What matters deafness of the ears, when the mind hears?

Don’t you dare call me that!

Dictatorial Editor — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 16:11:38 +0000

I hate it too.

Banish the word from the vocabulary used to describe the deaf, please.

The very term makes me bristle. I show fangs, bare claws, and utter a purposely terrifying hiss of outrage. Nobody calls me a deaf mute. Let alone hearing people, and much less medical people who actually defend their use of the expression by shoving at me a copy of Stedman’s Medical Dictionary. See, they say, it is a medical condition. It is described very well here. Professionally, they look at me and coolly put away the book.

Read on…

Deaf Band, Oscar-Winner Matlin Discuss the Sound of Silence: TV

Dictatorial Editor — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 15:58:48 +0000

Alright, I want to watch this! But how in heck do I do so?

The U.S. is a noisy nation; even the national anthem celebrates bomb blasts. Yet one group of Americans — the deaf — live outside the great din, often more happily than their hearing compatriots imagine, according to a captivating PBS special.

Read on…

The Nobel and The Deaf

Dictatorial Editor — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 15:42:23 +0000

OK, this is news to me.

I’m amazed.

The heritage of Deaf people and the Nobel Prize is a proud one. “The Nobel” is a famous prize awarded by scientists from around the world. Many Deaf people have been considered for a Nobel Prize—and two Deaf scientists have won it.

Read on…

Deaf Volunteers Find New Ways to Communicate

Dictatorial Editor — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 15:36:05 +0000

Deaf volunteers!

In other words, the deaf can!

I remember my own group of mixed deaf-hearing young people (ok, I was young then) and our trip to the mountain village in Vietnam to construct and renovate the school.. Those were the days!

When volunteers from the American Red Cross respond to a disaster, timing is critical. Communicating becomes the most important factor during the crisis and the biggest challenge for deaf or hard-of-hearing volunteers.

Read on…

With family support, Elmira teen carves path to success

Dictatorial Editor — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 15:22:26 +0000

Another ridiculously long hiatus.

Anyway, we’re live and the cameras are rolling again!

First up, an inspirational story.

Spaziani has been deaf since birth. He also is autistic. This has not stopped him from going through public school, completing the woodworking program through then-SCT-BOCES, graduating with honors from Southside High School and landing a permanent job last summer at E.M. Pfaff.

Star-Gazette.COM - Local News

No sight, no sound, nowhere to turn (The Virginian-Pilot - HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com)

Dictatorial Editor — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 00:55:34 +0000

Those of us who are merely deaf, yes, merely deaf, should read this article.

We are merely deaf. It provides some perspective.

Those in the field say deaf-blind children are fully capable of learning once someone figures out how each child communicates. Some, such as Alex, use violent rocking to communicate; others use another activity such as jumping. Children can learn to communicate by using sign language, done in the palm of their hand.

Read on…

‘Babel’ ignores deaf audience : Arts Weekend : Features : DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE (The Daily Yomiuri)

Dictatorial Editor — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 00:41:34 +0000

Irony of ironies.

Babel, a best picture Oscar nominee, is a multilanguage movie that tackles communication problems. Its characters, including a deaf Japanese girl who cannot speak, desperately try to communicate with one another. But, ironically, the movie fails to reach a significant part of its audience in Japan. Deaf people who might be especially interested in seeing the movie will discover that there are no subtitles for the scenes spoken in Japanese.

Read on…

Rabbinical Inspiration

Dictatorial Editor — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 01:49:56 +0000

I don’t know how common all-deaf congregations are, but this is interesting.

It turns out her last congregation (actually I think her only one) where she worked for at least 20 years was a deaf congregation. Anyway, she taught our congregants the beginning of the "Shema" (Hear, oh Israel, the Lord is our G-d, the Lord is One ") using signs she developed with her congregation. Her sign for "hear" in this case was ( I believe) a gentle upward tapping over the heart with the open right hand, moving to the throat then slightly diagonally toward the right ear then up over the head while raising her eyes and head slightly.

Read on…

To Deaf people: Do your family members know how to sign ASL??

Dictatorial Editor — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 01:46:20 +0000

Actually, what caught my eye was the comment following the blog post on how "It’s so sad that Hearing families put the burden of communication on their Deaf child. Many of these Hearing parents claim they would “do anything” to help their Deaf child, including carving up their child’s head with CIs. But they still refuse to sign, because it’s “too hard.”

True, so true.

One common thread I see among hearing parents is that they have a desire to communicate with their deaf child. I wonder if most of us have parents who can sign in ASL. It may be too premature of an question because many of us grew up in a generation where sign language was forbidden so it may not be a fair question. However I do know that many deaf people learned ASL at some time in their lifetime.

Read on…

Into the realm of Profoundness

Dictatorial Editor — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 05:49:05 +0000

For years, I had the idea my hearing loss falls into the "moderate to severe" range.

Scrap that.

My new and, erm, improved status is now as follows: