I just came across this very interesting article on yahoo.com: Many doctors stay mum on controversial care: study

This makes me wonder if this incidence rate is higher for cochlear implant doctors, audiologists and other health care providers? Perhaps this is why there is not wide-spread knowledge on American Sign Language and deaf culture among hearing parents who do not do their own research?

All the more incentive for us to take this into our hands and do some education out there!

~ Deaf Pundit

A couple of individuals left a comment here about Hands and Voices.

Newborn hearing screening is now mandatory but we are finding gaps in the follow up procedures. Parents are sometimes not getting the results of the testing or they are not following up with another test with a pediactric audiologist. We also have no standards for providing non-biased access to all of the options. Hands & Voices has a program called Guide By Your Side that pairs up an experienced parent trained to provide non-biased support with a parent of a newly diagnosed baby. We are working to get this set up in states that want this approach. This program includes deaf and hard of hearing mentors that interact with families as well. More info can be found on www.handsandvoices.org. - Karen

So I propose that we contact Hands and Voices as well to see if we can encourage them to coordinate with American Society for Deaf Children and Gallaudet!

We do need stardards for providing non-biased information to the parents and I believe the best way to accomplish this is to have various organizations working together to accomplish this! I also propose that we make it a federal law for hospitals to provide non-biased, accurate information to parents upon discovering that their child is deaf.

Why federal? Because that’s the minimum the states have to follow!

Let’s send in emails to Hands and Voices, and ASDC to see how this goes!

~ Deaf Pundit

There was a discussion on DeafDC.com and Chris Heuer proposed an excellent idea and I’m going to quote what he wrote:

Just imagine what we could do with an effective interactive website that gave parents ALL of the information in an unbiased manner… and an INTERESTING manner. For example, did you see Elissa Abenchuchan’s recent article on the effectiveness of cochlear implants? Imagine if we had a website where a) if you clicked on a map of the US, you could first get a breakdown of each state by county, and then we had all the info of EVERYONE a parent living in that county/state might need to call. Including audiologists….

And then we had interactive communication vlogs… if you clicked on an option, someone would pope up explaining that option in voice, English text, or ASL. Plus we could have a donation section on the site, with the message that all procedes would be used to pursue two things:” mandatory early infant hearing screening in all states, and a legal requirement that all practitioners in audiology/Deaf Ed present ALL options in an unbiased manner. We could also offer online counseling services, which is something most parents never get.

A medium-sized grant could build that website, but we’d need more funding for the counseling. That’s where Gallaudet could come in. Rather than just being an educational institution, it could provide information services on a scale nobody has ever seen, and set up majors teaching the students how to run it, which would create more jobs/internships…

I then proposed that the American Society for Deaf Children be a better fit for Chris’ idea. He agreed and then asked that we all send an e-mail to the organization saying:

Okay, I propose a social experiment that we can all participate in.

First, open a second internet window and in it open your regular email account. Paste the following address in the “To” field: asdc@deafchildren.org . Then put “Comments Regarding Your Organization in DeafDC.com” in the subject field.

Below that cut and paste the following letter:

*

Greetings, members of ASDC!

We are commenters on the DeafDC.com blog (see Shane Feldman’s blog entitled “My V/Blogging Conference Presentation”). As we discussed that article, your organization was mentioned by one of the commenters, and we would like you to be aware of some of the ideas that were discussed.

We hope that you will have one of your representatives post on DeafDC.com in Mr. Feldman’s blog and discuss some of those ideas with us!

Sincerely,

A DeafDC Commenter

*

When you are done cutting, pasting, signing, and sending, immediately come back here to DeafDC and post, as I will below, the simple message “DONE.”

Why? This experiment will first allow us to see how many of us actually DID something rather than just sitting around TALKING about doing things. Two, the experiment will allow us to see how ASDC will respond, thus giving us some insight into how other organziations will respond if we try something like this in the future.

Thus far, six of us have e-mailed ASDC. We are:

Chris Heuer
Vikee
Deaf Pundit
Wildstarryskies
Curious Eyes
Virginia L. Beach

So I am asking all of you readers to join us in e-mailing ASDC and letting them know about Chris’ excellent idea! When you have finished your e-mail to ASDC, please do let us know by either posting DONE on DeafDC.com or on here!

