Volume 29 Issue 9

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First Premium Placement:
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Second Premium Placement:
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Classified Section:
Two Online Stores and Two Employment Opportunities

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Contact information and disclaimers are at the end of this newsletter.
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- Article 1: Where Do I Fit In?
Presented by Lucy Miller
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Lucy Miller is a marriage and family counselor who was born deaf and educated orally. Here's her story, as she told it at the 2006 ALDA National Convention.

For more coverage of this great convention, please point your browser to http://www.hearinglossweb.com/res/hlorg/alda/cn/2006/2006.htm

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When I was growing up, there were two groups of people with hearing loss: deaf and hard of hearing. And which group a person was in depended on his audiogram.

But there was also a second way to divide people: oralists and manualist.

Some oralists could speak well and others couldn't; some could lipread well and others couldn't. The thing that united them was that they preferred spoken language over sign language. Oralists and mainstream society considered manualists to be inferior, in part because they were more conspicuous. So parents wanted their children to be oralists!

The children who were able to speak well were recruited by the John Tracy Clinic and the Alexander Graham Bell Association to give demonstrations for parents who were trying to decide between the oralist approach and the manualist approach for their children. I was one of the children who did this, often reading a story or reciting a poem in front of a group of parents. In retrospect I think it was a little pathetic - a deaf kid pretending to be hearing.

I inherited and lived with my parents' shame at having a defective child.

When I became old enough I started school, and within a month I had flunked out of first grade! I was labeled retarded. Then my mother put me in a Christian boarding school, which was the only place that would take me. This place was like something you would read about in a Charles Dickens novel!

I was the only deaf kid in the school, and the only Jewish kid. I was also short, chubby, uncoordinated, and I talked funny. I was always the last one picked when kids were choosing up sides. I was always the butt of everyone's jokes.

Of course I hated it. I told my mom, and she told me to stop complaining! So I was stuck. And I started looking for a way out. The school was surrounded by a tall fence with barbed wire on top, so climbing out was impossible. And the gate had someone watching it whenever it was open.

But one day I noticed the gate open and no one there, so I took off! I walked to the corner and stopped; I wasn't allowed to cross the street by myself. So I waited for someone to come along, and I crossed with them! I went on like this for a long time, but I had no idea where I was going.

After awhile it started to get cold. And I was hungry and had to go to the bathroom! Then I noticed two policemen walking towards me. I turned and ran, but they caught me in about ten seconds! They tried to talk to me, but I wouldn't say a word. My parents had taught me not to talk to strangers, and they never added "except policemen".

They took me to a drive-in restaurant, and pretty soon they handed me a hamburger and milkshake. I had never had either before, and I wolfed them down! So they ordered me another hamburger, and I ate that too!

Then we drove to the police station and I thought I was going to jail. But they took me to one of the rooms, where a woman was pacing back and forth! It was my Aunt Jeanette, and she was so happy to see me!

I didn't have to go back to the boarding school. I was enrolled in an oral day school. Signing was forbidden, but whenever the teacher's back was turned the kids would start signing. That's where I first learned a little sign.

I started wearing a hearing aid in Junior High, because a teacher told my mom that I had to have one. She didn't get me one before, because it was too conspicuous! I don't know if she ever thought about the fact that it might help me hear. I inherited her shame, of course. So I did everything I could to hide the hearing aid - long, frizzy hair, high-neck blouses, loose clothing, etc.

During my senior year the president of Gallaudet was on a recruiting trip and I talked to him. He invited me to come visit Gallaudet, and I did! It was fascinating for me to see a whole college where everyone signed, and I filled out an application. But my parents were opposed to my going to Gallaudet, because they didn't want me to sign. So I went to UCLA with no support services. I was afraid to tell anyone I couldn't hear, because I thought they would kick me out! Of course I didn't do well.

So for the next ten years I failed at everything - academics, marriage, and career.

In the sixties things started to change. Along came the Civil Rights movement, followed by feminism, Deaf power, etc. and deaf people began to take pride in their deaf identity. The California State University at Northridge (CSUN) opened a leadership training program for deaf students. We had interpreters, so deafness wasn't a handicap. That's when I began to develop my identity as a deaf person.

