A Deaf Mom Shares Her World

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 hide this blog flag post bookmark post

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 hide this blog flag post bookmark post

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 hide this blog flag post bookmark post

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 hide this blog flag post bookmark post

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 hide this blog flag post bookmark post

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 hide this blog flag post bookmark post

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 hide this blog flag post bookmark post

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 hide this blog flag post bookmark post

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 hide this blog flag post bookmark post

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 hide this blog flag post bookmark post

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 hide this blog flag post bookmark post

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 hide this blog flag post bookmark post

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 hide this blog flag post bookmark post

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 hide this blog flag post bookmark post

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 hide this blog flag post bookmark post

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 hide this blog flag post bookmark post

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 hide this blog flag post bookmark post

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 hide this blog flag post bookmark post

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 hide this blog flag post bookmark post

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 hide this blog flag post bookmark post

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 hide this blog flag post bookmark post