When we first confirmed my son was deaf, I had several communication choices presented to me by his Early Intervention coordinator.  I had never heard of cued speech, and at first I was ready to dismiss it solely because it was not the dominant form of communication among Deaf people.  But when an advocate of cued speech explained to me what websites couldn’t, I was convinced, and we proceeded with [...]

The National Association of the Deaf had recently joined an action against AGB by a group called “Audism Free America,” composed mostly of Deaf people fighting against perceived audism—situations (created or natural) where Deaf people experience discrimination. During this action – which was mostly people and children holding signs, peacefully – one person defaced a sign on the building, crossing out Deaf and hard of, leaving the words hearing. The [...]

Communication is not just an exchange of ideas between two or more people. It is how we learn about each other. It is also a means of including people in or excluding people from a community. We are all aware of the difficulties we can face in communicating with hearing people. But what I want to talk about is the difficulties we encounter in the diverse Deaf community and how [...]

Given the recent death that occurred shortly after an accident on Gallaudet University, it didn’t surprise me that a number of Deaf Echo writers (as well as writers we’re trying to recruit) contacted me saying “Chris, what’s Deaf Echo’s policy on writing stories about Gallaudet? Someday I might want to, but I’m keenly aware that you work there…” In other words, people want to express their thoughts—their true thoughts—about what [...]

Henry Ford famously said that his customers could have their cars in any color they wanted, as long as it was black. How’s that for wide variety of choices, eh? Well, the same is true when it comes to Deaf education. If I was oral, and wanted my child to be raised orally, I wouldn’t have the same problem faced by Henry Ford’s customers. I’d have the choice of any [...]

Hell hath no fury than a woman scorned. This rule appears to be especially true for disqualified beauty queens. At last month’s NAD pageant in Palm Desert, Miss Deaf New Jersey was disqualified by the pageant committee (and apparently also by members of the NAD Board) for alleged violations and improprieties. Miss Raymonda Azrelyant was accused of various misdeeds, including hugging her boyfriend a bit too long, being cued during [...]

The Hatrak Survival Program (HSP) is one of the oldest traditions of the NAD Youth Leadership Camp. It plunges four groups of campers into the central Oregon wilderness for five days, supervised only by three staff members per group who remain mostly silent (other than evening chats, dispensing prescribed medications, and dealing with emergencies) throughout the survival program. This year, YLC lost a group during HSP! According to Salem-News.com, 19 [...]