Musings on communication

Closed Captions--Much Better with DTV
Musings on communication The coupons arrived in the mail last week for $40 discounts on digital-to-analog TV converters. I did worry about whether digital TV would display captions, so held off on buying any digital-ready TVs. Why? I had more TVs than people living here. Bah. Besides, I thought, when they all stop working after the digital broadcasts began, DVDs would...
Media Audism Tech Sun, May 04 2008 · hide this blog

The Next Step in a Deaf Life
Musings on communication After putting it off at least four times, I went and DID IT. Put in my notice to the company and sent in an application for early retirement as of June 1 this year. My hearing coworkers don't know about it yet, but will be told two weeks before The Date. My Deaf coworkers and friends have known about it for a long time."You're nuts" said someone (or did I im...
Language Tech Culture Thu, Apr 17 2008 · hide this blog

Grabbing the Child's Chin
Musings on communication The following video clip made me smile; a deafened child has a CI newly activated. She babbles in delight. Her mom says this still continues since the trip home from the auditory clinic.On watching it, however, I had goosebumps, and it was not good. Watch as the child's mother repeatedly nudges her chin to make her look at her mother's face.&n...
Language Education Tech Sun, Apr 13 2008 · hide this blog

CODA Comedian Keith Wann
Musings on communication The auditorium was packed full with NTID students, interpreting students, and students from the networking skills seminar that threw it in with their program offerings. Constructed especially for students to see the stage clearly, the Webb Auditorium seats were steeply cantilevered down, requiring the leaping agility of a mountain goat to reac...
Higher Education Language Art and Storytelling Tech Culture Sat, Apr 12 2008 · hide this blog

The CI Made Obsolete!
Musings on communication It is April 1, 2011 and the cochlear implant is made obsolete by: the external cochlear accessory.In development for over 25 years and tested for the past 10, the new accessory involves no surgery.A deaf inventor, Robert Weitbrecht Pauling, decided in 1982 that surgery was unneccessary to carry impulses to cochlear nerves and be...
Language Audism Education Tech Culture Tue, Apr 01 2008 · hide this blog

Invisible in the Waiting Room
Musings on communication Waiting rooms have to be the purgatory of Deaf people. They sit there among dozens of hearing people, and woe be to them if it happens to be an emergency department in a large hospital.They sit, and sit, and sit, while people mill around, flowing in and out and through, and the occasional new person gets called up before one, despite having arrived earlier. One c...
Culture Thu, Mar 20 2008 · hide this blog

Strange Job Experiences--What we don't hear
Musings on communication The University campus was nearly deserted. It was Christmas Break, three weeks long, and I hadn't picked up my mail for the past two weeks. At that time, slick magazines were beefing up their subscriber lists with outrageous offers such as 12 subscriptions for $1 each. My mailbox had a yellow note to pick up additional mail at the window. Sure enough, there ...
Higher Education Art and Storytelling Sun, Jan 27 2008 · hide this blog

Strange Job Experiences--End of Premedical Studies
Musings on communication The fall semester began with no calls from the employment agency. In the hustle of working part-time, charting estrus cycles on 300 rats on a daily basis and starting junior classes, I had little time to think about my abortive attempt to relocate to Washington DC.One morning there was a panicky note inserted in the lab books...it was from my boss, Dr. ...
Thu, Jan 24 2008 · hide this blog Moved from DeafRead Extra

Strange Job Experiences--The Angry Placement Officer
Musings on communication By the time the bus arrived at Farragut Square, it was pouring rain and the rush hour had begun. I reached the agency barely in time, slipping in just as the doorman was locking the revolving doors. With wet hair, sweaty face and damp clothes, I was allowed to wait in the bald man's office for him to return from a conference. Writing a summary of the day, I...
Higher Education Audism Wed, Jan 23 2008 · hide this blog

Strange Job Experience--A Secret Laboratory
Musings on communication Soon we arrived at a chain-link fence with a sliding gate and a NO ADMITTANCE WITHOUT PASS sign on it. Behind it stood an armed, uniformed guard. He let the car through to a small city of temporary buildings set on cinderblocks. I was shown into a waiting room with a small table. On this were forms for me along with a platter of small French sweets and...
Higher Education Language Culture Tue, Jan 22 2008 · hide this blog

