Time for the “ASL Cobra” to Come Out?
Today, Martin Luther King is well-respected – they’ve even given him a statue in Washington, DC. Even as MLK is respected, another Black leader of his time, Malcolm X, is not so highly regarded by many, and even ignored, forgotten or relegated to a moment in history. But if Malcolm X had never existed, [...]
On Why Dora the Explorer Isn’t a Superhero—Where a Lack of Discrimination is the Problem
Quite a few deaf people, I would bet, have experienced the following scenario: A couple of years ago I was at the airport (using a major airline). I told the people at the desk near my gate that I was deaf; a standard practice of mine in case somebody announces a gate change. [...]
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 [...]
Signing Hands Across the Water
Signing Hands Across the Water An International Festival of Sign Language Poetry from the United Kindom and the United States On March 16th – 18th 2012, Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, USA, celebrates sign language poetry. Sign language poets from Britain and America will come together and explore this rich and beautiful art form with members of College, the [...]
Feeling Stupid or ‘Smart-for-Deaf’
I work in an environment where one’s intellect is often a proxy for self-worth. I’m not endorsing this view, mind you, but it is hard to escape it. Deaf and hard of hearing people have a special version of this: what I call the ‘smart for deaf’ version. That is, we acknowledge that there is [...]
IMHO: From a Parent’s Viewpoint
In a recent article, “The Distrust Runs Deep on Both Sides?” the author asserts: It’s not like these parents find out their child is deaf, go on the internet, discover a deaf community sharply divided between the oral and ASL-using camps, panic, and somehow decide they’ll embrace the oral camp while never trusting any [...]
Indiana’s Journalgazette.net Publishes Excerpt of “The Distrust Runs Deep on Both Sides?”
Indiana’s Journalgazette.net has published an excerpt from Christopher Jon Heuer’s recent DeafEcho.com article “The Distrust Runs Deep on Both Sides?”. Check out the excerpt under “Public’s denial driving frustrations of the deaf”. (The Journalgazette.net article is a compacted and slightly edited version of the original DeafEcho.com article.)
Speech Therapists I’ve Known
Can’t remember one Too many to remember All had their hands on my throat Saw their tongues Too many times One had huge boobs With last name “Hay” Sign name looked strange Too much like ‘roll in hay’ Another one was from Jersey With last name Tague Learned ‘ue’ was silent Speech is so [...]
Is HearIndiana/AGBADHH Delusional?
‘When the kids don’t consider themselves deaf, the magic begins’ Noami Horton, HearIndiana Director Seriously? What are you teaching the oral deaf children? Do you honestly think pretending that the oral children with cochlear implants aren’t deaf is helpful to them? Oral children wearing cochlear implants have no delusions that they are deaf. Everytime they [...]