Just as I’m flying to California State University Northridge to present at their Deaf College Student Leadership Conference, I was reading a copy of Newsweek. There was a story on the infectious appeal of the #Occupy Wall Street movement. One particular quote stood out to me: “In 2008 vast new numbers of Americans transformed the political process through social media and small-donor fundraising, electing a rank outsider, Obama, who [...]

Last week, I received paperwork from the local school district to fill out for my son. “Preschoolers with Disabilities” was written at the top. This caught me off guard for two reasons: first, I can’t believe my baby is ready for preschool already! But more importantly, “Disabilities?!” I’ve spent the last two years trying to explain to family and friends that deafness is not a disability. My husband and I [...]

Not to hammer away at my favorite franchise – Starbucks – yet again, but my friend “Jane” recently sent me the following email, and I asked her for permission to share both it and my reply with Deaf Echo readers. Here it is: “Hi Chris! The following story happened to a friend of mine today and he is totally flabbergasted at what went down. I am curious as to your [...]

When the offer came to teach American Sign Language as a world language at a high school in the Los Angeles area, I did a little background checking.  I knew it was not enough just knowing the language.  I went to a friend of mine, a veteran teacher who was teaching ASL at another high school.  I saw his students communicating in sign language.  I saw that purpose – connecting [...]

There are two police officers in our dining room.  They’ve come to take my father away. He’s standing by the table in his underwear, hands cuffed behind his back.  My mother is trying to hang her burgundy housecoat over his shoulders so he won’t be naked when they take him outside.  The housecoat has feminine floral patterns and looks ridiculous on him. She looks ridiculous, too, being all concerned for [...]

This is an article about numbers.  It does not purport to be anything else.  I will delineate numbers that varying researchers spent quite a bit of time gathering, and then I will discuss them briefly and draw connections to the potential political consequences of having the numbers listed define our reality.  It is my personal opinion that the energy of our community is wasted on dithering about identity politics, such [...]

Some thoughts grown out of recent discussions on Gallaudet. There are still those who oppress Deaf writers, attacking them personally instead of their ideas. The focus is on groups and their particular foibles rather than on elevating the discourse of ideas, and that pulls us all down. So in the Tradition of Joanna Russ’ “How To Suppress Women’s Writing”: 1. Hint coyly that Deaf students apparently don’t have the right [...]

[Editor's note: The article you are about to read first appeared in Dailykos.com on 12/08/10. The thread referred to in the first sentence is taken from a discussion that followed a different article. Reviewing this may be helpful in establishing context.] Judging from this thread, not many people are aware about how their comments can offend and hurt those who are deaf and hard of hearing, and these comments are a prime example of audism. I do [...]

(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 [...]