As longtime readers of this blog know, I enjoy reading comics. Now and then I stumble across something deaf-related in the comics. Here are two of the latest that I stumbled across..and neither one is politically correct. One is simply old, and the other one not so old but still politically incorrect. It still manages to make me laugh though!
First up: A public service announcement comic strip about the handicapped. Judging from the art style, I am guessing that it is circa early 1960s.
Buzzy Scores One for the Handicapped
Next, we have a humorous teenage superhero, Impulse, trying to talk to someone who turns out to be deaf...and doing something that most of us in the deaf community object to. From Young Justice, May 2001.
Impulse and the Deaf Guy
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Re: Return of Jordan, Fernandes, Kimmel
This may set a record for my shortest post yet. If Jordan, Fernandes, and Kimmel want to return and teach...let them. Let them teach...QUIETLY. No need to bother with petitions. Why? Short answer is below.
Jordan
+ Fernandes
+ Kimmel
_____________
= The Three Has-Beens
No need to say anything more. The simple equation above says it all.
(Update 10/30/07: The comment from "Jane Fernandes" below is NOT from the real Jane Fernandes. It is from someone pretending to be Jane Fernandes.)
Jordan
+ Fernandes
+ Kimmel
_____________
= The Three Has-Beens
No need to say anything more. The simple equation above says it all.
(Update 10/30/07: The comment from "Jane Fernandes" below is NOT from the real Jane Fernandes. It is from someone pretending to be Jane Fernandes.)
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Next Time, Gallaudet University
I hate to say it, but learning that the death of Kellie Pagano was due to pneumococcal meningitis came as a bit of a relief. Why was it a relief? It was a relief because Gallaudet University finally came out and told exactly what it was that killed her.
When I first learned about her death, the only official information that I had about what might have killed her came in this paragraph in a letter from the Clerc Center:
Indeed, that was my first thought too, because of the spread of MRSA. In fact, another blogger, the Deaf Sherlock, almost died from MRSA just a few months ago. In conversations with other people, I learned that much speculation was going on in the deaf community about the cause of her death. One person even insisted to me that Gallaudet University was hiding something.
It was not until late yesterday that an e-mail finally went out from Gallaudet's Peter J. Fine Student Health Center to the Gallaudet community and the parents of students attending Kendall Demonstration Elementary School that stated the actual cause was pneumococcal meningitis, and giving information on vaccination and the symptoms.
Next time, Gallaudet University, please immediately give the deaf community the full truth. If you do not know what the cause of death was, please say so. For example, state clearly that a diagnosis is not available yet. If you are unable to release the cause of death yet for legal reasons or the family does not want the cause known publicly, please say so. Not giving out the full truth immediately leads to all sorts of speculation, suspicion, and worry in the deaf community.
When I first learned about her death, the only official information that I had about what might have killed her came in this paragraph in a letter from the Clerc Center:
That letter did not tell me what might have killed her. It only stated what did not. Earlier communication from Gallaudet/The Clerc Center also did not state what she was ill with, only that it was not anything contagious. As a result, how the rumors were flying in the deaf community! I had this guy instant messaging me who insisted that it was staph (MRSA) that killed her.
Dr. Gerald Bell of Gallaudet University Student Health Services has been in contact with Kellie’s physician at the hospital and states, "Infections from Neisseria meningititus and Haemophilus influenzae have been excluded. Because of these results there is no need to screen the community members who came in contact with her."
Indeed, that was my first thought too, because of the spread of MRSA. In fact, another blogger, the Deaf Sherlock, almost died from MRSA just a few months ago. In conversations with other people, I learned that much speculation was going on in the deaf community about the cause of her death. One person even insisted to me that Gallaudet University was hiding something.
It was not until late yesterday that an e-mail finally went out from Gallaudet's Peter J. Fine Student Health Center to the Gallaudet community and the parents of students attending Kendall Demonstration Elementary School that stated the actual cause was pneumococcal meningitis, and giving information on vaccination and the symptoms.
Next time, Gallaudet University, please immediately give the deaf community the full truth. If you do not know what the cause of death was, please say so. For example, state clearly that a diagnosis is not available yet. If you are unable to release the cause of death yet for legal reasons or the family does not want the cause known publicly, please say so. Not giving out the full truth immediately leads to all sorts of speculation, suspicion, and worry in the deaf community.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
The New Deaf World: Effect on Interpreting?
What is the future demand for interpreting and video relay services going to look like? Will it stay the same, increase, or decline? Some parents of implanted kids are saying that their children can hear so well they don't even need to look at faces. Often, the media articles about implanted kids say that they are able to attend school without interpreters. Articles about implanting often mention the money that can be saved by not having to provide services like interpreting.
Therefore, how is the growth of cochlear implants in the young going to affect the future level of demand for interpreting services if the children hear so well they don't need interpreters? I foresee a decline in employment opportunities for interpreters, and a shrinking of video relay services.
I had a disagreement with an interpreter at work about this. The interpreter said she thought demand would stay the same or increase. However, another interpreter said she was learning oral interpreting skills just in case.
