Deaf Nazis?….NEVER!

Before I read Mishka Zena’s Blog, “AGBell Nazis…Deaf Nazis”, I was hoping that the Deaf community wasn’t being labeled “Deaf Nazis” and also was looking forward to read about AGBell Nazis, but I was disappointed.

This was written by a commenter, “Who cares?” And it was not written by Mishka Zena, but the headline of the blog post, AGBell Nazis…Deaf Nazis MAY have been Mishka Zena’s writing.

Anyway, I will clarify the best I can, knowing that I will be dissecting by certain people to find flaws in my English language writing.

Let’s put up this person (Who cares?) first paragraph;

Here’s a fact whether you all like it or not:  Hearing parents have a God-given right to make certain decisions regarding their children, even if they are deaf.  I have seen a number of deaf blogs claiming this is not so.  Hearing parents should HAVE to send their children to deaf schools, even if it meant sending them out of state.  Hearing parents should HAVE to choose ASL over CI.  I saw one deaf blogger come dangerously close to saying that hearing parents should just have their deaf children taken away, so that those children could be raised by deaf.

One or several person or blog doesn’t represent majority of the Deaf people that believes parents do have the right to make decisions for their children. There is no doubt that organizations such as NAD, DBC, etc do not support the idea of telling parents what to do, but they believe that they should be educated before making a final decision.

Those other suggestions, hearing parents should HAVE to send their children to deaf schools, Have to choose ASL over CI, etc are actually from few deaf people and you need to understand that most of these deaf people have been victimized by the deprivation from organization such as AGBell and its associates.

Second paragraph;

If I had a deaf child and was doing research to try and help me in my decision of what to do, I would be very turned off by the blogs on Deaf Read.  What you all need to do, instead of making yourselves look like a bunch of Deaf Nazis, is foster respectful and caring outreach to these people.  Show them why it would be better to chose bi bi education, instead of oral only.  Let them see happy well-adjusted Deaf adults with careers, homes, and families.  Even if the parent choses CI, who says that child can’t also learn ASL and have both?

To “Who cares?”

Again, some of the blogs don’t represent the majority of the Deaf community. You have to understand that there are some angry deaf people that have been victimized in the oral culture schools and lied about American Sign Language as a inferior language.

There are many, many Deaf people that care and do want to help you in a very nice, professional  approach. These Deaf people are not Nazis.

Besides the point, Nazis were oppressors and the Jews were victims, just like most Deaf people, they were victims too and want to help hearing parents. And not only they were victims, they have escaped the reality of mono-lingual world and learned bilingual, ASL and English. And once those Deaf people found paradise using ASL and English which is bilingual, it was so, so hard to be humble about it and not tell the world about it, especially you and other hearing parents.

Many of these Deaf people cherish that Deaf Bilingual Coalition was formed.

But there are also some misguided deaf people that are unable to achieve bilingualism and they get into DeafRead to divide the community hoping to prevent ASL to be accepted because of their failure to have the fluency level using ASL. The Deaf community understands their frustration.

Now back to Mishka Zena’s title of the post,
AGBell Nazis…Deaf Nazis
I wonder why nothing was written related to “AGBell Nazis”

Is AGBell and Associates, Nazis?   Read this from a hearing parent and you decide if parents make their own informed decision or forced by guilt from AGBell and their associates?

In 1995 a miracle took place in Lafayette, IN. A young couple in their very early 20’s had a given birth to a deaf baby. The medical professional’s gave the “hearing impaired” diagnosis with much grief. We were sent out into the world to raise a “handicapped” child without any referrals but a pat on the back for good luck.
Ahhh…so much research on a mother’s behalf…the loss of self and employment to figure out how to best raise a deaf baby.

