Tutoring...

A big thank you to my former instructors for recommending me to tutor their current students! I have had numerous emails in the last week from ASL students wanting help preparing for their finals. This is wonderful for me for two reasons - I get to share what I have learned from my years of studying ASL & I get some cash out of the deal…

There are two students I have met with a few times now, and they seem to be inproving very well. When I first me them, before their midterm, they were on the cusp of failing. I am happy to report that they both scored over 90% on their midterms, after two meetings with me. I guess I am doing something right.

I am planning to meet two more students this weekend to prepare for their finals. Hopefully they get the same result…

Deaf Performing Artists Network

Fabulous Video for deafies and hearies both. Go see this...


http://www.d-pan.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36&Itemid=45

Root Canal...

Ever had one? Unless you have, then you don't realize how badly it friggin hurts!

To compound my problems, the bad tooth is #3, which means it is an upper tooth in the back next to my already ringing ear. The pain and pressure from the tooth are now intertwined with the pressure and noise in my right ear. This week I am living on antibiotics and vicodin, counting the days until my endo appointment on Monday morning.

Those of you that know me well, know I absolutely love my ASL classes. Tonight I hurt so bad that I am missing my last class at Berkeley City College. There is no way I can sit upright, let alone sit through a ride on the BART. I certainly can't drive medicated.

Therefore I will go home and whimper to myself while I wait for the next dose of vicodin to kick in...

"MindField"

I am always looking for new books relating to Deaf Culture to add to my own little library. This book was referenced on a blog I read somewhere (sorry I can't remember where). Anyway, it arrived today. I am anxious to start reading it, especially since I am 3rd in line in my house to read Harry Potter...

MindField by John F. Egbert

What would happen if most American’s became deaf almost overnight? Chaos? Financial collapse? Both?

MindField is a thrill ride, an incredible message of hope within a Tom Clancyesque novel. Perhaps the world would be better if we all had to listen with our only our hearts.

Book Description

What would happen if most of the people in America became deaf almost overnight? Chaos? Financial collapse? Anarchy? None of the above?

MindField is a thrill ride with a message; a premise torn right out of today’s headlines. A terrorist cell ignites an aerosol dispersion of what is thought to be deadly bacteria—spinal meningitis. It quickly spreads from a small town in Montana to nearly 30 states, eventually affecting more than three million people—an epidemic of nation-threatening proportions.

However, the problem isn’t death—it’s deaf. The physical symptoms of the disease disappear after three weeks, the only remaining tragedy is all those who are stricken become permanently deaf—a common side effect of spinal meningitis.

The United States is turned inside out, now a country where millions of the inhabitants can’t hear. An underground government is formed deep beneath the NORAD facilities in Colorado. A catastrophe of unimaginable proportions—or is it?

MindField is a fast paced, plot driven suspense novel with a pleasant surprising, and incredibly potent message about the way we might live our lives if we all had to listen with our eyes and hearts, and how the world might be a much better place for it.

I will post more about it as I start reading...

Child Advocacy...

Recently I was very pleased to be invited to join a new nonprofit group called SNAPS...

Please join SNAPS -- Signing, Networking, and Advocacy of Parents and Siblings, a newly formed nonprofit group -- as we welcome you to a free workshop that will teach you specific strategies for successfully parenting children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, and helping them feel like a part of the family. The event will be this Saturday, July 21st from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Rincon Valley Library in Santa Rosa.

Barbara Street, a Marriage and Family Therapist who is a parent and counsels children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing along with their families, will offer a free 2-hour workshop on how to improve communication within families with children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing. At the same time, SNAPS will provide a supervised playgroup for your children (deaf and hearing) so you can focus your attention on the workshop.

Following the workshop, SNAPS will have an hour discussion for parents, teachers, other professionals and the deaf community about how our organization can better serve families with children who are deaf. Some of our ideas thus far include information regarding IEP support-learning, what you can ask for from the schools, IEP advocacy (a person to go with you to IEP meetings), sign language classes, parenting support groups, Cochlear Implant support groups, and after school care for children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing and their siblings. What do you need as a parent? How can we help you? Be a part of making SNAPS an organization that provides your family with what you need to thrive!

