Living The Questions

Still Here

2008-09-09T12:50:00.001-07:00

I've moved to faceme.wordpress.com. I'm still living the questions, but at a different address. Hope to see you there.

Smiles,
Kim

SWC Convention - Day Four

2008-07-28T22:24:00.001-07:00

Since we hadn't been satisfied with the previous morning's buffet offerings, Robyn, Paul, Mike and I decided to go out before the workshops began. I tried several times to get hold of Lorne too, but his phone wasn't working and he wasn't checking his email. We found a nice little deli not far from the hotel where I bought a yogurt parfait with strawberries and granola.

The morning began slowly with workshops scheduled for 9:00.

Side bar here-- I forgot to mention the other wonderful workshop given by our beloved Gayle in my last blog post about Thursday. Gayle types CART for us. This time she introduced Remote CART. I loved how it worked, and found it fascinating to hear her perspective as a CART provider. With remote CART, a person can be in one state, and someone else will provide CART for them via the internet in another state. ALL you need is an internet supported laptop with Skype and a good microphone. During her demonstration, her CART partner did the transcribing. I was amazed what she was able to pick up in the room considering we had over 70 people in attendance. The microphone was quite powerful! Anyway-- that was the third workshop on Thursday, and now I'm reporting on Friday.

First thing in the morning, we had visitors from the Association of Adult Musicians with Hearing Loss. Presenter Wendy Cheng gave a short overview of the different qualities of music, then played her viola a bit, and answered questions. The most awesome piece of information I came away with was that I might be able to hear the the piano again!!! They suggested the use of an equalizer with microphone so I could adjust the volume of the high pitches-- which I'm not currently able to hear. If that doesn't work, I could try using an electronic keyboard with equalizer built in. I had never thought of this and was super inspired by the concept. A couple others came over to discuss in more detail afterwards-- an HH pianist and a sound engineer. I'm just so HAPPY about all of this!! I know a sound engineer/musician here in the NW who I'm sure would work with me on the set up, and I'm fairly certain I wouldn't have to spend a fortune because stuff like this comes up for sale on ebay all the time. The AAMHL website is full of information on how to enjoy music with hearing loss!

The next workshop was given by Tina Childress from Advanced Bionics, LeAnn Boone from Med-el, and another woman from Cochlear Americas. I have mentioned Tina before, as I saw her speak in Vancouver. Wow-- does she get around! She speaks EVERYWHERE! This workshop was about cochlear implants. Sad to say, I wasn't feeling well so I left early and missed most of her presentation. However we went to lunch later and she asked a poignant question about the experimental hybrid I had qualified for last Nov.-- "Since you're still losing your hearing, what would they do if you eventually needed a regular implant?" I don't know the answer to this. But after the two conventions I attended this year I realized it's probably best not to pursue the hybrid implant seriously at this time. More about that later.

After the workshops, Lorne, Paul, Michael, Robyn and I went exploring down Elfrey's Alley-- supposedly the oldest street in America. Amazingly, people still live there. Robyn clicked her camera non-stop. We spent a long time walking around, then it was time for lunch. My mouth still watered for those Amish apple-dumplings Robyn mentioned the previous day. We took a bus to the Reading Terminal, then circled around in search of the apple dumpling booth. I decided to have a salad first, then attacked the dumpling with abandon. All I can say is YUM!! Afterwards, we split up. Robyn and Michael left since they'd already seen all of Reading Terminal, while Lorne and I continued browsing around. We finally caught Phlash (the tourist bus) to the Philadelphia Museum of ART. That place was huge and they had some fabulous collections there-- things I only get to see on special exhibits to Seattle. Unfortunately the museum was scheduled to close early because the governor was visiting. All we got to see was the Impressionist section. I was especially pleased they had my favorite Van Gogh painting of the sunflowers. They also had several Monets and Renoirs. I could have sung-- and would have-- if Lorne hadn't been there.

We left when security guards began gathering like ants to cotton candy. The Phlash bus was packed, and I thought I might die from or thirst or heat stroke or both. Would anyone have noticed? By the time we walked into the hotel all I could think of was a drink and shower, but before I even got undressed I fell asleep. We went to dinner very late at the same little deli I ate breakfast that morning, which offered reasonably priced vegetarian salads and hummus on pitas. Philly's Old Town is pleasant on summer evenings after the sun goes down, so we ate outside enjoying the night air and gathering crowds of young people for the Friday night bar scene.

This was SWC's "game night." By the time we made it back to the hotel, the game room getting crazy. Someone asked me to make a paper airplane. Next thing I knew she sent it flying at someone else. Before long my airplane was whooshing everywhere. Eventually Lorne aimed it at Michael hitting his beer, which spilled all over his clothes. NOT MY FAULT!! That was the end of my airplane. I went to bed.

SWC Convention - Day Three

2008-07-28T18:22:00.000-07:00

In the morning we had workshops. Usually convention hotels provide "breakfast" in the form of rolls, fruit and coffee or tea for those attending meetings. I managed to find a yogurt and a sliver of honeydew melon before everything ran out. Many complained about the skimpiness of our 'breakfast', and I'm happy to say our catered buffet overflowed with fruit and muffins the following day.

Our first presenter was Neil Bauman who has written about ototoxic drugs. Let me say I do believe drugs can sometimes cause harm to hearing, and I appreciate his earnest effort in getting the word out. Neither my doctor or audiologist ever said word one about prescription drugs and otoxicity until I brought it up after stumbling upon Bauman's website years ago. A couple times doctors have done a double-take when I mentioned it because they were not even familiar with the word 'ototixic'. Since then my GP has changed a few prescriptions after consulting the PDR at my request.

However, I didn't feel Bauman's presentation included enough convincing factual information. I had hoped for more charts and detailed scientific studies from research institutions to back up his theories. Instead he related several amazing testimonials from people who claimed to have lost their hearing after using prescription drugs. Many of their stories had been gathered on-line in his own informal study from victims who wrote to him.

Never-the-less I've known several people who lost their hearing from prescription drugs and also during hospital stays. I just hope people can put Bauman's information into perspective when deciding to have medical treatment. While it's true prescription drugs can harm your hearing, the chances of experiencing such side-effects are very small.

The next workshop was about webcaptel, which is an exciting relatively new technology put out by Sprint. Instead of needing a special captel phone, all you need is a computer and a phone. The Sprint representative showed a video, then went through the steps for how to access webcaptel. It's simple! I tried it out later. Like captel it's a bit slow, but it's accurate and I can use it practically anywhere-- at work, when I'm visiting my parents out-of-state, or at a friend's house. I also like that it allows me to use my voice and other people don't know there's a transcriber typing what they say to me. It feels so much more natural than my old VCO.

Next was the hosted lunch for everyone in SWC who volunteers on a committee. Like the previous morning, restaurant service was incredibly slow. We had all pre-ordered so you'd think we could have been served in time to finish before our Philly Duck tour, but no . . .

The "ducks" are both a car and a boat. We were all given quackers, then driven around town to sitesee, and finally ended up in floating in the Delaware River. My only complaint was the tour bus was hot. I was happy when we finally went into the river as it felt cooler there. Someone bought little rubber duckies for everyone, and wrote our names on them with a sharpie. I was struck by the murkiness of the Delware, even though our tour guide said it was the cleanest it had ever been in over 200 years. I suppose it has something to do with mineral content or silt. I am not well-educated on river water.

Later that night Lorne and I walked around town looking for a good place to eat. We finally settled on Rotten Ralph's -- a small bar and grill with rare vegetarian variety. We found a quiet table on the second floor above all the street noise. My eggplant was delicious. Lorne's fishNchips were just "ok." Robyn and Michael joined us for beer as we were finishing up.

Then we all walked back to the hotel and bar. I got a craving for ice cream, mainly because Robyn had mentioned her apple-dumpling experience in Reading Terminal. I couldn't stop thinking about sweets. Since the bar was closed the waitress wouldn't give me any. So I asked the hotel manager where to go for an ice cream in "Old Town" after 10. He was kind enough to dish up a bowl of delicious Philly ice cream-- no charge!! I honestly had no problem with the hotel staff.

Philly Day Two at the Zoo!

2008-07-23T22:51:00.000-07:00

Day Two in Philadelphia there was nothing planned until the Welcome Party at 7pm. Lorne would be flying in around 4-ish and Robyn wanted to see the zoo. She had never seen American animals in real life, she said. Which ones, I asked? She wanted to see a raccoon, which made me smile. I've got a family of raccoons living right in my yard. I actually don't like them very much because they aren't nice to cats. She also wanted to see squirrels, snakes and bears. I have ALL these in my yard. Bears do not come into my yard often, but I have had one. She had to say 'bears' three times then spell it because I couldn't understand what she meant with her accent. It looked like she was saying bees when I read her lips. The New Zealand 'r' is very soft. I couldn't believe they didn't have bees in NZ. HAHA! They DO! Of course!

We got up early, then went to breakfast in the hotel. It turned out Michael, Paul and RuthAnn also wanted to come with us to the zoo, which was fine with us-- the more, the merrier!

Robyn planned on bringing her marmite to breakfast so us Americans could try it, but she forgot. I was SO relieved. It stunk! OH! Before I forget. We became extremely upset with the breakfast service. They had a buffet but several of the board members didn't want that much to eat, so ordered a light breakfast instead-- Robyn included. After an hour and a half, they started throwing down their napkins and getting really pissed off. Nothing came. I got down to breakfast late. I was not hungry because I was still full from Robyn's pineapple lumps the night before. They're SOOOOOOOO good. So anyway, I went up to the desk, and complained about the slowness of their service. My breakfast order was taken and served within minutes. The rest got theirs too. We had tons of problems with the hotel staff throughout. More about that later. None of us ate breakfast at the hotel again until the final breakfast buffet where they went all out to please us, but our silver and plates were not well cleaned. Two people at my table sent their service back. Mine was OK.

Back to the zoo--those of you who know Robyn know she's into photography in a big way, and she takes beautiful pictures. I urge you to go to her blog if you haven't. Photography was the whole point of hitting the zoo. I should mention here, it was the oldest zoo in the country. It opened in 1874. It's a very, very small zoo-- but I sorta liked it because the animals were close and the buildings were old and beautiful. In the Seattle zoo, all the animals have much more space which means they often wander far away from the viewing area. This is better for the animals I know, but I kinda liked being able to see them up close in Philadelphia.

Anyway-- it was hot out and they had confiscated my sunscreen at the airport-- so Paul and I bought some there. It was really cool cuz the bottle has a little metal ring you can attach to a belt loop or your tote so you won't lose it. I LOVED this idea! So did Paul! Now we have matching sunscreens!

We got separated several times at the zoo, so we all exchanged phone numbers and texted each other all the time. Somehow the first time I texted Paul to see where he was, he sent back the word, "just." ARGGHH! Later, when Paul and I couldn't find Robyn, she sent back the word "just" too. This has become a joke -- or maybe it's a secret code I've never figured out.

I should add here Philly is very easy to get around without a car. They have these tourist buses that will drive you to all the fun places tourists like to go. You don't have to worry about navigating a strange city by bus because it goes in a constant circle. If you miss your stop you'll end up there again in no time. Our zoo driver became upset and stressed out when he ended up driving behind a horse drawn carriage traveling on the wrong street. Then he became upset again when another tour bus parked in his spot. I was happy to be riding in the bus instead of driving.

It didn't take long to go thru the zoo. Robyn and Michael decided to do some more exploring. I went back to the hotel with RuthAnn and Paul. On our way back, we ran into some more SWC members going out for lunch, so we tagged along, ending up at a little coffee shop/deli. There I had the worst lunch ever-- though it initially sounded good. A sandwich with roasted eggplant, spinach and white cheese that had no flavor at all. The spinach wasn't sauteed or anything, so it was also tasteless,but it would have been fine if the cheese had some flavor. It was AWFUL! But I ate it up anyway.

Then it was time to go back. Several people by now knew about my stupid mistake with the flight arrangements, and they let me know Lorne got in OK-- ALONE. I hoped he wasn't upset with me. It was time to shower and get ready for the Welcome Party.

I had a blast meeting up with several people I had not seen in over a year. Some of them spoke ASL and I was happy I understood. I let one woman try out my pocket talker cuz she had never seen one. Robyn had brought some wine from New Zealand and was handing out samples. I talked to several others there-- One of the BOD members had some special fortune cookies made up with fortunes that said things like, "If you talk to my back, expect to pay." HAHA! Lorne showed up and assured me he was not mad. I felt better after that. We all had to move downstairs into the bar after 10 so the other hotel patrons could get some sleep. I should not post pics of people without their permissions, so I disguised them all with Photbucket tools. I LOVE Photobucket tools! I took the picture of the flamingoes above too, then turned them into a painting!

I miss Robyn. She's still texting me from CA, telling me where all she's going. Today while at my Weight Watchers meeting she let me know she was eating ice cream on the beach. . .PFFFT.

City of Brotherly Love and Saying What

2008-07-20T22:25:00.001-07:00

I didn't realize until Sunday night that I was flying out in less than 24 hours. The plan had been to fly from Seattle to Philly together with Lorne Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning. Eric was going to drive us, and Lorne planned to leave his car at our house. We bought our tickets on-line at the same time using IM. But somehow I got mixed up and accidentally booked my flight a whole day early! I had a full day of work ahead on Monday, and little time to pack. **SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!**

The cost to change flights was $321. I know someone who actually MISSED his plane back to California from Philly and he was only charged $25 extra. Apparently it's better to miss your flight than to let them know your change of plans ahead of time. I'll remember this in the future. There were plenty of seats on the other flight! Anyway-- I flew alone and so did Lorne, and I felt like a complete ditz for messing up.

Luckily my room was already pre-booked for that night. Since Robyn planned to fly in a day early, and we were rooming together, I had a bed. And boy did I need it by the time I dragged in at 4:00 pm!! By that point I had been awake over thirty hours.

Robyn was sound asleep in her bed when I walked in. Her ordeal from New Zealand had been worse. Two whole days of jets, airports, and not sleeping. She looked so peaceful, I couldn't bear to wake her. I decided to shower before hitting the sack myself. But just as I was about to climb into my bed she awoke. We hugged and talked non-stop for the next hour or so while she got ready for a dinner date.

I'll be honest. I had been afraid I wouldn't understand her accent. I always get nervous meeting new people for the first time and I knew the accent would pose a huge challenge. Silly me. She had been concerned about the same thing. Out of habit we both tried signing to each other when words didn't make sense, but New Zealand sign is waaaaay different from American sign. We laughed at each other's signs-- many similar, and others, well. . . very different meanings. After about the third repeat, we wrote on tablets. As the days progressed, writing became unnecessary. Her NZ accent is adorable.

She invited me along to her dinner, but I was way too tired. Though I hadn't eaten since 6 that morning, all I could think of was sleep. Later, I mosied on down to the bar in hopes of finding a late-night snack and other SWC club members sure to be straggling in by that time.

I've been to enough of these events to know all you have to do is sit in the bar and wait for people with hearing aids or implants to walk by. Sure enough the second the elevator doors opened I saw a familiar face wearing hearing aids talking to a man I thought might be her partner. Turned out he was PAUL, my blogging buddy!! For some reason I hadn't recognized him at first-- maybe I was still too tired. We hugged, ordered drinks and food and sat down to chat. Paul made an SWC sign for the table, but it wasn't large enough for passers-by to see. I tried to get him to wear it on his head, but it kept falling off. Eventually he talked a waiter into making up a larger sign so that club members would see us as soon as they arrived.

As the evening wore on we had to move to a bigger table to accommodate everyone. Then we had to start pushing tables together when SWC'ers continued to pour in. What a night! The next day a group of us planned to go to the zoo--the very first in America. Robyn was anxious to take pictures.

Piece of Pie?

2008-07-19T12:58:00.000-07:00

Something of an epiphany occurred while I was gone. Think about this. At the IFHOH (International Federation of Hard of Hearing People) Congress, people gathered from all over the world to discuss issues that impact ALL deaf, hard-of-hearing and Deaf people worldwide. It didn't matter whether we spoke, signed, were late-deafened, wore hearing aids, cochlear implants, or not. . . All were accepted and all communication modes accommodated. Some of us wore FM induction loops--smart-links or pocket-talkers, some had FM capability programmed into their implants, some used interpreters, some used computer assisted real-time (CART), some used plain old pen and paper to communicate.

Right after that conference, I went to another convention for a small group of HH/deaf/Deaf people--the Say What Club. Again, signers mixed with oralists. All workshops and ceremonies had an interpreter, CART, and looped rooms so everyone could understand. At parties, people used their FM systems, wrote on tablets, signed--some in different languages. All felt welcome and respected.

Being around all that positive energy was rejuvenating. I really needed that.

So -- My epiphany. The deaf/HH community is united and getting stronger by the day. The majority of us agree on issues of inclusion and access. It's a great big world out there, and I'm just so damn happy to be a part of it.

IFHOH Final Day -- Inspiration

2008-07-17T21:53:00.000-07:00

IFHOH Day Four

Day four started out like the other days-- a long drive to the Wall Center, followed by coffee at Starbucks and attendance at workshops. Unlike the other days, I felt a little bit more harried than usual because I had to pack my bags early in the morning and take them with me to the hotel. The only thing I left behind was a package of Splenda.

The first workshop I attended was Become A Hero: Unleashing Your Potential by Michael Currie. Currie was downright entertaining and also motivational. He began his presentation with antidotes about his own heroes, relating story after story of his life interspersed with jokes. I loved the way he used humor to drive home the point that roadblocks shouldn't stop you from anything. Be creative. Be positive. Think outside the box.

The next speaker of this session was Dean Olson who is well-known in the Seattle area. His workshop Hearing Loss in the Workplace and Beyond was about using modern technology to assist in the workplace. Again the topic of self-disclosure came up, and also how to present oneself so that co-workers see the entire person rather than just your hearing loss. I wish this session had been longer. It could have easily been a two-hour workshop. I felt we only skimmed the surface.

The final presentation of this session was Communication Bloopers and Hearing Loss: Suggestions for Improving Communication Outcomes by Debbie Quinn. I had been looking forward to this one. Her own bloopers weren't as funny as some the participants shared, but she gave some great advice on how to deal with communication problems in the workplace. People shared a lot of funny stories. Sometimes being HH/deaf is hilarious.

After this session we had lunch. Since we were on our own that day, we walked to a little supermarket/deli across the street from the hotel. I was surprised by the variety of salads, sandwiches and soups. It was difficult to choose, but I finally settled on something that looked like tabbouleh with dill pickles in it. An odd combination, but not too bad. This was the only day it rained, and it literally poured on us as we walked back to the hotel. The Canadians were all apologizing, as if they could control the weather. I just smiled. Since I live in the Seattle area, I totally understood how they felt. It's so embarrassing when it rains on out-of-town guests during the summer, but I happen to like summer rain.

The next workshop was Perspectives from a Hard of Hearing Audiologist by Jamie Grew. Like Currie's presentation, he was funny, motivational and interesting. He grew up with hearing loss and he now works as an audiologist. In addition to relating his own personal story, he found time to share with us tidbits of info about Canadians and Canada. For example, Superman was created by a Canadian. As an HH audiologist, Grew said he can do anything except listen to someone's hearing aid when it goes bad. Since he works in an office with other audiologists that isn't a problem. The benefits of having an HH audiologist are many-- mainly because he has actually tried out the hearing equipment he sells and he's able to relate a lot of other information to his patients about ALD's and support that most audiologists leave out-- since they've never worn hearing aids. If you think about it, it's like a car salesman who doesn't drive. I was so impressed with Grew's presentation I've actually googled to see if there was an HH audiologist in the Seattle area.

