Berke Outspoken

Do Captioning Advocates Dare Do This?

2009-06-23T03:42:00.000-07:00

While posting some key information on the discussion board at the Facebook Internet Captioning group, a radical thought occurred to me. If people can illegally download software, why not illegally download caption files?? Anyone can use the tools CCExtractor..ccextractor.sourceforge.net (free) or

CaptionKeeper..ncam.wgbh.org/webaccess/captionkeeper/ (not free) to extract captions from media in different formats. Then they can create caption files.

What is there to stop frustrated deaf and hard of hearing people and their hearing friends from creating caption files (in formats like .srt) and posting them secretly to databases that people can download from secretly? Like a CaptionTorrent?

Do we dare rebel against the concept of "intellectual property rights" with regard to closed captions? Do we dare disregard the fact that a company has paid for professional captioning, and go ahead and extract those captions to share online for people to use in captioning the same video in different formats?

Would companies stop paying for professional captioning services if they knew that the captions would be extracted and shared? I don't think so, because the companies are either required to caption (television) or expected to caption (voluntarily on home video, etc).

I guess the radical thought that I am edging closer to is this: Once created, should captions be considered "public domain?" Captions..and descriptive audio...are for accessibility, not for profit. I would love to see a court address that question. If captions could be considered public domain once created regardless of who pays to have them created, that would go a long way towards addressing the inadequacy of captions online and elsewhere!

Intellectual property rights be damned, deaf and hard of hearing people need and deserve access! Caption Action 2!

Is the Deaf Community Out of Patience?

2009-06-13T15:30:00.000-07:00

And if they are, who can blame them? After waiting for two years for Netflix to add captions to its streamed media, the reaction to Netflix's public statement that they will have captions on their streamed media in "about a year." I admit to feeling some impatience myself because a year seems like a long time! The older you are, the longer a year seems to be.

Here is a sampling of the reaction thus far via Facebook, blogs, and Twitter:

On the Facebook group Netflix Watch-Instantly Needs Closed Captions! someone wrote that they had called to complain, and the people they spoke to seemed "irritated."

On Twitter, @deafpundit writes: might have to make Silverlight more stable for #captions, but a year to do that? Rubbish. @queenalpo wrote: Excuses, excuses. @jaredevans wrote: Silverlight is just a programming platform. It can support captions if you develop it. @jaredevans also wrote: I'm still digesting the Netflix response. One year isn't a reasonable time frame to get started with a few movies captioned.

Marlee Matlin especially seems to be out of patience with Netflix. She has been tweeting her heart out on Twitter, beseeching her 10,000 plus followers to pressure Netflix to add captions to their streaming media (thanks Marlee!).

On Netflix's own blog, the comments clearly reflect the impatience: People urging Netflix to dump Silverlight (which is not likely to happen because Reed Hastings, Netflix CEO, is on Microsoft's board!) ; people claiming that the technology already exists to make Silverlight caption-capable, and even complaints from hearing people who want the captions.

In the deaf blogosphere (so far):

Give us a better answer, Netflix. Not looking at the gift horse in the mouth, but the fact you’re letting your own “constraints” affect customer service. - from Meryl Evans

Even the hearing blogosphere seems to reflect some impatience with Netflix:

If Hulu [Hulu uses Flash, not Silverlight] could figure out how to do it, Netflix can. If they didn’t want to re-encode everything, they should have solved this earlier. - Digital Media Bytes

If the deaf community is upset now, just wait until a year from now if Netflix doesn't keep its announced commitment. Meanwhile, the issue is actually broader than just Netflix! We need legislation to mandate captions on the Internet. To promote THAT objective as well as the Netflix objective and helping Hulu to expand their captioning, a companion Facebook group has been set up with a discussion board: Internet Captioning.

Update: Tonight Robert suggested that we adopt the name Caption Action 2 for our fight for captioning on the Internet. The first Caption Action, in late 80s, was for captions on home video. Now it is 2009 and time for another Caption Action - but this time, call it Caption Action 2.

Can We Just Say Deaf?

