My son is three. Keep this in mind. So I walk into his pre-school classroom last week, right? This room has two teachers: Mr. Rogers* and his assistant—let’s call her Vladmilla. Mr. Rogers is a young guy. Professional, mindful of the children as human beings with feelings… yes, even at the tender age of three. Vladmilla is much, much older. Not that age really makes much difference, because younger [...]

  If you’re the parent of a deaf child, especially one that manages to avoid early detection from newborn hearing screenings, you might find yourself with a lot of guilt.  Though my son did fail his newborn hearing screening, he later somehow passed an otoacoustic emission test (OAE) and was declared hearing until 15 months old, despite my intuition otherwise.  In hindsight, many people say to us, “How could you [...]

  I used to feel sorry for children who had cochlear implants. I did. When I saw them it broke my heart because I really believed that their parents just didn’t understand deafness. I judged those parents. I assumed that the parents were looking for a quick fix to something that in my opinion didn’t require fixing. I said things like, “I would never do THAT to my child.” Aaron [...]

    ABC Family’s Switched at Birth, starring Katie Leclerc and Sean Berdy, returns for its Winter Premiere on Tuesday, January 3rd at 8/7c! Various video clips of the show are now available! Please visit the show’s official site! Switched at Birth, a one-hour scripted drama, tells the story of two teenage girls who discover they were accidentally switched as newborns in the hospital. Bay Kennish grew up in a [...]

Many in the signing community feel strongly that the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (AG Bell) philosophy of focusing on auditory and oral approaches when teaching deaf and hard of children is wrong.  The auditory and oral approaches use the weakest point of a deaf or hard of hearing individual to teach language; which is ridiculous, especially when there’s a perfectly serviceable organ ready [...]

  Not too long ago I was backpacking in Central America, exploring the nomad’s life through three different countries. Having said this, I recall meeting a deaf dude at a cafe in Costa Rica. He expounded to me about a leadership program in Denmark infused with leaders. He said the leadership program consisted of an international group that would visit Ghana, Africa and would learn global deaf politics and so [...]

In addition to being a first-grade teacher, I’m also the geekminister for 15 brand-new iPad 2s at P.S. 347 The ASL and English Lower School in Manhattan. This is the first in what I hope will be a regular series on how my students and I are using the iPad to learn, read, create, and watch. Last spring, as soon as my principal and I discussed the possibility of having [...]

  i was a deaf child. It was me Stumbling, Somewhat confounded By the towering blocks of An invisible maze that i Physically slammed into With your every determination It was my young, blank-slate life That you painted bitter, Folded into neat perfection And tucked away on a dusty shelf In a cabinet that you kept Behind your plush leather chair i was a deaf child. It was me Looking [...]

(Photo by Mr. T in DC) I’m working at an essay on an early Greyhound about to depart Washington for New York City. All of a sudden, the driver stands up.  “Close those hatches, folks. That stuff is going to jump out on you,” he says. Despite the groggy hour, passengers pop up to stuff in their duffle bags and coats and close the gap-toothed smile of the overhead compartments. Soon, [...]

  Life is created by you only. People, objects, events, and education come into your life and they leave with some kind of mark, but only you as a human being remain. So it’s important to live your life the way you want to. If you find purpose in your life, then you have found peace. I’m writing this letter that I hope hundreds, maybe thousands of people will read, [...]