Thank you for all you do!

~ Deaf Pundit

This is cross-posted to my personal blog on The Deaf Edge, but I think it’s appropriate for me to post it on here as well. There’s a slight furor in the deaf community about the LA Times article about a deaf football player at California School of the Deaf - Riverside.

This reminded me of an essay I wrote several years ago, and I think it’s apropos for this situation. Hopefully this will bring awareness to some hearing people if they stumble across this blog.

I am stone-cold Deaf. I do not consider myself to be disabled. I can read and write far better than the average person at my age. I can do anything just as well as any average hearing person. The difficulties I have with being Deaf is how people judge and treat me.

I have been asked if I could read and write. My hearing friends have been questioned about my mental capacity from strangers who have never met me. My friends and I receive dirty looks when we use ASL to converse in public. People have approached me, only to blanch and leave when they realize I am Deaf. One woman, jealous of my writing skills, submitted me to public humiliation by standing up in class and accusing me of turning in a paper written by my mother in order to receive an “A”.

My Deaf friends have been abused sexually, physically, emotionally, and mentally, simply because they were Deaf. Furthermore, they cannot get justice for these inhumane acts, because just by being Deaf, their credibility is in question.

Hearing educators, arrogant in their assumptions, have integrated Deaf people into hearing classes. Most Deaf students go through school without a bilingual education, therefore forcing them into a system about which they are unaware. Through social promotion, they are advanced without learning anything. The highest level that my Deaf classmates ever attained was a sixth grade education.

People keep decrying, “How do the Deaf know when they are in danger?”

Being Deaf is not dangerous. We have ample warning if we are in danger through pagers, phones, television, strobe lights, and our own eyes.

People then ask, “How can the Deaf really experience music?”

One need only experience a small portion of the songs and poetry in ASL to realize that they are some of the most beautiful works ever composed. Our hands are our voice. Our faces convey our emotions. Some things expressed in ASL can never be properly translated.

One needs only stand still and feel the rhythm, to feel the vibrations course through one’s body, to realize how we hear music that hearing people create.

To hear the rain drops patter down, we simply just have to place our hands on the windows. To hear the thunderous applause from an audience, we just have to look at the hands applauding.

We hold a baby, and see it’s laughter on it’s face. A toothless grin. To hear how people feel, a simple glance is only needed.

I can sit in the middle of a forest, and enjoy it. I see the birds and squirrels flit from tree to tree. I smell the freshness of the earth. I feel the gentle, warm breeze that carries wafts of various scents.

I can see a rainbow. I can see the pure white snow. I can see the beauty that is here on the earth. I can feel, smell, and taste it.

With a swish and twist of my fingers and hands, I can tell a joke that will cause a room full of people to burst out in laughter. With my hands, and my eyes, and my body, I can tell a story that will move people to tears. I don’t need a voice or ears to do it.

I can even sit anywhere, with people or alone, and simply enjoy the so-called silent world I am in.

I cannot properly convey the full beauty and depth of Deaf culture with words, because there are no words to describe it. As Deaf people, we cannot fully grasp hearing culture, and hearing people cannot fully grasp Deaf culture, even when one is immersed in the other. Therefore, all we can do is wonder how the other side truly experiences life and try to accept each other.

©Jeannette Johnson/Deaf Pundit

Please submit ideas on here for what you think we all should do to make Netflix, Blockbuster Online, and the mass media to caption everything. Many of us already sent comments to the FCC.

My ideas are:

1. Send a letter to every major metro newspaper in the country
2. Twenty-four hour boycott of television
3. Enlist Hollywood insiders for assistance (Jean Boutcher’s idea)

So I would like your opinions on what other things we should consider, and let’s prioritize them.

Leave a comment and have at it!

Thanks for what you do.

~ Deaf Pundit

Goals:

To have captioning on all television shows; all internet videos made by mass media such as CNN, ABC, PBS, Netflix and BlockBuster Online; and movies in theatres.