2009-02-20T04:24:00.000-08:00

I'm tired of hearing the phrase "ci kids." Do we say "hearing aid kids?" Of course not. Why should it be any different for deaf kids with cochlear implants? Can we just say deaf?

After all...althought they may function differently, hearing aids and cochlear implants serve the same purpose. I can't break the habit of calling my own ci a hearing aid. To me it is a hearing aid. When it is turned off, I am plunged into my silent world...the same as it was with hearing aids.

Why Do Some Deaf Get More Interpreter Service in Hospital Than Others?

2008-12-12T18:44:00.000-08:00

As I blog this, Bob is in the hospital after a knee surgery. He ensured he would have interpreting service - or so I thought. Today after surgery, I found out that he would not have any interpreter all weekend! I asked, no, make that demanded, to know why. They told me something about how they had called Bob, and he allegedly said no to interpreters on the weekend or said something about how he would arrange it himself?

As Sherlock Steve pointed out, this kind of thing needs to be documented in writing. I could not agree more. Before the surgery, I had asked Bob if interpreters were arranged for. All I remember is that he said he would have an interpreter til 3 pm. But I didn't know that meant until 3 pm day of surgery and then no more interpreters after that!

I insisted that arrangements be made for additional interpreting services. The lady who had talked to Bob on the phone through a relay service came and talked to me and insisted that Bob had said "no" to weekend interpreters. But I held my ground and insisted, and the hospital scrambled to call the interpreting agency and try to get services even at this last-minute notice. I had to leave at 3 pm, so I do not know if they definitely secured interpreters for the weekend or not. Update: I called the hospital before going to bed. The nurse confirmed that he would have interpreters all weekend and on Monday as well. The interpreters would be 8 am to 10 pm Sat and Sun, and 8 am to 3 pm Monday.

When Bob woke briefly, I asked him (in addition to how he felt, of course) if he wanted interpreters for the weekend and all he was able to say was "it would be nice." He was not able, in his still drugged state, to confirm whether or not he had requested interpreters for the weekend.

In cyberchatting with other deaf people, I learned that when some deaf people go to the hospital, they actually get interpreter services 24/7! Even when my deaf son had surgery over the summer, he had interpreters daily, but ONLY until 7 pm at night. After 7 pm at night, he was on his own to communicate with the doctors and nurses. Why the discrepancy?? Who pays for the interpreter service - the hospital or the insurance? Is it the hospital limiting the services? Or the insurance companies/insurance programs?

I don't know if I did the right thing or not demanding the interpreting services for the weekend. (When the situation demands it, I can be quite a spitfire!) All I know is that my boyfriend is in a hospital bed in pain, without a hearing aid (his hearing aid is apparently not working), and all the good speech and lipreading skills he has are not enough when it comes to communicating with doctors and nurses. And *I* need the interpreting services so I can communicate with the doctors and nurses about his care and needs.

Should This Alumnus Sue Gallaudet?

2008-11-11T18:03:00.000-08:00

A Gallaudet University alumnus I know personally (let's call this person Unhappy Grad) graduated from Gallaudet University in 2005 (before the protest time) with a degree in Computer Information Systems. After graduation, during a time that the economy was strong and healthy, Unhappy Grad looked for a job. And looked and looked....

No one would hire Unhappy Grad despite having some work history including two internships. It is now almost 4 years later since Unhappy Grad completed the degree that Unhappy Grad worked hard on. Whose fault is it that Unhappy Grad does not have a job? The following year, Gallaudet experienced the Unity for Gallaudet protest and the world learned about the "quality" of a Gallaudet degree.

No wonder Unhappy Grad still can not find a job. Plus Unhappy Grad can not get vocational rehabilitation support to return to another college for a better, more marketable, degree.

Tonight when chatting with Unhappy Grad, a strange thought crossed my mind: Should Unhappy Grad sue Gallaudet University over having received a low quality degree that is not marketable enough to get a job with? Is anyone else in a similar boat to Unhappy Grad (degree earned from Gallaudet prior to recession)? It was bad enough when Unhappy Grad could not get a job during the boom times, now that we are in a recession it is near impossible for Unhappy Grad, who is becoming resigned to a life on social security.