Finally, the last workshop of IFHOH was Hearing in Harmony- Life as a Deaf Audiologist by Tina Childress. I've met Tina before when she spoke at my Say What Club convention last year. She's such a great speaker we had her back again this year. Her story is interesting and inspiring. She became deaf after becoming an audiologist. Talk about coincidence. In many ways she was more prepared than the average late-deafened adult. She had the audiology background and knew ASL. And yet she was shocked by how deafness affected her, even with all her knowledge. Whenever I hear her story I'm deeply moved. Like the others, she hasn't allowed deafness to stop her. I had lunch with her the following week in Philadelphia. She's an amazingly fun, motivated, intelligent person. I'm so glad I've had the opportunity to spend time with her.

Then it was time to go home, do laundry and repack. Next up-- Philadelphia!

IFHOH-- Day Three, Part II
IFHOH Day Three, Part I
IFHOH Day Two
International Federation of Hard of Hearing Congress -- Part 1

IFHOH Day Three, Part II

2008-07-17T12:05:00.000-07:00

Day three-- part II

The first workshop we attended Friday was called Accessibility Awareness Collaboration and Hard-of-Hearing People given by Sami Virtanen from the Finnish Federation of Hard-of-Hearing People. Like the the real-time text workshop, I found it exceedingly difficult to pay attention. Tired of reading CART, and feeling full from the large lunch I nearly fell asleep. The late night, early morning routine was catching up with me. Virtanen spoke mainly about Finnish policies, especially with regard to required captioned television programming. The US has had that since 1990. I think the information presented was probably more useful to those in the political arena of policy change, because several representatives from HLAA, CHHA and various other HH/deaf organizations around the world stood up to comment.

I wanted to leave then, but Creating Consumer Awareness through Policy Change turned out to be a surprise. Sherri Collins was a firecracker from Arizona. After waking us all up by handing out prizes she detailed her personal hearing history, and drew a thought-provoking analogy between independence and accessibility. It was US Independence Day. I had forgotten.

Next, Sherri expanded on events leading up to a policy change requiring Arizona audiologists and hearing aid dispensers to provide information about the benefits of telecoils to consumers. Telecoils seemed to be a recurring theme at IFHOH.

Following her presentation, a few people commented they felt a law seemed unreasonably harsh. A man from Michigan spoke about how pressure had been placed on an airport to loop it without resorting to policy change. A woman from New Zealand detailed a sad story about an HH/deaf American tourist who was hit by a passenger train when he got off at the wrong stop after failing to hear an announcement. All NZ trains were looped for telecoil after that. Sadly, she said, it took a death to change policy.

One man remarked that telecoils should be called "accessibility coils" or a-coils since they were used for much, much more than the telephone. Discussion ensued about telecoil vs infrared and privacy concerns in courtrooms, federal buildings and other sensitive areas, since people with telecoils can sometimes hear outside looped rooms with the doors closed. Others protested that hearing aid manufacturers were making smaller, more attractive aids for the Baby-boom generation, dropping t-coil in the process. Two more concerns were voiced:

1) Policy to require telecoil induction loops in public buildings could become obsolete within a few years if hearing aid manufacturers stopped making hearing aids with telecoil capability.

2) Hearing aid manufacturers should be encouraged to include telecoil capability in their newer models because of the many, many benefits.

The final workshop of the day was Experience Working for and With Those With Meniere: A Non-Medical Perspective I attended this one mainly for my husband who was diagnosed with Menieres about six years ago. Dr. Henk de Graaf from the Netherlands reported on the results of a twenty-five year study of Menieres patients in his country. Then he led a discussion of alternative treatments for Meneires. One woman had some success with a chiropractic procedure where the feet were adjusted. Several people mentioned using vitamins, exercise, acupuncture, eating certain foods, not eating certain foods, reducing stress, yoga, marijuana-- you name it. Someone else mentioned the Meniett device. Hoping to discover something new I could share with my husband, I came away feeling deflated. No one knows of a cure.

That night Lorne went to a football game. In the mood for something ethnic, Kate, Ann and I sniffed our way up Davie Street, and found a little Mongolian Grill.

IFHOH Day Three, Part I
IFHOH Day Two
International Federation of Hard of Hearing Congress -- Part 1

IFHOH--Day 3, Part I

2008-07-16T20:23:00.000-07:00

IFHOH Day Three. SideKicks in Canada? Public loops? Real-time text? In the interest of making each of my posts a little shorter and more readable, I have decided to post about IFHOH in smaller segments.

Friday, we made it to the Wall Center just in time for a quick coffee and lunch! None of the morning workshops appealed since they were either about cochlear implants or how to deal with hearing loss in young children. Both of us have grown hearing children and neither of us are currently considering a CI.

We learned from Gunnar Hellstrom, one of the real-time text speakers, that his company Omnitor was hosting Friday's lunch. Hellstrom is a Swedish CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) who has a vested interest in solving the problem of deaf/HH mobile phone communications. During lunch he launched a captioned video with a plug for real-time text. Sitting at a weird angle to the screen, I couldn't hear or see the captions. The story must have been cute or funny because people chuckled throughout, though the actual language sounded foreign-- perhaps Swedish? I could never understand the difference between real-time text vs IM-ing or texting someone. I feel like such a dunce. Again, lunch offered a delicious vegetarian option-- the best tomato soup I've ever tasted in my life and roasted vegetables on something that looked like a hoagie roll. Lorne left his soup bowl half full and I was tempted to ask if I could finish it off. But I didn't want to act like the pig I really am.

Luckily a pair of bright red of Phonaks caught my attention. The Canadian woman wearing them happily explained the many hearing advantages of her Phonaks and smart link. I couldn't resist asking how much they cost. She spent close to $10,000 along with her fancy smart-link system! AND NO-- they weren't covered by Canada's National Health Plan. She paid out of pocket-- every last cent. UGH!!

Another Canadian woman began to complain loudly about how you can't get Sidekicks in Canada, only Blackberries. I picked up on the conversation a little, only because Kate has a habit of signing while talking. Probably this woman felt left out while the rest of the table thumb danced to email, IM and text messages between lunch courses. I like my Sidekick, but I wanted to tell her that Blackberry was supposedly better. I haven't tried iPhone. She couldn't hear across the table and our accents got in the way of lip reading. She didn't sign. Too bad. She said Blackberry costs a hundred dollars per month where she lives. I don't know if this is true all over Canada, but I felt bad for her. The deaf/Deaf/HH rank among the world's most under-employed because of the stigma of hearing loss. It seems a double-whammy when people cannot afford the very tools needed for accessibility. I wondered about the benefits of a real-time text alliance like the one they're developing in Europe between Omnitor and other companies.

IFHOH-- Day Two

2008-07-16T00:17:00.000-07:00

We missed the first Plenary Session-- something I would regret for the next several days whenever people mentioned "that deaf man who flew around the world." His fantastic story inspired everyone who heard it. But I overslept, then we ran into traffic, and by the time we got to the Wall Center we wanted-- no-- NEEDED-- coffee. After all the previous walking around the day before to find coffee shops, we discovered the hotel itself had a Starbucks right inside! AWESOME. This meant we could get our coffee fixes all day long without even leaving the hotel.

The first workshop I attended from 11-12:30 was Demystifying Hearing Assistive Technology given by Beth Wilson and Tina Thompson. Though this workshop was about making the most of the assistive technology available to you, the room wasn't looped. Those of us hoping to benefit from our telecoils couldn't. The Irony! I learned later that NONE of the workshops were looped, and I must admit I was shocked, since IFHOH was a world wide convention for hard-of-hearing and deaf people, most of whom wore hearing aids or CI's with telecoil capability. I'm accustomed to looped meeting rooms whenever HLAA, ALDA and the Say What Club have events for the hard-of-hearing/deaf. Evidently I wasn't the only one expecting looped rooms. At a later workshop it was pointed out that most all public buildings in Europe are looped for telecoil. The lack of FM loops was a HUGE oversight in my opinion.

And just an aside here--Though this was a major Sheraton hotel, we found out by the next morning Kate and Ann had a terribly hard time getting their captioned TV to work. A handyman was called up, and even HE failed. Un-frickin-believable!! A MAJOR Global convention for HH/deaf people was being held in this very hotel and their staff hadn't been briefed on how to work the captioning? Reminded me of that awful experience I had in Albuquerque, NM last year. They finally got it working next day after going thru several handymen. ARGGHH!

However, getting back to the workshop, these two speakers-- Beth Wilson and Tina Thompson-- gave an excellent presentation with fun visuals and humor. The information presented wasn't new to me, since I've been to many, many hearing loss conventions, workshops, and meetings for the HH/deaf over the years. The session would have been useful to those new to hearing loss. I came away with one great quote from Helen Keller. "When you lose your sight, you lose things; when you lose your hearing, you lose people." I would add to that-- When you lose your hearing you gain "things." I've got gadgets up the kazoo to help me hear, see and feel my world.

I was pleased to see two interpreters just ahead. One of them signed he was there for the woman next to me. I told him I was learning ASL. He smiled and split his attention between the two of us. I haven't used ASL since my last class over a month ago, and worried I had lost vocabulary. It was a good experience to be able to watch the interpreters and understand without having to read everything on CART. Unfortunately, I didn't see them again until the very last day. They had been hired specifically for that one woman, not the entire convention. This was another huge disappointment, however with up to five workshops at each session, and three sessions a day not including the morning plenary-- I realized that hiring interpreters for each workshop would have run up the tab up to five figures. Considering that most of us didn't sign fluently and that many of those who could sign didn't use ASL since they were from other countries, it made little sense to offer compulsory ASL interpreters for all workshops. Everyone was accommodated by CART. Everyone could read spoken English. English is the official language of IFHOH.

The second part of this session was Empowering Strategies given by Janice Aaron Moore. Like the first two, she was gifted in grabbing your attention, emphasizing self-disclosure as the first step toward empowering strategies with many colorful personal stories. Again, I think this would have been a great workshop for someone new to hearing loss. I'm long past hiding my inability to hear. Self-disclosure isn't a problem.

