Deaf Echo

HB 1207 – A New Concern on the Horizon for the Indiana...
Deaf Echo 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 [...]
Fri, Feb 10 2012

Deaf Resource Availability for the Urban-ly Challenged
Deaf Echo I was born in a small town.  And I live in a small town.  Oh those small communities.* Okay, so my town may not be Mayberry; we do actually have modern conveniences like electricity and cable TV.  But how do you find the best resources when the nearest deaf “person” is your neighbor’s 15-year-old dog? [...]
Wed, Feb 08 2012

My Letter to the Indiana Senate Appropriations Committee...
Deaf Echo Dear Senator: My name is Dr. Christopher Jon Heuer, and my dissertation, professional research, and work all fall within the fields of literacy, language acquisition, and Deaf Education. HB 1367 will soon come before you for review. I hope you will consider my arguments against it and oppose it. At the very least, I [...]
Thu, Feb 02 2012

Consider What You’re Fighting to Win–My Post on Hear...
Deaf Echo For the background on the story, see Michele Westfall's recent DeafEcho.com article. The following is a recent update on the issue: HB 1367 apparently passed in the House in Indiana, and will soon make its way toward a final vote (with amendments). Below is a slightly revised version (note to the general audience: don't post [...]
Mon, Jan 30 2012

Indiana School for the Deaf vs. Hear Indiana
Deaf Echo 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 [...]
Wed, Jan 25 2012

iPads at 347: The ASL Location Parameter
Deaf Echo With this lesson, I wanted to use iPads as a recording tool instead of being the main focus. My class is exploring the different parameters of ASL: handshape, location, and movement. There are two others (palm orientation and non-manual markers) but I'm saving those for a later unit. I have a funny relationship with the [...]
Sun, Jan 08 2012

IN SEARCH OF DEEP SIGN 7: death people
Deaf Echo There is a child somewhere who has not heard of death. There is always a child who has not heard of death and always a child breathing who does not think of stopping breath, or even that it could be stopped, making a rhythm of despair. Subtle, yet textured in their ignorance they are [...]
Wed, Jan 04 2012

Notes from a Helicopter Dad
Deaf Echo 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 [...]
Fri, Dec 30 2011

Don’t Blame Yourself: How We Flew Under the Radar for 15...
Deaf Echo 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 [...]
Wed, Dec 28 2011

My Two Cents: Cochlear Implants
Deaf Echo 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 [...]
Thu, Dec 22 2011

ABC Family’s Switched at Birth Returns Jan. 3!
Deaf Echo ABC Family’s Switched at Birth, starring Katie Leclerc and Sean Berdy, returns for its Winter Premiere on Tuesday, January 3rd at 8/7c! Various video clips of the show are now available! Please visit the show's official site! Switched at Birth, a one-hour scripted drama, tells the story of two teenage girls who discover [...]
Tue, Dec 20 2011

AG Bell is in the past
Deaf Echo Many in the signing community feel strongly that the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (AG Bell) is not relevant anymore.  The auditory and oral approaches use the weakest point of a deaf or hard of hearing individual to teach language; which is ridiculous, especially when there's a perfectly serviceable [...]
Thu, Dec 15 2011

Frontrunners in Ghana
Deaf Echo Not too long ago I was backpacking in Central America, exploring the nomad’s life through three different countries. Having said this, I recall meeting a deaf dude at a cafe in Costa Rica. He expounded to me about a leadership program in Denmark infused with leaders. He said the leadership program consisted of an [...]
Thu, Dec 08 2011

ASL Literature, Reborn on the iPad
Deaf Echo 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 [...]
Tue, Dec 06 2011

i was a deaf child
Deaf Echo i was a deaf child. It was me Stumbling, Somewhat confounded By the towering blocks of An invisible maze that i Physically slammed into With your every determination It was my young, blank-slate life That you painted bitter, Folded into neat perfection And tucked away on a dusty shelf In a cabinet that you [...]
Thu, Dec 01 2011

