By now you’ve most likely seen the video on this post Live broadcast of a Cochlear Implant surgery.

Interesting video of how a cochlear implant surgery is done, yes?

Some of you may not be aware that there is controversy over Cochlear Implants (CI for short).

Since FDA has changed the age limits for CI, this has meant that deaf babies as young as 6 months old can be implanted. A large number of medical professionals, audiologists and speech specialists advocate the use of the Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT) with the CI. The Auditory Verbal Approach means daily, consistent training of deaf children in learning how to hear and speak over a period of months if not years. This approach is sponsored by organizations like Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. AG Bell Academy Web site. Note their slogan “For listening and spoken language.”

A side note: Alexander Graham Bell is known for his invention of the telephone. He was also a Eugenicist whose ideas about people that he considered defective centered on the deaf. Ironically, he was married to a deaf woman and was a close friend of deaf-blind Helen Keller. Source: Wikipedia. Scroll down to the Eugenics section.

With the rise of CI being performed on deaf children, AVT has been on the rise as well. Also, there is an increasing popularity in teaching American Sign Language to hearing babies. Signing with your baby increases their linguistic acquisition, their intelligence, and makes communication with parents and children easier.

Yet I question: Why are deaf babies treated differently from hearing babies? Sign language is the native language of the deaf. Why do deaf children have to learn how to listen with their greatest weakness – hearing? Why have CI surgeries that may or may not restore enough hearing to be usable?

I find it interesting that deafness is a non-debilitating condition that is being operated on. The suffering that deaf people have comes from others denying them their native language (ASL) and Deafhood. I realize that there are parents who feel that implanting their deaf child is the best decision, and I have to respect that. However, if an implanted child is taught American Sign Language and Deafhood, that is better. Because an implanted child is still deaf, and American Sign Language is the only language that is 100% accessible for the deaf. Lip reading shows 30-35% of the English language. Hearing aids and CIs don’t always provide enough hearing to be dependable alone. A CI does not make a deaf baby hear the same as a hearing baby.

Discussion of language acquisition in babies brought about the Greatest Irony, which Amy Cohen Efron so well told through her vlog series that has been circulating on the deaf blogsphere. She has a updated copy with voice interpretation for the hearing. Video Link here.

I’ve always wanted to share this with my general audience because of our Deaf population here in the area. There is a desperate need for the public to understand the Deaf perspective. We have a Deaf and Hard of Hearing panel that fields questions from parents of Deaf/HoH children. CIs are generally viewed by the local Deaf community as not necessary for the clinically deaf child. If a deaf person is old enough to make the decision to get the CI, that is their personal decision. However, once a CI is implanted, it cannot be taken out unless there is a serious medical harm to the body.

I am aware that some people think that Deaf people are such angry people. If you think about it, Deaf people have a very good reason to be angry. They have had an epiphany. It is the realization that being deaf is not bad, and the only bad has been coming from people who view deafness in a negative light. My blog up to now, have featured stories and comments from living Deaf people who lead full lives, work, vote, and think about deep issues. There is nothing bad about being Deaf unless someone makes a big deal out of it.

A fellow Deaf vlogger said eloquently that without the emotion Anger to drive for changes, there would be no progression, no Deafhood, just like African-Americans and Womens’ rights fighting for equal civil rights. But the momentum must keep going until the word Audism (discrimination/prejudice of deafness) is no longer needed.

Ms. Kimberly Dethlefsen of Marysville Branch of NorCal Center on Deafness sent me this video. I want to put it up quickly here for sharing. It is good information for local public services in the Yuba-Sutter area. Click on the link below:

Community Emergency Preparedness Information Network Video

Addition:
Our local agency is Marysville branch of NorCal Center on Deafness. The headquarters is in Sacramento.
Contact List Here.