Next, we had a fabulous lunch. Being a vegetarian I wasn't sure what to expect, but as luck would have it, I ended up sitting next to some Muslims from Kuwaitwho didn't eat pork . The menu for the day was some kind of salad with bacon bits. All the Kuwaitis ordered a 'vegetarian' option, so I did too-- and I'm glad I did. The salad was delicious.

After lunch, I went to one of the best workshops of the entire Congress, in my opinion, The Evolution of Hearing Aid Technology: New Developments given by Dave Gordy. It was here I learned about the Phonak Naidas and Oticon Epoq. OK-- I'll admit it right now. . . My hearing aids are almost nine years old. They're still working well, but obviously they don't have any of the stuff the new hearing aids have--auto telecoil detection and sensors that know when to zero in on high-pitched speech sounds, etc. I'm not really into automatic everything. Mine were state-of-the art when I bought them but they're SO OLD now.

Researchers are on the brink of solving many past problems associated with hearing aids-- namely how to deal with the common ski-slope. The Naidas take high-pitched sounds and somehow transfer them to a mid-range frequency. What it means for people with profound ski-slope hearing loss is they are able to hear birds and several consonants in the high-pitched frequencies again. I am trying not to get my hopes up too much, but I couldn't help wondering if I'd be able to hear the flutes in Bach's Brandenburg concertos again.

I've looked through the Phonak brochure and pretty much decided on a hot color next time-- something that will make a statement rather than the bland, icky medical-looking beige. I'm thinking transparent purple, but they also make a zebra striped aid that's tempting. Hard to decide. Another great, but probably insignificant feature to some of you is it's waterproof. Living in the Seattle area, I do appreciate that. The smartlink FM system with blue tooth capability is another fantastic feature. Finally, It's a power aid. I learned during the IFHOH I wouldn't benefit from the Epoq and other aids like that because my hearing loss is too great. Thin tubes and open ear molds are out.

Gordy said all the "newer" aids were being built without telecoil capability. The Europeans in the audience were upset by this bit of news since most of the public buildings are looped for telecoil. I double-checked with the vendors in the Phonak upstairs to be sure the Naidas had telecoil. Phonak has no plans to drop theirs. At a later workshop, telecoil capability came up again, and we were assured that Starkey will also continue to make aids with telecoil.

The final workshop of Day 2 was Real-Time Text: An Essential Accessibility Feature given by Arnould van Wijk, Raymond Kruyer and Gunnar Hellstrom. I have to admit I didn't get much out of this session at all. The information presented was far too technical and dry for this blond. Two of the presenters spoke in heavy accents, which meant I had to read almost the entire presentation instead of their lips. Eye-strain was getting the best of me as letters began to dance and blur on the screen. What I could read didn't make sense-- either because it was too much to process after all the other info I'd been taking in, or the translations by the CART transcriptionist were confusing. Also, my mind kept wandering back to the Phonak Naidas and the Brandenburg Concertos. I was tired and ended up leaving early.

That night we all walked down Robson Street looking for food, then finally sniffed our way upstairs to a little bar and grill tucked in a second-floor corner spot above street level. Food was scrumptious. I got a vegetarian pizza with roasted asparagus and some kind of tasty cheese-- I'm thinking chevre-- but I could be wrong about that. Vancouver, like Seattle, is a great place to eat vegetarian.

Link to IFHOH Part One.

International Federation of Hard of Hearing Congress 2008-- Part 1

2008-07-15T21:20:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick recap of the IFHOH. (International Federation of Hard of Hearing) Congress in Vancouver, BC.

Since I hate driving in Vancouver, and didn't want to mess with long lines over the border crossing during TWO Independence Day holidays, I took the train. The IFHOH began a day after Canadian Independence Day and ended a day after US Independence Day. The train proved to be a perfect choice for my commute, as I enjoyed a relaxing ride sipping coffee while watching scenic beach views stream past the snack bar window. I had programmed my MP3 with soft rock and bought new noise reduction headphones just for this. Eventually the gentle swaying of the train along with warm coffee in my belly put me to sleep, and before long I had arrived at the train station in downtown Vancouver.

Two interesting things happened on my journey. First, I told the porter I couldn't hear well as I boarded the train. He smiled and made a concerted effort to talk directly to my face. For emphasis he pointed in hand gestures when indicating the way to my seat and where to put my suit case. He also clearly explained where the dining care and rest rooms were, again pointing while facing me to make sure I understood. I am not new to train travel and didn't need all the attention, but I appreciated his courtesy. Second, as I went through customs, I had to tell a border guard I couldn't hear well when she began grilling me on why I was visiting. Like the porter, she looked directly at me, enunciated clearly and talked slowly, then she actually SIGNED "thank you" as I walked away. That made my day. I had the feeling train staff and customs had been put on notice many deaf and hard-of-hearing would be traveling north from the states.

Canadian friend Lorne waited on the other side of customs to greet me when I walked through the gate. He grabbed my bag and off we went to the beautiful Wall Center in downtown Vancouver for registration. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures at the Convention, other than those of Kate with HER camera, who will be writing up her experience for a magazine-- but this picture was taken a week later at the SWC Philly Con where he attended, again with me. We took a quick lunch before returning to the train station to pick up Kate and Ann, who also came by train. While they settled in, Lorne and I hit the wine and cheese welcome party. We had hoped there would be enough food to call it a dinner, but we barely managed a few small slices of cheese before the food ran out. The room was crowded with people from all over the world. Later at opening ceremonies we learned over 27 different countries were represented. It was the largest recorded gathering of deaf/HH in Canada's history. People spoke in other languages and signed everywhere.

The opening ceremonies had CART in English (the official language of IFHOH) on three large screens. With the room filled to capacity, I ended up standing in the back straining to see. CHHA went all out welcoming everyone. They even had one CART devoted to Japanese, (or maybe Chinese-- I was never sure which.) Representatives from all 27 countries were called up, each waving their respective flags. Then the ceremony ended with a native drum march of Canada's "First Peoples." Hearing loss and deafness isn't confined to one nation or one race. We are a nation unto ourselves. During the next four days I would come to feel a bond with people from all over the globe as we examined each other's technological gadgets, and shared our concerns, hopes and dreams for a barrier-free world.

After the ceremony we rushed out to browse the vendor booths brimming with freebies. One woman from Sweden demonstrated a computer program she had developed for teaching lip-reading skills. While I found the concept fascinating, I already lip read quite well and wasn't interested in spending $110.00 on it-- though it was a very good piece of software and would be helpful to someone who has trouble lip-reading. Another booth featured little balls that you put on the feet of chairs called "hush-ups". They looked exactly like blue tennis balls, and Lorne joked he had a basket of old tennis balls somewhere he could put to better use. Many other booths were devoted to hearing aids, loops, phone systems, alarms and alerting devices, hearing dogs, medical ID bracelets, and basically anything you can think of relating to hearing loss.

We rushed through the exhibits as it became more crowded and noisy. I felt like I was on noise overload. We grabbed a cup of coffee and headed down to the beach within walking distance of the hotel. Noting the many coffee shops along the way, I made the remark that Vancouver is just like Seattle only full of Canadians. At the beach we walked around a bit more, socialized with other deaf/hh people and finally drove back to his house-- where I stayed. Lorne's wife Joanne and their little puppy, Hunter, greeted us at the door. Next, their earless cat, Tux, wandered into the room to see all the commotion. We went to bed early in order to get up for the Plenary Session next day.

Stay tuned for Day Two!

I've been away

2008-07-08T22:06:00.001-07:00

I feel badly I've been neglecting my blog here. The past two weeks I've been attending back to back hearing loss conventions. The first was in Vancouver, BC. Maybe some of you went to the International Federation of Hard of Hearing Congress 2008 (IFHOH), though I didn't recognize anyone other than those I already knew from the northwest. Over 500 deaf/HOH people were in attendance AND it was the largest gathering of deaf/HH people ever in Canada. Twenty-seven different countries were represented. I attended eight workshops and took tons of notes. The most informative was on new technologies in hearing aids and another on Menieres, though most all offered insight into how people experience hearing loss all over the world. I came away with a sense that accommodations for the deaf and hard-of-hearing are a problem everywhere. If one country offers a certain accommodation, they do not offer another. I'll share more information about that over the next few weeks, but I'm busy attending another Convention in Philadelphia now for the Say What Club.

I just flew in this afternoon and I'm rooming with Robyn, the Ambling Rambler who came all the way from New Zealand. http://robyncarter.blogspot.com/2008/07/gone-to-usa.html So far we've had fun comparing sign languages and trying to understand each other over our thick accents. I'm enjoying her immensely. Tomorrow we have big plans to go to breakfast, where she's dying for me to try an awful smelling concoction on toast called Marmite that smells suspiciously like congealed beef broth. She assured me it's vegetarian. I can't imagine eating it on toast, but she said it's good with tea. New Zealanders like their hot tea even when it's 90 degrees outside. Another goody she brought from home is called Pineapple Lumps. They're very tasty little bits of chocolate covered fruity flavored squares, and I've snuck three more while she wasn't looking (don't tell). After breakfast, we're off to the zoo so she can take pics of American animals -- snakes, raccoons, squirrels, etc. Workshops don't start until Thursday.

Many SWC-ers arrived early. I had dinner with eleven of them this evening downstairs in the bar. Then came back upstairs to crash as I hadn't had any sleep in nearly thirty-six hours. Now I'm wide awake and it's bedtime.

I'll see Tina Childress for the second week in a row because she spoke at IFHOH last week and will be speaking again here at the SWC Convention this week. For those of you who don't know her, she's a late-deafened audiologist with two cochlear implants. Fascinating story, since she learned ASL and became an audiologist BEFORE losing her hearing to an auto-immune disease.

That's all for now. I'll fill you in later on the workshops and try to send pics too.

How do deaf enjoy music?

2008-06-21T21:42:00.001-07:00

I was inspired by Shel's recent comment about music in my last post. Several months ago I mentioned how Evelyn Glennie, a deaf percussionist had motivated me to learn the djembe. Here is her intriguing explanation of how she perceives music.

http://www.evelyn.co.uk/live/hearing_essay.htm

She considers hearing just another type of touch.

