Advocacy

Last night during ASL class, my teacher came up to me with a copy of last Fall's ALDA (Association of Late-Deafened Adults) newsletter. My picture was on the front. I'd forgotten I had written that article for ALDA. She had found a copy of the newsletter at her audiologist's office during an appointment last week. And she was surprised to find one of her students on the front. Though she knew I was late-deafened, we've never talked about my involvement in ALDA or HLAA or advocacy.



In truth, I'm not much involved in ALDA at all. But I know the president. She had been looking for articles on advocating for yourself, in which a deaf/HH person was successfully accommodated in a pubic situation. So I wrote about my success with getting CART for my son's graduation ceremony last spring. Because of CART I was able to read what the speakers said, and I understood the lyrics of songs the choir sang. Without it, I would have understood N-O-T-H-I-N-G. It would have been a night of sitting in a crowded auditorium wishing I could hear while others laughed at jokes and cute comments the new grads made. I had to fight a little to get CART in place, but because I did, I enjoyed my son's graduation night like everyone else around me.



Was it too much to ask? Almost every parent thinks of graduation day while their kids are growing up. I was there to send my son off to school his first day of kindergarten. I went to all the parent-teacher conferences. For years, I helped set up for PTA events, sold tickets, collected Campbell soup labels for a kick-back in school supplies to our district, and I cleaned up after school programs. I scooped ice cream for fundraisers, baked cupcakes for school parties, drove carpools of kids on field trips, made cookies for principals, had my car washed when it didn't need it for the school band or cheer leading squad. I attended meetings with school counselors and teachers to advocate for my son over the years. (He ALSO has a disability.) In return I helped in their classrooms. Of course I wanted to be a part of the graduation ceremony too. I am proud of him. He graduated with a decent GPA, and was accepted to a good university. His accommodations helped him to thrive in school. If I couldn't HEAR my son's name being called to receive his diploma, at the very least I wanted to READ it-- on CART!


When the organizer of the graduation ceremonies balked at providing CART, I told him point-blank, "Deaf people have children and pay school taxes too."


So my article went into the ALDA newsletter and I forgot about it until yesterday when my teacher brought it up to me.


The thing is I wasn't born deaf. When I was a kid I never dreamed I'd be in this position of having to fight and educate people about deafness wherever I went. I am shy. I wasn't prepared. I didn't CHOOSE this life. For years, I wondered, "WHY ME?," which is so typical for late-deafened people. Why me? It wasn't until I met other strong late-deafened advocates who educated me about ADA rights that I began to think differently.


Why NOT me?? Slowly I began to see my deafness in new ways. I have a mission to educate non-deaf people and newly deaf alike. I can help others just like me adjust to their deafness, like those who helped me when I was mired in self-doubt. When I learned my youngest son had a disability I realized my deafness had prepared me to fight for HIS rights as well.


At my last job interview, I was asked what I'm most proud of in terms of life accomplishments. My answer? Because of hearing loss I face challenges every day most people can't imagine. I am proud I've overcome, learned to adapt and that I've lived a relatively comfortable life despite those challenges. I could see they were taken aback by my honest answer. Yet, I wanted to be clear that I was "disabled" AND capable. Afterwards I thought maybe I blew it. But they hired me.

I don't want pity. I want and deserve equal access.


Advocacy at its best is working, living, playing with hearing people while proving you ARE capable!

I Learned Something New

As many of you know I've been taking ASL for awhile. Tonight we were learning deaf conjunctions-- the OTHER meaning for signs signs we've already practiced. My ASL teacher gave us many examples of the proper expressions-- such as, "I walk, WRONG rain!" Most of you would get this immediately but bear with me as I explain to people who only speak English. What that sentence meant was "As I was walking, it suddenly started to rain. OK? Okay.

So one of her examples was she met a Deaf Japanese man in Washington D.C about ten years ago.


While they were talking she made the OK sign. WRONG! He took off. Why? Bad meaning - Japan (JSL). Evidently that means F--K. True story!

I had a fantastic time at the ASL interpreted play the other night. It was the first play I've been to in years and I understood a lot of the interpreting, which was especially exciting for me because I wouldn't have understood much of the play at all without it. I'm definitely NOT 100% at this point. Without any hints I'm only getting the basic gist of a discussion. But with being able to lip read along with the play when I didn't understand the signing and being able to look at the interpreters when I didn't get what was said, WOW! This is opening a new world for me.

A Dead Culture

All cultures continue to change and grow. Many Deaf have drawn comparisons between the death of Native American culture and Deaf culture of today. I do not deny the parallels.