Strange Job Experiences--Near Gallaudet
Musings on communication On arriving in Washington, I took a taxi to the Penn House on East Capitol Avenue, a church-run boarding house for pacifist lobbyists in Congress. Fortunately, Congress was out of session for the summer so I had a bed for the weekImmediately I set about looking for work. The first place was an employment agency in downtown Washington, where a bald ...
Tue, Jan 15 2008 · hide this blog

Strange Job Experiences: Missing Gallaudet
Musings on communication "Mom, " I told her, "if determination accomplishes anything, I'll make it." Mom was correct in predicting, though, that it would be the most difficult period of my life. The best thing I had going for me was complete naivete how hard it actually would be.Exciting as starting class was at the University, I knew that being the only deaf student there with zero...
Higher Education Art and Storytelling Mon, Jan 14 2008 · hide this blog

Strange Job Experiences--Leaving Gallaudet
Musings on communication The second summer, Dr. Cohen welcomed me back and assigned me as a lab technician to Dr. Burnell.Dr. Burnell was a quiet giant, easily carrying 25-gallon carboys of DDW from the distilling room and swinging them to the top shelf above the sinks. He spent many long hours "discussing" his research with me, writing on white paper spread across all the lab bench...
Higher Education Art and Storytelling Culture Sun, Jan 13 2008 · hide this blog

Strange Job Experiences--The First Deaf Roadblock
Musings on communication The atmosphere in the lab was festive, like the last day of school before summer. Benches were pushed beneath desks, glassware all washed and put away, and chemicals stowed in cabinets. Several graduates of iced tea were on the countertops, and platters of food placed in a row along one side of the lab. I still had two more experiments to finish up in o...
Higher Education Language Culture Fri, Jan 11 2008 · hide this blog

Strange Job Experiences--The Operating Room
Musings on communication Dr. Hertz gave me the drill. He paused before the operating suite, and wrote, "Don't touch anything. Don't touch the staff. Don't even touch the doors or anything at all. Just keep your hands on your body till I tell you what you can do." He looked at me, gauging to see if I was ready for the experience. "If you feel funny or faint or anything, tell me and I wil...
Language Wed, Jan 09 2008 · hide this blog

Strange Job Experiences, Part 2
Musings on communication Aw, freakin' bad day. It was Saturday morning and I was running experiments on the blood samples from the day before. Test tubes, with marbles on top to allow steam to escape, were cooking in simmering water on the gas burners. Later I put the cooled tubes into the lab's ultracentrifuge to force protein in the samples into the bottoms of the tubes. ...
Language Art and Storytelling Tue, Jan 08 2008 · hide this blog

Strange Job Experiences
Musings on communication It was the summer after freshman year at Gallaudet. "There's this Dr. Cohen," said my mother, who worked at the University. "He teaches in the medical school and he might have a job for you. Want me to talk to him?" I leapt at the idea. Cool! My dream was to attend medical school after college and this was a huge step up!Dr. Cohen was a homely, rumpled profe...
Higher Education Language Mon, Jan 07 2008 · hide this blog

Scamming Deaf via Sidekick
Musings on communication These days I have been both interested and disturbed by the creativity of scammers trying to get into my bank account, my credit accounts, and my communications. Some are truly scary...they even know my full name, my bank, and my address.I had set up a Facebook account to keep in touch with my kids, and this may be how the scammer got my info. Note: [...]
Wed, Sep 19 2007 · hide this blog Moved from DeafRead Extra

Tony Coelho, Original Author of the ADA
Musings on communication On a recent PBS show, former Congressman Tony Coelho was a panelist interviewed about his own disability: epilepsy, and the fact that he authored the original ADA passed seventeen years ago.His description of his epilepsy as a "condition of the human nature" no different than other variations such as deafness caught my attention immediately. Also what caught [...]
Media Education Legal Culture Mon, Sep 03 2007 · hide this blog