Could you close those hatches?
Deaf Echo (Photo by Mr. T in DC) I’m working at an essay on an early Greyhound about to depart Washington for New York City. All of a sudden, the driver stands up.  “Close those hatches, folks. That stuff is going to jump out on you,” he says. Despite the groggy hour, passengers pop up to stuff [...]
Tue, Nov 29 2011

An Open Letter to Deafblind People Out There
Deaf Echo 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 [...]
Tue, Nov 22 2011

Cued Speech and ASL—Why I Use Both
Deaf Echo 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 [...]
Thu, Nov 17 2011

Sheldon Avenue
Deaf Echo 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 [...]
Tue, Nov 15 2011

The Canary in the Coal Mine
Deaf Echo Just as I’m flying to California State University Northridge to present at their Deaf College Student Leadership Conference, I was reading a copy of Newsweek. There was a story on the infectious appeal of the #Occupy Wall Street movement. One particular quote stood out to me: “In 2008 vast new numbers of Americans transformed [...]
Thu, Nov 10 2011

Announcement: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Showing at...
Deaf Echo ...an ASL rendition of Jabberwocky, lots of nonsense in-between, and a video clip of Gallaudet President Alan Hurwitz and First Lady Vicki Hurwitz at the end of the play!” -Tami Santimyer, Director Announcing Director Tami Santimyer's new play: “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland!” Where: Model Secondary School for the Deaf, Thea...
Wed, Nov 09 2011

From Sesame Street to Self-Discovery
Deaf Echo Ninety-five percent of deaf children have hearing parents. What does that mean? It means that many of us are used to being the only deaf person in the family, in the community, or in school unless we are at a deaf school. It means that our family is our first introduction to the ways [...]
Tue, Nov 08 2011

November 2nd Showings for Oren Kaplan’s “The Hammer” in the...
Deaf Echo Oren Kaplan's “The Hammer” will make its next showing in theaters in the Bay Area on November 2nd, 2011! The movie is about Deaf Wrestler Matt Hamill and how he persevered to become the first Deaf NCAA champion in wrestling. The movie is in English and ASL and is completely open-captioned so that Deaf [...]
Sat, Oct 29 2011

Your Child’s Best Advocate
Deaf Echo “The best defense is a good offense.” These are words to live by for parents advocating for their deaf child.  While the professionals—doctors, therapists, teachers, early intervention coordinators, school boards—may truly believe they have the child’s best interests in mind, it is up to the parents to digest all their recommendations and stand up [....
Wed, Oct 26 2011

Walking the wiggly red line
Deaf Echo Anyone who has seen my Facebook page, Twitter feed, or blog knows that I teach college English and writing. Fewer know that the posts about my failures and triumphs would have looked like drunken freshman scribbling if not for cyberediting. Since the semester began, I have been checking and double checking the spelling and syntax [...]
Mon, Oct 24 2011

Black
Deaf Echo Crouching with you in the black as men tear each other apart and enter tents uninvited. But I will never really know. Around us, so many flapping mouths— Tongues flash and flounder, bear gleaming teeth while sounds tumble from their open pockets, scraping floors when there is nothing worth saying. As I show [...]
Wed, Oct 19 2011

MTV Comes to Gallaudet!
Deaf Echo A preview video clip of MTV's upcoming “Quiet Campus” depicts quite a few Gallaudet University students showing immense pride in their campus and community. However it is unlikely that MTV is going to in fact find a “quiet campus.”  Says Catherine Murphy, a spokeswoman for the university: Students here are just like students anywh...
Tue, Oct 18 2011

Announcing Deaf Echo’s Parents of Deaf Children Information...
Deaf Echo Deaf Echo has begun an ongoing project to make crucial yet balanced information about deafness available for parents of deaf children. We are attempting to do a few things here that, to the best of our knowledge, are either not being done or else are not being done to the extent needed. Deaf Echo’s [...]
Mon, Oct 17 2011

