also acknowledged the importance of early use of ASL as well for parents who choose sign language. And provided a video of two deaf boys (approximately 3 years old) sitting in their car seats signing to their parents and to each discussing what they see outside of their windows like a passing airplane. Cute video. Dr. Karl White is recognized as one of the world's leading authorities on early identification and treatment of hearing loss in infants and young children. He has hundreds of publications and presentations at scholarly meetings, and has been invited to more than 30 countries to assist in the implementation of newborn hearing screening and intervention programs. His work has been recognized with awards from such diverse organizations as the Deafness Research Foundation, the American Association for Speech Language and Hearing, the Swedish Society of Medicine, the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped in India. He also serves on many national and international advisory groups and boards for organizations such as the World Health Organization, the Coalition for Global Hearing Health, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, March of Dimes, the American College of Medical Genetics, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Gun-wielding deaf man shoots gun inside bank

A deaf-mute grabbed the gun of a bank security guard and fired it into the celing after becoming frustrated because he was unable to communicate with bank employees. 

"I kept pleading with him to put the gun down by using hand motions," Joel Lowenstein, manager of the Chase Manhattan branch in Queens, said "The police kept yelling at him to drop his weapon. I kept yelling at the police that he was deaf." 

For 10 tense minutes police kept their revolvers aimed at the deaf-mute, Jonathan Lyles, 33, of Hicksville, N.Y. "He was holding the gun near his hip, and it pointed at just about everyone as he turned in different direction," said Police Office Nick Ucc. 

Some 30 bank customers huddled in fear under counters and against walls during the confrontation. Lyles, clutching the gun nervously, eventually surrended it to Lowenstein, who said he was able to pacify him because of his volunteer work experience with the deaf and handicapped. Lowenstein said.

Lyles had come into the bank last week and early Wednesday morning before returning again at 2:30 that afternoon. Each time, the bank was unable to determine what Lyles wanted. Lyles was charged with menacing, reckless endangerment and possession of a weapon. He was also charged with third degree robbery for taking the guard's gun. 

The above article was taken from a Jnuary 14, 1976 Tri City Herald newspaper which demonstrated the level of frustration deaf people had back then when it came to communicating with hearing people. If Mr. Lyles is alive today he'd be about 69 years old. Where is Lyles nowadays?

A screen capture of the newspaper article. 

Matt Hamill's UFC Video Highlights

Here's a 6 minute plus video highlights of Matt Hamill's past UFC fights over the last several years. Enjoy.

Privacy or No Privacy...that is the question.

Ah, sign language interpreters can be great to have around and they do have a code of ethics regarding confidentiality on discussions between lawyers and their clients,or between doctors, nurses or dentists and their deaf patients. But sometimes that's not enough for some deaf people when all they want is to have absolute privacy without the need for a 3rd person tagging along and listening in on all of the intimate details which can get awkward. They want the full and accessible face to face conversation in real time and not worry about the lack of privacy or trust issues. How is this possible? The answer is surprisingly simple and there is a choice on this matter, too. For example, in some centers like the St. Luke's Women's Center in Missouri they offer opportunities to allow deaf patients or clients use their UbiDuo Face to Face communication device to have private, in depth conversations with their doctor or nurse and not miss a beat. Sure beats writing boring short sentences with pen and paper. And to boot all conversations using UbiDuo are automatically saved for future reference, too. So, if one is available on the counter at your doctor's or dentist's office, why not go ahead and use it. It's certainly better to relish the complete independence and privacy than to rely constantly on a third person, your sign language interpreter, in every facet of your life when the alternative is already available.

There are a variety of circumstances when the use of an interpreter would be appropriate, at other times circumstances would dictate the need for privacy or the emergency use of the UbiDuo Face-to-Face communication device like getting a doctor's appointment at the last minute when getting an interpreter would have been impossible within 24 hours. Why delay an appointment just because an interpreter is not available? I'm sure you get the picture by now. Is it privacy you want? Is it the convenience? Is it the real time conversation with the ability to record you want? Look no further than using the UbiDuo, the only patented real time face to face communication device on the market today.

YouTube Flagging Abusers - Haters Gonna Hate

Caption your signed videos in YouTube! Be forewarned. They are out there. Waiting for anybody on his or her "enemies list" as their motive to flag your video when it does not violate any of YouTube's community guidelines. These abusive flaggings were perhaps made easier when videos were done in sign language.