Do Sidekicks make strange noises?
Musings on communication The current blog topics on Deafread.com lately included "farting noises". Admittedly, we Deaf don't know what Hearing people hear of us and this leads to embarrassing moments. Sometimes we over-imagine what they must be hearing, or obsess on what they actually don't pay attention to, for nothing. But I didn't dream that my Sidekick would be one of [...]
Tue, Aug 28 2007 · hide this blog

Sexual Problems caused by Deafness?
Musings on communication In browsing the websites on deaf-related topics, I come across some doozies. Usually they are audistic websites that begin with the premise that being deaf is undesirable, must be fixed, and offers at a premium ($$) an array of gadgets, surgeries and treatments for that horrible condition.Phonak certainly had this approach in its infomercial-style website: [...]
Media Audism Tech Sun, Aug 05 2007 · hide this blog

AGBAD, How Disappointing You Are
Musings on communication The news from your convention is not good, Alexander Graham Bell Association of the Deaf. You were supposed to be a professional organization meeting to discuss the latest developments in your field, but your paranoia generated by panicky reading of the blogs assailing your goals has led you to some unprofessional assumptions.You hysterically instructed [...]
Audism Fri, Jul 27 2007 · hide this blog

Don't like the word DEAF? How about....
Musings on communication Political correctness sometimes swings in weird ways. A while ago we got stuck with "hearing impaired" by those who couldn't bear the word "DEAF" for some kooky reason."Hard of hearing" was the first euphemism, since nearly everybody was using it when they meant DEAF as in deaf as a post. Let us pick that one apart a minute to see why we oppose it. Hard as in [...]
Language Audism Tue, Jun 12 2007 · hide this blog

Deaf at Public Expense?
Musings on communication When I read this article, its implications made me want to rush out of the room, hand over my mouth. Now, there are other articles that say this or that is cost-effective such as curing the common cold or helping children who grow in poverty. No one will argue on that. However, it knocks me for a loop when people say it is [...]
Audism Thu, May 24 2007 · hide this blog

Excerpt: Hearing Writer Against CI Surgery
Musings on communication Dianrez' note: This was the second time I ran across this blog, and noted this time that it had very few hits since being posted, probably because it was referred to Deafread Extra. The content was very important. Here this blog has been edited, and boldface added to make reading/skimming easier.This writer (Janis of the blog A Taste for [...]
Education Culture Thu, May 03 2007 · hide this blog

Certified Postlingually Deaf???
Musings on communication It began with a blog posted by Ben Vess (Der Sankt) in which he felt insulted when a commenter asked if he was postlingually deaf because his English was too good and many commenters replied with similar experiences. I added, "...maybe we should put a "Certified 100% Prelingually Deaf" on our [...]
Language Sat, Apr 28 2007 · hide this blog

Saturday, April 28, 2007
Musings on communication --- It began with a blog posted by Ben Vess (Der Sankt) in which he felt insulted when a commenter asked if he was prelingually deaf because his English was too good and many commenters replied with similar experiences. I added, "...maybe we should put a "Certified 100% Prelingually Deaf" on our blogs?"Banjo, also a gifted Photoshop artist, joined in [...]
Language Audism Culture Sat, Apr 28 2007 · hide this blog

Cartoon: Pitfalls of the Sidekick
Musings on communication This strip is from For Better or for Worse by Lynn Johnston, a Canadian artist. Who among us doesn't identify with this?www.fbofw.com/
Art and Storytelling Mon, Apr 23 2007 · hide this blog

Eliminate All Deaf People?
Musings on communication Once I read a story by a freelance science fiction writer who was a government supervisor in Baltimore. He wrote hypothetically about a brave new world where Deaf people were surgically cured as standard treatment. The government had passed a law that required all disabled people to have surgical treatment, but there were some Deaf holdouts who [...]
Audism Culture Tue, Apr 17 2007 · hide this blog

Deaf Murder Trial---Motive : Why?
Musings on communication As a person educated in the social sciences, I wondered how criminal behavior begins and why there seemed to be a lower incidence of criminal behavior among the Deaf. It seemed reasonable that hearing probably had a factor...the deaf child doesn't pick up the negative influences that leads hearing children astray. Or...if education and social modeling [...]
Sun, Apr 08 2007 · hide this blog

