A Story for Ronnie - The Deaf Hulk

"We're Going To Be Friends"

I've published videos before from D-PAN, the Deaf Professional Arts Network, and here is their newest one. I love it, and thought you might enjoy a positive end to your work week also!

The Beat Within

How about some awesome ASL-translated music for the dreary, rainy day? I think it's just what the doctor ordered!!

Signing in a Hearing World

When we were returning from our trip to Williamsburg this past Saturday, we decided to stop for lunch at the Candle Light Restaurant. It is an out-of-the-way little place that is frequented more by locals than tourists, and on previous trips we were impressed by the home-style quality of the food.

Although the building had been remodeled a bit (and made more accessible!), the owner and staff were the same as was the menu. A server came by and took our orders, and right after that another person stopped at our table and asked about our drinks. I mentioned that the server had taken the orders, but this person said she would get the drinks.

I noticed something in her speech, a quality to her voice that seemed both familiar and different at the same time. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. But the next time she stopped by our table, I figured it out!

She had apparently seen all of us signing to each other, so when she returned to the table, she also signed. She was Deaf or hard-of-hearing and the quality I heard in her voice was that of a person who leans to speak without fully being able to hear.

Ronnie was thrilled! He loves to come across people who sign, people with whom he can easily communicate. I love to see him get so excited, but it also is a bit sad.

That which most of us take for granted - the ability to converse with others - doesn't come easily to someone who is Deaf and lives in a hearing world. I wonder if it bothers him, or if he is just accustomed to it...???

A Beautiful Language

I admit that I'm a bit of a language snob. I love the English language and the way some people can spin delicious stories. But it does bother me when people fracture the English language.

I realize that writers often take many liberties with convention, and that makes for more interesting reading. But I don't believe that liberties with spoken English always turn out well.

I'm the same way with sign language.

Sign language to me is a beautiful expression of language. But as with slang in English, slang or sloppy signing bothers me. I love to watch someone sign with clarity and expression. Too often though, signers get sloppy. Ronnie is just such a signer.

When someone gets sloppy with signing, it sometimes can seem disrespectful, and it is definitely harder to follow in a conversation. Maybe that is what seems disrepectful to me...

Here is a wonderful example of someone who, in my opinion, is a beautiful signer. Clear, concise signs full of meaning, this person is a joy to watch! I hope that I can be like her..

Good News Friday

Here are a few stories I found this week.

Although the robot in this story looks a little creepy to me, apparently making it look as human-like as possible has a real benefit for children who are autistic.

Finally, my conservative and not-very-disability-friendly state is doing something right. Due to the efforts of some students from Northern Virginia, sign language may now be offered as a foreign language credit in Virginia schools - assuming the Governor signs the bill. Come on, Bobby, do the right thing.

While being able to 'see' Facebook photos might not be my first choice for someone who is blind, the technology behind this effort holds great promise!

And one more bit of technology - We may not use cash as often as we once did, but there are still times when it comes in handy or is necessary, and that can pose some problems for the visually impaired. LookTel has released a Money Reader app for the IPhone that can recognize bills up to $100 demonination and then speak the amount to the person who is blind. How cool is that?!



Happy weekend, everyone!

Kinect Me!

Just when I was about to put my foot down and tell the kids that we did NOT need yet another video game system in our house, Microsoft comes out with a new Xbox console with special features for the Deaf. How can I refuse now?

Based on Kinect, Microsoft's movement tracking technology, games can be played on the console without holding any sort of controller. The player's body directs the game play. It is similar to the Wii, but the Wii does still require holding one or two controllers to direct a game.



But one of the most substantial features is that, not only does the system recognize gameplay movement, it also detects American Sign Language. This will allow fluent users to input letters, words and even entire phrases to be interpreted as readable data.

At first I wasn't sure how this feature could be applied in a real life home situation. But this video, available on the Xbox website, makes it clear. Pay close attention at about the 45 second mark. You will see a boy come into the room and using his voice only, he will pause and start to play a movie. If that boy had been Deaf, he could have directed both the Pause and the Play in sign language.

I would love to see what other things could be done with sign language and this game console. It's not yet available, but I have read that it will be in stores for the 2010 holiday season. If anyone does get one, please let me know what you think.

Who's Right?

Have you seen this news story?