When I saw the blog post titled “Marlee Matlin responds to an Ignorant Hearing Blogger” on DeafRead.com, I was curious. Upon reading the original blog post by Mo Rocca in which he asks what Marlee Matlin was doing at American Idol (May 23rd), I couldn’t help but gasp, “He said what?!”

Thankfully, Marlee’s interpreter Jack Jason saw it and responded. Then Marlee responded. It went over alright because she responded in a professional way. It sounds like Mo Rocca learned quite a bit after that first post and the following storm of comments. If you’re wondering, Marlee was there to accompany her 11 year old daughter and yes, she enjoyed herself at the show.

I had to smile at Marlee’s remark to Kathy Griffin when Kathy asked her what she was doing there. Marlee responded in a deadpan way, “Shhh. Don’t tell anyone. I’ve been faking it all this time.” Kathy went silent for a bit before it hit her. Hahaha! I’ll admit to using that same retort when hearing people close to me ask me how I know they mispronounced my name. It totally throws them off, and I love the look of complete confusion on their faces. I really know by reading lips. “Hana” and “Hannah” have distinctly different lip shapes in addition to sounding different.

I have known since I was a child that deaf people can enjoy music, even play and write music. My parents had vinyl records of Beethoven’s music and would tell me that he was deaf and wrote beautiful music. I am also surrounded by musicians in my family and among friends. Personally, my musical preferences are in the heavy metal realm.

If you didn’t know there are modern deaf musicians, then this could be a treat. Deceased rock drummer Shawn Dale Barnette played for several bands like Alice in Chains, Guns ‘n Roses, and so on. He also wrote lyrics and had his own recording company. Shawn was fully deaf — born deaf. Evelyn Glennie is an internationally known deaf percussionist player who composes music. In another deaf community forum that I belong to, there are a few deaf members who are studying for their degree in music. Just Google for Deaf Musicians and you’ll be rewarded with a wealth of information, even information on schools of music for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Granted, there are some deaf people who aren’t interested in music at all, and that is their right. There are some hearing people who just aren’t crazy about music, too. Remember, we’re all diverse human beings.

Audism? Don’t you mean Autism?

No, it’s not a typo. I recently polled several friends and co-workers, both deaf/hard of hearing and hearing, if they knew the word. No one had. It’s not yet in a dictionary, so I will tell you what it means.

I remember seeing the word a few times in other deaf forums and blogs but thought it was a typo until I began reading DeafRead.com some months ago. There is a category on DeafRead.com called Audism. A few of my blog posts ended up in their Audism category. Judging from the contents of my posts (example: “You can’t do that! You’re deaf!“)and others that were in the Audism category, I could tell it had something to do with a negative view of deafness, similar to a racist attitude. I Googled the word.

The Result: Gallaudet University’s Library web page definitions and history of the word. Be sure to click on the link to read the definitions. There were many Web pages with similar information, including Wikipedia.

In a nutshell: Audism is a view that a deaf person cannot lead a fulfilling and productive life. Audists also shun the deaf culture and the use of sign language, preferring instead lipreading, depending on residual hearing and speaking. Audists may be hearing or deaf.

The total opposite of audism is Deaf Pride. It means not being embarrassed that you are Deaf (with a capital D) and to express yourself fully in our native language — in our case, ASL. Deafness is a unique “disability” (quoted because to us it is not a disability), that has given rise to an entirely unique culture. Being part of the Deaf community means you are no longer alone: you share the same language, history, struggles, resources and a unique art. The difference is that in the Deaf community, we finally feel complete.

No more guessing what was said. No more wondering “How do I do this?” Never again feeling less of a human being just because you can’t hear too well or speak clearly. The Deaf person is finally free to understand, learn, express, share experiences, have access to resources and be part of a community. Deaf people and friends also work together to bring about changes in how the hearing community views deafness and in effect, end audism.

EDIT: May 18, 2007, 5:16 PM
Clarification: Some of my posts ended up in the Audism category because they were about an audistic experience. It does not mean I am audist.