The Rocky Mountain Deaf School saga continues! Deaf Echo writer Tara Schupner-Congdon reports on new updates in denverpost.com!

Dear Mr. Brauchli: I am contacting you as a member of the #captionTHIS social media movement, and as a member of the Deaf Community. I want to make you aware via this open letter of the #captionTHIS social media movement.  We want the Washington Post, among other major internet news outlets, to caption ALL of its online video content. Please watch this video. It is about the lack of online [...]

  Dear American Association of Retired Persons (Board of Trustees): I am sending you this letter to make you aware of a political movement that has arisen within the Deaf Community of the United States called #captionTHIS. Its aim is to confront major media outlets about the lack of accessibility to online videos via internet captioning, and to work with them to resolve this issue. Deaf and hard-of-hearing people deserve [...]

  I built a rope swing for my son Jack the other day. Not the world’s safest creation… yet. The tree is old and gnarly—it’s possible his weight (increasing hourly) could yank the whole branch down. Or the knot could slip, though I tied it seven times. Or he could fall again as he did on only his second try with the swing. I made him a little bar out [...]

    Quite a few deaf people, I would bet, have experienced the following scenario: A couple of years ago I was at the airport (using a major airline). I told the people at the desk near my gate that I was deaf; a standard practice of mine in case somebody announces a gate change. Though I boarded the flight without mishap—and some people don’t even get that far—when I [...]

  As a critical reader of media, I find myself left with a lot of questions after reading the article entitled “Deep Division on Deafness” in journalgazette.net (based in Fort Wayne, Indiana) regarding HB 1367. These questions are not meant to point out fault in the story itself, but to bring these questions before the community. I ask you this: What “distrust” exactly (as stated in the article) runs deep [...]

  Dear Senator: My name is Dr. Christopher Jon Heuer, and my dissertation, professional research, and work all fall within the fields of literacy, language acquisition, and Deaf Education. HB 1367 will soon come before you for review. I hope you will consider my arguments against it and oppose it. At the very least, I urge you to demand FAR more investigation into it than has been made to date, [...]

  For the background on the story, see Michele Westfall’s recent DeafEcho.com article. The following is a recent update on the issue: HB 1367 apparently passed in the House in Indiana, and will soon make its way toward a final vote (with amendments). Below is a slightly revised version (note to the general audience: don’t post on Facebook when you’re too upset to closely scan your first draft) of the post I made [...]

  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 [...]

  I met her in a bar. Her drink was almost done. Irony was hoping that I would be the one. So I slide upon the stool and I say my pick-up line. I say “Baby how ya doin’?”” She says “Baby, you’re fine!” Well wow, whoa, it was Halloween! Who would’ve thought she’d be taking out my spleen? Invites me to her room, gives my knee a little rub… [...]