Gallaudet's Enrollment Drops Below 1,000

2008-10-04T12:55:00.000-07:00

"In the past five years, undergraduate enrollment has declined from about 1,400 to just under 1,000, said Paul Kelly, the university's vice president for administration and finance. " The italics were added by me, but this sentence is taken directly from today's Washington Post article, "Gallaudet's New Aesthetics," an update on what is happening with the effort to redevelop the Sixth street area bordering Gallaudet. The redevelopment effort is not really news; there have been articles about it before. What is surprising is how low Gallaudet's enrollment has fallen.

This low enrollment is one reason for Gallaudet's interest in redeveloping the area. Gallaudet recognizes that in order to attract more deaf students in a competitive college world, Gallaudet has to become physically more similar to "hearing" colleges. It would be nice to be able to hop on the Metro, and go on a restaurant date in "Gallaudet Town Center," followed by attending whatever event is at Gallaudet that night.

Child of Deaf Adults Severely Injured, Family in Need of Help

2008-09-21T15:27:00.000-07:00

A cyberfriend from Minnesota (Chris Lex) alerted me to this: a seven year old hearing child, Brynn Duncan, with a deaf father (Cody Duncan; mother Dixie works for Minnesota Relay), was in a car accident in August that left her severely injured, and the family in need of help to get a new home that the child can get around in (the home they are selling is too small, only 800 square feet) once she recovers enough to be able to come home. If what is on the child's CaringBridge website journal is any indication, it could be awhile before she is able to come home.

Brynn has had quite a fight to stay alive, and faces more battles as she is now paralyzed from the waist down.

Chris tells me that he knew Dixie as his interpreter at Communication Service for the Deaf.

Where is a Sense of Decency??

2008-07-12T21:58:00.000-07:00

It is the middle of the night and I am so shocked at what I see, that I just have to blog this before going to bed. I checked Deafread.com, and saw that at the top, as of 1:00 am, was a submitted link by DR Hocokan. That link was to a transcript on the DBC Facts website, of an actual AIM meeting by the DBC core group.

Update (Sunday night): the AIM transcript was removed sometime on Sunday.

My objection is not to what was said in that meeting! It is to the fact that no effort whatsoever was made to edit that transcript to at least substitute fake or real first names for the screen names! The actual screen names and e-mail addresses were published!

I have published transcripts before of AIM conversations on my blog(s), but I always put in a fake screen name or some other type of substitution, to protect peoples' privacy. Whomever posted this transcript did not give a single thought to the privacy of the people who participated in that AIM meeting.

Now the participants will have to scramble to change their screen names and e-mail addresses.

Wanted: Strong, Neutral Parent Organization

2008-07-09T18:31:00.000-07:00

I am getting tired of all this DBC/AGBell/NAD conflict. I suspect others are bored and frustrated by it too, if the growing number of posts in the deaf blogosphere calling for openness to all communication and learning methods is any indication. Is there any parent organization out there that supports all communication methods?

American Society for Deaf Children? Their About Us page is unclear. It only says " We believe deaf or hard-of-hearing children are entitled to full communication access..." It does not say clearly if ASDC supports sign language, speech, cued speech, etc. These days "full communication access" is pretty meaningless if the argument over AG Bell's support for speech and listening over sign language (but not outright opposing sign language) is any indication.

Fortunately, there IS one parent organization that comes right out and cites on their About Us page all the communication methods as being supported. This page states "We are parents of ASL signers, cued speech users.... parents of kids with cochlear implants or total communicators..." There is one parent organization that combines the advocacy and perspectives of AGBell, DBC, and the NAD. That organization is Hands and Voices. (
I am not a member of Hands and Voices, but I know about the organization.)

Compromise on Vlog Captions

2008-06-19T14:08:00.000-07:00

I have heard your responses. Ok, if it is too much to expect captions on a signed vlog, and too much to expect a transcript, I will gladly settle for a summary. Even just a summary is helpful when I do not understand the signing.

Does the deafvillage policy include summaries in addition to captions and transcripts?

