I was told about a blog post, Why I support Indiana House Bill 1367, written by Untitled. She wrote about her experience taking her son to the Outreach Center at ISD to be assessed. It did not sound as if it went well. Below is an excerpt. You can read the entire article here.
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I was very hesitant on going there because Evan was an already an established auditory learner. We chose the aural/oral approach with him very early and he was and still is very successful. I informed our local co-op that wasn't really where I wanted to go but I was young and naive and decided I would give them a shot but I wanted all of Evan's paperwork to perfectly state he does not use sign language. We had used word signs with him on occasion and he did know some but that was not his first mode of communication. Walking into that building will forever be etched into my memory. Only sign language was being used! I'm going to state this ONE TIME... I AM NOT AGAINST SIGN LANGUAGE!!! I think ASL is beautiful but if you are truly working for ALL families you can NOT use one mode of communication. Back to my story. Evan started instantly playing with a Lego table and we were greeted by Jodee Crace. I had known Jodee from previous engagements and as a person I really like her. Her and I had a conversation for a few seconds, really it was me finger spelling and her being a gracious person since I'm not a signer. We were lead into a assessment room by Julie Buck and Louise Fitzpatrick where for the next 2 to 3 hours an assessment was given to my son in American Sign Language. I barely said anything because I didn't know what I was suppose to do. I remember specifically asking Julie why this was being done in ASL when Evan doesn't know it and she responded "We have to evaluate the whole child". That was the only spoken words said the whole time. One time Evan even got so upset he pushed Louise. She was shaking a rattle directly into his hearing aid and because he wouldn't sign stop, even tho he was speaking it perfectly clear, she would not stop. I cringed and hurt for my child. After the assessment was finished I was lead into another room where I was told the recommendations were Evan be immersed into the Deaf community and that he didn't need a personal FM system in public school but only a Soundfield system. These were recommendations that were going to our school system exactly the opposite of what was being requested from me. (Read more).If this place is truly unbiased, they would have been more respectful towards this child's language and main mode of communication. It would be similar to assessing a child who uses ASL without an interpreter.
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I read that blog this Morning.....wow.
ReplyDelete"We have to evaluate the whole child." Whoa! you gotta be kidding..... This Mom was told that he does not need to use the FM system when he is in Public School but the soundfield system! Argh! I am glad this Mom knows what he have many talents in speech and sound skills. He is helluva lucky little fella. She ain't that dumb!
I rather to have the Outreach Center to be in the unbiased property, not in ISD!
http://www.raisingdeafkids.org/help/tech/ald/ about soundfield system. I don't know what type of loss the child have but they probably looked at his hearing record and what the school commonly use for that type of hearing.
ReplyDeleteAn elementary teacher at ISD, she's deaf & comes from a deaf family and currently she has two little girls who are twins & deaf (really, more of hard of hearing). Right now, they both attend at ISD-- when I worked at ISD for a short time, at one point I found out how well her children could hear and they weren't wearing any kind of hearing aids & trainings in speech/ hearing. I asked her whether she was aware of their hearing ability and if so, how come they weren't getting any kind of training to push this potential skill. I can't remember entirely on what she responded but she did said that she doesn't want them to take the advantage on their hearing abilities as she wants them to be proud as deaf individuals & use ASL. So, basically it wasn't important to her and she felt that it shouldn't be for kids too.
ReplyDeleteI was really surprised because I'm deaf myself and use ASL primarily to communicate-- it's just a major disappointment when someone like her would ignore on an ability that she could push to its maximum level, especially when it comes to deaf children. If they can hear well, has the ability to speak-- seriously, we have to make sure they have that skillset before they go into adulthood. Not only it'll make it more easier in many situations for them to be able to hear/speak but they'll get a lot more opportunities than individuals who doesn't have the ability to hear / speak.
I still think we need to have ASL as part of deaf children's foundation-- especially at early age. Anyway, I can't support HB1367 for many reasons. One of main reasons is because once Outreach is taken away from ISD-- we'll never see a staff there who would include ASL / Deaf culture information in neutral way and it's likely to encourage parents to aim towards to oral method.. Not that I'm against oral method but I really think we would have better information & resources to share if it continues to be at ISD.... However, current staff at outreach needs to go because they all are the most definitely biased on communication part and weak on providing resources for oral / auditory related.
Well Said.