Most hearing people don't understand that. Being deaf, I totally get it. Years ago I had a flash epiphany. This happened probably at my lowest point of hearing loss when I realized I could no longer hear any music but the base guitar and drums in most of my favorite oldies. I think I've mentioned I have a guardian spirit before? (Yeah yeah-- I know y'all probably think I'm a total flake now.) So I was feeling really low and suddenly she pointed out how I could feel the vibration in my steering wheel and gas pedal. After that I understood I would never lose music completely. Later, at an SWC event we all used balloons to feel music. COOL!! I still listen to the radio in my car with the volume turned all the way up. People turn around and look at stop lights because my entire car is vibrating.

Even though music doesn't sound the way it used to, I love it-- as long as there's a good base. Over the years, my taste in music has changed. For example, I used to be into classical in a big way, but I find that unless there's a good base drum part and lots of cello, classical doesn't really appeal anymore. Flutes and violin solos are out. At the opera I'm much more moved by good with baritone voices than sopranos who get all the attention from everyone else. But I don't go to opera for the musical experience anymore. It's just a social thing for me. I love the stage and the fact that it's always subtitled.

Generally I prefer music with a loud beat and base guitar. Rap is cool! I can't hear the awful lyrics most hearing parents complain about. I love country, rock, indie, blues -- really ALL kinds of music because of my good low tones and ability to feel it.

Above is a picture of my djembe with (the d is silent). I've posted it before so you might have seen this pic already. It was handmade in Indonesia.

Shel asked, What was it like?

2008-06-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

Me-- when I could hear well. (1961)

Shel wrote a nice comment in my post On the Fence, and asked about my childhood. I guess he wanted to gain a better understanding of what it feels like to be late-deafened.

You're right: I can never fully understand where you are coming from. You can also say you can never understand where I am coming from as I've chosen to own ASL as my mother tongue, and thereby my Deaf identity. It's a long story, dear. I do invite you to read my blog on growing up in a Hearing family at Shel: A Deaf Canadian's Thoughts. This is in response to Open Minded Deaf Observer's negative perspective of life in a Hearing family and life in general. He's entitled to his perspective, and so am I entitled to mine. (So are you to yours! :-)) There are some things you might not understand, but do please feel free to ask me. If you are willing, would you mind describing in depth that experience as a child in school and outside of school? I'd love to hear about it... "hear"... talk about puns!

I've been thinking how to answer this question--'what was my hearing childhood like?' First of all, I want to say I appreciate that you want to understand.

I grew up hearing. **shrug** I'm not sure what more you need to know about that. Do you wish for me to describe what hearing was like? I can't.

I have tried to think of different analogies that might help, but I've realized it's impossible. I've read comments from Deaf people who have said music means nothing to them, or that they wouldn't want to hear because the world is "noisy." I understand that, because when you wear hearing aids many sounds are unpleasant. However, hearing aids do not even come close to natural hearing.

There's a richness to sound you can't possibly understand unless you've heard it. Sound is rarely painful and not usually annoying to people with good hearing. The human ear is every bit as miraculous as the eye.

Of all sounds, music is sublime. There's good reason every culture all over the world celebrates with music. Did you know music probably came before speech? Almost all animals sing or chatter to attract mates. Humans are no different. Read Your Brain On Music for more information about how music and rhythm evolved. Anyway I'm not telling you this to make you feel bad. I just want to point out how significant sound is to most hearing people. I want you to appreciate how deeply rooted sound is in our human evolution and how connected it is to our emotions. I could tell you about sounds I used to love, but it would be like describing a beautiful sunset to a blind person who has never seen. There aren't words enough.

I don't mean to offend, but music can even enhance orgasm, which is why many hearing people use it to seduce a date, and play it while having sex. It's also evokes spiritual and transcendental experiences, which is why it is used to celebrate God.

Some hearing people love music more than others. I started playing the piano at age four-- the age I was in the picture above. I took ballet dancing, played flute in my school band from fifth-grade on and sang in my church and school choirs. I loved piano best. I haven't completely lost music, but I don't hear it the way I used to and that has left a big void.

Some Deaf people have said that I haven't accepted Deafhood if I don't love being deaf. To me, that's like a childless woman telling a mother who has lost her child that it's wonderful being childless. Once a parent, always a parent -- even after a child dies. There's no going back. It's the same with hearing. I can't go back and pretend I never heard.

So when Deaf people say that I need to move on, that I need to celebrate Deafhood, or that I need to choose which "side of the fence" to sit on-- hearing or deaf, I want to scream, "How DARE you!?" You can't possibly know what it means to become deaf unless you have heard. You've always been Deaf. (When I say 'you' I don't mean you personally Shel, I mean the 'anyone' you.)

I agree I can't possibly know what it's like to be you either.

Life is worth celebrating, whether Deaf, deaf or hearing. Deafhood is no more special than any other way of being. I'm celebrating my own life and my own personal journey, which happens to be neither hearing, nor deaf. I do not grieve the loss of hearing, but I sure do appreciate the meaning of what I've lost. There's no going back.

Smiles,
Kim

2008-06-18T18:30:00.001-07:00

For all of you wiping tears over the fact your babies are growing up, I have news for ya. They'll always be your babies. I've just spent the afternoon watching my 19-year-old play "war" outside with a couple buddies and their airsoft guns.

I hate guns. I'm a vegetarian. But we live in a pseudo-country environment where it's not terribly uncommon for a kid to own a real hunting gun. Anyway, when he was 13 all he wanted for his 14th birthday was an airsoft. He talked non-stop about it for a year until he finally saved up and bought it himself with his own money. I caved. For those of you who don't know what an airsoft gun is, they shoot hollow plastic pellets of air. It's just enough to give you a good sting when hit, but not enough to maim. Still I put my foot down. The rule around here is they have to wear goggles. So he's been out there with his goggles shooting at his begoggled friends all afternoon. Their "gun" paraphernalia is spread all over the living room, and it looks like a group of terrorists live here. I guess I'm the only mom in the neighborhood who'll put up with the noise. There are advantages to having a deaf mom.

He only moved home for the summer a couple weeks ago. To make room for some of his college gear, we had to condense the huge plastic bin of legos he had in his bedroom closet. Though he played with them over Christmas break *with a girl!--during a date!!* he finally conceded they could go in the garage for storage.

Up until today he had an action figure decorating his windowsill-- a red ape with green hair. He put that in his closet right next to "Blue Bear"-- a small six-inch stuffed light blue bear he's had since he was a newborn. He hasn't given Blue Bear up completely, but they don't sleep together anymore.

Yeah-- we talk politics and he can run errands picking up stuff at the grocery store, and he's planning to barbecue dinner tonight. He's big help-- but grown-up??? Good Lord. . .!

"On the Fence"

2008-06-17T01:01:00.000-07:00

Below is an anonymous response to Dena of "Going Deaf" after she expressed confusion over the growing hostility in DeafRead because of the new Deaf/deaf aggregator formed. As a late-deafened person experiencing a progressive hearing loss, Dena seems to feel pulled in two directions.

http://denareiter.blogspot.com/2008/06/where-i-am.html

"Excuse me! We are not responsible for your choices. It is you who decide, not us. Your attitude sucks. You blame on the Deaf community for making your choice, which you decide to pick Deaf village and Deaf Read. We do not want any people who demand us to be responsible for your choosing and we must behave THE WAY you want us to. It is your responsible as a human being to observe, to recognize, to work, and to accept there are some situations that are going on in the Deaf community that involves all kinds of Deaf. Kim, People who feel that they are fence sitters are the sign of helplessness. They do not learn how to embrace different main community and sub communities with different ideologies. People need to rethink how this approach this situation about finding Good solutions or too lazy find better solutions, blames others, and demand them to be responsible for your actions?"

Here, an angry vlogger protests the new DeafVillage aggregator's guideline #5, that says only captioned or transcribed vlogs will be accepted on the aggregator. He asserts that DeafVillage creators are trying to create an atmosphere of "apathy" or trying to drive the ASL Deaf away.

http://drmzz.blogspot.com/2008/06/youre-crazy.html

DeafVillage's Mike McConnell responds

http://kokonutpundits.blogspot.com/,

"Deaf Village's requirement that submission of vlogs be captioned/subtitled or included transcripts is not intended to create "apathy towards ASL" or "drive ASL vloggers away" but rather to create greater inclusiveness *FOR ALL*. Not all can sign or understand sign very well and having, especially, a subtitled video can help create a continued interest for those who want to learn sign language someday. Or cued speech. Or whatever. It's the message that people want to hear, watch or read about."

As a late-deafened person I can appreciate Dena's position. She's not deaf or hearing. Neither am I. Recently I read an article about becoming true to oneself. Sometimes we're forced into circumstances that don't fit our inner selves. I think maybe that's the case with the late-deafened. My inner self is a hearing person. That's how I was born and how I lived during my formative years. But I've been going deaf much longer than the time I spent hearing perfectly, and so over the years I have come to view the world differently-- as a deaf person.

I love ASL. But it's not my first language. I am both hearing and deaf; neither hearing nor deaf--however you want to look at it. I can hear a little and sign a little. I can't hear well or sign well. I believe when Dena said, "Please don't make me choose," she meant she's not ready to choose. Maybe she'll never be ready to choose. Why should any of us have to choose? Many of you who hear or who were born Deaf cannot possibly understand this place we're at on the fence. It's a BIG fence, like the Great Wall of China. There are lots of people walking it every day, just like me. I can't possibly understand where you are all at either. The purpose of my blog is to be there for others on the fence-- people like Dena.

I am thrilled with DeafVillage's decision to promote captioning through their new guideline #5. For once I feel included at ALL times. I wonder if you can possibly understand how very rare that is for someone like me? Probably the only other time I feel totally included is once a year at my SWC Convention for a few days, when I meet up with other late-deafened people who understand what it's like to be both hearing and deaf; neither hearing nor deaf; on the fence. The rest of the time I am outside the circle of communication, even within my own family.

