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…
Category: Language & Culture
From Sesame Street to Self-Discovery
Ninety-five percent of deaf children have hearing parents. What does that mean? It means that many of us are used to being the only deaf person in the family, in the community, or in school unless we are at a deaf school. It means that our family is our first introduction to the ways that…
Walking the wiggly red line
Anyone who has seen my Facebook page, Twitter feed, or blog knows that I teach college English and writing. Fewer know that the posts about my failures and triumphs would have looked like drunken freshman scribbling if not for cyberediting. Since the semester began, I have been checking and double checking the spelling and syntax…
The Problem of Speaking
I’ve adopted a saying lately: “Nothing is without weight.” I say this to myself in my mind as I go through my day, as my meanderings are halted with the shock of seeing speaking in front of me when I had barely become accustomed to the relief and comfort of visual communication (on what the world deems…
Disability – It’s Time for a New Word
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…
Way to Represent!
Countless deaf people tuned in last night to watch the finale of Celebrity Apprentice for one reason: to find out if Marlee Matlin won. Ah, Marlee. If she and the deaf community declared on Facebook that they were in a relationship, the status update would read, “and it’s complicated.” On one hand, she is our…
Raising a Deaf Child
I once asked my toddler’s teacher for help: “how do you discipline a deaf child?” Her answer? “The same as any other child.” The simplicity of this answer shows just how little some people know of the hardships of being a hearing parent of a deaf child. Certainly I understand her point that you treat…
Deaf Education: Numbering Our Flaws
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…
On Reading Levels
Jon Henner posted a great article here and at Deaf Politics about deaf education and various relevant statistics. There are profound implications for the deficiency in reading level in our deaf and hard of hearing peers. Citizenship depends on reading level: the simplest newspaper, USA Today, is written at a fifth grade reading level, which is just barely…
What Is Bigotry Against Deaf People? Audism.
[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…