A Deaf Mom Shares Her World

SB 68 Hearing Aid Bill on ABC News
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World Jim and Julie Chavez and Dana Craig are featured in the news segment on ABC News covering SB 68 which would provide insurance coverage for hearing aids for Illinois residents.  A big thank you goes to Senator Ira Silverstein who has worked hard from the beginning to push this bill through. ABC News on SB [...]
Media Tech Legal Mon, May 25 2009

Rally for SB 68 Hearing Aid Insurance Bill
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World Today, I'm heading down to Springfield for a meeting to discuss SB 68 which would provide insurance coverage for hearing aids for Illinois residents of all ages.   A group of us will be meeting with the opponents of the bill to hopefully reach a common ground in pushing a bill through for insurance coverage for [...]
Tech Legal Tue, Apr 28 2009

Marlee Matlin Signs Her Book, “I'll Scream...
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World What a weekend! We headed out to the Oak Brook Borders on Friday night to meet Marlee Matlin at her book signing.  Marlee crafted her autobiography “I'll Scream Later” as a tell-all book and judging from the headlines of the articles swimming around, her book has revealed some surprising secrets: Marlee Matlin Book:  William Hurt Abused Me Marlee [.....
Media Art and Storytelling Culture Mon, Apr 20 2009

Steak ‘n Shake, The “Other” Side of the...
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World It's amazing to me that a year later, people still remember the Steak ‘n Shake incident where my son and I were denied service at the drive-thru window of the Bolingbrook Steak ‘n Shake.  I still receive comments from time to time, and with the exception of two that were literally nasty comments, I've published [...]
Audism Legal Thu, Mar 26 2009
LaRonda, J.J., DeafPundit, jnevans liked this

Yes, It Is Time for Insurance Coverage for Hearing Aids
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World There's a small, passionate group of people in Illinois who are working to get the state of Illinois to pass a bill in the Senate that would provide insurance coverage for hearing aids. For people of ALL ages. Not just for children, like many other bills in other states. If you live in Illinois, this post is just [...]
Tech Legal Culture Wed, Mar 18 2009

Hearing Aid Insurance Coverage–Not Just for Children
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World A small group of dedicated parents and deaf/hard of hearing adults met last year to create a bill that would provide hearing aid coverage to deaf and hard of hearing individuals of all ages.  No other state has successfully passed a bill that would mandate insurance coverage for hearing aids for all ages.  Most of [...]
Tech Legal Culture Mon, Mar 09 2009

Are You in the Deaf/Hard of Hearing Closet?
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World For many years, I hid in the deaf/hard of hearing closet. I wasn't comfortable dealing with the lone hearing aid that was given to me in fourth grade. During the school day, I hid the hearing aid under my thick hair and pulled off some impressive bluffing maneuvers. I would smile and nod along to [...]
Art and Storytelling Education Tech Thu, Feb 19 2009

Jill Bianco– A Deaf Gal Who Plays Baseball
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World Jill Bianco is one tough gal.  A baseball going at warp speed doesn't faze her a bit.  Jill is part of a twelve-woman baseball team, the Liberty Belles and the only deaf woman that I know who plays baseball. Jill played fast-pitch softball for many years in every position except pitcher.  She joined the Chicago Gems [...]
Language Culture Thu, Jan 29 2009

Steak ‘n Shake, One Year Later
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World This morning, I was greeted with this lovely comment left by David R.: you are a (bleep) retard. the world does not revolve around you, you lazy dumb (bleep).  how are the employees at steak n shake supposed to help you when you can't even hear them talking to you? it's your own fault for being lazy and [...]
Media Audism Tech Legal Mon, Jan 26 2009

Win a Book from Mark Drolsbaugh, A Talented Deaf Writer
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World [caption id="attachment_852" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Win a book!"][/caption] I think Mark Drolsbaugh is my fraternal twin from another life. A few years back, I came across his books, Anything But Silent and Deaf Again (4th Edition) and I immediately ordered them.  I discovered a deaf writer who was funny and entertaining.  I also discovered that he b...
Media Art and Storytelling Wed, Jan 21 2009

Breathe In... Breathe Out
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World I'm going nuts. I've never been one who is organized, but one of my big, BIG goals this year is to have everything o.r.g.a.n.i.z.e.d.  I've never needed it more than today, because I'm running around trying to find the flight info I printed and put in a “safe” place.  I discovered that I left my phone [...]
Higher Education Art and Storytelling Culture Tue, Jan 06 2009