I didn't understand the point of Vlogger Mike's vlog. If he isn't interested in DeafVillage, why complain about their guidelines? Very confusing, since he's perfectly capable of transcribing his vlogs. I can only conclude he doesn't give a rat's ass about people like me.

It felt strange to be lectured about embracing communities with different ideologies by the anonymous name-caller above, while at the same time that person disregarded and disrespected my personal identity and ideology.

Name-calling isn't usually an effective way to resolve problems, win people over or get them to see things your way. All in all I'd say your negative energy tends to weigh DeafRead down. It's too bad because there are really some great Deaf bloggers I enjoy.

I'm on the fence cuz that's where I am. That's just me-- in a different place from some of you. I'm happy to stay there for now, enjoying both DeafRead and DeafVillage.

Smiles,

Kim

Comparing On-Line ASL Resources

2008-06-15T01:53:00.000-07:00

I don't believe American Sign Language (or any language) is best learned on-line, but it's a fact of life that many of us who are late-deafened are extremely busy. Sometimes we cannot find any ASL classes nearby, and often when we do, class schedules conflict with work hours.

In the past few years I have discovered a few on-line ASL resources for those who don't have the time or money to take a college class. Not only are most of these on-line resources convenient, they are also relatively cheap. One drawback of ASL books and dictionaries is how to convey three dimensional movements in two-dimensional drawings or photographs. Interpreting the proper movement can be challenging. On-line videos offer visibility of the entire hand-arm action and facial expressions used during while signing.

My favorite is http://www.aslpro.com/cgi-bin/aslpro/fingerspell.cgi This site shows the complete movement of each sign in its video dictionary including facial expressions. Within the dictionary is a section on conversational phrases, which I think is a really COOL feature! It also offers fingerspelling quizzes where one can choose speeds of slow, medium or fast. Additionally there are word quizzes, and a special section devoted to religious words.

The two main drawbacks of this site are that there's no curriculum to follow. It's a great study tool to compliment course work, but doesn't offer a curriculum of its own. Secondly a few of the signs are different from signs in the course books I've been using. They may also be different from regional signs one uses in their particular area. Thirdly the fingerspelling quiz isn't the best one, because it only has three speeds and you can't adjust the length of your words. However, I personally like this site the best.

Dr. Bill Vicars fingerspelling quiz is way better than ASL Pros. http://asl.ms/ It has slow, medium, fast and "deaf" speed. haha! which is like "light speed." Because you can choose the word size, there's more flexibility in adjusting for improvement. This fingerspelling quiz is connected to ASL University at http://www.lifeprint.com/ Lifeprint offers three courses in ASL, including grammar and cultural information about the Deaf. The course is completely free, unless you want to take it for college credit-- which you CAN do from home! The site is full of info, but one drawback is it's dictionary isn't in video. Dr. Vicars demonstrates the signs in a series of pictures that can be hard to follow. Also he doesn't show much facial expression. Still, if used in conjunction with aslpro.com, you could learn quite a bit of ASL on your own.

Here's another video dictionary-- the ASL Browser http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm from Michigan State University. I don't like this dictionary as well as the first one I mentioned in ASL Pro because her facial expressions aren't right, but if you just want to get an idea how to move your hands, it's OK. This site also offers a CD-Rom on ASL instruction for $19.95, or you can go to two other sites. One offers on-line courses with four month access per course, for $49.95 each. The other link leads you to an ASL book for less than $20.00.

This site http://www.lessontutor.com/ASLgenhome.html offers both ASL and Signed English (SE) for free. The pictures are primitive and hard to follow, but if used with one of the video dictionaries above, it might be OK. One problem I can see is a new learner could become confused between ASL and SE, which are grammatically different.

I love the way this site http://www.handspeak.com/byte/index.php presents cultural information. It also offers a free curriculum. However, there's no fingerspelling quiz feature, and its video dictionary is slow, spasmodic and of poor quality compared to the others. Still, if you're looking for cultural info, I think this site offers way more insight than any of the above.

Again, I don't think this is the best way to learn ASL. Just as you wouldn't become fluent in French listening to French tapes, you can't become fluent in ASL by watching videos. Like any language it takes tons of practice and use with native speakers. But if you want to start with a few basics, then these sites would be a great place to begin.

What color is your crayon?

2008-06-12T00:04:00.000-07:00

I don't usually do these silly quizzes, but I love color and crayons, and so I took this one which had surprisingly few questions. The amazing thing is it was dead-on. HOW?!

You Are a Green Crayon

Your world is colored in harmonious, peaceful, natural colors.

While some may associate green with money, you are one of the least materialistic people around.

Comfort is important to you. You like to feel as relaxed as possible - and you try to make others feel at ease.

You're very happy with who you are, and it certainly shows!

Your color wheel opposite is red. Every time you feel grounded, a red person does their best to shake you.

What Color Crayon Are You?

For Tony-- Meaning of the Golden Rule

2008-06-10T16:54:00.001-07:00

After visiting Deaf Village, Tony asks, “What is this Golden Rule?"It’s not spelt out, and it is left to the reader to workout what it is. But if by the Golden Rule she (Rachel) means, being polite and respectful towards different opinions, then it needs to be spelt out on the aggregator. Furthermore, being polite and respectful need to be defined. Do they mean no swearing, no heated language, what?"

It's fairly universal and simple, Tony. Even though I'm not a DeafRead moderator, I hope they don't mind if I take the liberty to enlighten you on this subject.

This will make the rules clear. From the Religious Tolerance website.

Quotation:
"Every religion emphasizes human improvement, love, respect for others, sharing other people's suffering. On these lines every religion had more or less the same viewpoint and the same goal." ~The Dalai Lama

Some "Ethic of Reciprocity" passages from the religious texts of various religions and secular beliefs:
Bahá'í Faith:
"Ascribe not to any soul that which thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee, and say not that which thou doest not." "Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself." Baha'u'llah
"And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbour that which thou choosest for thyself." Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

Brahmanism: "This is the sum of Dharma [duty]: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you". Mahabharata, 5:1517 "

Buddhism:
"...a state that is not pleasing or delightful to me, how could I inflict that upon another?" Samyutta NIkaya v. 353 Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful." Udana-Varga 5:18

Christianity:
"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." Matthew 7:12, King James Version.
"And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." Luke 6:31, King James Version.
"...and don't do what you hate...", Gospel of Thomas 6. The Gospel of Thomas is one of about 40 gospels that were widely accepted among early Christians, but which never made it into the Christian Scriptures (New Testament).

Confucianism:
"Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you" Analects 15:23
"Tse-kung asked, 'Is there one word that can serve as a principle of conduct for life?' Confucius replied, 'It is the word 'shu' -- reciprocity. Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.'" Doctrine of the Mean 13.3
"Try your best to treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, and you will find that this is the shortest way to benevolence." Mencius VII.A.4

Ancient Egyptian:
"Do for one who may do for you, that you may cause him thus to do." The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, 109 - 110 Translated by R.B. Parkinson. The original dates to 1970 to 1640 BCE and may be the earliest version ever written. 3

Hinduism:
This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you. Mahabharata 5:1517

Humanism:
"(5) Humanists acknowledge human interdependence, the need for mutual respect and the kinship of all humanity."
"(11) Humanists affirm that individual and social problems can only be resolved by means of human reason, intelligent effort, critical thinking joined with compassion and a spirit of empathy for all living beings. " 4
"Don't do things you wouldn't want to have done to you, British Humanist Society. 3

Islam: "None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself." Number 13 of Imam "Al-Nawawi's Forty Hadiths." 5

Jainism:
"Therefore, neither does he [a sage] cause violence to others nor does he make others do so." Acarangasutra 5.101-2.
"In happiness and suffering, in joy and grief, we should regard all creatures as we regard our own self." Lord Mahavira, 24th Tirthankara
"A man should wander about treating all creatures as he himself would be treated. "Sutrakritanga 1.11.33

Judaism:
"...thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.", Leviticus 19:18
"What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. This is the law: all the rest is commentary." Talmud, Shabbat 31a.
"And what you hate, do not do to any one." Tobit 4:15 6

Native American Spirituality:
"Respect for all life is the foundation." The Great Law of Peace.
"All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves. All is really One." Black Elk
"Do not wrong or hate your neighbor. For it is not he who you wrong, but yourself." Pima proverb.

Roman Pagan Religion: "The law imprinted on the hearts of all men is to love the members of society as themselves."

Shinto:
"The heart of the person before you is a mirror. See there your own form"
"Be charitable to all beings, love is the representative of God." Ko-ji-ki Hachiman Kasuga

Sikhism:
Compassion-mercy and religion are the support of the entire world". Japji Sahib
"Don't create enmity with anyone as God is within everyone." Guru Arjan Devji 259
"No one is my enemy, none a stranger and everyone is my friend." Guru Arjan Dev : AG 1299

Sufism: "The basis of Sufism is consideration of the hearts and feelings of others. If you haven't the will to gladden someone's heart, then at least beware lest you hurt someone's heart, for on our path, no sin exists but this." Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh, Master of the Nimatullahi Sufi Order.

Taoism:
"Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain, and your neighbor's loss as your own loss." T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien.
"The sage has no interest of his own, but takes the interests of the people as his own. He is kind to the kind; he is also kind to the unkind: for Virtue is kind. He is faithful to the faithful; he is also faithful to the unfaithful: for Virtue is faithful." Tao Teh Ching, Chapter 49

Unitarian:
"The inherent worth and dignity of every person;" "Justice, equity and compassion in human relations.... ""The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;""We affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part." Unitarian principles. 7,8

Wicca: "An it harm no one, do what thou wilt" (i.e. do what ever you will, as long as it harms nobody, including yourself). One's will is to be carefully thought out in advance of action. This is called the Wiccan Rede

Yoruba: (Nigeria): "One going to take a pointed stick to pinch a baby bird should first try it on himself to feel how it hurts."