Deaf Village's Captioning Requirement

2008-06-15T18:39:00.000-07:00

I like it.

It acknowledges what I have repeatedly said for a long time... that there are many deaf and hearing people who do not understand sign language vlogs.

It is silly to insist on an ASL translation of a spoken (or cued) captioned vlog because anyone who knows ASL should also know how to read English! Captions make a vlog accessible to everyone regardless of their communication preference.

When I watch a signed, captioned vlog, I can alternate between the signs and captions as needed. First I try to understand the sign, but if I can not, I can read the captions. If I am very tired when watching the vlog, a captioned vlog is much easier for me to follow than a signed vlog as a signed vlog requires more of my mental energy to understand.

Furthermore, when I compile my weekly "Blogs of Interest" post, I tend to favor vlogs that are captioned or have a transcript. If I can't understand the vlog, I figure that most of my readers won't understand it either because, judging from my e-mail, most people who find my About.com site via internet search, are hearing.

Does Gallaudet Need a Buffer Zone?

2008-06-05T09:25:00.001-07:00

Today's Washington Examiner (and Post and others) are reporting about a police effort to control crime in Trinidad, the neighborhood bordering Gallaudet. The maps being published show Gallaudet University as being next to Trinidad. When I looked at the map on page 5 of today's Examiner (link to web version), I saw that one of the murders had taken place practically next door to Gallaudet, on West Virginia Avenue and another had taken place just a block or two away, on Montello Avenue.

This got me to wondering if Gallaudet needs a buffer zone of "deaf property" in Trinidad. Here is some far-fetched thinking - if the problem gets bad enough, should the Gallaudet community form investment organizations to buy up property in Trinidad to create this needed buffer zone? One blogger I chatted with on this issue agreed that Gallaudet needs a buffer zone.

Update to "How to Stop Spread of Fourth Grade Myth"

2008-06-02T14:53:00.000-07:00

This is the language in the article that concerned me:
"Most deaf adults read at no better than a fourth-grade level, he said, and it is directly related to the education they have received. Without early detection of an impairment and early education, deaf children are doomed to fall way behind."

Note that it says MOST when it is supposed to be a median. That term "median" comes from this OUTDATED page at Gallaudet University: http://gri.gallaudet.edu/Literacy , as pointed out by Mike McConnell. I have e-mailed the Gallaudet Research Institute asking about more up to date statistics because if you read that page, you will see that the citations are from 1996 and 1997! More than a DECADE ago.

Some commenters have claimed it is not a myth. In my opinion, if a fact from over a decade ago keeps getting repeated (as well as stated incorrectly, as pointed out by commenter guy in midwest) without being updated with newer statistics that reflects the current achievement level of deaf students (in schools for deaf and mainstream/center programs), it has morphed into a myth. Don't forget we now have the majority of deaf students receiving cochlear implants - that may have boosted the achievement levels of at least some deaf students. I want up to date statistics from the Gallaudet Research Institute or another source, so we can start to debunk this myth.

And, if newer, up to date statistics indicate that we still have a fourth grade median, then obviously more work needs to be done in deaf education.

How to Stop Spread of Fourth Grade Myth

2008-06-02T08:26:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I blogged a news article at About.com that had the usual mention of the average fourth grade reading level for deaf students. Every time a newspaper, magazine. or television program mentions that, it hurts the deaf community. Not only that we get told about parents "determined" that their child will not be "like that," automatically setting the stage for a superior attitude on the part of child and/or parents.

How can we stop the spread of this fourth grade myth? We can't stop it completely but it could be reduced. It could be reduced if deaf people and parents of deaf children insisted on the right to review articles before publication. I think I may have mentioned this before but it bears repeating as the problem persists.

Deadlines be damned. What's more important a deadline or the image of the deaf community? If enough people exercised that right of review prior to publication then the frequency of the fourth grade mention could be sharply reduced.

I should know. In the past I have been interviewed by the Los Angeles Times, and other papers. With all of them I always request a chance to review before they go to press. This gives me a chance to make sure deafness is portrayed positively in any article that includes a statement from me.