Deaf and Hearing People in Conversation: The Differences
Deaf Echo It’s interesting to observe how Deaf and hearing people converse with their peers. There are a few noticeable differences (Disclaimer—these are just general observations... there are of course numerous exceptions): 1. Deaf people tend to be more visual in their conversations. They use their hands to demonstrate something that they are describing. Hearing peopl...
Thu, Oct 13 2011

The YouTube Video You Don’t See
Deaf Echo 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 [...]
Sat, Oct 08 2011

A Flawed System
Deaf Echo There was a brief time when I could not have cared less if my deaf son ever knew any ASL.  I wanted him only to be oral.  I figured if he got a cochlear implant, he wouldn’t “need” sign language, so why learn it?  As irrational as it sounds, I almost feared him becoming [...]
Thu, Oct 06 2011
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Who Would We Be If We Weren’t Deaf?
Deaf Echo We as Deaf folks are defined by our deafness.  Our deafness makes us who we are and shapes our way of thinking and moral structure. Being deaf makes people treat us in different ways, both good and bad. It propels us to make our decisions in a certain way and shapes our life philosophy [...]
Thu, Sep 29 2011

An Open Letter to Starkey Hearing?
Deaf Echo Dear Starkey, Are you willing to really support the Deaf community? (The question isn’t a taunt – it’s almost hopeful, and honestly meant). Thus far you’ve been willing to take on Deaf people representing you. Now you’re looking for Deaf youth to represent you internationally. Both of these I think are great things. Now, I’d [...]
Mon, Sep 26 2011

Empty Messages
Deaf Echo During a discussion I had with several co-workers today while we attended a statewide curriculum meeting, the facilitator came to our table to look at what we wrote on the poster and gave us a thumbs-up sign. I then told my co-workers that I had been scarred when I was in middle school by the [...]
Tue, Sep 20 2011

Propaganda and Legislation a la AG Bell
Deaf Echo Propaganda is the spreading of an idea or falsehoods to promote and propagate an agenda in this case the idea and ideology is the notion that to hear and / or behave as a hearing person is superior to being Deaf.  This notion is known as AUDISM and it is not cool From the AG [...]
Tue, Sep 13 2011

It’s possible for businesses to be deaf friendly!
Deaf Echo The Washington Times has a great article here about how the H Street corridor in Washington, DC near Gallaudet University is now a hot spot for deaf friendly bars, restaurants, and clubs.  As much as 10 percent of any given establishments' revenue comes from deaf patrons from the area. The amazing thing is that this has [...]
Thu, Sep 08 2011

The Problem of Speaking
Deaf Echo I’ve adopted a saying lately: “Nothing is without weight.” I say this to myself in my mind as I go through my day, as my meanderings are halted with the shock of seeing speaking in front of me when I had barely become accustomed to the relief and comfort of visual communication (on what [...]
Tue, Sep 06 2011

Signed Languages and the iPad
Deaf Echo The coolest thing about the iPad, for me, is that it becomes basically this powerful walking library. Yeah, it has games. Forget that. BOOKS. MOVIES. COMICS. DICTIONARIES. AUGMENTED REALITY PLANETARIUMS. And all this is in your hand – or your backpack. Now, several countries are releasing SL apps and we have the benefit of becoming [...]
Thu, Sep 01 2011

Chance Favors the Prepared Mind
Deaf Echo It seems that, talking to people over the years, the vast majority agree that our junior high school years are remembered as the most dreadful, the most difficult.  Bullying is often referred to as the source and reason that brought about memories that some even remember as traumatic. In my own junior high years, [...]
Wed, Aug 31 2011