Unfortunately I am unable to attend this first event. I did tell the person who invited me that I am very interested in this group and the focus they are describing. Perhaps it will "catch on" and thrive enough to expand in to other geographic areas, like the Bay Area.

So I suppose if I am going to get involved with groups like this, I should temper my opinion on CI's. I still believe that deaf children need to be exposed to their Deaf community, from the earliest point possible. This means educating the parents on ASL communication and Deaf culture. I hope to someday be a bridge for these parents, helping them learn to sign to their babies and introducing them to the differences between the cultures.

Tinnitus…

Oh.My.God this is annoying! The constant buzzing and swishing sound in my right ear. The unbalanced feeling. The pressure. Learning to live with this continual background noise is becoming challenging...

Tinnitus: tin-night’-is or tin’-it-is (either pronunciation is correct)\ n. [L., tinnire to ring]: the perception of ringing, hissing, or other sound in the ears or head when no external sound is present. For some people, tinnitus is just a nuisance. For others, it is a life-altering condition. In the United States, an estimated 12 million people have tinnitus to a distressing degree.

Tinnitus comes in many forms:

* Some of the most common include a sound of crickets or roaring, bzzing, hissing, whistling, and high-pitched ringing.

* Other types of tinnitus include a clicking or pulsatile tinnitus (the noise that accompanies your heartbeat).

* The most common type of tinnitus is known as subjective tinnitus, meaning that you hear a sound but it cannot be heard by others.

It is especially bad in quiet environments - like trying to read or sleep. I am finding myself asking family to repeat themselves since I am just not hearing them. I need to be looking at the speaker now. I can't hear from across the room or down the hall anymore. Even if I do hear the sound from the other room, it is often mistaken for some similar word. The other day, Purina (as in cat food) sounded like urine. Also, medication became vacation. I am tired of saying "what did you say?"

I feel like I am listening to earphones with the right one malfunctioning. It is distorting the sounds I do hear. At least my exposure to deaf/hoh people has improved my natural communication patterns. I am already in the habit of looking at someone when I speak to them. I try very hard to maintain eye contact (which is hard for a hearie). I have stopped looking away when I am speaking or putting my hands on my mouth/chin. I rarely talk with gum anymore.

I already talk with my hands in loud environments where I can't hear easily (restaurant, amusement park, concert). It is just instinctual. Now I am doing it more and more. I also find myself naturally turning my head to the right, thus trying to listen with my left ear more.

I am not one to run to the doctor very often. Unless I am pretty sick, I avoid anyone who can stick me with a needle. This is getting to the point where I am going to have to break down and make that doc appointment. The pressure is giving me headaches, which I am already prone to.

I used to find a lot of comfort in locking myself in a quiet room to think or read or just nap. It was my rejuvenation. Now that is even interrupted by my noisy right ear...

Cochlear Implants in children…

This is such a debated topic in the Deaf Community. With that said, I know I have absolutely no rights or experience with which to base comments on this. My opinions are completely my own and I do not presume to judge anyone who does choose to implant their child. That said…

How on earth can people choose to cut open their child's head like that?

I do not profess to be a religious person, more of a spiritual person. I am of the belief that if _____ (insert your Deity of choice - God, Buddha, Mother Nature, etc.) wanted me to have a deaf child, then I am in no position to argue that destiny. I was blessed with two healthy children, now teenagers full of spunk and attitude. They are both hearing. Some say I should call myself lucky. I wonder sometimes, would I have done anything different of one of them had been born, or became, deaf?

No Way!

To me deafness is a character trait, like green eyes or left-handedness or homosexuality. It is part of who the person is meant to be. Does it make life harder - hell yes! I do not deny that at all. Even with the challenges deafness presents, I am still confident I would not cut open my child's head in an attempt to provide some artificial hearing. As a lesbian, my life is harder than many. I am discriminated against in many areas. But it is who I am and what my destiny is. My mother would not have put me through some unnecessary surgery to alter my hormones and make me desire men. Yes, being straight would make my life easier, but it is not me.

I have read the debates on both sides of the CI issue. I have watched "Sound & Fury" multiple times. I find it fascinating that the CI issue polarizes so many people in the Deaf community. I know the "optimum" time to implant a child is while they are young, but what if that is not what they would want? I know a few Deaf adults who were implanted as children. As soon as they could, they stopped using the CI. They told me that it was intrusive and painful. They resent their parents for destroying any residual hearing they may have had. As adults, they tell me they would have never chosen this for themselves.