Then technology improved, Deaf President Now happened, the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, and we realized that we had a right to equal access. We began to see a movement away from deafness as a pathology and towards deafness as just another characteristic.

Now there are no longer two groups, but many. And there are many organizations representing the various groups. The oldest is the National Association of the Deaf, which represents mainly people who are culturally Deaf. Nearly as old is the Alexander Graham Bell Association, which represents the oralists. Then there's TDI, which focuses on technology and advocacy. There's the Hearing Loss Association of America (formerly SHHH), which focuses on hard of hearing people who benefit from assistive technology. And there's the Association of Late Deafened Adults (ALDA), which is more for people who don't benefit so much from assistive technology.

People look at all these groups and wonder why there are so many and where they fit in. Tomorrow night we'll have a panel with the leaders of many of these organizations, and we'll be able to ask them some of these questions.

Things continue to change. Technology improves and deafness becomes less stigmatized. Sign language is being taught to hearing babies and is being used to teach people with disabilities other than deafness. Hopefully deafness will soon be considered just another characteristic, like being left-handed.

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- Article 2: Arlene's Tips for Holiday Gatherings
by Arlene Romoff
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Editor: People with hearing loss often have conflicting attitudes about holiday gatherings. They may love seeing family and friends getting together, but dread not being able to understand what everyone is saying.

Here with some great tips is Arlene Romoff. She is a Trustee of the Hearing Loss Association of NJ and the author of "Hear Again - Back to Life with a Cochlear Implant." This article is shared with her kind permission.

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With large family groups gathering, laughing and conversing, it's very easy for someone with a hearing loss to feel left out, isolated, bewildered and sad. Hearing aids and cochlear implants have limitations in noisy environments like this, so here are a few tips to help make this holiday more enjoyable for everyone:

1 - Realize that large social groups, especially around a large dining room table, are one of the most difficult environments for a person with a hearing loss. So be kind to yourself, and focus on the positive things that you can do, and not on the negatives of what you have difficulty doing. Think "the glass is half full," not half-empty.

2 - It's easier to talk with people one-on-one in a quiet environment than in a noisy living room. So: a - Find a favorite friend or relative, and move the conversation into a quiet room, or a quieter corner. Or play a game or read a story to a child, if that's an option. b - Help out in the kitchen where there are usually less people gathered. And if you help with some preparations, you'll be doing something besides trying to hear.

3 - When sitting down to dinner, make sure you choose a seat that is best for you! Here are some SEATING TIPS: a - If you have a "better side," seat yourself so that most people are on that side. b - Seat yourself next to a person you usually have the least difficulty hearing or lipreading (avoid those folks with bushy mustaches and beards!) AND/OR c - Seat yourself next to someone who usually has the patience to clue you in on what the conversation is about, or the punch lines you'll miss. d - Try not to seat yourself facing a window because the glare could make it difficult to see people's faces. e - Ask your host to turn off any background music during dinner. And if a football game is blaring from a tv, turn it off OR if that's not an option, set it on MUTE. f - Remember to be assertive about your needs! Pleasant and polite, but assertive!

4- Conversation tips: a - It's inevitable that you will not be able to hear the conversation with many people talking and laughing at once. Content yourself with speaking with the people on either side of you. b - If you start a conversation, then you'll know what the topic is, so it will be easier to follow. c - If you miss something, try to ask only for the part you missed, instead of just saying "what?" d - Expect that there will be jokes that you will not hear, so you will find yourself sitting at a table where everyone is laughing except you. Stay calm - you have a few options: i. ask the person next to you to tell you what was so funny ii. ask the person next to you to remember what was so funny so they can tell you later. iii. Say "excuse me" to everyone at the table, and ask for the joke to be repeated so you can get it too. Remember that if you do this with a pleasant attitude, then people will usually want to help you out.

5- After Dinner Strategies: a - Volunteer to help out in the kitchen to get yourself away from that dining table with all the conversations and jokes you're having trouble following. b - DO NOT offer to wash the dishes! This will put your back to everyone in the kitchen and you won't be able to lipread. Offer to dry the dishes or put food away. Or just "keep everyone company." c - Offer to wash the dishes if you want to take time out from trying to hear everyone, and you still want to feel useful.