In a YouTube video presentation Th3HaroldDeafVideo brought up a possible problem of YouTube and that is they don't have YouTube video reviewers who know (at least skillfully enough to see the nuances) sign language of signed videos that were flagged. Th3HaroldDeafVideo recounted a time when a few well known deaf vloggers who were targeted by haters had their YouTube account suspended for the supposed violation of YouTube's community guidelines. And raised the specter that YouTube may have video reviewers who may know some sign language but not enough to understand adequately the nuances of sign language, do not know sign language at all when reviewing, or they are deferring to the number of flags a video received without attempting to understand what was said in a signed video.  Those are the possibilities.

Has anybody ever been a victim of flagged (signed) videos by malicious flaggers in your own YouTube account when those videos did not at all violate YouTube's community guidelines? 

Hence, one of the good reason to include captions to your signed videos as a way to protect yourself and minimize the chance of your videos getting flagged by haters who will hate you (as a person) regardless of what you said in your videos. Especially when haters who come in packs and target your videos for removal with the goal of getting your YouTube account closed through excessive (abusive) flagging of videos.

Here is YouTube's community guidelines. And here's the page to YouTube's Content Reporting and Removal with specifics like Flagging Videos in the menu to select from. Here's is what they say about flagging.

Flagging videos is anonymous and no one will know who flagged the video, however we do require you to be logged in to flag a video. YouTube staff review flagged videos 24 hours a day, seven days a week to determine whether they violate our Community Guidelines and nothing will be removed automatically or with enough flags. Encouraging others to flag another user's video off the site may be considered harassment and could result in a strike on your account or account suspension.

Note the yellow highlight. Th3HaroldDeafVideo may be right that there is a group of deaf people in YouTube land who have in mind to collectively harass any particular deaf vlogger in YouTube they don't like by flagging his/her signed videos as an attempt to get the person's YouTube's account suspended. If that's the case then those people are simply cyberbullies who have nothing better to do but flag videos of people they don't like.  Flagging abuse is common in YouTube as you can see. Although I do wonder why these abusive flaggers behave like? Is it the content they don't like or more like they don't like the person because he or she violates their own "deafhood" sensibilities and don't know any better?

My signed videos have never been flagged. I include my own captions in my own videos.  Maybe it's time to include captions in your own signed videos just for good measure in case your YouTube video gets flagged with the possibility that YouTube video reviewers may not know or know little sign language to know the difference? If you know you're a controversial person or are not well liked by some in the deaf community, maybe it's time to include captions to your signed videos from now on? Might be a smart move. After all, haters gonna hate. I've had my share.

Addendum:

It's just not a YouTube problem but anywhere on the internet social scene such as Facebook or even in a deaf run community forum where haters who try and appeal to moderators with constant whining and complaining by hitting the "complaint button" or, if you're unlucky enough, get moderators who are themselves unwitting abusers of their own moderating powers by making up stuff along the way as a reason to get your account suspended or banned. Either way, haters gonna hate.

Addendum II:

In YouTube's Community Guidelines on "Harassment" near the bottom it states:

It comes down to respect. YouTube is all about sharing and interacting with the community in respectful ways. If you're not sure whether a video or comment you've made crosses the line, follow a simple rule of thumb: if you wouldn't say it to someone's face, don't say it on YouTube. And if you're looking to attack, harass, demean, or impersonate others, go elsewhere. 

The problem is when harassment really becomes a harassment issue? Or perhaps the real issue is whether the person has a thin skin or thick skin who would either squeal like a stuck pig and make harassment charges or have that person simply shrugs his shoulders and move on?

Captioned Viral Videos

Rarely has viral videos on YouTube ever been captioned simply because the originator of the video didn't take the time to include captions.

VIRAL videos may be good for sharing ideas and spreading funny foreign pop hits, but they are also leaving millions of deaf and hearing impaired people out of the loop. 

Online video is becoming a more ubiquitous part of American life. Netflix videos made up one-third of online data used in the United States last year. YouTube expects 90 per cent of online traffic to be video in the next few years. By 2016, Cisco estimates, 1.2 million minutes of video will be streamed or downloaded every second. 

