A figuring out kind of life

Todos la vie met new and old friends at the Deaf Blog...
A figuring out kind of life How deaf/ ASL bloggers/ vLoggers all got together and became friends!! I have learned a great deal from them. Seeing them all in person and laughing together in 3-D was an experience like none other. Mind blowing and heart-warming! Thank you all for the opportunity to [...]
Mon, Feb 04 2008

ASL and Blow-drying Dangerous?
A figuring out kind of life After I did my ASL and Cooking Dangerous ASL clip last summer, I had some thoughts brewing about how to make a sequel. Enjoy!
Fri, Jan 25 2008

How to Have the Right DeafRead Center - a 15-minute Soapbox...
A figuring out kind of life I adapted from a book off the shelf of Borders, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” by Stephen R. Covey, which I haven't read whole and requires at least 22 days of daily use to make one effective habit change, offering luminous reorganizing. Gosh, it's been lovely sunny days in California, and I keep forgetting [...]
Mon, Jan 14 2008

Deaf People, Where do We Fit in America or the World?
A figuring out kind of life I wonder as I wander in my existence as a deaf woman in southern California. There certainly is a wonder to it when we have to travel 30 to 40 miles to chat with someone. I am spontaneous in making plans most of the time. I am a single mother and my [...]
Mon, Jan 07 2008

Put Bilingual Education on the Map!
A figuring out kind of life English version (not transcripted but a version): I googled Parent Infant Program - deaf. Yes, I did. I found a few parent-infant programs in Washington, Florida, Illinois School for the Deaf but none held up a banner of the bilingual philosophy. I added “bilingual” to the google search, and I hit a few websites but would parents type “bilingual”? There are not a lot of top notch bilingual parent infant program websites.
Thu, Dec 20 2007

ASL Interpreters are People, too
A figuring out kind of life
Mon, Dec 10 2007

Nothing is More - The Deaf Identity
A figuring out kind of life
Fri, Dec 07 2007

Using ASL: Read to Deaf Children!
A figuring out kind of life A video of me reading a story to deaf children in Los Angeles. Very enjoyable! It's a Halloween story. Principles for Reading to Deaf Children by David Schleper can be found at the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center website. The video has been edited (it was too [...]
Fri, Nov 02 2007

Distortion Control Function for ASL
A figuring out kind of life Anthropology studies notwithstanding, the human brain naturally controls how loud a person speaks, eats, and chews by way of distortion control function. The brain receives signals if there are loud noises to distort that noise in the ear, thus forcing the person to lower his or her voice, essentially setting up a person's way of speaking to people in a natural...
Fri, Oct 19 2007

ASL-less
A figuring out kind of life Upon writing a research analysis, I've come across adjectives. What a pain in the .... Per a conversation with a friend of mine, if one was born without something and haven't lost anything, how can that person get a loss? A deafie is now newly labeled, "hearing loss, non-hearing, non-implanted, no benefits (of etc.). How would a deaf child f...
Fri, Oct 12 2007

Being a Sports Mommy
A figuring out kind of life Geez, sometimes being a Sports Mom takes a little patience, well maybe a lot. Mary Ruth explains in her vLog about the hardest part of connecting with a sports team (this time, AYSO soccer) in the hearing world for her sweet KODA sweetie (a kid of a deaf adult). It's not always perfect, but we can make do and pick up from there, almost sort of like we always [...]
Tue, Sep 18 2007

Do We need a Reason to Dislike a Blogger/ vLogger?
A figuring out kind of life I have found that I simply do not open up some postings on some blog sites. I'm talking about for when they appear on the aggregated site, Deafread.com or when asl.deafvideo.tv picks up registered users' videoclips through YouTube or when there are links to blogs from comments or however they are appearing on the Internet. I have my favorites and I also [...]
Tue, Sep 11 2007

Teaching Deaf Students While Maintaining API Scores and the...
A figuring out kind of life I'm currently a credential student to get my teaching credential as a Deaf and Hard of Hearing Specialist. With the completion of this credential, I would be teaching as soon as next year without my Masters, but I will get that eventually. Anyway, there's an interesting article posed to me by one of my professors, Far Fewer California Schools Meet [...]
Tue, Sep 11 2007

