Just read this article in the Orlando Sentinel: Activists fault DCF in deaf mom's case. It is yet another in the long and growing line of tales we deaf bloggers have been reporting on, involving the authorities and lack of interpreters. In this one, no interpreter was provided when the Department of Children and Family Services came to the family's home. Instead, what did the DCF do? They used a neighbor to interpret!!
One deaf blogger who has been frequently blogging on the issue of police and interpreters, is Ridor. Just a few days ago, he published a tale about what happened to a deaf woman who was involved with the police.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
Does T-Mobile Policy Hurt Deaf-Owned Businesses?
I just ordered a replacement sidekick, but it irks me that I have to pay higher prices as a continuing customer, just to replace a lost sidekick. Sure, T-mobile offers the option of an insurance plan for theft or loss for about $6 a month, but it still galls me that if you have to buy a new sidekick, you are forced to go to either T-mobile directly or a T-mobile store! AND you have to pay a higher price than the new customers who have not gotten T-mobile accounts. Approximately $50 more for a new sidekick when rebates are taken into consideration.
I am wondering if this policy of "not a new customer? must buy through t-mobile or t-mobile store" results in lost income for deaf-owned businesses? Last year, I tried to order a new sidekick from one deaf-owned company that actually cancelled my order when I told them I was not a new customer for t-mobile. When I protested, this nameless deaf-owned company said that they could get in serious trouble if they sold me a sidekick at the cheaper "new customer" price.
I know I could probably get one cheaper on Ebay, but how do you get around the problem of not being a new customer for the T-mobile service?
One thing to consider - the novelty of sidekicks has long since worn off. The market is probably saturated now, or close to saturation. So that means there probably are not that many new customers left to attract. All product markets eventually reach some level of saturation. How does this affect deaf-owned businesses that offer cell phones?
I am wondering if this policy of "not a new customer? must buy through t-mobile or t-mobile store" results in lost income for deaf-owned businesses? Last year, I tried to order a new sidekick from one deaf-owned company that actually cancelled my order when I told them I was not a new customer for t-mobile. When I protested, this nameless deaf-owned company said that they could get in serious trouble if they sold me a sidekick at the cheaper "new customer" price.
I know I could probably get one cheaper on Ebay, but how do you get around the problem of not being a new customer for the T-mobile service?
One thing to consider - the novelty of sidekicks has long since worn off. The market is probably saturated now, or close to saturation. So that means there probably are not that many new customers left to attract. All product markets eventually reach some level of saturation. How does this affect deaf-owned businesses that offer cell phones?
Monday, June 18, 2007
Data Only Plan? Not Quite!
Today I narrowly dodged what could have been a very expensive bullet! This morning, I rushed off to work, and in the rush I somehow lost my sidekick. I thought it was left in the kitchen, but it was nowhere to be found when I got home. My guess is that I lost it in the driveway in the rush to get to the Metro on time. It was apparently found by someone because tonight a check of the billing data online found that someone had used it to make a few calls to a number I did not know.
After downloading and saving all important personal information (pictures, address book) from the online desktop, I called T-Mobile and cancelled my service. They told me I was liable for the cost of those calls, which were VOICE calls even though my plan was a data only plan. When I signed up for that plan, I did not know that it was still possible to use my sidekick to make a voice call at 20 cents per minute! Luckily for me the person who has my sidekick only used it to make four minutes in calls, for a total of 80 cents. What if that person had used it to make lots of lengthy calls? I could have been stuck for HUGE charges.
T-mobile tried to talk me into getting another sidekick, but I decided not to because am disgusted by three things: 1) the poor condition of my sidekick after only a couple of years. Who ever has it now has a sidekick with a keyboard that is held together by scotch tape. It was ripping and coming off. 2) the fact that I was unaware that I could be liable for voice calls made by someone else. When I signed up for a data only plan, I thought that meant only data, period, and that the phone was incapable of making voice calls. 3) the limitations of the service - it would not work underground in the Washington, DC Metrorail system. Holding conversations via AIM on sidekick meant a lot of disconnections as I rode the train.