Deaf Brain...input by "hearing" or "seeing"?
Musings on communication How do Deaf people learn to read?Hearing people learn language by hearing and associating sound with printed words. Do born-deaf people associate signs and hand movements with printed words?In brain scans, the parts of the brain responsible for sound become active when a hearing person reads. However, when a deaf person reads, both the "auditory" [...]
Sat, Mar 31 2007 · hide this blog

Lies and Exaggerations by Professionals
Musings on communication Every now and then I become annoyed at the so-called "professionals" that earn their living off deaf and hard of hearing people and their parents.Understandably, they want to protect (and increase) their livelihood, so they are not going to tell you of other options. They will tell that you can increase hearing, understanding, [...]
Tue, Mar 27 2007 · hide this blog

Amazing Asian Deaf Dance Video
Musings on communication This film clip was discovered on YouTube and I just had to share it with DeafRead readers! I am guessing this is from China, so if anybody who knows better, please correct me! Here you see a Chinese dramatization with a Deaf signing hostess and her show is appropriately based upon the legend of Kuan Yin of the thousand arms.
Mon, Mar 19 2007 · hide this blog

Thoughts on the DEAF-MUTE Sign
Musings on communication The current discussion began with Ella Lentz suggesting that we own the English term "deaf-mute" as a cultural identity and then evolved into a debate on whether it can be part of the still-evolving concept of Deafhood. I jumped in, objecting strenuously to accepting the term because of the negative connotations attached to it by Hearing people.Actually, it was a term [...]
Fri, Mar 16 2007 · hide this blog

Execute a Deaf criminal?
Musings on communication Daphne is accused of murder and a jury is now being selected for her. Not just any murder, but a most gruesome murder involving dismemberment and scattering of body parts recalling the worst of TV and movie horror flicks.Think of it. This case is well publicized: it involves a female defendant, lesbianism, revenge, a victim killed for loyalty to a third woman who [...]
Mon, Mar 12 2007 · hide this blog

Don't you dare call me that!
Musings on communication DEAF MUTE. The very term makes me bristle. I show fangs, bare claws, and utter a purposely terrifying hiss of outrage. Nobody calls me a deaf mute. Let alone hearing people, and much less medical people who actually defend their use of the expression by shoving at me a copy of Stedman's Medical Dictionary. See, they say, it is a medical condition. It is described very [...]
Fri, Mar 02 2007 · hide this blog

(Updated) Malkowski's Update to Alert! from Canada
Musings on communication Note: This blog has been updated to include contact names and addresses in the Comment section for readers who wish to send letters of support or concern. ~D.Gary Malkowski generously sent an update about the exclusion of Deaf children from ASL training if they receive cochlear implants with auditory-verbal training (AVT). Thanks, Gary! You sent over 25 pages, so [...]
Fri, Feb 23 2007 · hide this blog

Malkowski's Update to Alert! from Canada
Musings on communication Gary Malkowski generously sent an update about the exclusion of Deaf children from ASL training if they receive cochlear implants with auditory-verbal training (AVT). Thanks, Gary! You sent over 25 pages, so this is necessarily a condensed version.The Infant Hearing Program reported in 2005-2006 that:Of 214 babies with permanent hearing loss, 115 were fitted with [...]
Wed, Feb 21 2007 · hide this blog

Re: Alert! from Canada
Musings on communication It was common knowledge in Ontario that parents of deaf children undergoing cochlear implant surgery are asked to commit fully to auditory verbal training (AVT), to the point that sign language is excluded from the child's training. Patricia Raswant blogged it, and when Jamie Berke asked for proof, Patti gave the links to the Canadian Hearing Society (CHS) position [...]
Sat, Feb 17 2007 · hide this blog

Some Thoughts on Vlogs
Musings on communication This will send a message to those who vlog instead of blog. While I love you guys, you take up my time unneccessarily. Here's some comments that might help improve the quality of your vlogs. First:Vlogs....blogs....which do I prefer? Blogs, of course; they can be skimmed and/or skipped depending on my interest at the moment; it takes me just a few minutes daily to [...]
Wed, Feb 14 2007 · hide this blog

