I am a man in a hoodie and Trayvon Martin didn’t have to die.
I am a Black man in my hoodie. I live in Washington, D.C. I am Hard of Hearing (HoH). I am educated. I am a man, brother, father, uncle, friend, and a human being. No matter what propaganda is put in the media about the Black man to defame, demolish, squash, belittle, or portray me [...]
National Public Radio’s Article on Cochlear Implants–Heavily Biased?
Many of the comments under the article on cochlear implants that appeared on National Public Radio’s (NPR) website on April 8th, 2012 claim that it is heavily biased in favor of cochlear implants, and poorly researched. Also of note are two remarks by Dr. John Niparko, an expert in the field, and the lack of [...]
You Pray They Fall Right
I built a rope swing for my son Jack the other day. Not the world’s safest creation… yet. The tree is old and gnarly—it’s possible his weight (increasing hourly) could yank the whole branch down. Or the knot could slip, though I tied it seven times. Or he could fall again as he did [...]
ventriloquist dummy
She said it sounds funny when you say that Say it again And it made her laugh So I said it again that funny sound He said no that’s not how you say it The ‘g’ is silent And he said you have a beautiful voice And when I said what I said they [...]
On Emotions and the Classroom—A Forbidden Combination?
After vehemently protesting a classmate’s opining on how Latin@s*–“illegal” ones, to be exact—have more language rights than Deaf U.S. citizens do, based on the availability of the “press 2 for español” telephone option. The professor emailed me later in the day, urging me to remove emotions from classroom discussions. When I name [...]
Science of the Orgasm
[During orgasm, parts of the brain show heightened activity as other regions… (Janniko R. Georgiadis / University Medical Center Groningen).] To unlock the secrets of the climax researchers are looking behind the scenes and into the nervous system, where the true magic happens. AS they seek to document and demystify one of life’s great [...]
Notes from a Helicopter Dad
My son is three. Keep this in mind. So I walk into his pre-school classroom last week, right? This room has two teachers: Mr. Rogers* and his assistant—let’s call her Vladmilla. Mr. Rogers is a young guy. Professional, mindful of the children as human beings with feelings… yes, even at the tender age of [...]
Don’t Blame Yourself: How We Flew Under the Radar for 15 Months
If you’re the parent of a deaf child, especially one that manages to avoid early detection from newborn hearing screenings, you might find yourself with a lot of guilt. Though my son did fail his newborn hearing screening, he later somehow passed an otoacoustic emission test (OAE) and was declared hearing until 15 months [...]
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 [...]
The YouTube Video You Don’t See
It has been about a week now since the video of Sarah Churman was posted on YouTube. You know what happened next… it went viral, major news networks picked up on the story and reposted the video on their websites, and since then there has even been a television interview or two. Sarah Churman, if [...]