Emma is 8 years old, and her parents are not married. Emma is deaf, as is her father, but Emma also has cochlear implants. Emma's mother has taken Emma's father to court, hoping that the court will force the dad to make Emma use her implants when she visits him. Currently, both Emma and her father communicate via sign language.

Emma's mom, in court documents "has stressed the importance of wearing the devices at all times for continued progress with her hearing and speech."

Emma's father said, "I’m willing to have her do whatever makes her comfortable. I want to give my daughter her own choices in life."

Emma, when she is with her father, says she wants to "be deaf like daddy."

How would you handle this situation? I don't believe there is a right or wrong answer, but I wonder what the court will ultimately decide. I know that for me and my deaf children, being deaf is not a disability.

I am not a proponent of cochlear implants for my children, but I do not judge parents who make that choice for their children. When I feel my children can make their own decisions about cochlear implants, I will do whatever I can to support those decisions.

What are your thoughts?

Here We Go Again

Some of you may remember that I filed a complaint with my state Department of Education at the beginning of the last school year. In the complaint, I alleged that the school district was not implementing Ashley’s IEP because they did not have an aide who was sufficiently proficient in sign language assigned to Ashley. Ashley’s only means of communication is sign language.

The Department of Education agreed with me and found my school district to be in non-compliance with Ashley’s IEP. The process then started for us all to agree on compensatory services for the time missed, and other measures to ensure Ashley’s IEP would be followed.

The compensatory hours were provided after a false start, and one of the other items I insisted upon, an independent evaluation of both Ashley’s signing skills and the skills of the school-provided assistant (hired after the complaint was filed), was finally scheduled towards the end of the most recent school year.

Not surprisingly, the independent evaluation supported what I had been saying. But has that changed anything at school? Nope, not yet. The same incompetent aide (at least in my opinion and the opinion of the evaluators) was assigned to provide Ashley’s ESY services. So, what did I do? Yep, filed yet another complaint.

The newest complaint, which pretty much is a duplicate of the original one I filed last September, went in the end of last week. I’ve not heard anything yet, and the bureaucratic process moves rather slowly. To top things off, no IEP meeting has been held to determine Ashley’s program for next year, her first year in high school. No school has been selected yet either, and you know how difficult it is to get teachers and other school staff to work during the summer.

Ashley has always been a child that loved going to school, but recently has been signing, “school no go”. Her spirit has been crushed and she is very frustrated. My homeschooling efforts have increased dramatically, and she is doing well with that fortunately. But I will not give up on insisting that the school do their job.

Maybe one of these days they will realize that. I am nothing if not very, very persistent.

So Tired of the Same Conversation

When Ashley first started school (age 2.5, 12 years ago), I told them she needed sign language support.

When they shut down all classrooms for children with hearing impairments and who sign (versus children with cochlear implants), I reiterated that Ashley needed sign language support.

When we began our path to due process in elementary school, I told them yet again that Ashley needed sign language support.

The consultant they hired to evaluate Ashley said she needed the support of a fluent signer. The consultant I hired to evaluate Ashley said she needed the support of a fluent signer.

When they hired a fluent signer to work with Ashley, the pay was so bad the signer left after one year. I told them they needed to find someone else.

When Ashley was transitioning to middle school, I told them it was even more important to have a fluent signer with her. At home, she was signing sentences, and I proved it to them by videotaping her.

For a while in middle school, they had a wonderful and fluent signer with Ashley. Ashley learned by leaps and bounds. Then, of course, they replaced that person with someone they are training in sign language.

Now, high school transition is looming, and the person being trained is still not signing anywhere near as much as Ashley.

The consultants the school district contracted to evaluate Ashley’s communication said during our meeting today that Ashley needs a fluent signer for the entire school day.

So, should I believe that this time the school district will listen and do what I have asked them to do every year for the last 12 years? Or do I just give up?

I must admit that there are many days when I just want to give up….

What The Heck Is Going On?

I have run across two news articles in the last week that concern me greatly. The first article tells how fewer than 10 percent of Blind Americans can read Braille. The second article, a student’s personal story, appeared in the Columbia University Spectator. The student labels himself as one of a very few Deaf students at the university who sign.

What is going on here? I fight every single day to have Ashley educated in both Braille and sign, and yet adults are rejecting both those things. I don’t get it…