6 - To Drink or not to Drink? Some people's lipreading skills tend to get worse when they drink. Some people's lipreading skills tend to get better when they drink because they're more relaxed. And, of course, there are pros and cons of drinking that impact on mood. Be aware of what works best FOR YOU. And remember, if you do drink, do so responsibly and NEVER drink and drive.

7- Assistive Listening Devices There are assistive listening devices, such as personal amplifiers and auxiliary microphones, that can help you hear in noisy environments. These can work either in conjunction with your hearing aid or cochlear implant, or directly into your ears. They have been particularly helpful for older relatives who are left out of the loop in large family gatherings. If you need more information about these devices, please ask us!

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- Article 3: Gallaudet is isolating its deaf students
By Jack Slutzky
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Editor: Judging from the newspapers and blogs, the furor over the recent fiasco at Gallaudet is dying down; there are far fewer articles about it than there were a couple of weeks ago. But I've also noticed that the flavor of the articles is shifting. Many of the current articles are written by mainstream Americans and lament what has happened at Gallaudet.

Here's Jack Slutzky with his thoughts. Having taught at NTID for 27 years, Jack is very familiar with the education of college students with hearing loss. He brings a unique and fascinating perspective to this controversy.

Jack's new novel, "Damaged" has just been published. You can read about it at http://tinyurl.com/y789pu.

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I am totally dismayed and more than a little angry over the events at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. The trustees voted late last month to terminate the appointment of incoming president Jane Fernandes, the subject of months of protests.

These feelings have been aroused in me by phrases being bandied around: "not deaf enough," "not my kind of deaf," "deaf culture," "not adequately committed to American Sign Language" and "Gallaudet, the leading college for the deaf."

I taught at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology for more than 27 years. My son, who was born profoundly deaf, is an assistant professor at an upstate university teaching hearing students.

I have worked with and for people across the country who are deaf or hard of hearing for more than 40 years. I mention these facts to give credibility to my words.

Gallaudet University is not the leading university for the deaf. It might be the oldest, but it is far from the best. Judging by the success of Gallaudet students in the classroom and workplace, Gallaudet is not even a close second to NTID.

To say that Fernandes is "not deaf enough" or doesn't "use the right kind of communication" is as insulting as it is bigoted. I worked at NTID with a dedicated faculty and staff, deaf and hearing, to enable students who are deaf to reach their potential and become full-fledged members of society. And they have! To have shut themselves in a small enclave a few radicals call "deaf culture" would have insulted the vast numbers of people who are deaf, people who are as heterogeneous as any group in this country.

The dictionary defines culture as the development of intellectual and moral abilities; enlightenment acquired by the study of the fine arts, humanities and the sciences; and the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief and behavior that depends on the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations. Ergo, "deaf culture" is a misnomer!

American Sign Language does not make a culture. When Fernandes spoke in January of expanding Gallaudet to embrace all forms of deafness, and all modes of communication deaf people use to communicate, she ruffled the feathers of a few defensive hermits afraid of sharing, of growing, of becoming.

Most Americans who are deaf or hearing impaired do not embrace American Sign Language as their language of choice. Most parents of deaf children do not embrace ASL as their language of choice. Most employers and educators of deaf people do not embrace ASL as their language of choice.

I have told my son and hundreds of students I have worked with: I care not how you communicate, but that you communicate. I care not what you choose to study, but that you can and do choose. I care not what you choose to do with your life, but that you have choice in life. Embracing a biased, bigoted misnomer called "deaf culture" and an absolute adherence to ASL will only inhibit your participation in society.

Shame on you, Gallaudet trustees, for caving in to threat and for failing to defend the rights of people across this country who are deaf.

Slutzky, of Le Roy, has been a writer since he retired from RIT 10 years ago. E-mail him at jsocsai@gmail.com.

