Have you read Paul Schwartzman’s recent article in the Washington Post (entitled “Gallaudet’s New Aesthetic Openness”)? If not, please do take a look-it’s pretty good. Schwartzman’s focus is on Gallaudet University’s drive to develop a number of adjacent properties that it owns along Sixth Street using an architectural design concept called “deaf space.” Something that showed up in the story:“Since its founding 144 years ago, Gallaudet’s separation has been driven [...]

All right, let me get this straight. First the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) told Oscar Pistorius that he was ineligible for the 2008 Summer Olympics… not because he’s a double amputee without a chance in hell of beating, much less competing against, “able-bodied” runners, but because he has an unfair advantage over them (the IAAF claimed, however, that their decision was not directed at Pistorius personally). Pistorius appealed [...]

I’m a regular blogger here on Deaf DC.com, but I have been away from the blogsphere for the better part of a month now because my son was born just a few weeks ago. He’s a full-time job in and of himself–if you have children of your own I’m sure you can understand what I’m talking about. I mention my son here only because his birth factors into something that [...]

In almost every blog I read these days about a deaf person standing up for himself, there will usually be at least one comment that looks something like this: “Oh, grow up! Not everything is about audism! You can’t blame hearing people for not knowing how to react…” This type of comment rarely varies with the story. The deaf author of the original blog might have assertively resolved a problem [...]

We could do much to counteract the political paralysis in our community if we realized something once and for all: The “hearing world” in a very real sense does not exist. Now before I get into this, I want to admit that I probably as much as anyone else am guilty of perpetuating the propaganda responsible for causing so many deaf people to believe that it does. When I talk [...]

I was intrigued by a number of comments made recently on DeafDC.com regarding whether or not an “oral deaf person” (note the lower-case “d”) can become a member of “Deaf Culture” (note the upper-case “D”). I do not wish to further pursue that particular discussion here–rather I have an entirely different set of questions. But first some background. . . Here are a number of web definitions that I have [...]

Helen Keller is alleged to have once said that “deafness cuts people off from people.” I not only disagree with this statement, I abhor it. This message has grown over time from something that is merely false into a lie that continuously erodes our community with almost unbearable pain, intolerance, and hatred. Deafness does not cut people off from people—people cut people off from people. Or more precisely, the decisions [...]

Perhaps the most prevalent myth in this community is the myth of hearing parents (or deaf parents for that matter) who “know what is best” for their deaf children. Nobody can “know” what the outcome of a given decision will be. Consider the simple act of striking a match. More often than not it will probably light. But sometimes it won’t. And sometimes it won’t even after seven tries in [...]

Over the last couple of days I’ve been closely following various blogs written on the protest at the A.G. Bell conference a few days ago. Over and over I saw these types of comments being made: “It’s the parents’ choice in the end. So long as parents are making informed choices, and getting all of the information, that’s all that concerns me.” It’s nice to see that so many people [...]

About a week ago I received an email from a friend of mine who works at UW-Milwaukee. She said that she liked my recent blog on conflict resolution, and felt bad that the whole thing happened in the first place. But she also felt somewhat wary, because after the blog was posted, a few prospective deaf students called her to ask if that kind of thing still went on at [...]