Does anyone know of any cell phone plans that offer AOL Instant Messager (all I really needed my sidekick for anyway!) and data plans that do NOT allow for voice calls to be made from the cell phone?
I take small comfort in knowing that whomever has it now has a sidekick that is so shabby it is probably an embarrassment.
Last but not least - thanks to my boyfriend for not killing me when I was freaking out over the lost sidekick.
After downloading and saving all important personal information (pictures, address book) from the online desktop, I called T-Mobile and cancelled my service. They told me I was liable for the cost of those calls, which were VOICE calls even though my plan was a data only plan. When I signed up for that plan, I did not know that it was still possible to use my sidekick to make a voice call at 20 cents per minute! Luckily for me the person who has my sidekick only used it to make four minutes in calls, for a total of 80 cents. What if that person had used it to make lots of lengthy calls? I could have been stuck for HUGE charges.
T-mobile tried to talk me into getting another sidekick, but I decided not to because am disgusted by three things: 1) the poor condition of my sidekick after only a couple of years. Who ever has it now has a sidekick with a keyboard that is held together by scotch tape. It was ripping and coming off. 2) the fact that I was unaware that I could be liable for voice calls made by someone else. When I signed up for a data only plan, I thought that meant only data, period, and that the phone was incapable of making voice calls. 3) the limitations of the service - it would not work underground in the Washington, DC Metrorail system. Holding conversations via AIM on sidekick meant a lot of disconnections as I rode the train.
Does anyone know of any cell phone plans that offer AOL Instant Messager (all I really needed my sidekick for anyway!) and data plans that do NOT allow for voice calls to be made from the cell phone?
I take small comfort in knowing that whomever has it now has a sidekick that is so shabby it is probably an embarrassment.
Last but not least - thanks to my boyfriend for not killing me when I was freaking out over the lost sidekick.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Class of 2007
Well, it is over. He has graduated from high school. My son has left one phase of his life behind and is starting the next. Young deaf adulthood.
Seeing him graduate today was cathartic for me because I never had a high school graduation. His was the first high school graduation I have ever experienced in my life. Technically I was part of the class of 1982 but my last year of high school was 1981 because I went to college a year early. I had to leave high school early in part because of depression due to my experiences as a mainstreamed deaf teenager in the '70s and early '80s.
So seeing my son graduate - surrounded by deaf friends he had grown up with since kindergarten - and former teachers who had come to say goodbye - was gratifying. When I was in college I had this dream of giving a deaf child the kind of growing up experience I did not have myself. He certainly had it, and then some!
Not only that, I have an additional reason to be proud of my son, the graduate. He managed to earn a real high school diploma! With hard work, he managed to pass all of the required state exams. One exam, the biology exam, he had to take three times before he finally passed it! If he had not passed all those exams, he would have gotten only a modified standard diploma.
I look forward to his deaf college years. He knows what it is like to fail, keep trying, and finally succeed. He has good social skills and should have no problem making friends and getting dates in college. He has a fairly good idea of what he wants to do for a career - possibly architecture. The boy has become a man.
Daniel Berke, Class of 2007 - it is time to go forward.
Seeing him graduate today was cathartic for me because I never had a high school graduation. His was the first high school graduation I have ever experienced in my life. Technically I was part of the class of 1982 but my last year of high school was 1981 because I went to college a year early. I had to leave high school early in part because of depression due to my experiences as a mainstreamed deaf teenager in the '70s and early '80s.
So seeing my son graduate - surrounded by deaf friends he had grown up with since kindergarten - and former teachers who had come to say goodbye - was gratifying. When I was in college I had this dream of giving a deaf child the kind of growing up experience I did not have myself. He certainly had it, and then some!
Not only that, I have an additional reason to be proud of my son, the graduate. He managed to earn a real high school diploma! With hard work, he managed to pass all of the required state exams. One exam, the biology exam, he had to take three times before he finally passed it! If he had not passed all those exams, he would have gotten only a modified standard diploma.
