Who is my enemy?
I’ve been thinking about Elizabeth’s blog (http://cochlearimplantonline.com/blog/?p=197) where she says that “she is the biggest enemy of Deaf Militants”. It’s sad that she considers herself to be our biggest enemy, but I do not consider her to be mine. In this Vlog, I’ll tell you why.
Elizabeth said,
June 14, 2008 @ 8:33 pm
Thank you for your response. I want to clarify: Unless you are self-identifying as a “militant” which I think you are not, then you and I are not enemies at all. My point was that, if people are going to go to extemes and insist that their POV is the only way, then, yes, I’ll happily call them my “enemy” but for people who are willing to respectfully disagree, as you have, well, we might not be 100% in agreement, but I have no ill will against you. We can just agree to disagree. Also, I know that some ASL vloggers subtitle their blogs, and I really appreciate those, like you, who do so — it helps your ideas and opinions be “heard” by those who do not sign.
(PS: as soeone who does sign, I really like your signing style — just like peole have different “accents” I find your sign “accent” much like that from where I learned ASL, so it reminded me of home and was really easy to understand — a nice, clear style!)
John said,
June 14, 2008 @ 9:12 pm
It is sad that AGBell and its associates made these people to become puppets, they are innocent victims but nonetheless…dangerous to innocent Deaf babies and their naive parents.
DE said,
June 14, 2008 @ 9:31 pm
HANDWAVES HANDWAVES HANDWAVES!!! I concur fully!!
DE
Jerome Cain said,
June 14, 2008 @ 11:45 pm
impressive!
deafchipmunk said,
June 15, 2008 @ 4:00 am
Hi Dr. DonG
Yes I definitely agree with you. The root of cause is AGBell and anti Sign Language organziations and businesses.
Deafchip
DrDonG said,
June 15, 2008 @ 8:28 am
Elizabeth,
Actually, I consider myself pretty much a moderate. But, in the current climate, since I support the same things as the “militants” do (ASL, Bilingualism, Schools for the Deaf, Deafhood, etc.), I would be classified as a “militant”. So I guess I’m a moderate militant. Or perhaps that should be moderately militant.
But, you seem to be defining “militant” as insisting that one’s POV is the “only way. However, by that definition, aren’t you and those in your camp, who seem to be insisting that cochlear implants, oral-only education, etc. are the “only way” or “the way of the future”, militant?
Do I say that ASL is the ONLY way? Hardly. History is littered with legions of “ways” to educate the Deaf — Oralism, AVT, Signed English, Cued Speech, Rochester Method, and a multitude of their variants. But ASL is the BEST way, the ONLY way that has demonstrated a consistently high success rate. We have heard numerous stories of Oral failures, Signed English failures, and failure of all other non-NATURAL Sign Language methodologies. I can count the number of “ASL/NATURAL Sign Language failure” stories on less than a full hand, and even those I would take with several grains of salt. ASL is the one way that has a rapid response rate, is immediately usable, and has no risks to a child’s academic, linguistic and psychological development.
Cochlear implants are not a “cure” — I think you know that. The sound one gets from them is not the same as what one gets with a fully functioning hearing ability. Until that day that a Deaf person can get TRUE hearing from an implant, we are going to resist it. We do not want to see another generation of children telling us failure stories. And that is why we are “militant” about this issue.
Candy said,
June 15, 2008 @ 9:10 am
Dr. Dong, you define Militant in your own words which may or may not be what Militants really mean. I Agree with Elizabeth, if people disagree but respects other’s POV then they are not extremist, therefore, are not militants.
When one respectfully disagrees, then one wouldn’t be name calling or putting a group down.
Militants does not mean one supports this and this and this and that. It’s all in the attitude.
DrDonG said,
June 15, 2008 @ 10:28 am
Candy,
I have not put anyone down or called people names. So far, I have seen more name-calling and put-downs from people on the “other side” than I have from the “militant” side. I don’t support name-calling — I think it’s counterproductive, so I’m being objective here. Try stepping back and being objective and you’ll see where the majority of the name-calling is coming from (try “Deafhood priests, minions” and countless others I have seen on various sites).
Ella said,
June 15, 2008 @ 12:06 pm
beautiful. thanks.
Barb DiGi said,
June 15, 2008 @ 3:33 pm
Excellent vlog, Dr. D! You pointed out the source of the problem who made strong influences to families but please may I add doctors, audiologists, speech pathologists and AVT certified therapists?!!
For Elizabeth to say she is Deaf militants’ worse enemy was not quite clear to me at first. Just because she is hearing and she uses ASL? What is the big deal? I found her statement somewhat immature.
Anyway, this statement of hers allows several interpretations and I can see that you and her are attempting to clarify exactly what does she mean by that. For her to define a militant means those who advocate “this one way” that may not be agreed by the others is not what a militant should mean to begin with. It seems that we all are on the same page that it is a matter of how one reacts with respect in terms of disagreement. It has a lot to do with how one approaches about a certain issue whenever a person has stated his or her beliefs that includes validating one’s opinion, providing a balance of perspective and reasoning.