Jim's article reminded me of the great whale hunt Native Americans had in Washington state back in 1999. http://jimspoliticalthoughts.blogspot.com/2008/04/accepting-changing-of-deaf-culture-like.html


From the beginning it's been written into the Makah Treaty Rights they could hunt whales off the coast near Neah Bay, Washington. However gray whales fell under protection in the 1920s after they had been hunted to near extinction. The Makah were disallowed their whale hunting rights. In 1999, the Makah fought hard to win back their hunting rights.






As you can see the Makah didn't hunt their whale like they used to in canoes made from carved tree trunks or with bone spears. They used fiberglass canoes with back-up motor boats. They wore Helly Hanson rain gear, and they killed with high-powered metal harpoons. Large round floats kept the whale from diving under or sinking after the first hit. Cell phones helped the Makah to locate and track the whale. The coast guard was dispatched to hover nearby ensuring safety in case someone fell out of a boat.


The Makah left most of their whale carcass rotting on the beach.
You see--- the Makah don't live in huts made with whale bone and skin anymore. They live in heated homes. The Makah don't eat whale blubber. They're used to a steady diet of pepperoni pizza, hamburgers and coke like most Americans, and they buy most their food at supermarkets. When the Makah party, they don't wear stinky paint made with whale blubber. The women wear Revlon eye-shadow from RiteAid or Clinique foundation from Nordstroms. The Makah all wash with deodorized Irish Spring instead of soap made from whale blubber. The Makah don't make spears with whale bone, or carve bowls or cups with it. They don't have time because they're busy working, so they buy their tableware from Macys or Sears or wherever.

That's why the carcass rotted.




Later its bones were donated to their Makah museum.





NOW the Makah want to hunt whale again because it's their "cultural right." After the last whale hunt, many people were appalled. Even some Makah were appalled. Several admitted they hated the taste of whale blubber when they tried it in 1999. Activists protested Makah whale hunting on the basis that it's senseless to kill such a magnificent creature over "cultural rights" especially considering the (still) low population count of whales, and that very little of the whale was used by the Makah in 1999. So far, the Makah haven't been granted the right to hunt another whale since. They do not need another set of bones for the museum. In September of 2007, some Makahs hunted a whale illegally. It's their ancient Treaty RIGHT!!!

You can see the Makah motor boats in the background, the harpoon sticking out of whale with floats attached.

Is this modernization of Makah culture the "white man's" fault?

Yes, in a way it is. Long ago in the 1920s, Makah children were torn from their parents, shipped off to boarding schools and forced to learn English and a trade. Later, White people invented technology for them to use while hunting. White people established grocery stores and restaurants near Makah reservations. White people visited Makah businesses and casinos which gave them extra money to spend on all the same things White people enjoyed. White people gave them help with education, so they could become lawyers, doctors, businessmen, museum curators, school teachers and librarians.

The Makah culture is essentially gone because of White people. Still. . .putting it in perspective White culture has changed since the early 1900s too.

Or has it?

When should cultural rights supersede national values and laws? These are very tough questions that could face Deaf culture soon.

(The very top picture is a Makah whale hunter taken in 1909.)

Are the Deaf blind?

I was looking at different career options the other day when I came across this interesting career-- braille transcriber. Being naturally interested in books, I love the idea of transcribing books for blind people. This is also something you can do out of your home on the side as contract work, so it could bring in a little extra cash. Cool! The site went on to explain the pros and cons of this career. Then I noticed this:


"The other factor that weighs against this career is the fact that only about 10% of the blind people in the United States use braille on a consistent basis. The other 90% use other formats - large print and audio. And many youths are not learning to use braille effectively, . . ."

Gosh! That sounds familiar doesn't it? Technology is changing Blind culture, just as its changing Deaf culture. I have known for quite awhile that Blind people don't discriminate between being Blind or blind. If you're late-blinded you're STILL Blind. All blind people are simply Blind whether they can read large-print or use braille.

This got me thinking about how powerful the blind organizations are in Washington, DC compared to the Deaf/deaf/HH. The Blind are accommodated everywhere.

For example, I've always found it a bit odd that movie theaters provided braille on their restroom signs and such, while they aren't required to provide captioning. I have never seen a blind person with a white cane in a movie theater, so I've wondered about this from time to time. If a person is THAT blind, do they actually go to movies? I guess they do! They can still hear the dialogue.

But Blind presence at movie theaters is surely rare compared to the number of deaf/Deaf/HH people who benefit from captioned movies. The blind who attend movies who read braille must be really, really small if only 10% of the Blind use braille. So I have to wonder WHY are the Blind accommodated with braille everywhere--especially at movie theaters, while accommodations for the Deaf go ignored? Answer-- Because braille accommodations are required! Despite the fact that very few Blind people use braille.