NTID Alumnus Passes Away - Harold Tritt

2008-05-18T19:58:00.000-07:00

Got word tonight that Harold Tritt, an NTID alumnus, had passed away this morning. Steve Baier has a detailed post on his blog. I had known Harold when I was at NTID - he was part of a group that I belonged to.

Giving in to ASL-Only Demands Is Not The Answer

2008-04-25T15:06:00.000-07:00

Just found out about the coming of Deafside. I do not think this is a good idea. It smacks of giving in to the ASL-only demands of certain readers of Deafread.

Isn't it enough that Deafread has added a "customize" feature? What about subscribing to preferred blogs via a RSS reader? Firefox has a built-in RSS reader.

Furthermore, it further divides the deaf community which is divided enough already! If you are going to have an ASL-only aggreggator, then what about a cued-speech only aggregator? a cochlear implant aggregator? an auditory-verbal aggregator? an interpreting aggregator? a deaf education aggregator? a parenting aggregator? a signed english aggregator?

This is a "dangerous" slide. Give in to the ASL-only demands for a "safe" place, and soon you will be dealing with demands for other specialized aggregators. There is a reason blogs have tagging ability! Tags let you view only blogs that relate to your preferred topic. DeafRead could accomplish much the same by creating tags that say "ASL," "Auditory-Verbal," "Cochlear Implant," "Hearing Aid," "Captioning," and so on.

Expanding the use of tags on Deafread would also prevent confusion among those who don't fit neatly into categories. What about an ASL-using cochlear implantee? What about a cued speech user who also uses ASL? What about an auditory-verbal child whose parents are secretly learning ASL on the side? What about a deaf education teacher who teaches bilingually and has students with both cochlear implants and hearing aids?

Deaf people are humans with many varied facets. Don't divide us further.

Jamie Berke
an ASL-using Cochlear Implantee with Oral Skills

Hatchet Finally Buried with RLM

2008-04-19T19:42:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I ran into RLM (Robert Mason) at an ASL dinner. We had a three way discussion - him, Robert Goodwin, and myself. As a result of that discussion, we were able to come to an understanding regarding the things he had posted online, and he was apologetic. We came to a peaceful resolution, and for the rest of the night, were even able to have some friendly conversation.

Cease and Desist Letter to Robert Mason

2008-04-18T15:42:00.000-07:00

The following Cease and Desist letter was just posted on Robert Mason's blog:

Dear Robert L. Mason:

It has come to our attention that you have made malicious statements about Jamie

Berke on your blog site.

You have been told before, in February 2007, to stop this type of behavior on your

blog site, on my blog site, and any others' blog sites.

We demand that you immediately cease and desist from this or any other malicious

statements about me in the future. Your behavior goes beyond the standards of

decency. If this behavior does not immediately cease, we shall take further action

against you.

Very truly yours,

Jamie Berke
Robert Goodwin

And the Deaf Community Shall Survive...

2008-03-22T17:33:00.000-07:00

If all the current chatter in the deaf blogosphere is any indication, I believe we have reached a new turning point in the deaf community. Cochlear implants have gone from something that we knew little about and were strongly opposed to, to something regarded as a tool akin to a hearing aid, and more widely accepted and even chosen by culturally deaf people for themselves and their deaf children.

This is what often happens with new technology that makes people confused and afraid. Over time, awareness and understanding increases. Then, that community begins to adopt a new attitude, and find ways to incorporate that technology into their own culture. That is happening now with cochlear implants, as we witness the growth of what I call "CI humor." We already have hearing aid humor, sign language humor, interpreting humor, and videophone humor. Now we have CI humor as deaf people poke fun at cochlear implants through films like "McImplant."

If anything, deaf people with cochlear implants are acutely aware that they are deaf, just as deaf people with hearing aids are. When an implant is turned off or removed, there is total, peaceful silence. When I wore hearing aids long ago, I welcomed sign language as a way to fill in the communication gaps while I was using the hearing aids. Cochlear implant users who do not use sign language now, may later welcome sign language for the same reason, and as a way to communicate during those moments that they can not use cochlear implants.