DeleteThat does not justify to call for a new centre. It is all about policies, guidelines and regulations that can be modified rather than spending million dollars (if not hundred thousand dollars) (Taxpayers' money) to implement a new centre. No wonder, the states have no sense of fiscal accountability. I am shaking my head at the ridiculous bill, HB1367.
ReplyDeletethe opposite could happen, the staff speak and speak and even probably cover her mouth or put on headphones to see if the child will respond when the child's first language is ASL.
ReplyDeleteYes, the opposite could happen and it would be just as bad and should not take place. I personally have not seen assessments done like this when the child's first language is ASL. There is usually an interpreter (based on experiences in clinics and schools evaluating a signing child). But, I am sure there are some places where they think an interpreter is not necessary because they will be evaluating only listening and speaking skills. Of course this would be wrong, and I would hope the parents or caregivers would leave or report them.
Deleteand to add, since the staff doesn't know anything about ASL, she would say "the child doesn't need deaf school, just throw in an interpreter at public school and the child will be fine"
ReplyDeleteYes, this can happen. I have never had a staff member or specialist recommend this. But I have worked with parents who think that this is how their child could learn ASL. Of course teachers of the deaf, including me, would suggest that if they really want their child to learn and use ASL, first the family needs to be signing at home, which is usually not the case, they could join the signing deaf community, talk to deaf signing people for more info., take some classes, or enroll their child in a school for the deaf, if it is appropriate.
DeleteMost school board do not want to transfer a child to a deaf school $$$. Sometimes they do tell parents this.
DeleteStaff should be both ASL fluent and spoken fluent to accommodate ALL deaf/hh children. They should not be using ASL on a child that does not know ASL. They should not be using voice on a child that does not understand spoken language, period. There is a way to accommodate ALL deaf/hh children. Simple as that.
ReplyDeleteAnd, now, I see that outreach is BROKEN. It is too bad they shot down the study. I really think a study need to be done to see where it is broken.
Well Said.
DeleteThe more I find things out, I do not think this bill is ridiculous. I think this bill has merits. The issue is how can the supporters and opposition come together to create a new Outreach that will take all sides into consideration. We, I'm sure, can use current staff and add new staff to run new center. To make sure that children who will do best in ASL/bi-bi environment, is afforded that opportunity and to make sure that children who will do best in auditory environment will also be afforded that opportunity. There is no one size fit all. Never was, never will be.
ReplyDeleteThere will always be a need for a deaf school because there are children who will always need that environment to do well. This does not mean it is the answer for all. I have family members that goes to ISD and they are flourishing there fine. In fact, they did such an awesome job with one of the family member which I do not think mainstream would have done the same job. This does not mean all deaf/hh will flourish like they do, that much I do know.
I'm speechless reading this blog post. Totally speechless. I understand that both sides do have some merits in their argument. This blog post takes the cake.
That's it. I'm outta here. The rest is up to those supporters and opposition in Indiana. I'm gonna sit and watch from afar....
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ReplyDeletePerhaps you should solicit a larger number of parents of deaf children to share their experiences at the outreach center at ISD. One anecdote may suggest an issue, but it cannot show if there is a pattern or systemic problem, rather than an unfortunate anomaly.
David
I wish I could, David.. But for their own reasons they choose to come forward..
DeleteYes, I wish I could hear from everyone, people who visited the center and people who work there, to get more of an idea of what is going on. But, I can't expect everyone to come forward and give a response.
DeleteCandy -- Exactly! A deaf teacher cannot use the soundfield system in the classroom if a hh child cannot comprehend the words. Regardless of the modes of communication, it would be very unfair for a hh child to strugglingly hear the words while other deaf students who use the ASL without using the voice when deaf teacher is present in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI completely understand what the blogger from Untitled went through when she learned about the soundfield system that the deaf teacher use in the classroom. She does not want her child to get some frustrations if he/she does not comprehend any words from this deaf teacher.
I'm not too familiar with soundfield system. In most cases, parents knows their child, they know what's best for them. Parents these days are different from our time, they are more involved. It's evidenced in many reports over the last ten years.
ReplyDeleteWhat David said above, If someone could get a transcript of the hearing where supporters and opposition testified on their experience with Outreach at ISD, we then can see both sides input on the pros and cons of the Outreach.