Perhaps my opinion stems from the fact that I love ASL and the Deaf culture. I find it to be a robust and rich language and culture, full of life and color and history. I would be proud to have a child as part of this community. I do not see deafness as something to be fixed or cured or pitied. There is nothing WRONG with being deaf.

I wish more hearing parents would educate themselves on ASL and Deaf culture before they take the advice of medical professionals who claim a CI would make their deaf baby "normal" again. The CI does not make a deaf child hearing. The child will always be deaf. I think it does a disservice to these children to not expose them and their families to the richness that the Deaf community can provide. Not to mention, it will save them from having their skull cut open!

Teaching...

I am finding that many people assume I want to become a teacher when they find out I am taking additional ASL classes. I also know the idea of a hearie teaching ASL is a very touchy point for many deafies. Let me clearly tell you now - I do NOT want to teach ASL!

I do know that some hearies are wonderful ASL teachers. They are near-fluent in their ASL skills or are CODAs. They demand a "no-voice" classroom and provide an optimum ASL learning environment. I have no problem with this at all.

What does strike me as odd is the hearing teacher who takes a handful of ASL classes and then professes to be an ASL instructor.

My first two classes were from a hearing teacher who was not a native user. It was a noisy classroom with instruction often in spoken English. I know enough now to know that there is no way you can learn ASL properly if you are hearing English at the same time.

I have a deaf friend who teaches ASL. She is a native user and is a wonderful teacher. My friend expressed a common feeling among her community about hearies teaching ASL:

Some deafies are curious why hearies are learning ASL. Some may be offended if you want to teach at deaf school because they feel that hearies take away jobs from deafies. Sometimes I get irritated when some hearing ASL teachers who are NOT native ASL. They teach at public school or community college. That is not right. Just because they completed a few semesters of ASL classes does not mean they are Fluent.

However, I know a few hearing ASL teachers who are near native and do follow the NO VOICE philopsophy but most don't. What's the point of teaching ASL if English is used in the classroom??

I completely agree with her assessment. From a hearie student perspective, I can tell you that learning ASL in a no-voice environnment is the only way to do it right. I would never dream of attempting to teach ASL. I am not qualified nor would I want to take a job that a native user could do so much better.

So if I am not going to teach (which I am not) then the question remains. Why am I so drawn to ASL and why does it get under my skin so much? What am I going to do with the language skills I am learning…?

Check them off my list...

So the meeting with the Ohlone counselor turned out better than expected. She said that I was fortunate to have taken so many gen ed classes 20 years ago. All of my classes transferred and almost fulfilled all of my gen ed requirements. Thank God I finished the math, english, history, psych, etc. I do have to take about 4 classes (2 of which are PE - which is completely screwed).

Once those are done, I can focus on the additional ASL/Deaf Culture classes I need to get the AA in Deaf Studies. I am already 12 units into it, so it is better than starting fresh.

This Fall I am registered for ASL 103 on Tuesday AND Thursday nights. I am also taking a Nutrition class online since it meets a Science requirement. I will also need a Fine Art class (one of the online classes was History of Rock Music - how this will help me in my job I dunno...)

The remaining classes I need fall under Cultural Diversity, but those can be the two Deaf Studies classes I need anyway - Deaf History and Deaf Culture.

Still not sure if I want to pursue interpreting or perhaps something else related to working with the Deaf community. The Ohlone ITP Program is very intensive and not something I can do while working during the day. Plus, being a Terp does not feel do-able yet. Perhaps when I am more confident in my ASL skills.

It was nice to learn that this will not take me another 10 years to complete. The counselor said that I was in better shape returning after 20 years than anyone she has seen before...

Idioms...

Like any other thriving and evolving language, ASL has its own share of idioms.

Idiom - noun: A speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements.

In English, we use idioms all the time. I never realized how often until I started learning ASL Idioms.

Imagine for a minute English was not my primary language. It would be quite hard to understand phrases such as:

bite off more than one can chew
don't count your chickens before they're hatched
make a mountain out of a mole hill

ASL idioms are no different. Idioms were the topic of my first two classes at Berkeley City College, as well as a 3 hour workshop I attended over the weekend.