What do you think? Is the future for the interpreting profession a bright one, or is it one of reduced demand as the next generation comes of age?
Therefore, how is the growth of cochlear implants in the young going to affect the future level of demand for interpreting services if the children hear so well they don't need interpreters? I foresee a decline in employment opportunities for interpreters, and a shrinking of video relay services.
I had a disagreement with an interpreter at work about this. The interpreter said she thought demand would stay the same or increase. However, another interpreter said she was learning oral interpreting skills just in case.
What do you think? Is the future for the interpreting profession a bright one, or is it one of reduced demand as the next generation comes of age?
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
That Hate Crime at MSSD
Few news stories make me gasp. The one about the hate crime at MSSD did. Coming so soon after Jena 6, this one is making headlines across the nation.
But the crime itself is not the only thing that made me gasp. It was the fact that one of the seven students who did it was black too! Why would a deaf black student participate in a hate crime against a fellow black student?
Did this black student know what the implications of "KKK" and a swastika are? Was there a gap in the deaf black student's education and language that meant the student did not know? I can't for the life of me imagine why a black student would participate in that. Unless....normal teenage stupidity?
Just a few of the news stories (reported earlier by Ridor and MishkaZena):
CNN
WUSA9
As Elizabeth pointed out, MSSD/Gallaudet is handling this well. But...Gallaudet doesn't need this kind of negative publicity, especially now.
(Update 10/6/07: The media now says that it was not a hate crime, but a war game. See MishkaZena's blog for more details.)
But the crime itself is not the only thing that made me gasp. It was the fact that one of the seven students who did it was black too! Why would a deaf black student participate in a hate crime against a fellow black student?
Did this black student know what the implications of "KKK" and a swastika are? Was there a gap in the deaf black student's education and language that meant the student did not know? I can't for the life of me imagine why a black student would participate in that. Unless....normal teenage stupidity?
Just a few of the news stories (reported earlier by Ridor and MishkaZena):
CNN
WUSA9
As Elizabeth pointed out, MSSD/Gallaudet is handling this well. But...Gallaudet doesn't need this kind of negative publicity, especially now.
(Update 10/6/07: The media now says that it was not a hate crime, but a war game. See MishkaZena's blog for more details.)
Monday, October 01, 2007
Brief Response to NAD Advocacy Blog
This is a quick, brief response to the NAD post in their advocacy blog about their work in Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Programs. The point at which parents must be told about the availability of ASL as a positive option in addition to the cochlear implant, is at the point of identification after birth. At last count, I have 21 CI Kid blogs in my collection of CI Kid blogs to follow, and a clear pattern is emerging. Parents are leaving the hospital with their newly identified deaf newborns, already aware of and determined to get cochlear implants and focused on hearing and speech as the sole goal. They are not being told about sign language as a positive option. If they are told about sign language at all, it is often not in a positive way.
The ones who have the most influence on the parents at a very vulnerable time are the ones who inform the parents of their child's deafness. That person is usually a medical professional at the hospital. These medical professionals, as we already know, are focused on the treatment aspect, not seeing sign language as a valid form of additional "treatment." And that's if they have a hospital caring enough to have someone talk to them. In one CI kid blog that I read, the parents found out about their baby's deafness through a notification card left in the baby's going-home basket. Needless to say, that blog left me stunned at the callousness of the hospital.
Recommendations from the NAD are not going to help unless the medical professional who notifies parents about their baby's deafness is routinely accompanied by a non-medical professional who can simultaneously notify the parents that they have additional options. We may need new laws to ensure that this takes place. If the NAD has supported EHDI for so many years, then why do we still routinely have only the medical professionals notify the parents of their child's deafness? We need to have mentors knowledgeable about sign language on-call by the hospital - and the hospitals need to be required to call that mentor.
If there is interest, I can do a follow-up post with actual examples from the CI Kid blogs of how the parents found out their child was deaf and how they were treated/informed at that point in time.
The ones who have the most influence on the parents at a very vulnerable time are the ones who inform the parents of their child's deafness. That person is usually a medical professional at the hospital. These medical professionals, as we already know, are focused on the treatment aspect, not seeing sign language as a valid form of additional "treatment." And that's if they have a hospital caring enough to have someone talk to them. In one CI kid blog that I read, the parents found out about their baby's deafness through a notification card left in the baby's going-home basket. Needless to say, that blog left me stunned at the callousness of the hospital.
Recommendations from the NAD are not going to help unless the medical professional who notifies parents about their baby's deafness is routinely accompanied by a non-medical professional who can simultaneously notify the parents that they have additional options. We may need new laws to ensure that this takes place. If the NAD has supported EHDI for so many years, then why do we still routinely have only the medical professionals notify the parents of their child's deafness? We need to have mentors knowledgeable about sign language on-call by the hospital - and the hospitals need to be required to call that mentor.
If there is interest, I can do a follow-up post with actual examples from the CI Kid blogs of how the parents found out their child was deaf and how they were treated/informed at that point in time.
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