I agree, more stories will give us a better picture. We need to take into account that all of the testimonies are valid inputs. I have already seen accounts by supporters, at least three and at least two by the opposition. I think it is broken. That's based on what I have seen so far. Someone from Indiana told me that ISD does offer all services. I told that person it's not about ISD, the school itself. It's about Outreach itself. These two are separate.
The Superintendent of ISD stated on his twitter:
ASLDG David Geeslin
@elsiesue @marvmiller There will be no change in the excellent quality of educating Deaf children at ISD, regardless of the bill#1367
31 Jan
So, as you can see, he said the bill is not going to change how they educate their students at ISD. Totally separate. Okay, I'm outta here..have tons of stuffs to do. Thank you for a great post, (e.
I'm not questioning Untitled's veracity, but I find her account of her experience with ISD Outreach to stretch the boundaries of credibility. Outreach has an assessment team of highly qualified professionals who are able to assess deaf and hard of hearing students in their primary language, whether it be ASL, signed English, or spoken English. They have school psychologists, speech-language specialists, audiologists, and so on. It just strikes me as unbelievable that her son Evan would only assessed in ASL, and that an assessor would shake a rattle in his ear! Geez Louise. There is such a thing as an audiometer - no need for rattles. At the local deaf school where I live, the assessment team is Deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing. It would be no problem for one of the hearing or hard of hearing staff to assess Evan in spoken English. And they would have no problem saying that Evan would be better suited for a mainstreamed program. I'm scratching my head over those claims. It does seem like there is twisting of facts on both sides.
ReplyDeleteAnother Anonymous
Hi all... My name is Leslie and the blog you all are speaking about is mine. You can go and look up the complaint that was filed with the Indiana Department of Education because my son's rights were violated according to Article 7. I have a 10 page document from the assessment done at Outreach. I acutally only wrote what was typed into his report. It happened whether you choose to believe it or not. I know what happened because I was there. The thing no one is actually answering: Would a Deaf family who uses ASL stand for this? Would a Deaf family who uses ASL go to an Outreach center that is housed at St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf? We both know those answers are NO!Indiana families are basically being forced to go to Outreach that is housed on ISD's campus which supports Bi/Bi communication. Nothing wrong with that expect for it is funded by our tax dollars and families that are choosing an oral approach are being turned away and told to go out of state. I know this because they are my friends! I do not speak for them nor will I share their stories. Most do not speak out because we are ridiculed and told we are stupid and couldn't quite possibly be informed because we didn't choose ASL as the first mode of communication. Those are things I have been told myself. I've had people tell me my child will hate me. I have started to receive hate mail. I will not back down no matter what! If ISD wants there own center, FINE, find your own money. Do not use my tax money when my child does not benefit from any of it.
ReplyDeleteAbout Louise.. She absolutely did shake that rattle in his hearing aid.. One thing I do get frustrated about it why I have to keep "proving" what I say is true. I have NEVER asked a Deaf adult to "prove" to me the stories I hear from their past. But because I am hearing I must continue to "prove" myself worthly to be Evan's mom. I do not agree with that at all.
If you keep an open mind with me, I will keep one with you and we can continue to have adult conversations. Come over to my blog.. Ask them but I will not accept them if you are anonymous. I am putting myself out there~please give me the same respect!
Hi Leslie, "Another Anonymous" here. I have to accept that what you say happened, did happen. I hope you know I'm not asking you to prove it - I'm just so floored that it could happen at all, in the year 2006, at a place of ISD's reputation, and with a full staff of trained specialists. (BTW, I noticed that Louise person is no longer on the staff. Probably a good thing, if shaking rattles is a part of her diagnostic repertoire. ugh.) This so-called assessment was meaningless, completely contrary to the way it's supposed to work. Your outrage was warranted, and I agree that ISD violated your child's right to a fair assessment and consideration of other educational placements.
DeleteI hear that you're mad your tax dollars paid for the incompetent assessment at ISD. Nonetheless, separating Outreach from ISD is NOT the solution. The function of ISD's Outreach program is to disseminate information about ISD, and hopefully to attract qualified students and their families to ISD. Their area of specialty is ASL/English bilingual education. Not oralism, not AVT, not CIs, cued speech, or sim-com. I think it's unreasonable to try and make Outreach into something it's not.
So whose job is it to provide parents with information about ALL options? Parents always have to do their homework when they have a deaf or hard of hearing child. they have to investigate multiple sources of information - AG Bell, Hear Indiana, Hands and Voices, deaf schools, deaf adults, etc. The primary responsibility for your child's placement always begins with your local school district. Hopefully, they can be a good resource for you. There's no "one-stop shopping" for all options, unbiased, objective, neutral, under one roof.