ASL Signs for "trimester" and "alcoholic"
A figuring out kind of life Mary Ruth asks for the right ASL sign for the English words (separately, of course), "trimester" and "alcoholic" to ensure appropriate semantics and syntactic structure as used in everyday ASL conversation. Some signs signed by interpreters are not always appropriate in ASL concept.
Wed, Aug 29 2007

Farting Behavior
A figuring out kind of life Mary Ruth figures to discuss the confusing conventional requirements as to farting in public and what the proprieties of conduct may be in the traditional public areas as opposed to the deaf community and how much we shall observe in the aftermath of the smelly gas lingering in the air. Mary Ruth has not been much on decorum as of late (though she normally has good [...]
Mon, Aug 27 2007

ASL can help you pass the train tracks
A figuring out kind of life A simple sign goes a long way. Again, this was passed on to me - I'm gonna use the "oldie" adage from LaRonda's response to my recent posting - "an oldie, but a goodie!
Tue, Aug 07 2007

An ASL joke for our critical mass
A figuring out kind of life Mary Ruth will address how we can influence the tipping point of creating more deaf people with these chaotic suggestions - (guys, this is a joke passed on to me - and I know some of you may have already seen it).
Fri, Aug 03 2007

ASL Karaoke
A figuring out kind of life Have anyone of you tried ASL Karaoke? At a recent karaoke bar party, the guest of honor requested this song to be signed by the hoards of us gals, while the guys watched, following highlighted words on a TV screen. Curiously, the hearing audience couldn't follow us (only the music was on), then at the last minute, a man singer came on board. If you watched [...]
Wed, Jun 06 2007

Birthday greeting ASL
A figuring out kind of life Mary Ruth's birthday - song and greeting in ASL...is she missing anything?
Tue, Jun 05 2007

ASL and Cooking Dangerous?
A figuring out kind of life While cutting strawberries, can we finish the task on time while having a decent ASL conversation just like those cooking shows on TV that seem to finish in under 30 minutes?
Sun, Jun 03 2007

You're Hard of Saying!
A figuring out kind of life Mary Ruth shares her own KODA's insightful sense of humor, never before heard of.
Wed, May 23 2007

The difference on "two languages" & "bi-bi" for Deaf theater
A figuring out kind of life Deaf West Theater's recent entry, Sleeping Beauty disappoints the bi-cultural, bilingual model. It merely used two languages - ASL and spoken/sung English and failed to interrelate enough to be bicultural and bilingual experience. How does a deaf theater maintain its business without sacrificing deaf culture and still be accessible to the deaf audience?
Thu, May 10 2007

How to Create a Conversation Diversion at Parties
A figuring out kind of life Mary Ruth talks about bumping into folks at parties who are sitting down elsewhere asking questions point blank that either require long answers or simply need to be diverted. Here's her idea so you can continue on to the bathroom. And yes, note the thumbs up.
Sat, May 05 2007

My Mom's Cancer Limited Me Substantially
A figuring out kind of life Mary Ruth discusses how her mom was diagnosed with uterine cancer about eight years ago, and how she still has not gotten over how helpless she felt as a participant in her medical situation. Though busy with a newborn and other things, she went to assist and to be with her, yet didn't have enough communication access to what the doctors were saying. The only [...]
Wed, May 02 2007

Natural versus "forced" relationships
A figuring out kind of life I'm gonna talk about MY THOUGHTS on relationships between deaf people, deaf bloggers and vLoggers, not excluding the hearies in the deaf community. This is also not just through the deaf blogsphere, but as a whole in the deaf community. I've grown as a deaf person by making my own choices in this realm by how I was shaped and by the environment. If I [...]
Tue, Apr 24 2007

Going with the flow from toddler to college
A figuring out kind of life Mary Ruth discusses how when reading reflections on other blogs, how they benefit. She discusses the communication method of her k-12 education and how ending up at Gallaudet, the ultimate place where she "grew" up, made her whole and how she recognized that she went with the flow.
Wed, Apr 18 2007

