My response to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s article
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an article about AG Bell and Deaf Bilingual Coalition conferences being held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin starting tomorrow for the weekend. This article was written by Jennine Aquino and Annysa Johnson.
The link to this article is: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel : AG Bell and deaf coalition conferences differ on cochlear implants
Amy Cohen Efron wrote an e-mail response to Ms. Aquino about this article.
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Dear Ms. Aquino,
My name is Amy Cohen Efron, and I live in Tucker, GA. I was given an opportunity to read your article that was linked to DeafRead, the web based aggregator of all kinds of blogs, vlogs (video logs) and articles that focuses on topics about deaf, Deaf Culture and language (emphasizing American Sign Language). The website address is: www.deafread.com
First, I appreciate your time to write up this article and I am very compelled to write my impressions about your article. To be forthright, I am disappointed about your article, since it is unbalanced and slated to one perspective.
This article appeared to be framed at the favor for people who chose to use listening and speaking as the sole approach to teach deaf and hard of hearing children with or without implants. It is very unfortunate to read this way.
First of all, I would like to ask you why did Milwaukee Journal Sentinel used the capitals for AG Bell, and lower case letters for deaf coalition? That appeared as if this article is already biased from the beginning that AG Bell is highly regarded than Deaf Bilingual Coalition. It is unfair to see “deaf coalition” without the key word, Bilingual.
You started with an article by displaying the family of three children who are deaf and using implants as if they are ‘normal’ with playing basketball at their driveway. Where is another example of families of deaf children who wear cochlear implants and using both American Sign Language and Spoken English? That is a very unfair introduction to your article.
Somehow, you may have some kind of assumption that Deaf Bilingual Coalition (DBC) bans spoken language? It is not true. The DBC believes strongly to add American Sign Language as a crucial part of language development for deaf babies who have not received cochlear implants between ages of 6 months to 1 year. This is a crucial language development window that we want to make sure the young infant receives signs, then once they get implanted, continue using signs PLUS spoken language. I don’t see that kind of emphasis on this article. You presented as if there is one option or an another option. Not both.
Why did you use the words, protests? The Deaf Bilingual Coalition is not about protest or demonstration. It is an educational conference with American Sign Language celebration rally. Where did you get an impression that it was a protest? Since 1890’s, The American Association to the Promote the Teaching of Speech of the Deaf was founded by Alexander Graham Bell, which is known as in present, AG Bell, have always hosted their conferences separately from National Association of the Deaf for over 110 years. It is an historical first that Deaf Bilingual Coalition formed a national conference in conjunction with AG Bell International Convention at the same time, to present the families of deaf children with options!
For many years, many parents of deaf child(ren) does not have an access to all of the options available, and unfortunately the vast influence and propaganda of AG Bell with their slogan “Listen and Talk” attracts many families to take this choice without realizing of the long-term consequences.
(Removed one paragraph due to DeafRead’s guidelines)
To learn indepth about Deaf Bilingual Coalition, check www.dbcusa.org
Sincerely yours,
Amy Cohen Efron
Tucker, Georgia
June 26th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Great letter, Amy. I hope the newspaper is put on notice and will be more fair in it’s journalism.
And I have to add: I am also very glad to see that DBC has become more professional. This is what the Deaf Community needs.
I wish everyone at the DBC conference good luck, and PLEASE stay safe - be prepared for AG Bell supporters to be hostile to the point of physical violence. Don’t let them drag you into that.
Keep the great work up!
June 26th, 2008 at 10:39 am
This is your excellent response to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s article.
I read it and I am quite very concerned about it as an inconsistent information about Deaf children with ASL and English (with or without speaking) and their parents.
I hope Ms. Aquino will consider to participate in our convention to give her an opportunity to learn more about our purposes and goals.
Deafchip
June 26th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Amy,
You did a grand job! I thank you for that!
It might be part of their propaganda… you know how hearies are… and how they are threatened just like AG Bell was.
It seems like yellow journalism at work in the way the reporter did.
=)
June 26th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Amy,
Excellent response to Jeannie Aquino and Annysa Johnson’s “Milwaukee Journal Sentinel”. How true about the questionable and intentional tilt in that article.
I already wrote the following blog posting with email addresses of “Milkwaukee Journal Sentinel” and television stations.