Some Thoughts on Vlogs while Snowbound
Musings on communication The snow is coming down hard and the car is plowed in, piling snow up to its windows. Although I arranged for a vacation day in anticipation of the Big Snow, and had planned to get my taxes done, I am finding it more tempting to get caught up on the vlogs that have been piling up unwatched for weeks.Vlogs....blogs....which do I prefer? Blogs, of course; they can be [...]
Wed, Feb 14 2007 · hide this blog

Rabbinical Inspiration
Musings on communication It was in a hearing high school class that I met Michelle. No interpreters were provided, so she and I swapped notes freely during the summer class, sometimes during the field trips, often during the lab sessions. She felt an affinity for the lone deaf student in the class, perhaps due to her own slight hearing impairment. Ever since, we kept in touch as penpals. Her [...]
Sat, Feb 10 2007 · hide this blog

Deaf Culture in 2084
Musings on communication Imagine that in 75 years all schools for the deaf are abolished. Instead, all deaf children will have CI's, handheld electronic reading aids that use voice recognition, and will watch video interpreters on small laptops in their neighborhood schools. Even at that, the ultimate goal is to reduce deafness to a medical condition curable at birth by surgery, like clubfoot [...]
Sat, Jan 27 2007 · hide this blog

Shenanigans in the Last Class
Musings on communication Every classroom has its characters. The Queen Bee was fashionable, imperious, commanded followers, and was an enthusiastic gossip. (notice the adjective was carefully selected.) Queen Bees make the rules; anyone who didn't obey or made up their own rules was fair game for punishment.Then there was the Egghead. She did not listen to anybody but her books, and still had [...]
Fri, Jan 12 2007 · hide this blog

Cut off in an Emergency
Musings on communication In the case of persons who are deaf or hard of hearing, emergency information that is provided in the audio portion of programming must be provided either using closed captioning or other methods of visual presentation, such as open captioning, crawls, or scrolls that appear on the screen.So says the FCC announcement regarding emergency messages on TV. Well and good, [...]
Thu, Jan 04 2007 · hide this blog

Papa Meets His Son's Future
Musings on communication The deaf boy lived near enough to the School so that he could come home for lunch. He was usually prompt, but one day he did not come home until much later in the afternoon. His father knew no sign language, but used gestures the boy understood from infancy. At eight years old, one still did not need much language."Time, gone, Mama cry, where you?" His gesture was [...]
Wed, Jan 03 2007 · hide this blog

Deaf on "Deaf" Identity
Musings on communication Cultural groups, such as the Eskimos of North Alaska refer to themselves as Inuit; which means "Man" in the same way we use the word "Deaf". This example illustrates the generic way "Man" is used:Man, having sense and intellect, changes the environment. However, the environment revertsonce Man has turned his attention elsewhere.I was reminded of this linguistic [...]
Mon, Jan 01 2007 · hide this blog

History and Romance of Old Deaf Schools
Musings on communication It is a rare day when I can go to my old school and sit in the gazebo on its beautifully landscaped campus. There are so many memories of my teen years here, still living as memory images moving around and into the buildings. Long-gone teachers, old-time headmasters, and younger versions of my longtime friends can almost be seen as long as no one breaks into my [...]
Wed, Dec 20 2006 · hide this blog

Divorce, A New Deaf Way
Musings on communication The papers arrived this week. "Judgment of Divorce" with my name as "Plaintiff" and my ex-husband's name as "Defendant". The reason for the divorce is given as "abandonment of the marriage by Defendant."Nearly thirty years ago we married never dreaming this would happen, and now here we are divorced after a very difficult two years. We were two very different deaf [...]
Sun, Dec 17 2006 · hide this blog

On dismissing the CI
Musings on communication The way the cochlear implant has been bandied about in current discussion, one would think it was the bogeyman that would exterminate all good Deaf children unless we all feverishly blogged it to death. Oh, phfft. They said the same thing about oralism, about powerful hearing aids that could be worn on the body, about new smaller electronic hearing aids, even about [...]
Sun, Nov 12 2006 · hide this blog