My unauthorized assumptions about DeafReadAmerica
A figuring out kind of life Recently, a master violinist played for 45 minutes in the Washington Post building in Washington, DC where people simply walked past him and paid no mind. It was counted that only 7 people out of thousands walked past him. Some children stayed to listen and were pulled away. In reality, informed people pay hundreds to see him play in concert, but there he was, [...]
Tue, Apr 10 2007

KODA's interest in being an author
A figuring out kind of life Ashlyn, 7, makes her second vLog debut about her thoughts - back by popular demand. Please excuse her brother, Shaun, 15, the comedian.
Wed, Apr 04 2007

The SODM (Son of Deaf Mom) replies on mom's...
A figuring out kind of life Mary Ruth's son Shaun (15) replies on some comments made about her intelligence with "The Goat Joke"TM
Wed, Apr 04 2007

Dr. Bob Davila laughs at goat joke
A figuring out kind of life Mary Ruth tells a goat joke told to her by Jay Krieger to Dr. Bob Davila at the GUAA Welcome reception after getting her "Team Gallaudet" pin. fyi - The reception was attended by 200 or so Gallaudet alumni at California School for the Deaf, Riverside on March 31, which had a guy from the Class of 1947 as the oldest, and which also garnered bids for the [...]
Sun, Apr 01 2007

KODA's take on ASL in her life
A figuring out kind of life Mary Ruth's daughter, Ashlyn, 7 made up her own vlog after a dinner discussion with mom and older brother about what it was like to have deaf parents.
Thu, Mar 29 2007

Are vLoggers Disclaimers neccessary?
A figuring out kind of life Mary Ruth and Rama (cat) discuss their observations on some vLoggers providing repeated disclaimers in the beginning of their vLogs to allow a discourse among viewers to agree, admire, find assumptions, and argue; however is it really neccessary as it should already be amongst us to do so?
Wed, Mar 28 2007

When They Came for Me, There was No One Left to Speak...
A figuring out kind of life Lilly Benedict Crisman, a deaf mother of a deaf daughter offers her own variation of the “First They Came…” famous poem originally attributed to the Holocaust. You can read the written form here.
Sun, Mar 25 2007

We only see what we are
A figuring out kind of life We don´t see things as they are, we see them as we are – Anais Nin I´m going to do a blog for a change. Mr. Sandman said he enjoyed my writing so much, then I´ll go ahead and throw the dog a bone. I never thought that I was deaf first but the show, "Through Deaf Eyes," PBS put that to the forefront with a banner "You have a disability, yet look at our progress [...]
Sat, Mar 24 2007

A deaf boy estimates my age
A figuring out kind of life   While observing a middle school classroom at a deaf school of bright students, a boy and I had a brief but heartwarming interaction that gave meaning in subtle ways.
Tue, Mar 20 2007

CODA role is more complicated than we like
A figuring out kind of life Mary Ruth discusses how a CODA child grows up to assume an additional role to avoid confusion and clashes. [...]
Sat, Mar 17 2007

In ASL, how does one pause between ideas?
A figuring out kind of life  Straight to Google version for bigger screen   In English, there are pauses and words like “anyway,”"however,” “so let's see,” etc. In ASL, several gestures are being used. I can't seem to break away from the need to use some kind of transition pauses. Any advice?
Sat, Mar 17 2007

How you can impact my ?deaf touch?
A figuring out kind of life Mary Ruth discusses her views about what bL/vLogging can do to audiences and how it has impacts her “deaf touch”. We can develop a venue or a place to educate others and share within. Possibilities are astounding, in that we can influence misconceptions and offer advice without relying on the middle people that [...] [...]
Fri, Mar 16 2007

Derby Dolls has a Smart Cookie
A figuring out kind of life The Los Angeles Derby Dolls gave me, Allen, Debby, & Tayler an opportunity to see not only stars from Medium, Patricia Arquette and CSI, Jorga Fox in the VIP section, but an opportunity to meet Tia, a deaf cheerleader for the Fight Crew of the LA Derby Dolls. The Derby Dolls are all [...]
Fri, Feb 16 2007

