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…
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Netflix, the iPad, and the Deaf Consumer
So I just subscribed to Netflix again, after years of turning my head every time I passed a red package on the street. It’s not just the iPad app that convinced me, though. See, I believe in financial activism. When Netflix ignored Deaf customers and their calls for online access-when their top officer made discriminating,…
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…
The Man Cave Rulez
1) The first rule of the Man Cave is that you don’t write clever introductions regarding the Man Cave. The reason for this is 2) The second rule of the Man Cave is that ______ without Caves aren’t Men. They aren’t even Women. Women have Every Other Room in the House. And because they’ve displayed craftiness and dominance…
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…
Why I Almost Didn’t Sign The Dailykos Petition
Thu Dec 02, 2010 at 12:14:12 PM PST I was reluctant to sign the Dailykos petition in support of Netflix and asking the FCC to reign in Comcast’s abuse of corporate power. Why was I reluctant to do so? Because of the history of Netflix’s hostile business practices towards the deaf community, in refusing to caption streaming videos. Dana…
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…
Hearing Privilege
Hearing privilege is a concept that’s come up often in discussions in and around Deaf Echo posts that deserves to be called out and looked at in depth. I also find that it has personal relevance: some uncomfortable situations have come up with my family that made me think of this important concept. Let me…
Why Deaf Women Date Hearing Men (Or Don’t!)
As a confidante of several deaf and hearing girlfriends, I have been exposed to issues that come up when dating deaf and hearing men. I decided to enlist the help of my girlfriends and find out what it is like to date a hearing man. One of the things I was surprised by during my research…