I regret that I cannot use my real name in a public forum. I'm Deaf, and my views are not popular in my community.
Actually Outreach is suppose to be for all deaf and hard of hearing not to be a recruit system for ISD. Outreach has that motto that they are for ALL deaf and hard of hearing not just Bi/Bi communication users. If ISD wants Outreach to be only for their school then they should promote themselves as that and our oral deaf school should receive the same type of funding from tax payers so they can recruit for their program.
DeleteYes we parents always have to do our homework but I do think there can be a "one-stop" shop for us. Why do we have to go to several different agencies but only one is getting taxpayers monies?
I respect your views and thank you for speaking with respect. I appreciate it!
why aren't they asking a separate funding just for their method? instead of taking away funding.
DeleteI think the reasons because like the poster above, it is usually done by your local district. I grew up in public school and thats how it was done for me
This mother's experience should not have happened in a neutral center for assessment of deaf children. No matter what the parent chooses for the child, evaluation needs to cover all angles and be weighted equally among all methods available. Her child would ideally be tested both in ASL and orally, in that situation. Perhaps she is objecting to the ASL portion of the evaluation?
ReplyDeleteI have to admit to a bias: the profoundly deaf child is likely to be critically dependent on ASL at the beginning and likely to continue to need it along with all available oral-aural training and associated devices.
Here, however, we apparently see a child with more hearing than most profoundly deaf children, and has been able to make effective use of it, and THAT needs to be recognized. My bias comes from the dedicated oral proponents that like their historic counterparts, are still dedicated to their cause and who have an underlying suspicion of ASL based on time-worn tenuous assumptions. These dedicated people are still with us, universally work in oral institutions and are especially active in drafting laws such as HB1367.
Because of these dedicated people, and because no input from the Deaf professional community was included, I am opposed to it just as I am opposed to biased evaluations such as this mother said she experienced.
As long as all children are lumped together, we must be assured that all levels of hearing ability are respected and utilized. We also must be sure that all avenues of communication and language ability are covered, too. If the dedicated people want to go a different route and establish an ADDITIONAL resource designed for hard of hearing children, I'm all for it...otherwise, leave the outreach center where it is, ideally administered by the real experts...people who are intuitively involved with all ages of deaf people.
Dianrez,
DeleteI fully respect your opionon on this subject and thank you for doing it kindly. I will say this that we have many friends who have deaf children that use cochlear implants that have far worse hearing than my son and they would be considered a success. This DOES NOT mean I think they are superior to a family whose child uses ASL. Again, thank you for posting your comment respectfully!
The WHOLE evaluation was done in ASL, according to Leslie. Was that appropriate for her child? If it was done part in ASL and part in spoken English, I think I would have agreed with you. But, as it is, the evaluation was done totally in ASL the whole time.
Deletepersonally, I don't really care for a blog that stereotype deaf people (in that blog, she wrote this this why she won't let her kids hang out with deaf people over ricky taylor).
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely correct, I should not stereotype.. But is that not what is happening with me? Because I am hearing mom of a deaf child that doesn't use ASL, then I must not know what I am talking about? I am forcing him to talk? I believe all the lies by AGBell? I simply could not have gotten it right because he doesn't sign?
DeleteI will say I do not believe all Deaf people are like this gentleman and maybe shouldn't have wrote that, but on the other hand, if I would have sent an e-mail like that to a Deaf person.. I would be sued for being a racist or whatever else there is out there to be sued for.
Treat me with respect and I will do the same to you! To me it is that simple...
Leslie...
DeleteI have gotten emails from supporters (at least two so far) who did not like what Ricky said to you in his email. If Ricky disagrees with your view on the bill, he should have said that and left it at that. What he did was immature and is not contributing to healthy discussion. Ricky, fortunately, is not a true reflection of the signing deaf cultured community. (Thank God) I'm confident that you knew that. I understand your reaction and don't blame you one bit.
dianez, I was wondering about that too. that she was opposing the the ASL evaluation part and if the child had oral evaluation with a different staff. It would help if other parents step in and share their experiences.
ReplyDeleteYes I was opposed to the ASL part of the eval but heck that would be opposing the WHOLE evaluation. The staff knew he was an auditory learner and they were doing assessments for our local school to find out where his skills were.