Despite the extreme emphasis on speech and hearing and getting the cochlear implant…my husband and I couldn’t just dump off our baby at a local daycare with hopes that “everything would be fine” while the only stimulation offered by staff would only be auditory. The First Steps Early Intervention Program for Special Needs offered talking directly into my baby’s face and loud toys and music with hopes for a miracle of hearing something…anything! I couldn’t rest at night knowing my baby would be bored all day without visual stimulation. I set out to learn sign language! I contacted the library for video’s, local schools, childhood deaf peers and public school interpreters. I made long distant phone calls to every state to find out the current belief system and medical outlook on “how to raise a deaf child” and was referred to the John Tracy Clinic, Hear Indiana, Shhhh, and AGB. I did the John Tracy Clinic parent coorespondent “courses” and copied signs from the “Joys of Sign Language Book” while scotch taping the signs to my walls in our apartment. Our daughter went to speech therapy and I learned signs on my own. Something was missing though…the signs weren’t grammatical and speech was not working. I hadn’t met any deaf adults! Where were they? Riley Hospital offered nothing to us. No support for meeting the Deaf Community. We discontinued our daughter’s hearing tests there after it was determined our services were no longer welcomed nor needed because we didn’t want a hole drilled into our child’s head with hopes for hearing.
In the meantime, our baby was growing and increasingly bored and just looked into space for anything stimulating to catch her eye.

When my husband, (Purdue Graduate), and I were denied ANY sign language resources and support from Purdue’s Speech and Hearing Clinic….our persistence paid off!!! Despite the “professional” advice from the clinic…we found the Deaf Community and learned ASL. I drove from Lafayette to the deaf school in Indianapolis four days a week. My daugher was 12 months. I drove home at the end of the school day with my eyes burning and dry. This was a LONG day often followed by migrane headaches but well worth every cent and every minute. My mind racing with excitement to teach the ASL signs to my husband after he would return home from work or Purdue classes. Each new sign was documented on the refridgerator as we were finally able to communicate with our baby girl! A connection was made and we started feeling closer as a family! My sadness towards having given birth to a deaf baby was no longer a daily struggle. She would be just fine as long as we kept her within the Deaf Community.

Our daughter is now 12 yrs old and functioning on a “normal” level academically, socially, emotionally and intellectually! She is a bright little lady with much to offer the world! She is happy and doing well in life despite what we were told from THE CLINIC at Purdue. (Chasing down a deaf employee in the halls of the clinic and having a meeting WITHOUT an interpreter paid off! I still have the notes from that meeting and the deaf man advocating ASL and not the implant.)

Ironically, this meeting took place in a waiting room in Purdue’s Speech & Hearing Clinic while the snooty secretary informed me of no sign language resources and passed judgement and “abuse” issues onto me for wanting to learn ASL as a way to raise our daughter.

I wonder how many other parents went through such discrimination before giving in to the “professionals” who seem to have it all figured out when it comes to hearing parents giving birth to deaf babies!
I hope that Purdue’s clinic will change their philosophy and mission…PLEASE listen to the Deaf Community and parents having walked the halls of the clinic seeking to learn sign language with OR without the use of the implant and speech. I was encouraged to purchase musical toys and put the volume on high with hopes that my daughter would some day hear any level on the auditory scale. Instead my husband and I raised our hands and learned ASL!
The “professionals” seem to be the ones that are handicapped!! A speech referral is easy to make! Driving to the clinic is easy! Being a deaf child and having to focus on hours upon hours of speech and then constantly expected to improve is not easy and is abuse! Expecting parents to shutup and follow the medical advice of speech therapy is unethical! If a mother of four raises each of her children to be disciplined the same way…resentment and ineffective results occur. Why? Because each person is different and has different ways of learning. Each person has ethical rights to be offered accommodations, respect, and love through acceptance. The same goes for the Deaf. Deaf people have the same emotions as hearing.
The Deaf Community is beautiful and no medical “professionals” will ever understand by remaining one sided.

***********************************

To “Who cares?”,    please don’t say that Deaf are Nazis but maybe a few do act like one due from their past experience in the reality of AGBell/Associates one-sided ideology. Its the feedback from being victimized.

John Egbert