AG Bell not AGBAD

Patti and others have pointed out to me that AGBAD is the acronym for AG Bell. It is not. An organizational acronym is an organizational acronym only if it is used by the organization to refer to itself. A search of the AG Bell website failed to turn up any instances of AG Bell referring to itself as AGBAD.

Not only that, I am not the first blogger to notice the disrespectful use of the term AGBAD. The credit for that goes to Shane Feldman, in his DeafDC blog. Shane had written: "There is also an effort by notable deaf bloggers and commenters to mock AGBell by calling the organization “agBAD” (literally the organization’s acronyms)."

Last but not least, RLM said on Patti's blog in his comment that I was at the ASL dinner with my "current" boyfriend. I would hardly call Robert a "current" boyfriend - we have been together for seven years.

Response to Patti Raswant and Others

I accept Patti's challenge. Here is my response to Patti and the commenters on her blog.

It is Not AG Bell. It is the Parents.

First, I would like to respond to everyone who is saying "AG Bell forbids deaf babies to have sign language." It is not AG Bell that is forbidding deaf babies to have sign language. What's that? You disagree with that statement? I'll be happy to explain why I say that.

Chris Heur of the DeafDC.com blog would agree with this explanation I am about to give. The method of language development that forbids sign language is the auditory verbal method. The parents of the deaf babies choose to use the auditory verbal method. Therefore, it is not AG Bell who is forbidding deaf babies to use sign language. It is the parents! AG Bell is merely the proponent, or advocate, for the auditory verbal method.

So when you protest AG Bell, you are actually protesting the parents' choices. Is that going to make the parents more receptive to your protests? No. It will instead make the parents more defensive of their choices.

Information is the Key

As Brian Riley said on the DeafDC.com blog, we need to influence the parents. Yes. That is correct. Part of that influence is the media. People are heavily influenced by media.

Let's imagine that a young couple has just given birth to a deaf baby. The medical professionals who inform them about their babies' deafness quickly mention the cochlear implant option and/or say "no need for your baby to learn sign language." However, let's imagine that the couple had recently happened to read an article in their local newspaper about a deaf child who was successful and used sign language. Those parents may remember the article. This could lead the parents to decide on sign language as well as a cochlear implant.

You Can Not Change a Method

Patti wrote: "you are the reason why the Auditory-Verbal Therapy program is banning both deaf and hard-of-hearing babies from accessing to American Sign Language while they are in the program." That is not correct. The auditory-verbal method did not even exist when I was growing up. When I was a baby, my parents used the correspondence course from John Tracy Clinic.

Years later, I read the book "Deaf Like Me." I was struck by how much like the child in the book I was. We were both rubella babies. The only difference between us was that I was able to do well with the oral method, while it did not work for her and her family turned to sign language.

Why protest a method? The method exists. You say the Deaf Bilingual Coalition is not against speech but wants speech and sign language. Hello! That is a DIFFERENT method, known as total communication. Auditory verbal communication is simply a METHOD. An OPTION. It may actually work for some deaf children with cochlear implants or hearing aids.

If it does not work...that's the risk the parents took when they chose the auditory verbal method. Our job is to make the parents aware of that risk. Make the parents aware of the risks to the child's language development if they choose the auditory verbal method. This can be done without protesting. A parent who is determined to stick with the auditory verbal method will stick with it no matter how much information you give them.

Decrease Auditory Verbal Therapy's Popularity

If we can not stop the AVT therapists from banning sign language, because that is how the method works, then what? This is a war. We are in a battle for the hearts and minds of the parents of deaf children. How can we make Auditory Verbal Therapy an unpopular choice? By fighting fire with fire!

If proponents of the auditory verbal method can provide parents with "misinformation" about sign language and speech, then we can do the same thing, but in reverse. We can warn parents that if they choose the auditory verbal method, they are putting their deaf children's language development at risk if the method does not work. We have our own research to back us up.

Hotel Management's Behavior

Complaining that signing deaf people are being treated like children? Well, what about the use of the term "AGBAD?" That in itself smacks of immaturity. Do the supporters of AG Bell write blogs and comments saying "National Association of the Dumb?"