DeleteI agree other parents should step up and share their experiences and I choose to not speak for them even if I do know their story.
Anyway, i do know that most public schools (or county education) do have speech evaulations for free for any students (even homeschooled and private schooled kids). It is mostly part of IEP.
ReplyDeletelbre969903 at 12:44 PM
ReplyDelete"Would a Deaf family who uses ASL stand for this?"
You seem to be unaware that this *exactly* the kind of treatment Deaf families and Deaf adults have faced for 130+ years. So-called "professionals" in the field of Deaf Education have been and are still unwilling to listen to Deaf people who try to tell them of the harm caused by their rigid obsession with a listening-and-spoken-language-only approach to educating deaf children. The hostility you have faced might come partly from the frustration of being dismissed as you seem to be saying that you feel you were. Being dismissed, ignored, and patronized for 130 years has also bred the distrust of oralist/LSL programs that is evident in the debate in Indiana.
As I said, I am curious if your experience is a "bad apple" type of anomaly or if there is a systemic flaw at the outreach center at ISD. The mix of accounts I read seems to favor the latter, but the sample size is 'way too small.
David
David,
DeleteSo do two wrongs make a right? I am not nor has any of my family done any harm to a Deaf person. I support whatever decision you decide for your family, why can I not be given the same respect?I believe the stories I hear from Deaf adults and the things they went through and I have read up on Deaf Culture, so why do I continued to get questioned..
I know others are out there with similar stories as mine and like I have said before I will not speak for them.
about the rattle, I do believe it, people come up with all sort of weird methods for the deaf. taping their hands, covering their mouth, mirrors, touching their throat, etc. it doesn't matter what their professions is. speech therapy, AVT, teachers. We all have weird stories to share haha
ReplyDeleteDavid..
ReplyDeleteRead again what Leslie said:
"Would a Deaf family who uses ASL stand for this? Would a Deaf family who uses ASL go to an Outreach center that is housed at St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf? We both know those answers are NO!"
Now, I ask you: If you had a deaf child and your child need to go to an outreach that is located at St. Joseph, St. Joseph being an auditory only school. You were told you have to take your child there to be evaluated. Would you? Would you feel conflicted?
That's what Leslie was trying to say. I think she has a great point there. These parents who opt for oral/auditory approach understand and respect (at least for the most part, that is what I am seeing)the ASL community. As for her remark about Ricky, I hope she knows that Ricky is not an example of what the deaf cultured community is like, because it isn't. Ricky is making the deaf community look bad. We need understanding and respect for all approach. Out there in the deaf world, I do not see the kind of vitriol like I do see here online. I know MY deaf world isn't like that. Unfortunately, we do see extremes from both sides and we know they're out there. It does not mean it is a reflection of both community on the whole.
Not one Deaf adult/family has answered that question... I know not all Deaf people are like Ricky but I will add that I have added another post where now I have been called a bitch..
DeleteYea, I'm waiting to hear what others have to say about that, too. As for Ricky, you're not his first and the last victim. I was and still am a victim of his hate.
DeleteI think it is obvious they would, but they always done that sort of thing so we are used to it. they will impose hearing aids ,SEE, and such for years (ask any deaf..this include deaf school) . it is just recent they started showing respect for ASL as a language (and how it help them be deep thinker or something like that) instead of trying to change it for literary and speech sakes.
DeleteCandy,
DeleteAh, a linked series of rhetorical questions. I had read the questions as standing separately.
No, I cannot support or defend disrespectful and childish behavior either. I did not intend to give that impression. It is amazing (and always sad) how badly some people will behave when they think that no one knows who they are and that no one will call them to accountability.
David
why bring up "bitch" if you know not all deaf are like that? Maybe you want to put them in a box.
ReplyDeleteI brought it up because it is what is being said about me.. Not sure where the box statement is coming from.. I am only stating what is being posted about me on-line..
DeleteI am sorry about the attacks and hate emails. I get my share of them from time to time. When anyone blogs about anything controversial, a few bad apples will come out. Sometimes it is entertaining and sometimes it is sad.
DeleteRicky can do whatever he want. Just because he is deaf and use ASL doesn't mean anything.He is just another human being that exist on this planet who have opinions (and of course he will support ASL, it is his life as any language is for an individual but he is and never was and even made it clear many times that he is not a spokeperson for the deaf) I have plenty of hearing people who call deaf people retarded but I don't go around saying "I won't hang out with hearing people "(although i know some do but I don't).