A poem by Lilly Benedict Crisman
A figuring out kind of life First they came for the deaf guinea pigs, And I did not speak out because I was not a guinea pig and aware of the ulterior motive. Then they came for the health insurance companies, And I did not speak out because I was not aware of the economics. Then they came for the deaf babies of hearing parents, And I did not speak [...]
Sat, Feb 10 2007

Brain cells - how to raise your deaf child?s IQ
A figuring out kind of life I am taking Carl Kirchner's class at CSUN, Inclusive Education this semester.  Carl, also a CODA, was the driving force behind setting up dual enrollment for deaf students in the Burbank Unified School District, where he steered hollywood money into top notch access education from preschool up to high school.  I have seen him from [...]
Fri, Feb 09 2007

Long Live Gallaudet
A figuring out kind of life Jordan sent out an article, Deaf Culture and Gallaudet and all of a sudden, he?s a writer?  Next thing I know, he?ll send for an appearance on the L Word and try to look intelligent.  The article he wrote felt so free based, it was like a slap in the face.  I can't forgive the [...] [...]
Tue, Jan 23 2007

What About Brian deaf baby story
A figuring out kind of life 20's to 30's couples duke it out on this ABC TV show, What About Brian about couples, marriage, families, babies, and affairs.  One of the story lines happening right now is about a couple who seems to be going back and forth with each other in terms of their marraige discovering their one-year-old baby daughter is [...]
Tue, Jan 23 2007

The flight discrimination story
A figuring out kind of life
Fri, Jan 12 2007

Googled "hearing impairment"
A figuring out kind of life and this is what came up....I was actually thinking, what would a parent do when s/he googled for information on hearing impairment. Googled "deaf", Gallaudet is not even on the first page. NTID and Alexander Bell are there. How suspect. Anyway, googling hearing impairment, the top contender was Miracle Ear's "hearing problems". Hearing aids to cusomize your [...]
Mon, Jan 08 2007

Sorenson VRS
A figuring out kind of life My house hasn't had a working VP for a year. I have CSD's VP in the garage. It stopped working periodically, and then I got a new computer and a wireless network router. I'm sure it would work again, but I don't have a user friendly manual or set-up CD to set it up. Before CSD, I had Sorenson?s VP100 to begin with. It malfunctioned and I contacted Sorenson for a [...]
Mon, Jan 08 2007

How to Become a Deaf Person
A figuring out kind of life First, turn off that processing center that is in between your ears. Do this as soon as possible, because some of us were born deaf. Turn the television on, and turn off the volume. Make sure you have a television dated after 1993, for the closed-captioning chip. Jumpstart your reading so that when you go into kindergarten you can outsmart a teacher about what [...]
Tue, Jan 02 2007

LINKS Director uncooperative
A figuring out kind of life (F) good morning thx for calling links ...pls hold for one moment(talking in bkgd) (music in bkgd) (HOLDING)(F) thk u for patience how can i help u gahello, my name is mary ruth summers. I need an interpreter's right spelling of his name. is it joe valadez? gayes v a l d e z, may i ask what is the question regarding mr valdez qq I'm filing a complaint and I wanted [...]
Mon, Dec 11 2006

Oppression in the job place
A figuring out kind of life I went to UPS today to start orientation for my first ever seasonal employment which will end in two weeks. The idea of physical work and getting paid for it was exciting. I got my brown uniform which I will be turning in before Christmas. I would be a driver helper. I get to deliver packages, like Santa Claus. I get to get back into customer service. When I met [...]
Tue, Dec 05 2006

Open Window
A figuring out kind of life I met Stephen Sachs tonight, the writer of this play. The play was in one word: immediate.I got into their preview because David Evans, my friend since the early 90's, through thick and thin, had a free ticket for me. I'm not a professional theater critic yet, but if I looked at the food page from last wednesday and find out how a critic encourages one to eat at a [...]
Fri, Dec 01 2006