There are two sides to every story. So far we have only heard the protestors' side of it. I won't get into what happened to Barb and Brianna because Jenny represents hotel management, not AG Bell. What Jenny did may not have been right, but she does not represent AG Bell. I view Jenny's behavior as a separate issue from AG Bell.

Responding to Other Commenters

DE implied that I needed to get away from my keyboard and get out in the deaf community. Oh, but I do have a social life. I was just at an ASL dinner with my deaf boyfriend in fact - just ask Robert Mason. He was there and saw me.

Dennis Bacon asked, will I let my children learn ASL? Both of my grown kids are native ASL users. Sometimes I don't understand them because their ASL is native while my ASL is not native! (Thanks Robert Mason, for pointing out that my kids do use ASL).

I'm glad Ponders to Think About brought up the existence of Hands and Voices. We also have the American Society for Deaf Children. While Hands and Voices makes it clear they support all communication methods, it is unclear from the ASDC website where ASDC stands. In the spirit of who wants to be a millionaire, who wants to see Hands and Voices grow bigger and stronger than AG Bell?

How Did They Do it in Sweden?

Sweden is a country where sign language for deaf babies is actually mandatory. In 1981, Sweden recognized sign language as the first and natural language for deaf babies. Before that, Sweden's deaf education system was primarily oral!

How did they do it in Sweden? How did they get that law passed? Were there protests? Or only peaceful discussions? How did the relatively small deaf community in that country do it? I read Karina Chupina's article "Role of Sign Language in Sweden" and googled, but could not find any specific information on how they managed to accomplish that.

How could we get a similar law passed in the United States? That would probably defeat the auditory verbal therapy method because then exposure to sign language would become mandatory. Maybe we can learn something from the Swedish deaf community.

DBC Should Not Protest in Milwaukee

Elizabeth (Mishkazena) said in a comment on another blog:

"Jamie, it was in Arlington VA and yes, we did check about the permit for a peaceful assembly. No permit is needed. John had already discussed with the hotel management well in advance and they were fine with it. The police was also briefed. Several hours after the start of the assembly, the hotel manager had a change of heart and started adding rules, one after other. Barb and Brianna were already standing on the public sidewalk, outside of the hotel property, when they were attacked.

All we did was to offer flyers with smiles and talked to people interested in hearing more. We were very polite."

Okay, good. I didn't see this information about checking for a permit on the AgBell.Info blog and I have read every post on that blog. However, AG Bell was obviously *not* fine with it. The protest was, after all, a disruption of THEIR planned conference. Even just standing "peacefully" outside of their conference can be considered a form of disruption.

Protesting was appropriate in the case of Deaf President Now. That was a true civil rights battle. It was appropriate in the case of Unity for Gallaudet. While not a civil rights battle, there was justification for it as everyone now knows. Protesting against AG Bell? Hold on.

When I argue that we should try alternatives to protest to avoid being branded deaf militants and/or creating a deaf stereotype like "all deaf people know how to do is protest,"I am getting retorts such as claims that for 127 years, the deaf community has tried to "talk" to AG Bell but it hasn't worked.

Does this mean that the only way to get AG Bell to openly support sign language in addition to speech, is to hold protests? AG Bell is not going to change no matter how much deaf people protest. They might change if there is enough media attention to the issue. Is protesting the best way to get that media attention?

The auditory verbal method is here to stay. No amount of protesting against AG Bell is going to make it go away. I believe the deaf community's best hope is to "stem" the growth of methods like auditory verbal, is by promoting the use of ASL through organized activity. That is why I proposed a coalition for ASL literacy in my previous blog post. We need a separate organization if the DBC will not stop the tactic of protesting.

Yes, some deaf children may be harmed by the auditory verbal method. Others may succeed with it. Just like over the years, some deaf children were successful with the oral method - I was - and some (like one of my best friends in college) were not. We can not prevent this harm if informed parents choose to use the auditory verbal method. Both the children and the parents will pay a price if the auditory verbal method fails.

Our best hope is to promote sign language without protesting, making sure the parents have all the information before they decide how to raise their deaf children. Providing this information may steer some parents towards sign language, but some may still go ahead with the auditory verbal method. However, informed parents who do not see progress with the auditory verbal method may be more willing to switch to sign language.