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- Article 4: Short Takes
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Editor: Here are our picks of some additional stories that you may find interesting. For more, please point your browser to: http://www.hearinglossweb.com/news/curr.htm

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Cochlear Implant Collaborations Aid School Success

Parents, Schools, and Implant Centers Build Winning Partnerships

Cochlear implants (CIs) are one of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century that have improved the outcomes for children with profound hearing loss-and greatly changed the ways professionals provide medical and educational care to these children. One key component in successful outcomes is a partnership between parents, educational professionals, and cochlear implant centers to work together to foster achievement of the communication goals set for the child by the child's parents. This article provides answers to questions that parents frequently ask CI centers about promoting improved communication and collaboration between the child's school and the implant center

http://preview.tinyurl.com/yyhwh4

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How Do Volume Controls Work, and Do Hearing-Impaired Consumers Really Need Them?

Volume controls (VC) have been a feature of hearing instruments from their inception. Until the mid-1970s, most hearing instrument manufacturers made their own VCs. When component manufacturers began offering VCs, however, these components were quickly outsourced. Today, component manufacturers produce the vast majority of VCs. The first VCs supplied by component manufacturers were for behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing instruments. They were large, featuring a wheel diameter of 7 mm or wider (Figure 1). Smaller VCs were developed as hearing aid manufacturers began to develop more discreet devices to cope with stigma issues.

http://www.hearingreview.com/article.php?s=HR/2006/11&p=5

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Deaf woman says hearing dog was banned

Murray, a little bundle of fluff, goes almost everywhere with Gladys Peterson. The 16-pound mutt, a mixture of Lhasa apso, Shih Tzu and Pekingese, serves as Peterson's ears, because she has been deaf since birth. But the two of them, along with a friend, were thrown out of a north-side restaurant recently because the manager apparently never heard of a hearing ear dog and does not know the law. Indiana law says a person who is blind, deaf or disabled is entitled to be accompanied by a trained dog in any public accommodation, which is defined as any place that offers services, facilities or goods to the general public.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/wx37u

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- Classifieds
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Two online stores and two employment opportunity appear in this issue. (Ads appear after this brief table of contents.)

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Employment Opportunity 1
Various Positions
GLAD
Los Angeles

Employment Opportunity 2
Superintendent
Illinois School for the Deaf
Jacksonville, IL

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We have gifts for everyone on your list starting with all clocks at 15% off. Take advantage of 10% off items and Free Shipping! Beat the long lines and shop at your convenience. Choose from a huge selection of items from Signalers and Telephones to Jewelry. Then add free shipping to orders over $100.00.

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Employment Opportunity 1
Various Positions
GLAD
Los Angeles
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GLAD is an Affirmative Action Employer with equal opportunity for men, women and people with disabilities. For more information on the following positions, please go to: www.gladinc.org. The status of all positions is: Regular, Full-time, Non-Exempt, Full Fringe Benefits unless otherwise noted. All positions are open until filled.

* Director of Human Services - Los Angeles, CA
* Community Interpreter - Riverside, CA
* Job Developer/Interpreter - Crenshaw, Norwalk and West Covina, CA
* Community Health Educator-Los Angeles, CA
* LIFESIGNS Dispatcher - Riverside, CA
* Grant Writer - Los Angeles, CA
* Accounts Receivable Specialist - Los Angeles, CA
* Program Assistant/Interpreter - Los Angeles, CA
* Building Manager - Los Angeles, CA

If interested for any of these positions then please submit resume and application to:

Jeff Fetterman
Human Resources Specialist
Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness, Inc.
2222 Laverna Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90041
V/TDD: (323) 550-4207
Fax #: (323)550-4204
E-mail: jfetterman@gladinc.org

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Employment Opportunity 2
Superintendent
Illinois School for the Deaf
Jacksonville, IL
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The Illinois School for the Deaf, announces a vacancy for the SUPERINTENDENT position. Applications are due by January 15, 2007, with a start date of July 1, 2007.

Founded in 1839 and located on a beautiful 50 acre campus in Jacksonville, Illinois School for the Deaf is a residential state school for the education of children who are deaf and hard of hearing in Illinois. The school is operated by the State Department of Human Services/Division of Rehabilitation Services with the objective of preparing students for productive, well-adjusted and responsible adult lives.

Marjorie Olson
400 West Lawrence
Springfield IL 62794-9429
217-524-1379 (Voice/TTY)

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