I'm sure one reason the Blind have so much more clout in Washington, DC when requesting accommodations is because they aren't so fractured in their definitions of who is"blind" or whether blindness is actually a disability. They don't differentiate between blind and Blind or the merely sight-impaired. The Blind see that there's power in unity, while many Deaf act as if deafness is an "elitist" club--only for those who have the "right" attitude-- which varies according to the person and their interpretation the Deafhood Bible.

I'm sorry if this offends. I'm trying to understand why the labels are so important to some Deaf people when our rights are being trampled all over. There are so many more HUGE issues we all face as a community. We MUST resolve these schisms in the deaf community in order to move forward.

And just so y'all know, I've lifted my moderations settings. Anyone can post.

Kim
http://www.brailleplus.net/careerbrailletranscription.htm

TAG!

Tag, You're It!
This is a fun way to get to know other bloggers better. Abbie, Chronicles of A Bionic Woman, tagged me and now it's my turn to tag others. So here are the RULES.

1) Each player must post the rules at the top.
2) Answer the questions in bold
3) Tag five people you would like to know better, go to their blogs, let them know they've been tagged and ask them to read your blog.

This just for fun, so don't feel like you MUST play. I won't be hurt if you're too busy. Here are my answers to the questions. . .

What I was doing ten years ago.
Let's see. . .
I was working in a library-- different from the branch I'm at now, volunteering with a PTA program called Classic Books in order to promote and motivate children to read classic children's literature, and leading a Girl Scout Troop of 16 girls.


Five Snacks I enjoy:
1) Peanut butter with M&M's stick in it on a spoon (yeah, yeah I know);
2) My husbands air-popped popcorn slathered in butter and salt, aptly named "Eric corn" by friends;
3) Doughnuts--all varieties except Maple Bars. I especially love custard filled, bear claws or cake type-- MUST, MUST, MUST be accompanied with coffee;
4) White store bought cake with white frosting and jelly middle --usually I buy at Safeway;
5) Lime and chili tortilla chips with homemade guacamole

Healthier Snacks: (I'm not sure if I had to answer this, but Abbie posted healthy options and I normally avoid the above because they're so deadly.
1) Smoked almonds;
2) Non-fat cream cheese mixed with kalamata olives served on low-fat triscuits or rye krisp;
3) Vegetables with low-fat spinach dip;
4) Non-fat or low-fat cottage cheese with canned peaches in unsweetened syrup
5) Apple slices with brie

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1) Quit my job;
2) Join the Peace Corps; (YES! You CAN at fifty or older!)
3) Travel extensively;
4) Finance back-to-college scholarships for the late-deafened;
5) Hire a personal trainer

Jobs I have had:
1) Fotomat Girl (If you are young you may not remember those little drive-thru photo processing booths they had in every store parking lot back in the 70s before digital cameras)
2) Expanded Dental Assistant
3) Dental Office Mgr.
4) Technical Services Analyst in a Dental insurance company
4) Plant waterer (Yeah--I was paid. I worked for a landscaping company. All I did was water planer boxes in business parks-- a pleasant summer job, but miserable in the winter.)


Three habits;
1) Jigsaw puzzles
2) Plants
3) Coffee

Five places I have lived:
Not including where I live now. . .
1) A small town in Washington east of Seattle
2) The same small town, different living arrangements
3) A small town north of Seattle
4) A hotel in Seattle
5) A suburb near Detroit, MI

Five people I would like to get to know better:
1) Waving With My Deaf Hands- Deb Ann
2) Speak Up Librarian -- Sarah
3) The Ambling Rambler- Robyn
4) Indiana Deaf Mother's Babblings- Karen
5) Deaf Mom - Karen

Thrillers With Deaf Characters

I read A Maiden's Grave by Jeffrey Deaver, years ago, and I couldn't put it down. This is the book that turned me into a Jeffrey Deaver fan long before he became popular. Though it's one of his earliest novels I believe maybe it is his best. This is about a bus full of Deaf school girls who end up getting kidnapped and held hostage in a deserted warehouse along with their Deaf teacher. The Deaf characters are portrayed as brave and smart as they find ways to foil their captors. Meanwhile a detective works around the clock to find them. It's a cat and mouse game of wits until the very end.

Another great thriller is Talk Talk by T.C. Boyle. This is about a Deaf woman who has her identity stolen. Falsely accused of a crime and her bank account frozen, she and her hearing boyfriend embark on a dangerous cross-country search for the sleazeball using her ID. The Deaf woman, Dana Halter, is brilliant, headstrong and courageous.