The Deaf Bilingual Coalition should not protest at the Milwaukee 2008 AG Bell conference. Instead...how about if the Deaf Bilingual Coalition held its OWN conference or a deaf awareness event, in the SAME area? That would get more media attention than a protest, which could backfire.

If what happened here in Washington, DC (Arlington, VA is right outside of Washington, DC and is part of metro DC) is any indication, what do you think could happen in Milwaukee?? Do you really think AG Bell is going to tolerate a protest right outside of a conference that they have planned for and paid a lot of money for, and that their members have paid a lot of money to attend? No. AG Bell is very likely to instruct the Hilton hotel management to do whatever it takes to keep protestors away from the conference, and to protect conference attendees from having to deal with or even see the protestors. Even just standing around peacefully handing out flyers could be viewed as a form of harassment.

To put things into perspective - how would you feel if you were at a National Association of the Deaf conference and right outside of the NAD conference, there was a group of protestors loudly demanding that all the deaf children who use sign language learn how to speak?

I think the keyword I am searching for here is RESPECT.

(Update: I have responded to commenters C and R in the comments section)

Coalition to Promote ASL Literacy

No such organization exists yet! I am writing to propose the creation of one. Here is a proposed charter for the Coalition to Promote ASL Literacy.

The Coalition for ASL Literacy will not:

1. Engage in protests without advance permission and clear rules agreed on ahead of time.
2. Attack any individuals or organizations.
   

The Coalition for ASL Literacy will:

1. Monitor the media for articles about deaf children. These articles may or may not be about cochlear implants. When the Coalition sees an article that does not mention sign language as an option, the Coalition shall send e-mails to the reporters or letters to the editor. The e-mails and letters emphasize that for balanced reporting sign language should be mentioned. Some reporters and editors may follow up with more balanced stories.
2. Research trade journals that cater to professionals working with deaf children or to parents of children with disabilities, and doctors (who are the first to tell parents their child is deaf). The Coalition shall submit articles about the benefits of sign language to those trade journals.
3. Research and contact influential websites on parenting children with disabilities (and medical websites) to make sure they are providing balanced information. These days, parents of a deaf newborn are likely to turn to the internet when first seeking help.
4. Research and contact organizations for medical and speech professionals to ask that they provide balanced information to their members. For example the Coalition could ask the American Speech Language Hearing Association to encourage all speech pathologists to acquire basic sign language skills.
5. Check all educational programs for deaf babies that are supported by the government(s). Especially the zero to three programs. If the programs are not providing parents with information on sign language, the Coalition will contact program administrators to request that sign language information be included.
6. Contact influential websites and key blogs about infant and toddler education to encourage them to provide information on sign language.
7. Contact oral schools for the deaf to suggest that they continue to teach orally but also consider offering basic training in sign language. Just so that the sign language is available to close communication gaps. Over time some of these schools may switch to a total communication approach. Oral schools have in the past converted to total communication schools.
   
8. The Coalition will try to be present at conferences on parenting children, whether deaf, disabled, or not. Conference organizers will be contacted in advance to make arrangements to rent a booth. (This will cost money).
9. The Coalition will develop a library of research and studies that demonstrate the educational, social, and psychological benefits of sign language for all children. If the coalition can afford to, it will support additional research.
10. The Coalition will develop criteria to evaluate its success. One criterion could be the number of balanced media articles that appear following contact with a reporter or submission of a letter to the editor.
    

Above all, the Coalition will emphasize the power of the printed word over political actions. Printed words have more power than protest because they can be printed anywhere and can be accessed anytime. Protesting tends to backfire and not get the type and amount of media attention desired.

Dos and Donts for AgBell Protestors

Looks like the committed ones are determined to go ahead with the protest (Yes, it is a protest. Just look at the language used by other bloggers), so at this point all I can do is offer a suggested list of Dos and Donts.