Jill Wood, Parent Extraordinaire
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World Yesterday, I finally had my first mammogram.  A mammogram that I had been putting off for over a year. “Have you had your mammogram?” Jill Wood, a parent of a hard of hearing son,  asked me during an IM conversation a year ago.  Jill had just been diagnosed with breast cancer and was about to begin [...]
Media Art and Storytelling Tech Culture Tue, Dec 30 2008

All I Wanted Was a Captioned Video
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World I woke up in a great mood this morning, but now I'm grumpier than hell.  It actually started weeks ago. Lauren came home from school with the news that the Project Arrow class was going to see “A Christmas Carol” in Chicago.  I talked with the teacher and she agreed to arrange for an interpreter for the [...]
Media Language Art and Storytelling Education Tech Wed, Dec 10 2008

Come and Join Us for Mom's Night Inn
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World [caption id="attachment_777" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Manicures!"][/caption] Imagine kicking back with a room full of moms. Moms who are raising deaf and hard of hearing children of all ages. Moms just like you. Yes, that's right. If you're a Mom of a child who is deaf or hard of hearing, you're invited to join a bunch of us gathering [...
Culture Thu, Dec 04 2008

Being Deaf–And Thankful
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World I'm thankful I'm deaf. I was thinking that to myself on the way home from the Midwest Center on Law and the Deaf  fundraiser last night. Now wait a minute, Karen–isn't that a little crazy?  Wouldn't life be so much easier if you had hearing in the normal range? Sure.  Yeah.  A little easier, perhaps. But here's the thing: I'm ...
Education Culture Thu, Nov 27 2008

John Denver Song Makes Me Think of Deaf/Hard of Hearing...
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World I spent the afternoon playing around over at Overstream, learning how to add captions to a video.  I figured that it was time to learn, especially since Stephen Hopson and Glenda Watson Hyatt will be joining me to present at SOBCon'09 and we'll be talking about web accessibility. I selected a John Denver video, Children of the Universe, [...]
Tech Culture Mon, Nov 24 2008

You're Not Really...Deaf, Are You?
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World You're not really deaf– are you? I stared at my teammate.  We had played volleyball together for many years and she had interpreted for me and another deaf teammate during our huddles.  This was the first time she had ever asked me questions about being deaf. Yes, I said, nodding my head.  “But you're not as deaf [...]
Culture Wed, Nov 12 2008

The Last Lecture–And the Deaf Connection
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World “For the next BookHands meeting, we're going to read The Last Lecture by Jeffrey Zaslow,” announced Tanya Hammersmith.  We had gathered at Patti Phadke's house during the recent Sunday and had just finished a discussion of Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks.   I was really excited about Tanya's pick, because it was a book on my [...]
Media Language Audism Art and Storytelling Tech Culture Fri, Nov 07 2008

Wordless Wednesday–A Special Wall in my Office
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World I had these four plaques scattered in various spots around the house–one was in a nightstand drawer, two were in boxes and one was in an office drawer.   One day last year, I gathered them all together and hung them above the key holder in my office.   The small one on the upper left was a [...]
Art and Storytelling Culture Wed, Nov 05 2008

Equip for Equality Fundraiser
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World Last night, I attended a fundraiser for Equip for Equality, a non-profit organization that provides legal assistance for people with disabilities.  I attended as the guest of Patrick Hughes, owner of Inclusion Solutions who co-chaired the fundraiser.  You may remember Patrick from this interview over at Diversity, Inc.: Patrick Hughes, President of Inclusion Solutions...
Language Audism Tech Culture Wed, Oct 29 2008

Social Networking for Parents of Deaf/Hard of Hearing Kids
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World   There's a nifty little community building up over at Ning: Parents of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Kids If you're a parent of a deaf or hard of hearing child/children, come and join us! Bookmark me! More »
Media Tech Culture Mon, Oct 27 2008

A Week of Networking, and a Birthday
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World What a week. On Wednesday, I met with Donna Cutting, author of The Celebrity Experience: Insider Secrets to Delivering Red Carpet Customer Service at Maggianos, one of my favorite restaurants.  It was the first time for Donna to dine at Maggianos and I think I successfully converted her into a Maggianos junkie. We talked about everything [...]
Language Fri, Oct 24 2008

Working with Your IEP Team
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World With three kids on Individual Education Plans (IEPs), we've killed a couple of trees throughout the years with the paperwork that gets generated by the schools when developing each kid's IEP plan.  Once  a year (and sometimes more if we have something to change), I meet with each child's team to go over the goals and [...]
Education Legal Mon, Oct 20 2008