So Elizabeth, if what you had said (“insist that their POV is the only way, then, yes, I’ll happily call them my “enemy”) is true, then that means people who support AVT are much more militants since they only insist that their POV, using oralism, is the only way.
Elizatbeth, I try to include transcripts everytime I vlog but to include captions is a challenging task and time consuming so you need to understand the reasons that some of us ASL vloggers don’t do the subtitling. For some, it is intimating to do it and that some don’t feel comfortable adding English subtitles whereas it is not their language of strength just like those who write blogs not feeling comfortable to add ASL vlogs. Just leave them alone!
I have not seen how the Deaf angrily demand for the hearing to add subtitles and I would like to see where was it commented. There are times when hearing vloggers sent me their videos and I have replied politely and honestly that I was not able to understand their videos and some of them even voluntarily added lyrics/transcripts in their description block. It goes the same when they commented in my youtube blogs asking questions like hey where s the volume and what did it say so I just get to let them know that the wordings are right here and if not I would provide them whenever possible. Your claim is making us sounding like we are at fault and hypocrites while my experiences tell me that this conflicts works out well in the end. For those who chose not to subtitle or provide transcripts for their vlogs, they have their own reasons. It is up to one to step up the plate to fund captioning for these ASL vloggers just like there are funds for captioning TV programs. It is all about economic status to make it equal and here in the v/blogosphere, we cannot expect all vlogs to be accessible just like all blogs are not to some of the readers.
Normal Deaf person said,
June 15, 2008 @ 6:40 pm
Dr. D
Really, they are not an enemy as the reality among us, they are more of a misguided naive people that act like enemies but truthfully, they are like mosquitoes. It is their need to get what they want but at the same time, it is a pain in the ass for the society like us normal Deaf people.
Shelley said,
June 15, 2008 @ 6:57 pm
Dr D. and Barb… WELL SAID!
“but please may I add doctors, audiologists, speech pathologists and AVT certified therapists?!!”- by Barb…
I most heartily second this because these medical professionals are some of the very FIRST people parents meet after discovering that their babies are deaf. So, since the doctors are in the business of healing or curing, of course they see “deafness” as something to be treated… Voila, right down the road of pathological view these parents and babies go…with all the grieving and anguish.
If we went with the Swedish model where Deaf people are some of the first people the parents meet, we would certainly NOT be having this debate! The view of Deaf would be a cultural and linguistic one…quite empowering!
Thus, our enemies would be: IGNORANCE, PATERNALISM, and yes, those who stand to benefit economically from the medical model of deafness… gee… I’m having a difficult time typing the word… deafness!
I echo DE… HANDWAVES!
Shel
Candy said,
June 15, 2008 @ 9:21 pm
What about most recent: cockroaches? If you went back to the beginning, you’ll see where it all starts.
I have step back and seen it all.
Perhaps it’s you that did not step back and see it all. I can, go back and gather up all the evidence and dates and show you how it all started. I’d be willing to do that. I’m real good at that, ya know.
But, I trust that you are smart enough to know the truth and that blaming things on one side is a total cop out.
DrDonG said,
June 15, 2008 @ 10:57 pm
He was making an analogy — not really calling anybody cockroaches. I’m not saying both sides are innocent on this. I can see an escalation here. But, like I said, it seems more from one side than the other. I think the more frustrated people are getting, the more they are inclined to start lowering their level of discourse, unfortunately. If you want to go back and gather evidence and dates, be my guest, just be totally honest about it and record instances from both sides.
Candy said,
June 16, 2008 @ 5:12 am
Right, and priests and minions were analogy too.
And what about “deficit thinker?” were you around when that happened? lol
I am really laughing at all this. I know in real life, none of this would have happened. It’s the internet, no doubt!
Ciao!
ChrisH said,
June 16, 2008 @ 7:30 am
I found that the site has information about Elizabeth Boschini, a student pursuing a degree in Speech-Language Pathology at Texas Christian University.
http://www.usm.edu/ids/pdf/hearing_loss.pdf
DrDonG said,
June 16, 2008 @ 10:07 am
Chris H — This is the same Elizabeth I was talking about, but I’m not sure what your point is in making this comment. Can you explain more about what you wanted to point out by adding this link?
Candy — In real life, these issues are there — but yes, probably the internet does have a way of magnifying them.
However, there is a difference between analogies and name-calling. In DeafChip’s post, he was making the analogy that he views DBC to be the “truth” and “in the light”, and that oralism and audism thrives by hiding in the dark or shadows, but when light is shone on this, it’s strength disappears, like cockroaches disappear when you turn the light on in a room filled with them. Thus, he was not calling anybody a cockroach — he was talking about the philosophies, not the people who support them. This is a far cry from people who have called supporters of Deaf-centered views “priests”, “minions”, etc. This is a direct attack on the people, not the philosophy. Drmzz’s recent post about Deaf Village did include a direct attack when he said “you’re crazy”. So, can you see the difference?