I look forward to his deaf college years. He knows what it is like to fail, keep trying, and finally succeed. He has good social skills and should have no problem making friends and getting dates in college. He has a fairly good idea of what he wants to do for a career - possibly architecture. The boy has become a man.
Daniel Berke, Class of 2007 - it is time to go forward.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Gallaudet University's New Neighbors: Adult Nude Nightclubs
How far is it from 800 Florida Avenue NE to 2120 West Virginia Ave. NE? According to Mapquest, it is just 1.24 miles, or a 4 minute drive. What is at that address? According to today's Washington Post, it is a new adult nightclub.
Is there anything wrong with that? What is happening is that the adult nightclubs that got displaced by the construction of the new Washington Nationals baseball stadium, are being moved into Ward 5, where Gallaudet University is. According to the Washington Post, many of the residents of the neighborhoods near Gallaudet, especially those in Ivy City and Trinidad, are up in arms about it. They are up in arms about it because they don't want adult nightclubs clustered nearby.
These are nightclubs that largely cater to gay people, and are legitimate businesses. Just the same, the community is battling it but likely to lose because the clubs need to go somewhere, and the D.C. Council will "approve only the clubs moving into Ward 5." Just saw an update on the Frozen Tropics blog in the comments: apparently no more than 2 adult nightclubs will be moved into Ward 5. (Here is an archived blog post from Frozen Tropics as well)
Now for a bit of tongue-in-cheek commentary: Can you imagine the letters home from Gallaudet students? "Dear Mom and Dad, this weekend I had a great time! My friends and I went to the new nude nightclub near Gally! It was a nice walk, only a little over a mile."
Or, can you imagine the unique internship opportunities that could open up for Gallaudet students? "Wonderful internship opportunity for ambitious, business-minded college student. Assist in management of a nude nightclub. Clothing optional, sexual orientation does not matter."
Darn. What I would really like to see near Gallaudet, is a Night Dreams store or an MVC store. Now that would be convenient :)
If you have already read the Post article, you know that club 2120 is already open! Here, for your convenience, are the directions from Mapquest:
Start: 800 Florida Avenue NE
End: 2120 W Virginia Avenue NE
Start out going SOUTHEAST on FLORIDA AVE NE toward 8TH ST NE.
Turn LEFT onto WEST VIRGINIA AVE NE.
End at 2120 W Virginia Ave Ne
Washington, DC 20002-1834
Is there anything wrong with that? What is happening is that the adult nightclubs that got displaced by the construction of the new Washington Nationals baseball stadium, are being moved into Ward 5, where Gallaudet University is. According to the Washington Post, many of the residents of the neighborhoods near Gallaudet, especially those in Ivy City and Trinidad, are up in arms about it. They are up in arms about it because they don't want adult nightclubs clustered nearby.
These are nightclubs that largely cater to gay people, and are legitimate businesses. Just the same, the community is battling it but likely to lose because the clubs need to go somewhere, and the D.C. Council will "approve only the clubs moving into Ward 5." Just saw an update on the Frozen Tropics blog in the comments: apparently no more than 2 adult nightclubs will be moved into Ward 5. (Here is an archived blog post from Frozen Tropics as well)
Now for a bit of tongue-in-cheek commentary: Can you imagine the letters home from Gallaudet students? "Dear Mom and Dad, this weekend I had a great time! My friends and I went to the new nude nightclub near Gally! It was a nice walk, only a little over a mile."
Or, can you imagine the unique internship opportunities that could open up for Gallaudet students? "Wonderful internship opportunity for ambitious, business-minded college student. Assist in management of a nude nightclub. Clothing optional, sexual orientation does not matter."
Darn. What I would really like to see near Gallaudet, is a Night Dreams store or an MVC store. Now that would be convenient :)
If you have already read the Post article, you know that club 2120 is already open! Here, for your convenience, are the directions from Mapquest:
Start: 800 Florida Avenue NE
End: 2120 W Virginia Avenue NE
Start out going SOUTHEAST on FLORIDA AVE NE toward 8TH ST NE.
Turn LEFT onto WEST VIRGINIA AVE NE.
End at 2120 W Virginia Ave Ne
Washington, DC 20002-1834
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