Blog Action Day–Taking Action to Make a Difference
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World The day is here:  Blog Action Day.  Today, over 10,000 blogs will spotlight the issue of poverty and raise funds to make a difference.  Kudos to Easton Ellsworth and the team behind Blog Action Day. I thought long and hard about what I wanted to blog about today.  My kids are deaf and hard of hearing and [...]
Language Education Tech Culture Wed, Oct 15 2008

The Importance of Fundraising And Getting Involved
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World I love what I'm seeing on the web today– people working together–raising awareness, funding non-profit organizations and supporting causes.  Today, I want to share a few things that are important to me and I hope you'll take a moment to get involved as well. I've long been involved with supporting Hands & Voices and you may [...]
Education Culture Fri, Oct 10 2008

Stepmom Shares Life with Deaf Twins
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World I love Twitter. Over on Twitter, I've been able to network and connect with a variety of people that I probably wouldn't have gotten to know through normal networking channels. I consider Twitter to be my virtual watercooler– I go over there to hang out during my breaks and I get to join in numerous [...]
Education Culture Wed, Oct 08 2008

Are You Comfortable Being Deaf/Hard of Hearing?
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World “My son has some issues with being hard of hearing,” a mom recently shared with me. I glanced at her son. He seemed ill at ease. I nodded. And I understood. Because you see, I was in that kid's shoes many years ago. I grew up hard of hearing and when [...]
Language Education Tech Culture Mon, Oct 06 2008

Karen Putz Talks to The Celebrity Experience Author
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World Donna Cutting, author of The Celebrity Experience is on a Book Tour and today's stop is right here!  Donna and I met at the SOBCon'08 conference. You may recall Donna from a previous post where I reviewed her book and wondered, What Would Happen if Steak ‘n Shake Rolled Out the Red Carpet for Their [...]
Media Legal Sat, Sep 27 2008

Karen Putz and Amy Derby Do Lunch
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World  I don't remember who suggested it first, but I found myself writing down “lunch with Amy Derby” on my calendar last week.   Yesterday, I headed out to her town to pick her up. I'm bad with directions, she wrote.  You might want to Mapquest it. I've got a navigator in my van,  I told her.  I'm sure I [...]
Culture Wed, Sep 24 2008

Enter the D-Pan ASL Music Give Away Here!
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World     I recently had the opportunity to chat with D-Pan founder, Sean Forbes, via videophone.  D-Pan is a company that produces popular music videos signed in American Sign Language.  Sean became deaf at the age of one from spinal menigitis.  The son of two musicians, Sean was the only one of his two brothers to pursue a [...]
Media Fri, Sep 19 2008

I Won 150,000!
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World There I was, sitting back and typing away at an article for Disaboom when an instant message popped up on the screen. Hello. It was a screen name that I didn't recognize but I'm always getting instant messages from parents of deaf and hard of hearing children or other writers. I typed back. Hi. Who [...]
Culture Thu, Sep 11 2008

Guest Blogger–Another Mom's Journey
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World Today's post is from a close friend of mine, Sue Klytta. Sue and I met back in college and we've shared a lot together, including raising deaf and hard of hearing kids. We've had many conversations over the years about our kids and we've shook our heads at the twisting roads that we've [...]
Language Audism Education Tech Culture Tue, Sep 09 2008

My Son, The Football Player
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World Early last year, my oldest son David, a sophomore in high school, announced that he wanted to play football. Inwardly, I cringed. Football is not a sport that I'm fond of. At least not anymore. I used to love watching football games with the hubby years ago. For several years, [...]
Culture Tue, Sep 02 2008

I Want to Live–Captioned Version
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World Dear Bill Crestwell: Thank you.  Thank you.  And thank you, again. Back in June, I wrote a post over at Disaboom about how frustrated I was to navigate through You Tube videos without captions.  I shared one of my favorite songs and posted the lyrics in the blog.  Along came Bill Crestwell.  He left a comment: “Don't forget, [...]
Media Art and Storytelling Tech Sat, Aug 30 2008

Once Upon A Time... I Started Blogging
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World On a fine summer day, two years ago in July, I sat down in front of some blogging software. Blogger, it was called. “Why don't I start my own blog!” I said to myself. I figured it would be nothing more than an online journal where I could entertain my family and my friends. Blogger prompted [...]
Legal Culture Tue, Aug 19 2008