Do: Set up a laptop or several laptops, all playing Amy Cohen's vlog "The Greatest Irony" over and over. If you could get someone to produce a captioned version as well as the voice interpreted version, that would be great! And/Or display Maureen Klusza's cartoon of a sad, deaf handcuffed baby and a happy, signing hearing baby.
Do: Talk about the benefits of baby sign language for all babies. Talk about the cognitive improvement.
Do: Talk about the damage that the oral-only approach does to deaf children growing up.
Do: Talk about alternatives to oral-only, such as the total communication philosophy that supports both sign language and speech.
Do: Talk about how cochlear implants are not a cure for deafness. Emphasize that when implants are not in use, the wearer is just as deaf as a deaf person whose hearing aid is off.
Do: Talk about the unfairness of insurance companies covering cochlear implants but not hearing aids, when cochlear implants are really just internal hearing aids.
Do: Tell the media it is unfair to keep running stories about the "miracle" of cochlear implants while ignoring how sign language could benefit deaf children, provided sign language is introduced early enough in their lives.
Do: Talk about how the auditory verbal philosophy may be good for those children who have an adequate amount of residual hearing, but not for those who have very little residual hearing.
Do: Talk about how sign language is actually a language while speech alone is not.
Do: Talk about how the emphasis on oral education in deaf education history (starting with Milan 1880) has actually hurt some (note I do not say all. Some do well) deaf children's language development.

Don't: Say anything bad about AG Bell today. Or you risk turning off parents like MB who commented on my previous blog post, "Leave AG Bell Alone:"

"Agreed! AG Bell is a membership organization. They are serving their members' wishes. How many of the protesters are members? Pay the $60 a year to join and maybe they will listen to you.

PS I am a member of AG Bell. They have been very supportive of our efforts with our daughter, including signing."

Leave AG Bell Alone

Protesting at the AG Bell conference next week? NOT a good idea. I am concerned the protestors will only wind up embarrassing themselves. There are better ways to call attention to the issues than having a public protest against AG Bell.

Where on the AG Bell website does it say "no sign language?" I can't find it! All I can find is language that says they promote the use of spoken language and hearing technology. What's wrong with that? Surely it is possible to promote the use of speech and hearing aids and cochlear implants without saying "sign language is bad!"

Yes, deaf babies should be encouraged to learn sign language as well as talk. Write about it, blog about it, talk about it, give interviews to the media about it, but don't protest about it! Hasn't the deaf community learned anything from what happened during the Unity for Gallaudet movement?

Nobody is talking about the good things that AG Bell does for the deaf community. AG Bell is just another nonprofit deaf organization! That's how I view them today, regardless of their past history. If you look at the advocacy page on their site, the issues that concern them are the same ones that concern the National Association of the Deaf and any other deaf organization. Deaf is deaf, whether you use voice or sign.

Plus AG Bell is known for their scholarships and financial aid, and I believe they also provide help to deaf students in foreign countries. There is a legal advocacy program. They publish Volta Review and Volta Voices.

Don't forget that many children who grow up deaf and oral today, may be the sign language users of tomorrow. Indeed, I remember reading a parent's comment somewhere that she had gone to an AG Bell convention, and to her surprise, several of the families there were using sign language as well as talking! I also saw somewhere a video clip of a Clarke School for the Deaf reunion that showed the alumni of that oral school using sign language years later! (Update 7/20: I remember where I saw that clip! I think it was part of the documentary on PBS, "Through Deaf Eyes.")

If certain members of the deaf community persist in their protest against AG Bell, it could backfire. It could backfire by strengthening the determination of parents who otherwise respect their children's communication choices, to not have their children associate with culturally deaf people. It could backfire by turning off the deaf teen and adult members of AG Bell who would not want to be associated with such "immaturity."

Can't sign language and oralism coexist peacefully? So many of us have benefited from both, myself included! I need my oral skills to communicate on the job, because I can't have an interpreter all the time. I need my sign language skills to communicate with my family and friends. Can't the AG Bell of today and tomorrow just be an organization that promotes the use of speech and listening as a communication option without being stridently against sign language?

Update 7/20: One of the commenters said it was not a protest. Oh? Then why is the word "protest" used repeatedly in the blog http://blog.deafread.com/agbellxinfo ? Just look at the headlines for the blog postings! They use the word "protest" loudly and clearly. First heading is "First Historical AG Bell Protest." Second heading, farther down, is "It Is Time to Protest AG Bell." Tell me that this is not a protest?