Just look up my latest blog posting. Thanks.
You completely forget about Annysa Johnson, who co-write this article.
Since you are also the DR editor. Why my latest blog posting have been not publised?
Robert L. Mason (RLM)
RLMDEAF blog
June 26th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Great Article!
June 26th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Great job, it is exactly the same reaction here. I do not have time to try to write up anything at this point. One thing I wish to comment one thing that the public especially in this very monolingual country is clueless about, and to the top of it, AG Bell refuses to accept two facts:
1) Sign Language does not impede speech language development, there is a plenty of evidence..especially with Hoh people who do well with both languages
2) In general children who are bilingual have their own milestone of development in both languages, it is not to be compared with monolingual children.
My thoughts remain with everyone at DBC conference while I work on my dissertation on ASL complex sentences development here.
Anne Marie
June 26th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
One more thing I think is important..the comment from DBC in the article needs to shift toward children having opportunity to be bilingual instead of denying CI’s benefits and parents’ rights to options. It’s opportunity, not options that is putting children at risk for excluding one of two languages.
Denying CI benefits is out of picture, everyone already know CI works well for many children with many children still need signing. But more are doing well with spoken language than before so move on with this.
Anne Marie
June 26th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Thanks for the letter clarifying that it is a peaceful rally rather than a protest or demonstration. Cheers!
June 26th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Thanks for writing a letter to make clear about DBC.
June 26th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Being a deaf Milwaukeean I have never been more embarrassed by this article.
One other thing.. I picked up a paper copy of the newspaper.. and the title for the article reads..
“Groups differ over hearing technology; Cochlear implants have different connotations to different people”
That’s from the final edition!
Compared to the web version..
“AGBell and deaf coalition differ on cochlear implants; Organizations have different philosophies on technology and sign language”
hmmmm…..
June 26th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Hi Amy,
This is a good letter!
My take is that hearing parents would be much more receptive to the Deaf community if the latter would be open-minded by accepting cochlear implant. 38,000 Americans were cochlearised in 2006. My alma mater, Maryland School for the Deaf at Frederick, is equipped with the FI system in every classroom and is building a new elementary school in Gaithersburg, Maryland with a completely new agenda never seen before in my days. So I shall spell out that cochlear implant is undeniably inevitable within five years. This is the new Generation Y, different from the previous generations. The Deaf Generation Y will both speak in Spoken English and read and write in Written English and sign in ASL.
No, the Generation Y and beyond will NOT be indebted to the philosophy of Alexander G. Bell. Jamais de la vie! It is technology that invented cochlear implant. Forget AGB. Receive implantées as warmly as you would receive Deafies that utilise ASL. Implantées would find your reception very positive. To make AGB poor is to ignore AGB.
Be a good role model to implantées. We need one another.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Here are some thoughts toward answers to your questions:
A.G. Bell was obviously capitalized because it is a highly respected and well-established organization in the nation’s Capitol. A.G Bell has officers and Bylaws and membership and voting — a governance structure. By contrast, deaf coalition is a loose, “fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, gathering of whoever shows up outside of the hotel of the moment. In short, we don’t impress.
“Normal” in the USA means children who talk, play basketball and run around like crazy with each other and their parents. For children who cannot hear to do this is miraculous in the eyes of most people. “Normal” does not mean people who use ASL while they play basketball which is highly abnormal in most peoples’ eyes.
There is a wide gap between deaf coalition’s rhetoric that they accept speaking along with signing; that they support deaf children speaking but want them to have the chance to sign as well. A big difference between this inclusive rhetoric and what they actually do in real life — which is insist that people use pure ASL without speaking or voicing. Insisting that one and the other language are mutually exclusive.
Why use the word protest? Oh please. The deaf community is famous for protest. We protest at the drop of a hat for any reason, often look bad in the eyes of the general public, and don’t give a damn. No wonder we never get anywhere.
A good dose of human public relations would help us make some progress.
T.G.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:50 am
Yes yes An excellent letter! Protest? Oh Puleeaase… DBC is there to educate every parents of their wonderful Deaf and Hard of Hearing children (either with or without hearing aids and/or cochlear implants) — same as AGB! Just one at a time and … I am sure DBC will succeed. We need to be heard!