The Whiplash of Audism
Deaf Echo   Two by two, they filed into the Temple of Audism, these hopeful Supplicants to the God Locutus. Within, they met the Oracles of Locutus, with their full beards and smarmy smiles. “Your Child shall be healed,” the Oracles cried.  “But first, thee and he must drink from the River Lethe.” “Its waters shall help [...]
Fri, Aug 26 2011

THE NAD, THE AFA, AND TWO BELLS
Deaf Echo The National Association of the Deaf had recently joined an action against AGB by a group called “Audism Free America,” composed mostly of Deaf people fighting against perceived audism—situations (created or natural) where Deaf people experience discrimination. During this action – which was mostly people and children holding signs, peacefully –...
Thu, Aug 18 2011

In Which I Call Out The National Association Of The Deaf
Deaf Echo I am very disturbed by the news that the National Association of the Deaf has decided to ally with Audism Free America, a militant deaf organization that has defaced private property belonging to the Alexander Graham Bell for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Audism Free America is a militant deaf organization that does not [...]
Mon, Aug 15 2011

Stuff Deaf People Like #6: Kitchens
Deaf Echo Kitchens are a very special place to deaf people. It is the only room in a house that is important. If you want to find a deaf person, go check your kitchen. There are probably one or fifty in there. Check all the corners, sometimes they are hiding in there chatting up a storm. If [...]
Wed, Aug 10 2011

A Visual Language Manifesto
Deaf Echo An concept clouds the minds of mankind, the concept of the importance of human speech.  This pernicious idea has caused suffering to deaf people around the world. Human speech is unique in that it requires the organ of the ear to function.  It doesn't matter if you are a Bushman of the Kalahari desert or [...]
Fri, Jul 29 2011

Advocacy Resources for Deaf, Deaf-Blind, and...
Deaf Echo [Editor's Note: The following is a list of contact information for survivors of domestic/sexual violence and/or stalking.  It is meant to be Part III of Deaf Echo author Adrienne Gravish's What Does It Mean to Be a d/Deaf Woman Living a Life That is Free of Violence series.   This information has been recently updated.] [...]
Tue, Jul 26 2011

“JUST GO ELSEWHERE:” Netflix, Deafhood, and why separate...
Deaf Echo You've seen them by now: the vitriolic comments under news columns about the NAD suit against Netflix to begin providing captions for all its content, not just randomly chosen items. Let's talk about this, let's talk about what this implies for American Deafhood, and let's compare this to other such items in American history. Let's [...]
Mon, Jul 18 2011

What Does It Mean to Be a d/Deaf Woman Living a Life That...
Deaf Echo How may our communities support the empowerment of Deaf survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, and stalking? Continue to support Deaf-focused domestic violence organizations in your community. Organizations such as Deaf Abused Women’s Network (D.A.W.N.) in Washington, DC, and Deaf Hope in Oakland, California are still working to erase barriers that keep Deaf...
Fri, Jul 15 2011

What Does It Mean to Be a d/Deaf Woman Living a Life That...
Deaf Echo Individually: It means knowing we deserve love, respect and safety. It means feeling secure in our ideas, personal choices, right to autonomy, humanity, and d/Deaf identity. It means that our relationships, friendships, and communities affirm the same to us. It means that in a relationship, we are not demeaned, ignored, or belittled. Our ASL, English, [...]
Sat, Jul 09 2011

An Interview with Keith Nolan
Deaf Echo [Author's note: I have known Keith as a colleague and classmate in deaf education.  While watching Keith’s story through the Tedxislay series, I saw his perseverance and the can-do attitude I have known and adored.  While I knew he would be a good role model for his students, I instantly saw what a good role [...]
Mon, Jul 04 2011

Deaf at the Drive Thru
Deaf Echo In the days before iPhones, internet and video chat, the Deaf Community was limited in ways to communicate long distance. Local Deaf Clubs served as a way for deaf people to gather and communicate in the way they were most comfortable, in person. Many thought of the gatherings as a way to preserve American Sign [...]
Wed, Jun 29 2011