Zoroastrianism:
"That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto another whatsoever is not good for itself". Dadistan-i-dinik 94:5 "Whatever is disagreeable to yourself do not do unto others." Shayast-na-Shayast 13:29

Some philosophers' statements are:

Epictetus: "What you would avoid suffering yourself, seek not to impose on others." (circa 100 CE)

Kant: "Act as if the maxim of thy action were to become by thy will a universal law of nature."
Plato: "May I do to others as I would that they should do unto me." (Greece; 4th century BCE)

Socrates: "Do not do to others that which would anger you if others did it to you." (Greece; 5th century BCE)

Seneca: "Treat your inferiors as you would be treated by your superiors," Epistle 47:11 (Rome; 1st century CE)

Tony-- As always, I look forward to your responses in Deaf Village and elsewhere soon. Smiles, Kim

My Response to Patti (People of the Eye)

2008-06-10T13:38:00.000-07:00

Of all the blogging action about how DeafRead removed Cochlear Implant On-line from its aggregator, the only place constructive discussion seems to be building bridges is on Patti's blog, "People of the Eye" I felt the need to respond openly in my own blog.

Sorry I'm so late in responding, Patti.

Kim – . . .I want to ask you – when u challenge DR not to exclude Rachel do u simultaneously challenge Rachel not to exclude ASL and Deaf culture in her blog – meaning can she help introduce parents to Deaf culture and ASL herself?

It's true CI On-line is very pro-AVT. You're right, there isn't "celebration" of ASL. She and I have differing views on that.

As you already mentioned, her views supposedly weren't the reason she was kicked off of DeafRead. She was kicked out for breaking a rule that didn't clearly exist and one others have broken as well.

That said, I will point out there are Deaf vloggers and bloggers who are anti-CI, anti-AVT, and anti-oralism. I won't name names here. I am getting better and better at understanding ASL, so I know what they're' signing in their vlogs. HAHAHA! They have a right to their views, just as Rachel does.

I don't believe it's necessary that individual bloggers/vloggers support ALL facets and subgroups of the Deaf/deaf community. Yet, those who don't should expect some negative feedback. An aggregator that claims to be impartial should support all bloggers regardless of their views, unless they explicitly state otherwise.

I am curious to see if Rachel's new aggregator, Deaf Village, will be as inclusive as she and the others claim. It would be interesting if some Pro-ASL/Anti-AVT Deafies joined, just to see how the moderators will handle their posts. Will they be impartial? Will they refrain from name-calling? Will they treat all the way they wish to be treated? I expect some will and some won't. We're all human.

If DeafVillage becomes "infiltrated" by "Deafhood" bloggers, will CI bloggers complain that Deaf Village is too focused on "Deafhood?" Will the Deaf Village moderators kick Deafhood bloggers off their aggregator? Only time will tell.

In answer to your question on whether I've challenged Rachel on her AVT position in the past. Yes-- I've challenged both her and her mother. I don't believe in AVT. It's an option-- yes-- but not one I would choose.

However, my thoughts on whether parents have the right to choose are as follows--- I don't tell Catholic, Baptist, Buddhist or Jewish parents to raise their children in the Congregational church, the way I raised mine. Rachel has turned out great with AVT. Just as some Catholics may eventually convert to Methodists or even become Atheists-- there will be Deaf children raised with AVT who will embrace ASL as adults, and those who won't. We're all individuals. Parents make many decisions their young children. I believe in individual choice.

Both Patti and AnneMarie addressed economic factors affecting Deaf people. The unemployment rate and "under-employment" rate of deaf/Deaf people is one reason Hearing parents choose to implant their children. It gives them a leg up in society when they can speak. We all know deaf/Deaf people routinely get passed over for promotions other less qualified Hearing individuals receive. Few Hearing people care to support the deaf/Deaf with expensive accommodations in the workplace. Lately our American economy has been faltering, and most companies are looking for ways to cut corners. I don't expect the problem of Deaf/deaf employment to get better any time soon.

Patti said--
i think we r just in our infancy of understanding ourselves so having safe places to bump around ideas and thoughts r really important

This makes perfect sense. Still, I felt DeafRead adequately answered that "safety" issue when they created the Custom option. It seems only those who go looking for a "fight" get one. Even though Cochlear Implant On-line is off DeafRead, she's still posting her same thoughts on AVT. She has every right to visit any of your blogs, and use what you say in her own blog. The blogosphere is not private. We all must pick and choose what we read and respond to.

Patti-- you mentioned the point I brought up about Deaf vloggers not captioning their vlogs. I understand this, truly, and blogged about it myself a few weeks ago. One of my recent ASL assignments has been to translate a children's book "Peter Rabbit" into ASL. It's extremely difficult. Many of you in here have a pretty good grasp on the English language-- a much better grasp on English than I have on ASL. I feel those people could easily give a synopsis of their vlogs like LaRonda usually does-- if they don't want to caption over their ASL.

Once again I'd like to point out if you want accommodations, you should be willing to accommodate others. (I'm not using the "you" personally here Pattie, since you blog.) The argument that there isn't a fair balance of captioned blogs vs non-captioned has no place here. I am also affected by non-captioned video blogs on Youtube and non-captioned movies, and television programming. HLAA (full of hard-of-hearing people who don't sign) has worked tirelessly alongside the NAD to help change captioning laws.

Thanks for the great discussion Patti, and all those who posted civil thoughtful comments. I appreciate the level-headed way you and many other Deaf bloggers have responded. We may not agree on all points, but I like that we can disagree without animosity.

Smiles,
Kim

Still looking for clarification. . .

2008-06-04T22:34:00.001-07:00

I can't help it. I'm still confused. Why? Here's how I see it.

A DeafRead blogger was kicked off DeafRead because she violated a guideline.
Which part of the guideline did she violate?

A highlighted link takes us here: http://blog.sponsoredreviews.com/?p=40 to a site that is NOT EVEN CONNECTED TO DEAFREAD OR POSTED IN THE DEAFREAD GUIDELINES

"6. Disclose professional relationships: if you work for a company or institution disclose it on the “About” page. Explicitly declare that the views expressed on the blog are yours and not the ones from your employer (unless you are blogging for that employer, obviously)."

The blogger was kicked off DeafRead because she supposedly violated this non-existent "guideline" that isn't printed anywhere in DeafRead.

AND in fact-- she didn't actually violate the non-existent guideline at all. Because?? She is not employed. She is a student. She blogs voluntarily for a cause, not for a particular company, and not for money.

Why should she have divulged "professional" connections that didn't exist?? But wait. . . She WAS upfront about the purpose of her blog all along. No one can say she didn't divulge her "connections." Anyone who read her blog knew what they were.

Anyway she didn't have to formally say anything about it, since the above blurb wasn't printed anywhere in the DeafRead guidelines. Right? Wrong!

Nevermind-- not important. Moving on.

Let's look at what it really says in the guidelines.

"6) Commerical Sites
We do not link to commerical sites for the purpose of generating profit, other than our own (we have expenses to cover!). "

Hmmmm. . . So that means commercial sites that exist for the purpose of generating profit are not allowed.

Oh, but wait. Her blog site doesn't generate any profit. It's not a commercial site. It's a personal blog that doesn't have any ads or sell anything, except a book in which all proceeds go to a non-profit organization. All expenses come right out of the blogger's own pocket. Commercial??

Here's a commercial blog that hasn't been kicked off DeafRead--
http://www.i711.com/my711.php?tab=2&article=245

Here's another--
http://www.joeybaer.com/

And another--
http://www.ascdeaf.com/blog/

I'm sure there are at least a dozen more. Why haven't THESE sites been taken down??

Oh well, we've been told, it's OK to blog commercially for profit. In fact it's OK to put ads all over your blog. A person has to make a living, right? The only time it's not OK is if you volunteer to blog as part of a support network for the deaf, then fail to disclose that you're blogging professionally when you actually aren't, since you don't make any money. That's NOT OK!!! Never, ever do that. Never!! Or you will be kicked off!!

And also-- DeafRead can kick off any blogger at any time for failing to adhere to rules that don't exist in DeafRead. deaf people are expected to read ALL rules everywhere ALL over the blogosphere and adhere to every single one. If not, you get the boot. This is called kicking off slimy, shameless, deaf pigs.

And by the way, it's TOTALLY OK to call deaf people names.

Guideline number 8 doesn't apply to Deaf people when calling deaf people names. It ONLY applies when deaf people call Deaf people names. Here it is in full. Familiarize yourself.

"8) Name Calling and Discrimination
DeafRead is enjoyed by all kinds of people worldwide ranging from children to senior citizens. It is also safe to assume that people from all races enjoy DeafRead. We will not post anything that is an attack on a specific race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orienation, age or religion. This offense is serious and the offending blog will be promptly considered for removal from DeafRead's subscription."

So there you have it! Name-calling is a serious infraction only if you're deaf.

You see, it is a great privilege to belong to DeafRead if you are only deaf, not Deaf. Deaf people RULE. They have been more than fair in "allowing" deaf people to post their blogs in DeafRead. deaf people have no business complaining if they get kicked off or aren't accommodated. It is extremely hard to accommodate deaf people since many of them talk, and might have once been hearing people. Hearing people are slime. Long, long ago some of them made Deaf people try to act like seals. That was very bad and all of them are shameless pigs in disguise.

I hear you loud and clear DeafRead editors.

Exclusion Confusion

2008-06-03T14:39:00.001-07:00

Many late-deafened people feel isolated when their hearing loss is first diagnosed. I mentioned before that I never knew one single person who wore hearing aids when I first got mine in my early twenties. Most of my friends at the time were finishing up grad school, getting married or having babies. Usually I was the only one they had ever encountered with a hearing loss, other than possibly an elderly grandparent. Conversations revolved around the usual subjects young people that age discuss--pop culture, school, boyfriends, babies, breastfeeding, husbands, sex and childbirth. When I turned the discussion to my hearing aids, I'd be met with blank stares as they tried to process what I was going through. I learned quickly enough most people my age couldn't handle it.

The isolation was overwhelming at times. When you develop a disability at a young age, it changes you. My eyes were opened to a truth few were willing to accept-- that life is unpredictable and unfair. Disability can settle on anyone at any time for no particular reason, and there's often no cure. Depressing? It can be, but you learn to adapt and take pride in your ability to adapt, because adapting becomes your life.