That video explosion has been great for small-film and TV producers, who are able to reach an audience without a big studio budget, and fans of niche programming. But in some ways, it has left the deaf and hard-of-hearing community starting from scratch after years of advocating for captions on traditional television.

Forget YouTube's speech-recognition software since most times it simply doesn't work well and you get a bunch of garbled nonsense captions, especially when background noise or music interferes with the speech-recognition process. So much for inclusion but they are certainly trying their best. But should a Federal or company's regulation be done to ensure that these independent videos uploaded by hearing John Qs be captioned or else it cannot be uploaded at all? Which is better? By force via regulatory fiat or by gradual educational awareness by making captioning fun and popular?  I'd say the latter is better. Otherwise if it's the former by regulatory force then I'm sure people would like to see it be equally done for deaf people who upload their signing videos without captions as well. That's the idea. Provide open communication access to hearing, deaf and hard of hearing people with different languages whether it's by sign or speech. Just because you're deaf doesn't supersede hearing people's need on wanting to see what's being said in signed videos.

Be a positive role model when it comes to uploading your video by including captions whether the video is in voice or by sign. Others will soon get it and start including captions.

Crapping on other people is not a right

In the deaf community, like in many others, if you spend enough time you get to see who's who in the deaf community and what their beefs are. Many deaf people have the ability to provide positive examples of themselves when it comes to positive use of sign language and spread the "gospel" the good things about sign language and by convention provide a positive image for those in the deaf community. While others feel the need to use politics or pissy attitudes to attack people who are not familiar with sign language or against those who have different opinions on communication options and sign language. The best promotion to spread the idea of sign language or that deaf people are simply a bunch of good people is to be a positive force about it even in the face of others who might disagree or have a difference of opinion.  

For some culturally deaf people who like to constantly attack hearing people, belittle them, and just be plain rude will only add to the image problem of culturally deaf people as a bunch of angry, uneducated, ungrateful, rude, anal retentive people who have nothing better than to complain and whine incessantly like a little child. Freud would be so happy to have them for his couch.  I don't believe one bit that these are the "intrinsic attitudes" and "behavioral norms" for culturally deaf people. You just have a few bad apples, rotten to the core and filled with writhing worms. There's a time to speak up but certainly not in the manner to attack every living hearing or deaf/hh people for that matter who think differently or have different set of opinions.  And yet, of course, there's a bit of cultural norm when it comes to being direct that are a part of deaf culture.  Being direct isn't a cart-blanche right  to be downright rude or hostile at hearing people just because you're deaf.

I worked at a bowling alley as a bartender. During the “league season” we have on average a couple hundred regulars coming through in just a few hours and a lot of them like to drink. Bartending for bowlers is a chore in itself, but every customer set is different and that’s the job. 

However, there was also a large party booked that day of around 100 deaf people. I was still the only bartender working at the time. My bar had access from 2 sides to it, one from the lanes and one from the bar area. We had slips of paper and pencils out for the deaf party so they could better communicate their orders. I understand that being deaf is a handicap, but I don’t understand sign language and you can’t understand me, so let’s use the paper and help each other out. Screaming “tah key one eye!” (obviously a Tequila Sunrise) at me over and over again when I offer you a slip of paper because I can’t understand you doesn’t resolve the issue. And when I turn to help the line of league bowlers, who are in there drinking every week for the next 6 months, don’t slam the glasses on the bar to get my attention. I am CLEARLY busy serving people who have been patiently waiting. Don’t throw the paper at me that we set out for you to write orders on to get my attention. Don’t scream at the top of your lungs because you think I can’t hear you. I have acknowledged you, politely held up my hand to ask for a minute while I serve someone else. I even asked some partial deaf people to teach me some basic signs so I could try to communicate better. Don’t use your handicap as an excuse to be rude.

Versus a situation when a bartender gets a $10 tip from a deaf person.

I’ve waited on a few deaf people in my life and never really had a problem. I used to have this one “regular” who was really cool and tipped well. He would write his order down on a piece of stationary then hand it to me. On the top of the stationary, it explained that he was deaf and mute. He would tip a solid $10.00 every time. 

People will certainly draw the line if people use their existing condition as an excuse to crap on everybody and think they have some kind of entitlement because of their lack of sense.

Ok. That was a double entendre, so sue me.