Deaf culture has survived over the years in the face of both educational and technological changes. It not only survives, it evolves and thrives. For example, in America, deaf clubs are struggling to survive, but online, we have deaf communities that are thriving.

Like many of you, I used to be worried about the survival of the deaf community because of the growth of cochlear implants. I'm not worried anymore.

Deaf IVF Embryos, Natural Deaf Babies, and Choices

2008-03-14T21:07:00.000-07:00

Been reading up on the controversy in the United Kingdom over the proposed bill (as a bill, it is not yet law) to forbid the implantation of deaf embryos when doing IVF. The subject brings up questions, and also stirs mixed feelings. If we say that IVF is a substitute for natural child procreation, then we could say that yes, people who want a deaf baby should have the right to choose a deaf embryo to implant instead of having to take a hearing embryo.

On the other hand....if insurance companies are paying for the IVF, which is an expensive procedure, is it fair to expect the insurance companies to foot the bill for the deliberate choice of a deaf embryo that may need additional expensive services such as hearing aids, speech therapy, and cochlear implants? If we believe that IVF is a substitute for natural child procreation and that the children created are equal, then the same question of "fairness" could also be applied to the naturally created deaf children of deaf parents.

Yes, deaf children in deaf families growing up with sign language and full access to the deaf community and deaf culture can and do have good lives. But let me ask this question of those who had a difficult time growing up deaf: would you have chosen to be born deaf? Would you have chosen to experience the years of feeling left out, discriminated against, and difficulty in communicating with hearing people?

I once asked my mother the challenging question: If you had known I was going to be born deaf, would you have had an abortion? Her answer was a frank "yes." How did that make me feel? I was not surprised at the answer. I didn't feel any better or worse for it - I understood.

Would You Demand This Teacher Be Fired?

2008-02-27T09:21:00.000-08:00

With the economy the way it is now, this is no time to lose a job. However, what I just read in the Morganton News Herald (hat tip to MishkaZena as usual) about the NCSD situation is quite upsetting to me as a parent:

"Tasha Houpe, from Statesville, has a son in 10th grade at NCSD. She said the school has changed a lot since he started there when he was 2 years old.She said she doesn’t feel teachers are helping the students as much as they should.Houpe said one teacher told her it doesn’t matter if the students finish a grade because they probably won’t go to college.She said she wants to know someone is there who cares about her son."

If any teacher said that to me about my kid, I would be demanding that that teacher be immediately fired. Unless my kid had a very severe disability and/or was clearly not mentally/academically/emotionally capable of going to college, the school and its teachers should expect that my child would be going to college. Right up to the point of graduation, the expectation should be that a child is going to college.

Assuming that this attitude is typical of all the educational staff at NCSD, I would say that none of them have any business teaching deaf children and perhaps ALL should be fired. This is 2008. We know deaf students, when properly taught, are just as capable as anyone else of going on to college. And in today's economy, a bachelor's degree is practically a requirement for entering the labor force in a decently paid job with a future.

Every Parent of a Deaf Child's Worst Nightmare

2008-02-21T02:03:00.000-08:00

Last week, a deaf 13 year old girl who could not communicate with her bus driver was seriously endangered by the bus driver, who was a substitute and did not know sign language. Not only that, the bus assistant who could communicate with her, was not available. As reported by Tampabays10.com, the worst could have happened because this youngster, Heather Catalano, was dropped off two miles from her home in pouring rain despite her desperate efforts to communicate with the bus driver. Not only that, she was confronted by a homeless man as she tried to run home - and we all know the potential danger of that situation.

Unfortunately, she did not have her cell phone with her. However, even having her cell phone would not have guaranteed that she would be able to reach her parents in that emergency. What if the cell phone service went down? The weather was bad, after all. In addition, cell phones may not work in certain locations; T-mobile does not work in the Metrorail tunnels.

This article really hit home for me because if the same thing had happened to one of my deaf kids, they would have been totally helpless. Even if they had a cell phone, they might not have been able to reach a parent. I don't blame the father one bit for his saying he would have hurt the bus driver if he had been able to get ahold of the bus driver. I would have felt the same!! Any parent would have.