ReplyDeleteand I should mention doesn't make it right for anyone to harrass you. but still he is not a spokeperson.
DeleteI never said he was a spokeperson for the Deaf community. I also said in an earlier post that I probably shouldn't stereotype but isn't that is what is happening to me?
Deletepeople call me retarded, isn't thats what happening to me? what do you want me to do?
DeleteI don't quite understand what your asking.. I did not call you that word nor would I.
DeleteI don't understand your point either.
DeleteI guess for some people it's okay to be disrespectful and call others a bitch or any other degrading words. For some, like myself, I don't see any purpose in that. It just does not help with learning how to get along with others. Recently Ben Vess posted something on FB that resonates with me. (Ben, I hope it's okay that I posted it here, you stated it was okay to share it elsewhere on FB, if it's not, let me know and I'll remove it) Here it is:
ReplyDeleteI feel I should stand up for my "hearing" peers. This has been going on for far too long! It is NOT acceptable.
It is audism when you accuse ALL hearing people to share the same attitudes as what? 15 hearing people? Seriously! Most of you deaf people do not have hearing friends and feel liberated to say "hearing people" whenever one silly person (hearing or deaf, at this point is irrelevant) decides to be oppressive.
Many of you Deaf people have fallen in the trap of "becoming the oppressor" while fighting for the oppressed. I have encountered more discrimination from my deaf peers than I ever have from my hearing friends. You wanna know why?
I don't hang out at places where stupid people exist. I don't wake up going to their websites or check their twitter feeds. So, in order to reinforce your "myth" that ALL hearing people are horrible, you SCREEN the good people out and start making blanket statements about ALL hearing people. That is wrong.
I can honestly say I have met and conversed with more than 100,000 hearing people in the past year alone. The only time I was insulted for being deaf was when I didn't turn around when she was calling for me -- then, said "What are you? deaf?!" my coworker and manager, both hearing, ganged up on the woman and told her to leave. When the lady found out I was deaf, she came to me and took my hands and apologized. She told me she would NEVER do that again.
One out of 100,000 people and it was really out of ignorance than actual discrimination.
I have conversed and met with just as many deaf people throughout my lifetime, more than half of the time, including ALL the members of my deaf family, has discriminated against hearing people. Not because of who they were, or even their attitudes.
No, the only reason was that they were hearing. That's all.
Because of this intense disconnect that the Deaf actively maintain from the real world at large, the Deaf comes off as far much more hateful, discriminatory, and constantly degrading the rest of the world because of those 15 idiots who happens to be hearing y'all can't pry your eyes off from. And then deciding that those 15 is an appropriate representative of the rest of the world.
Seriously, get out of your caves and open your eyes! Those 15 hearing people represents LESS than 1%. However, the hatefulness against hearing people from the deaf actually exceeds 30% and that is a serious problem.
Something certainly do need working on, yep. It's not how society treats the Deaf; it's how the Deaf needs to start treating the rest of the world that needs some serious repairing.
Pity that the saner minds can't put you guys (the 30 and 1 percenters) on a burning raft into the Bermuda triangle.
Candy, I live in a city and went to public school all my life (never deaf school or class) I am severe to profound deaf since birth. and even to this day I deal with people who have this attitude and view toward deaf . I never met a deaf until much older. yet, I don't stop hanging with them result of that. yet they are friendly toward those patronizing jerks too (otherwise I would have no one to speak to if I decide I don't want to have anything to do with them either. they just can't relate or understand deaf issues)
ReplyDeleteI call hearing people "hearing" as I call deaf people "deaf"
never said they can harrass and bully anytime they want.
I understand what Ben Vess is getting at. What he says rings true. Don't know if you've been around the deafosphere the past four years. There are better approaches to discussing things. It's typical for some to resort to name callings as an attempt to shut someone up from speaking what's on their mind. Nothing wrong with calling hearing people hearing, or deaf people deaf. The context, the message, the implication, etc. is what is the problem. Stereotyping is a big problem too. Blanket statements are too assumptive. It's not just the cuss words, it's that and more. But, we all are entitled to say what we want, we all just have to deal with the consequences, whatever they may be. ;) And, sometimes the consequences involves a whole community.
ReplyDelete