HB 1207 – A New Concern on the Horizon for the Indiana School for the Deaf?
You read that correctly. This article does not concern HB 1367, the bill that is causing so much controversy and uproar in the deaf community of Indiana (and the wider national deaf community). Deaf Echo has recently come across information on a new bill that may have serious ramifications for the Indiana School for [...]
Indiana School for the Deaf vs. Hear Indiana
Maybe you have been hearing stories coming out of Indiana and wondered what the fuss was all about. To understand the situation in Indiana, you need to know the back story. I will give you a hint upfront: oralists are up to no good. The back story begins with Indiana School for the Deaf [...]
My Two Cents: Cochlear Implants
I used to feel sorry for children who had cochlear implants. I did. When I saw them it broke my heart because I really believed that their parents just didn’t understand deafness. I judged those parents. I assumed that the parents were looking for a quick fix to something that in my opinion didn’t [...]
AG Bell is in the past
Many in the signing community feel strongly that the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (AG Bell) philosophy of focusing on auditory and oral approaches when teaching deaf and hard of children is wrong. The auditory and oral approaches use the weakest point of a deaf or hard of hearing [...]
ASL Literature, Reborn on the iPad
In addition to being a first-grade teacher, I’m also the geekminister for 15 brand-new iPad 2s at P.S. 347 The ASL and English Lower School in Manhattan. This is the first in what I hope will be a regular series on how my students and I are using the iPad to learn, read, create, and [...]
An Open Letter to Deafblind People Out There
Life is created by you only. People, objects, events, and education come into your life and they leave with some kind of mark, but only you as a human being remain. So it’s important to live your life the way you want to. If you find purpose in your life, then you have found [...]
Cued Speech and ASL—Why I Use Both
When we first confirmed my son was deaf, I had several communication choices presented to me by his Early Intervention coordinator. I had never heard of cued speech, and at first I was ready to dismiss it solely because it was not the dominant form of communication among Deaf people. But when an advocate of [...]
Sheldon Avenue
It was nice and sunny on Sheldon Avenue Then a black family moved there The girl Wilma was nice and became my sister’s best friend and we gave her a neat name sign like wine But Wilma’s little brother was a pest Every day he ran up to us and made faces and beat [...]