I hope that the girl's parents get a good lawyer and sue the district. The district needs to be made to pay a penalty so high that every school district in the country that has the responsibility for the transportation of deaf and other disabled children takes notice and puts procedures in place to prevent this kind of thing from happening. (And it is not the first time either. There have been previous stories of deaf children being discovered left behind on school buses - but Heather Catalano was truly in danger!)

A Spoonful of Sugar...

2008-02-09T17:11:00.000-08:00

As I write this, I am at home recovering from yesterday's cochlear implant surgery. When I think about my reasons for deciding to get a cochlear implant, one major reason is a A Spoonful of Sugar.

Long ago, when I was a child, one of my biggest pleasures was to lie on the floor, with the words to songs in front of me. Listening carefully with the headphones, I could follow the songs. If I close my eyes, I swear I can still hear Julie Andrews singing "A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down..." Or Dick Van Dyke singing "Chim, chim cheree...chim chim cheroo." Both songs were from the movie Mary Poppins.

My hope is that an implant will allow me to hear voices. I want to be able to hear voices so that combined with lipreading, my ability to communicate will improve. I have sign language interpreters at work, but still miss so much even with interpreters. If the implant works, hopefully it will help to cut down on how much I miss.

If I am able to hear with an implant, and if I can hear music, one of the first things I am going to do is get a music-playing device and listen to A Spoonful of Sugar, with the words in front of me so I can follow along.

As for after the surgery, I am doing fine. Some minor vertigo, balance is a bit off, but I'm pretty able to function independently. Some minor pain, and I don't really need the pain medicine anymore. In fact I did not really need the pain medicine at all, but I used it to make myself more comfortable. No nausea..I was really lucky about that. Going without food a long time (no eating after midnight, and surgery was at 12:30 pm) helped in avoiding the nausea. This vertigo is annoying, but I have experienced far worse vertigo before when I had an ear infection.

I probably can go back to work on Monday or Tuesday but I am thinking of staying out til Thursday to give myself more recovery time and a bit of a vacation...after all, I just had surgery and don't I deserve a little reward? :)

Break Out the Popcorn. It is NAD vs. AGBell.

2008-02-07T15:40:00.000-08:00

On my way home today, I got word that the NAD had sent a "scathing" letter to AGBell in regard to their deplorable letter to Pepsi. And to think it all started with a television commercial....

The NAD letter is professionally written with carefully chosen words, but when you look at specific language you can tell the depth of anger that the writer(s) felt. For example:

"obvious lack of respect for deaf people who use ASL."
"deplorable that AGBell continues to perpetuate the myth that the use of ASL isolates deaf people from mainstream society"
"We expect the same respect from AGBell"

Until AG Bell wrote that letter to Pepsi, I thought that AG Bell was a professional membership organization that respected deaf people who chose to use ASL, while promoting oral communication and education. Well, that letter to Pepsi changed everything for me. For the first time, AG Bell publicly revealed its true colors.

Perhaps this brouhaha will lead to the birth of a new AG Bell, a more tolerant AG Bell (or perhaps this is just wishful thinking). As far as I know, the media has not yet reported on the conflict that has arisen out of the AG Bell letter to Pepsi, but as awareness grows, it is only a matter of time before someone does report on it in the mainstream media. Or maybe one of the deaf columnists whose columns are published in regular papers (Right now, I can't remember the name of one columnist, whose name starts with H).

Does anyone plan to contact the mainstream media if AG Bell does not publicly apologize to the deaf community?

Robert Mason, Stop Telling Lies

2008-02-04T19:12:00.000-08:00

Robert Mason, this is a warning. Stop telling lies about me and attacking me publicly or my next step may be a legal one. For the record, I am not, and have never been, a member of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf.

Furthermore, Robert Goodwin is not just my boyfriend. He is my fiance.

Attack my ideas. Attack my thoughts. Attack my opinions. Do NOT attack me as a person. And do not attack my fiance, Robert Goodwin.

I have better things to do with my time than deal with people who are short on intelligence and respect.