I loved the way both of these authors dispel stereotypes of Deaf people with their positive characterizations of the Deaf as strong and intelligent.

The Blame Game

Hello everyone, I have a couple comments on the “blame game” and I don’t mean to get down on anyone personally, but I do want to address those who posted to my comment in Rachel's blog. This was my comment:

Hi Rachel,The one comment you put in bold from the woman who couldn’t find a level three ASL class could have been written by me. I could add so much more. Bottom line– It is practically impossible to learn ASL adequately without Deaf support. If the Deaf want to promote ASL to the public, the late-deafened, and Hearing parents of Deaf children, then THEY need to support us in our efforts to learn — which they aren’t right now.Comment by kim — April 2, 2008 @ 12:46 pm

Then someone wrote back. . .

kim, are you shifting the blame for your lack of ASL skills? Please don’t accuse the “deaf community” for this fact and rather, ask where you can find more current information. . .

First of all, I didn’t ‘accuse’ anyone. I simply stated a need for Deaf support. I’m not “shifting the blame. " I am currently enrolled in college level ASL courses. That said, I do see a need that isn’t being met. Fact is, the majority of Hearing people--college administrators and students alike-- couldn’t care less about ASL/Deaf education. The Cochlear Implant is being pushed on us from all angles. Hearing people don’t care about us or our ASL needs. That's a fact.

Comment #2
Kim,
I sympathize with you - it can be hard to find ASL classes, but its not really the “deaf community”’s fault - there just not that many qualified teachers to go around and not all universities offer ASL. I don’t see how the university’s choice to not offer a lot of ASL classes are the “deaf community’s” fault
like others have mentioned, there are different ways. If you have the money, you could hire someone to come teach you. . . .


Again, I am not assigning “blame” just stating a need for Deaf support.

I agree with post number two to a certain extent. Paying someone to help others learn individually is a great idea! I had already thought of this. My dream is to have a Deaf person work with me and my family one-on-one. I have checked into the possibility in my community and was shocked to learn this type of support wasn’t professionally available to families in crisis.

What I wish for is an organization run by Deaf people specifically for the purpose of helping the late-deafened and parents of Deaf children to learn ASL in a one-on-one environment, rather than through a university setting or having to rely on tapes—which I feel is a woefully inadequate way to learn ASL. The one-on-one instructors would be certified and paid, so there would be no awkward feelings or confusion about a Deaf person feeling “used” by hearing people. Also hearing people in crisis would not have to intrude on Deaf social times to use that time to practice. Please see my blog--Disappointing Deaf Chat, and note the negative comments made by Deaf people about ASL students showing up and wanting to practice with them. I understand how they feel, yet ASL students DO need the practice. This is why I think there should be a more professional way of teaching people in crisis.

Families could then have their needs met personally by being able to ask specific questions that might seem inappropriate in a classroom setting. For example, love-making. Many late-deafened women miss the aural aspect of making love when they become deaf-- the way a husband used to whisper in her ear or the flirty innuendos in the kitchen. Sexual signs are not covered in most textbooks. That is just ONE example, but let me tell you that families who are living with hearing loss have a greater need than what is provided at the university level. We have more immediate concerns and questions that just don’t come up in college courses.

Again, this isn’t about assigning blame. It’s about fulfilling a need that Hearing people will never address because Deaf culture isn't a priority to them. Fixing d/Deafness and helping d/Deaf people assimilate to Hearing culture is their priority. This is why Deaf people need to support us in our quest to learn ASL.

Later in the week, I will discuss several other reasons WHY universities aren’t the best places for families of Deaf children and the late-deafened to learn ASL.

Friends With Hearing Loss

There's nothing like getting together with others who understand your hearing issues. I'm so excited! I just made my reservation for the Say What Club convention in Philadelphia this summer, and I'm going to be rooming with Robyn, The Ambling Rambler from New Zealand!!

If you haven't had a chance to check out the Say What Club blog, go there http://www.ahearingloss.com/. I've been a member for nearly eight years and I also write for the blog every couple of weeks. The actual club functions in a Listserve format, but since they have annual conventions many of us have met in person. Robyn lives so far away, I've never met her so I'm thrilled she's going to Philly this year!! And I get to room with her!!

I'd love to meet up with any of you too. Let me know. Really! If you live in the Philadephia area, please consider dropping by. Better yet, join the Say What Club. It's a great resource of information and a fun way to connect with others who have hearing loss.


The picture above was taken at our convention in Las Vegas last May. Here are a few more--

I sure hope to meet some of you!