Embracing the Identity of Being Deaf and Hard of Hearing
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World When I was growing up, I wasn't comfortable being hard of hearing.  I hid my hearing aid under my hair and as soon as I arrived home from school, I tossed it on a ledge.  I never touched the hearing aid during the summer.  You'd almost never find me asserting myself by telling someone, “I'm hard of [...]
Language Audism Education Tech Culture Thu, Jul 31 2008

Kids At Camp–Mom is Partying!
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World  Yes, those are my kids at left.  Aren't they just adorable?  I sent them all off to camp this week.  Of course, they're a lot older than they look in the photo. Last night, the hubby and I broke out the Blackberry wine from St. Julian's Winery and we watched TV in bed, sipping the fruity [...]
Language Culture Tue, Jul 29 2008

Steak ‘n Shake — Filing a Complaint for...
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World It was bound to happen.  For the last two days, friends have been sending me the news articles about Karen Tumeh, a deaf woman from Nebraska who is suing the McDonald's corporation for refusing to provide access in the drive thru.   Sounds familiar, doesn't it?  Back in January, my son and I had the drive thru window closed [...]
Audism Tech Legal Fri, Jul 18 2008

We Are Indeed, Hands & Voices
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World Every year, it gets better. Beth Donofrio and I headed out to Breckenridge last Thursday for the annual Hands & Voices Leadership Workshop.  Beth is a close friend of mine as well as an Illinois Hands & Voices board member.  She's a mom of five kids, with lots of experience in assisting parents of deaf and [...]
Language Education Wed, Jul 16 2008

Socialization for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Kids
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World As I was driving home from the mall today, I watched the six kids in the back as they chatted with each other.  The two high school boys were conversing using mostly their voice, with some signs thrown in.  The three girls were animatedly using American Sign Language. Eyebrows arched, shoulders shrugged and cheeks puffed as [...]
Language Education Culture Tue, Jul 08 2008

Deaf and Hard of Hearing People at the Drive-Thru–Go Inside!
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World I've been getting a rash of new comments on the Steak ‘n Shake incident at my old blog site.  All of the recent messages have the same comment:  Deaf and hard of hearing people are not welcomed at the drive-thru.  Go inside! Here are some of the messages that were left: Employee said... Karen, I do regret that this [...]
Audism Legal Tue, Jul 01 2008

Welcome to my World, Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Hearing–Entwined
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World On Saturday morning, we headed up to Busse Woods for the annual West Suburban Association of the Deaf picnic.  This year, the picnic was sponsored by CSDVRS Clear Blue, a program by the relay company that aims to give back to the Deaf Community.  They provided lunch and drinks for everyone.  Joe, my hubby, volunteered at the [...]
Higher Education Language Culture Mon, Jun 16 2008

Discovering the Deaf Gene in my Family
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World   From left to right: Thomas Friedman, Penny Friedman, Dr. Andrew Griffith, Karen Putz and Anne Madeo   For many years, my family was unique when it came to stories about hearing loss.   Everyone in my family, for five generations, was born with hearing in the normal range.  My Mom started losing her hearing as a teen.  She [...]
Fri, Jun 13 2008

Identifying the Deaf Gene
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World From left to right: Thomas Friedman, Penny Friedman, Dr. Andrew Griffith, Karen Putz and Anne Madeo       For many years, my family was unique when it came to stories about hearing loss.   Everyone in my family, for five generations, was born with hearing in the normal range.  My Mom started losing her hearing as a teen.  She [...]
Tech Wed, Jun 11 2008

Football, I Hate Football
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World I hate football. There.  I said it. My oldest kiddo is in football camp at his high school.  I tried to talk him out of it, but it fell on deaf ears (oh yeah, pun intended!).  So here I am at Panera Bread each morning as I wait for him to sweat out two hours of hitting [...]
Language Tue, Jun 10 2008

What If Steak ‘n Shake Gave Customers the Red Carpet?
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World On the flight home from Oahu, I dove into The Celebrity Experience: Insider Secrets to Delivering Red Carpet Customer Service written by Donna Cutting.  I met Donna at the SOBCon ‘08 conference — what a warm, engaging person she is!   Donna speaks all over the country on the topic of improving customer service and she [...]
Audism Legal Mon, Jun 02 2008

Deaf American Gladiator Competitor Wins!
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World “Hey, check this out!” said the hubby, pointing at the TV.  A handsome guy stood next to Hulk Hogan on the American Gladiators show.  As he turned his head, I noticed a cochlear implant on his right ear. I had never watched American Gladiator before, but I did cover the death of Shelley Beattie, the deaf American [...]
Media Culture Fri, May 30 2008