When Hearing Aid Companies invest in Regenerative Medicine on Cure for Hearing Loss

It was a matter of time when hearing aid or cochlear implant companies decide to invest in promising pharmaceutical companies on developing a drug that can either prevent further hearing loss or restore it.

One intriguing possibility for the future is the convergence of future drugs and devices. Hearing aid manufacturers have certainly not been deaf to the noises from the pharma sector. 

Sonova, the world's largest maker of hearing aids, has invested in two start-up companies - one in the United States for drugs to protect hearing and another Swiss biotech working on a treatment for acute tinnitus. 

It bought U.S. cochlear implant manufacturer Advanced Bionics in 2009 in a bid to increase its focus on the inner ear and understand how drug treatments could work with implants. 

"It will be interesting whether the innovation will be driven by pharma companies moving in or whether the hearing aid companies will branch out," said Auris' Meyer.

More and more investors are paying more attention to pharmaceuticals or biotech firms who look promising on developing drugs that target the cochlea on the restoration or improvement of hearing loss.

U.S. giant Pfizer is arguably the most advanced of the big players, with a drug in initial Phase I clinical testing trial for age-related sensorineural hearing loss that looks to enhance the function of existing hair cells.

Some of its biggest rivals are laying bets, too. Last year French drugmaker Sanofi inked a two-year research deal with privately held Dutch biotech firm Audion Therapeutics to develop small molecule drugs to improve hearing.

In October, Roche joined forces with venture capital firm Versant Ventures and biotech Inception Sciences to find molecules targeting ear hair cell protection and regeneration in the cochlea, the spiral-shaped cavity in the inner ear.

Cross-town competitor Novartis, meanwhile, struck a 2010 deal potentially worth more than $213 million with U.S. biotech GenVec to develop gene-based treatments to replace hair cells in the ear that transmit sound.

"We're looking at restoration as our main line of work and we're interested in whether there are chemicals that might also play this role instead of having to introduce a gene," said Novartis research head Mark Fishman.

The question why are they investing time, resources and money for a drug that could revolutionize regenerative medicine in the field of sensorineural hearing loss? The answer is simple. The returns on their investment would be huge.

But the science is developing and investor interest is growing, piqued by the huge commercial success of recent new treatments for sight loss, such as Lucentis from Novartis and Roche and Eylea from Regeneron and Bayer. 

British charity Action on Hearing Loss conservatively puts the potential Western market for new drugs at $4.6 billion a year - a figure that could grow quickly as ageing populations swell the ranks of those with hearing problems.

With each progressive successes such as restoring some of the hearing loss in gerbils will only embolden and encourage investors to help speed up the search for a regenerative medicine for the restoration of hearing loss. It would only be a matter of time in several years time rather than decades until success in the field of regenerative medicine on sensorineural hearing loss would be realized and capitalized.  In the inexorable march towards on the cure for sensorineural hearing loss will continue to march forward and unabated. The writing is on the wall.

Couch Surfing Silently around the World

Nothing like the ultimate travel extra-ordinaire Joel Barish of Deaf Nation but Jenny Lu comes close when she video tapes her travel to countries in Europe visiting deaf people and learning their different sign languages and cultures. Excellent video editing with a good music sound track to go with it.



Jenny Lu explains about her CouchSurfing project and thanked those who influenced and helped her with this project of hers.

The admirable CouchSurfing project has allowed me to connect with local Deaf and signing folks from four different countries, and my expectations of the possible communication challenges were defied by my hosts' willingness to communicate with me in all ways possible. By inviting me to their homes, teaching me how to cook their local foods, and showing me their cities, my new Deaf and signing friends have imparted me with valuable knowledge - academic, emotional, and artistic - and have exposed me to sign languages of their countries that would have otherwise been extraordinarily difficult to discover if it weren't for this project. Most of this video's imagery was composed with the use of a Canon PowerShot, although after an unfortunate situation in the mountains of Switzerland, was replaced with a less-stellar phone camera.

I want to express my deepest gratitude to the following people who made this project possible:

My father who accompanied me at the beginning of my journey. Thank you for your wonderful company and for documenting a part of my trip. Jacob who gave me valuable insight about my video's overall structure and most importantly music. Samuel who gave me a new perspective on traveling, philosophy, and life. My friends, new and old, thank you for teaching me something new everyday.