I can't imagine growing up deaf or being the only six-year-old who wears hearing aids in a mainstreamed classroom of giggly first-graders, though those I've met have who grew up HH are remarkably well adjusted. Sometimes I think part of the problem for adults who lose their hearing is an identity crisis. At one time I was a different person, then my world turned upside down. My life seemed to be on hold, because not only had I developed a hearing loss, but my hearing was unstable. I've continued to lose more and more hearing all these years.

With the knowledge that my hearing could take a nosedive at any moment, it's been hard to carve out a path. I've learned to live in the present. This is where I am today. I don't know where I'll be tomorrow. I crave the stability of structure and a backup plan more than most. The unknown is scary. I'm dependant once again on something (someone) I can't count on, only this time that someone is ME. Luckily I married the Rock of Gibraltar whose unwavering devotion, routines and support is as predictable and solid as they come. He doesn't drink.

This is a great blog about camps for young HH, deaf children set up so they won't feel so isolated. http://aslci.blogspot.com/2008/06/calling-solitaires-for-research.html In a few weeks I'm going to "adult camp"-- two of them back-to-back. I couldn't be more excited. You see, late-deafened adults need to connect with each other too-- just like kids. Adult camp usually takes place in big cities. There will be interpreted workshops with CART, trips to restaurants in large groups of people who can't hear, tours for the deaf, and lots of hanging out in bars.

Conventions with HH, deaf people are the highlight of my summer. Normally, I'm paralyzed by group socializing with hearing people because of all the lips needing to be read, but not with this crowd. We write, sign and repeat as often as needed until **everyone** gets it. No judging. We all know deafness does not equal stupidity.

This year I'm going to the International Federation of Hard-of-Hearing people up in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Then I'm going to Philadephia for the Say What Club convention. There, I'm going to meet with a few DeafRead bloggers, and old friends I don't get to see all the time, and we're going to have a blast!! ALDA and HLAA also have adult "camp" (conventions) for people with hearing loss. I believe the HLAA con is coming up soon, but I couldn't swing it in addition to the two others. IFHOH was a priority since Vancouver is so close, and it rarely gets held on this continent. Also I get free room and board with an HH Canadian friend.

Because of my experience of growing up hearing, then becoming deaf, I value inclusion above all else. I've felt EXcluded too many times among the hearing that I find the exclusionary practices of DeafRead offensive. I haven't blogged about this before, but when DeafRead failed to provide CART for their convention in SF after I requested it last spring, I realized I don't really belong here, though I've stayed to learn more about Deaf culture. Also, I had hoped with the influx of CI blogs, they would become more inclusive over time.

There was really no GOOD excuse not to accommodate me. I requested the accommodations more than two months in advance of the convention. The thing is, the Say What Club is equally as small as DeafRead, and they're committed to providing interpreters as well as CART for their conventions, so ALL attending will be able to understand. I realize interpreters are expensive. We ALL know that. The point is if we want to be included, then we should all be models of inclusion.

Now DeafRead has booted off Cochlear Implant On-line under a trumped up charge that she's in cahoots with Cochlear. This is so ridiculous I'm speechless. A person can not be an "employed volunteer." She makes no money off Cochlear. While I realize many of you don't like Rachel's blog, wasn't it enough to exclude her from your "custom" feeds?

Further, I've since found out DeafRead has disallowed a cueing blog from joining.

DeafRead has become an uncomfortable and unwelcoming deaf community for those of us who use our voices.

Can You Sign. . . Parsley?

2008-05-30T23:15:00.000-07:00

Seriously I'm stumped. I have this ASL project where I'm translating Peter Rabbit. He gets sick and needs to eat some parsley to settle his tummy. We're not supposed to fingerspell, if at all possible. Is there a sign? I've got maybe seven ASL dictionaries around here. None of them have the word parsley.

What I Learned From A Butterfly

2008-05-24T12:57:00.001-07:00

"Hoping to catch your eye Circling around you, oh my Butterfly, butterfly, come into the light Oh, what a beautiful sight Flying so gracefully Into the sky, the butterfly Trying to catch a butterfly Fly, fly, fly, butterfly. . ." - Sharon Adamson

A few years ago I was inspired by a visit to our zoo where they had just opened their new butterfly garden. I wish I had a camera at the time. My son, then only 10, was wearing a bright red cap and a pretty little yellow butterfly landed right on his head, maybe thinking the red cap was a big red flower. It rested there for a few seconds then flittered away. The butterfly house was packed with colorful butterflies flying every which way.

Later I began to think about the metamorphosis process butterflies go through, and I couldn't help feeling it was similar to the transformation I had traveled toward deafness. For awhile I went through a self-imposed isolation while adjusting to the changes taking place within me. Then one day I realized I wanted to make the most of life as a late-deafened person. I was tired of the cocoon. I tentatively reached out, and as I opened up more and more, I discovered I was a changed person.

I had gone through a metamorphosis, just like the butterflies around me. I began to think of them as a symbol of my transformation.

I started my own butterfly garden. Little by little I began planting flowers to attract them. I stopped spraying my plants with poison that might kill their young, and I put out little tiny cups for water for them to drink from when it became too dry in the summer.

A butterfly garden isn't always pretty. It isn't filled with beautiful or rare hybrids that need a lot of attention. Butterflies prefer wildflowers and "weeds" that grow naturally in their regions. To attract butterflies one must be willing to overlook caterpillars eating leaves and to allow weeds where a mother butterfly might lay her larvae. I've learned to see weeds and caterpillars in a new light.

Because I often talk about my butterfly garden, people sometimes ask to see. They expect a show of colorful, fragrant flowers. My yard is not beautiful. It's natural. I can see the disappointment on their faces when they realize my entire weedy yard is butterfly compatible. They look at my jumble of blackberry vines, oregon grape and salal, then grimace. The "garden" is not in just one tiny section. After all, butterflies fly away. I want them to be safe everywhere.

There have been a few surprises along the way. For example, an increase in wildlife to my yard. You see, the wildflowers attract squirrels, deer and especially hummingbirds, as well as other birds--woodpeckers, stellers jays, chicadees, which attract raccoons because of the eggs laid, which attract coyote because of the abundance of small prey. . . We now have an entire family of raccoons living somewhere in our side yard. I've watched them collecting crows eggs high up in a tree, while the crows took turns dive-bombing them. It's entertaining to sit in my yard and watch the wild animal show--coyotes running across the driveway in pursuit of something, deer resting in the grass with their young. Yeah-- the grass would look better mowed, but deer prefer tall grass and also the blackberry brambles in my lower yard.

These past few years, as I've thrown myself into gardening for butterflies, I've developed a new passion for gardens and wildlife I never had before. This, in itself, has propelled me towards further acceptance of my deafness. Gardening replaced the piano I miss. Even in winter months I plan what I'm going to do to my yard come spring to attract more butterflies.

Then-- I learned something new. Butterflies in all their splendid color are deaf!! I now see them as God's special little angels. They're here to remind us there's beauty in deafness and in the NATURAL world around us.

If you've been wondering where I've been lately, you'll find me in the garden.

Oralism vs Spoken English

2008-05-07T13:38:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help but respond to Barb Digi's vlog after seeing her video with the little boy. In this video we watch as a hard-of-hearing or Deaf child tries to process a math problem. He seems to be concentrating hard. He uses his hands to make a plus sign. Then he makes a five with his right hand while saying the word "five" There was no sound on the video but it's easy to lipread. Next, we see his hand get pushed down by the oral facilitator, not in an abusive way, but firmly. It's clearly a reprimand-- almost a light slap-- though he doesn't seem hurt.

My grandmother was born in 1885. When I was a little girl she used to tell me about her school days. She was a "leftie." The school master used to hit her hand with a stick whenever he caught her writing with her left hand. She learned to write with her right hand, but inside she was always a "leftie." Though a good student, she dropped out of school at the age of 14 because writing with her right hand all the time was so uncomfortable. Her right-hand writing was never beautiful and she felt repressed. Seventy years later, I would sit on her bed listening to this story, wondering why her school master was so mean. My own father is a "leftie" and I myself took a long time to decide on a dominant hand. I still perform many tasks left-handed. Today, left-handedness is respected. We realize it's more important to teach a child information than to worry about what hand he or she uses.

Back in the early 1980's when I took early childhood development classes, I learned the more senses stimulated during a lesson, the more students will retain. For this reason most preschools develop a highly sensory environment organized around one weekly or monthly theme. Even adults prefer to process information through different senses. Because all people process differently, teachers need to be sure to consider the many learning styles of their students. Research has identified seven ways people absorb new information. (Some say there are only three, however the seven ways are basically the first three broken into more detail.) Most people have one dominant and a secondary preference. It should come as no surprise that hard-of-hearing/deaf/Deaf children and adults may not process information auditorily. We tend to be more visual and kinesthetic.

Further, it's estimated only ten percent of the hearing population processes auditorally. Most people, whether hearing or deaf, prefer looking at visuals, touching, manipulating, dancing, playing games, singing about and smelling objects while learning.

Our schools overwhelmingly rely on outdated aural teaching methods, in which a teacher lectures and a student listens. However, in the past few decades many elementary school teachers have begun to incorporate art, games, visuals and manipulatives to help their students learn. Hearing children now often learn the ASL alphabet because teachers have found ASL enhances spelling lessons. Secondary school teachers also try to include other learning styles into their lessons by assigning group projects. The idea is that hopefully students will organize themselves according to their learning strengths. Even college professors utilize group projects to a large degree-- because they recognize the importance of learning styles.

What bothered me most about that video was the little boy's natural kinesthetic learning style was being discouraged. Forced to sit still with his hands folded on a table, he was only allowed to listen and respond orally when questioned. That teaching method is SO outdated I wanted to scream. Worse-- a hearing child in the same one-on-one situation would NOT have had his hand pushed down. His kinesthetic need should have been respected.

It reminded me of the stories my grandma used to tell about being a "leftie."