I especially like learning the idioms because they are not in any of my textbooks. Knowing not only the specific signs, but also the meaning helps when I am at a Deaf Coffee night or some other event. If someone signs “train go sorry” or “funny zero” I now know what they mean. The idiom sings make sense if I am able to understand them conceptually, and turn off the English grammar in my head…

Alphabet Soup...

A.A.
B.A.
B.S
B.S.Ed
Ed.S
M.Ed
M.S.,
M.A.
Ph.D
M.A.T
M.A.T.E.S.O.L

MJ Bienvenu, Associate Professor of ASL & Deaf Studies; B.A., English, Gallaudet College, M.A., Linguistics, Gallaudet College, Ph.D., Union Institute & University; Special Student, Gallaudet University; Special Student, University of Maryland

John B. Christiansen, Professor of Sociology; B.S., Carroll College; M.A.T., Antioch College; M.A., University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; Ph.D., University of California, Riverside

Cynthia Edwards, Assistant Professor of English; B.S., State University of New York, at Geneseo; M.A., Ed.S., Gallaudet University; Ph.D., University of Maryland

Paige Franklin, Assistant Professor of English; B.A., M.A., Gallaudet University; M.A.T.E.S.O.L.; American University

Kurt Metz, Assistant Professor of Psychology; B.S.Ed., Shippensburg University; M.A., Gallaudet University; Ed.S., Auburn University; Ph.D., University of Kentucky

I am really struggling with this need for a degree. I know all the arguments – I work in HR. It all just seems akin to a hamster running on a circular wheel. I take all of these “general education” classes because some decision maker says I need them for my degree. I fail to understand what impact a class on astrology or bowling or history of rock music has on my daily life.

I have to spend my time and money on classes and be away from my children, just to tick a requirement off a sheet of paper. Tuition, books, parking, gas – all things I have to invest my limited resources in to meet this societal expectation.

It has been 20 year since I graduated from HS. I have had 20 years of life experience molding me into the tax paying citizen I am today. I have run a house, bought and sold property on my own, had children, accepted and declined jobs. I have single parented my children. I have been a nurse, a counselor, a chauffeur, and a cook – often times all in one day. I have no fancy piece of paper with my name on it and those coveted abbreviations. Is my life and my experiences and my time any less valuable than those highly educated folks above who do have the degree? Now don't get me wrong, I respect those people who have the drive and energy to continue learning. They work hard for their degrees and I applaud their accomplishments. I just think there needs to be some credit for "life experience" in the absence of the degree.

Working in HR, I see that many people hold degrees in fields of study that have absolutely nothing to do with their job. A close friend in the IT world has her degree in early childhood education. Perhaps the tolerance she learned at school while studying the best approach for teaching toddlers helps her with the stubborn IT egos in the office. My former Vice President for a medical IT solutions company had his degree in zoology. I can’t strike any parallel between selling hospital data infrastructure solutions with the study and care of zebras.

Yet I keep running up against the same wall – I need a degree in order to “progress” in my job. I need to get this damn piece of paper in order to gain the higher credibility and paycheck.

So tonight I am off to Ohlone to meet with a counselor. Hopefully some of the 38 units of school I finished almost 20 years ago will be transferable. It would be nice to have a bit of a head start ticking the classes off that requirement sheet.

Tonight I will talk with the counselor about their A.A. in Deaf Studies. Hell, if I do have to spend my time and money on the piece of paper it may as well be in something I value. Bossman would challenge why I would waste my time in Deaf Studies. He would probably prefer I take Business Administration classes or at least Liberal Arts. Screw that. Realistically the AA Degree will not benefit me in this current job at all. (HR VP even frowns on people who get a Ph.D. from University of Phoenix. It is not a “good enough” school)

At least the Deaf Studies focus will keep me in classes on a topic I care about. Then I can get that coveted piece of paper and perhaps move into a field that values me for more than answering the phone.

I love these lyrics from a song by the Indigo Girls:

I went to see the doctor of philosophy

With a poster of Rasputin and a beard down to his knee

He never did marry or see a B-grade movie

He graded my performance, he said he could see through me

I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind, got my paper and I was free.

Tonight I start on my journey towards that freedom…