Actions: We do these one at a time. If the FCC does not respond to our comments, then we would move on to step 2 and so on.

1. File comments with the FCC. See ‘Update Regarding FCC and Closed Captioning’ post to see how.
2. Send a letter to every major metro newspaper in the country about this issue.
3. A twenty-four hour boycott of television by the deaf and hearing allies. (We would issue a press release beforehand, so the media knows what’s going on.)
4. Enlist insider allies such as the movie critic, Arch Campbell, like Jean Boutcher suggested in her comment on ‘Purpose of this Blog’.

Before we proceed with any action other than the first one, I think we need to find out how much does it cost to caption each one of those. I’m sure it costs differently to caption a television show than it does for a movie that’ll be presented in the theatre. So any suggestions on how we find this information? We need this information so we can put it in our letters to the media and press releases. The media responds to cold, hard facts that can be independently verified and personal perspectives on how this will impact us.

Thoughts?

~ Deaf Pundit

Edited to add:

Thanks, Jared for your comment. I wanted to clarify that this is not set in stone, and ideas on how to proceed with this and prioritizing which action to take is more than welcome! I still want some hard statistics on this though.

Edited to add: I just saw an easier way to comment on Jamie Berke’s Outspoken blog. http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/upload_v2.cgi

FCC Consumer Facts - How to Comment

The FCC just e-mailed me a pdf file explaining how to make comments on a topic. To view it, click above on FCC Comsumer Facts - How to Comment.

This is very helpful, because making comments is different than filing a complaint. So regarding the closed captioning situation, it is more appropriate for us to file comments, not complaints.

In my opinion, the easiest way to file comments is via e-mail. The instructions and sample can be found at: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/email.html

If you don’t want to view the pdf file, see below for the instructions and sample on how to file a comment via e-mail.

Instructions:

Sample:

ECFS - Email Filing
<PROCEEDING> 00-221
<DATE> 6/12/01
<NAME> John P. Doe
<ADDRESS1> 123 Kennedy Drive
<ADDRESS2>
<CITY> Newark
<STATE> NJ
<ZIP> 07103
<LAW-FIRM>
<ATTORNEY>
<FILE-NUMBER>
<DOCUMENT-TYPE> RC
<PHONE-NUMBER> 973-555-7893
<DESCRIPTION>
<CONTACT-EMAIL> jdoe@commercial.com
<TEXT> Dear FCC,
I don’t want to pay more for my phone. Please remove the surcharge and let competition rule. Thanks.
John

TDI has released a quicktime video explaining about FCC approving approximately 300 requests for television shows not to provide closed captions.

http://www.tdi-online.org/FCC/FCC-CC100406_OC%2BAD.mov

For more information on FCC and how they regulate closed captions, and how you can contact FCC to complain about this go to: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/closedcaption.html

I just sent an e-mail to the FCC (fccinfo@fcc.gov) and this is what I said:

Dear Mr. Chairman:

It has been brought to my attention that the FCC is now granting permanent waivers for television programs to be exempt from closed captioning.

There are approximately thirty million hard of hearing and deaf individuals in the United States. I must ask why is the FCC encouraging unequal access to thirty million citizens?

It is unfair that the FCC has approved three hundred requests for television shows not to be captioned, therefore, denying thirty million hard of hearing and deaf citizens the equality of watching whatever television shows as hearing citizens do.

If your child, parent, relative or friend were deaf, wouldn’t you want to sit down with them and watch and enjoy a show together? But now, thirty million of us cannot do that, due to the FCC decision. Very few television programs cannot afford to close caption their programs. I strongly urge you to reconsider this decision.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely Yours,

Jeannette Johnson

——

I strongly encourage all of you to call, mail or e-mail the FCC to let them know how you feel about this. Feel free to copy my e-mail, if you can’t think of anything to say.

Hello, this blog is all about issues that impact the deaf community, such as captioning, interpreting, cochlear implants, and education. This is mainly a deaf advocacy and awareness blog. Leave a comment if you want to become a blogger!

Thank you very much.

Deaf Pundit