Deaf people and employment. There’s a lot of emotions tied up with the employment issue, being the breadwinner (notice the winner part?), et cetera, ad nauseam. You see it in any community. The other afternoon I was watching a show and half asleep. I dreamed of or remembered one woman saying to her friend, “He needs a job to prove his manhood.” The same is very true in the Deaf [...]

I wonder about the future of services for deaf people in Florida. I came to Florida in search of a job in the mental health field (working with deaf clients). I was surprised at what I found there. I had travelled to the localities of Clearwater, Boca Raton, and West Palm Beach. I was shocked at how poorly funded the services were. One place that I visited in Pineallas County, [...]

(Above: Dhruv Lakra. Photo by Alim Chandani.) On July 24, 2009, I met a person who gave me a new perspective on how to build a sustainable life for deaf people in developing countries. Since I am grateful to have had an opportunity to meet Dhruv Lakra, I want to introduce him to all of you. Hailing from India himself, Dhruv worked at Merrill Lynch as an investment banker for [...]

Seriously. If you have your own helicopter, you offset so many pesky future workplace hassles: Public Relations. Any time there’s a problem, owning your own helicopter automatically gives you two options. One, when people angrily call in demanding reports, you can reassure them that information is forthcoming… the helicopter is circling now! Or you can just tell people that you’re sending up the helicopter! Either way, all you need after [...]

In this golden age of visual media, where we all communicate with one another (silently) via instant messaging, e-mail, blogs and vlogs, videophone, paper and pencil, and yes, even TTYs sometimes, Why, oh WHY does the emphasis still have to be on silence whenever the news media picks up on an issue that relates somehow to deafness? Take the recent media storm surrounding the new Pepsi ad featuring a well-known [...]

Uninvited. Again. I’m getting tired of being uninvited. The first time this happened was when I was an eager M.A. graduate student, new to my academic discipline and flush with success from my first experience of filing an ADA complaint with the US Department of Justice. A professor in my department told me about a local academic conference in my field and suggested I attend. I filled out my application, [...]

This morning’s Express regaled the story about a Mr. Edward Greenwood IX (yes, IX) being fired from New York City’s legislative office in Albany because NYC Mayor Bloomberg saw a game of Solitaire running on his computer screen. Harsh, man. He was working there for six years and only earned $27,000. And got fired. Mayor Bloomberg, a former CEO, is known for his “all work, no play” ethic in running [...]

Right now, the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) is wrapping up their 19th biennial conference in San Antonio, TX with a posh banquet in the hotel’s ballroom. I was lucky enough to be sent there to represent BayFirst Solutions (DeafDC.com’s parent corporation). When I was first told I’d be going to San Antonio, I was thrilled beyond belief. TEXAS. Finally, I would confront the Lone Star State, the [...]