Gallaudet's PR Problem

This morning, as I ate my breakfast, I was greeted with another "Gallaudet must change" editorial/letter to the editor in the Washington Post (yesterday's editorial espoused that, while today's was a letter to the editor from one Josh Swiller, who is not even a Washingtonian). Gallaudet needs to confront this growing negative PR message, which is that Gallaudet is "resistant to change."

To my growing frustration, nobody in the media talks about supporting Dr. Davila as he takes on the challenge of repairing years of damage and trying to keep Gallaudet's accreditation. Note I said KEEP. Gallaudet has NOT lost its accreditation despite what many of the negative speakers are saying.

There are some deaf and hearing people who would like to see Gallaudet go away. But, who has the most to lose if Gallaudet were to close down? The Washington, DC area deaf community, that's who. If Gallaudet lost its accreditation and had to shut down:

• many deaf people locally would lose their jobs. I don't know how many deaf people Gallaudet employs, but most deaf Washingtonians know at least one person who works for Gallaudet.
• families of deaf children would lose one of their educational options. Gallaudet's pre-college program educates many deaf children locally.
• a resource would be lost for local deaf organizations and activities. Gallaudet is often used for non-academic purposes.
• graduating deaf high school students who want to stay close to home would lose one of their options.
  
• researchers on deafness would lose access to the Gallaudet University library, which holds some of the most rare deaf artifacts.
• fans of deaf sports would lose the opportunity to watch deaf players at Gallaudet. I have enjoyed going to some of the football games as an alumnus.
• what would happen to the annual Homecoming if there were no Gallaudet? Where would Gallaudet alumni meet?

Yes, the deaf community is changing. Many if not most members of tomorrow's deaf community will have cochlear implants. That's a given, accepted fact now. How will this impact Gallaudet? Every move made by Davila is being scrutinized because it is a step towards defining the future Gallaudet. All the naysayers talking about how cochlear implants may doom Gallaudet seem to forget one thing: the use of sign language does not depend on the ability to hear.

The real issue is not cochlear implants. The real issue is the future of sign language. That is made clear by Swiller's statement, "more than 50 percent of hearing-impaired children now have them, and most don't learn sign." (But if they are the same as the previous generation of deaf people who grew up oral, they likely will learn sign later in life!) It is not true what Swiller says about much of the signing community rejecting implant wearers, because more members of the signing community are getting implants while remaining devoted members of the deaf community!

I seem to recall from deaf history that back when deaf educators voted to ban sign language in Milan 1880, Gallaudet preserved sign language. Then, as now, Gallaudet University can preserve sign language. Gallaudet can do this by encouraging the use of sign language by all comers to Gallaudet regardless of their hearing or cultural background.

Probation Does Not Mean Closure

There may be some young deaf teenagers out there who think Gallaudet University is closed, not just on probation. The reason why: last night, my son came to me and said "mom, did you know Gallaudet is closed?" I asked where did he hear that, and he said from a friend (who is heading for gallaudet btw). I explained the meaning of the word probation. Basically, I said that Gallaudet had had a "warning" but was not closed.

Could misinformation about Gallaudet be spreading among the young deaf teens? The concept of "probation" may be a difficult one for the young deaf to grasp.

Update on Jorja Steele, and Her Auditory Brainstem Implant

Remember Jorja Steele, the little girl who got an auditory brainstem implant? The posts where I blasted the parents for putting their child through such a high risk operation in return for the hopes of hearing at least a bit? They just turned on her implant, as reported in the news.

The results? She was apparently responding on some of the electrodes. Yippee (said saracastically).

I still stand by my attitude on the auditory brainstem implant for young children. I still feel that it is too risky an operation to put young children through for the sake of gaining hearing ability. It is an operation that involves the brain, plain and simple. My own mother said that as badly as she wanted me to be able to hear, she would not have put me through such an operation.

Over and over again, the same pattern emerges - in the case of Jorja Steele and in the case of parents who choose to give their young deaf children cochlear implants. Each time, it is because the parents want their children to have opportunities and to learn to talk. I will admit that I believe that my ability to hear some as a deaf child did enable me to learn to talk. Are there any deaf children out there who learned how to talk despite not being able to hear anything at all? I have seen very little written about those children.

Is the ability to hear sound essential to learning to talk? Is it possible to have fluency in sign language first, and then gain fluency in speech?