tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854575870070704513.post2456705488755777461..comments2023-11-05T04:58:54.173-05:00Comments on An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Implant Story: Response to the YOUNG DUDES -Oralist's MelodramaAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11437710259566671762noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854575870070704513.post-47661009614994810912008-03-04T12:04:00.000-05:002008-03-04T12:04:00.000-05:00ASL 98,Thank you for your comment, I will try to c...ASL 98,<BR/>Thank you for your comment, I will try to comment tomorrow, feeling really sick, right now...JodiAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11437710259566671762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854575870070704513.post-63488073276078590842008-03-04T01:08:00.000-05:002008-03-04T01:08:00.000-05:00Thanks for mentioning my blog Jodi. :-). I think ...Thanks for mentioning my blog Jodi. :-). I think most of us take everything we have for granted--hearing, sight, the ability to walk, . . . Of course we value hearing, but we don't realize how much until its gone. <BR/><BR/>I'm a Rachel fan too.Kimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13093639101711800065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854575870070704513.post-10009956602774124812008-03-04T00:03:00.000-05:002008-03-04T00:03:00.000-05:00Comment from ASL98Jodi,I have to disagree about wh...Comment from ASL98<BR/><BR/>Jodi,<BR/><BR/>I have to disagree about who puts the limitations on Deaf people. If some Deaf people play a role in limiting themselves, it is often because they are a part of institutionalized oppression by the majority (Hearing people) who perpetuate certain beliefs and values which are in turn unconsciously internalized by the minority (deaf people). Deaf people coming into their own has been an evolution of sorts...just as women used to be collectively submissive, but then raised their voices for equality...just as Blacks used to be submissive, but then raised their collective voice for their civil rights.<BR/><BR/>I have lived and worked alongside Deaf people for 28 years. I would have to say that the ignorance and flawed beliefs of hearing people about the value of hearing in determining the value of human existence has been pervasive over centuries and has put real limits on deaf people.<BR/><BR/>It begins in America with education. For centuries now, Hearing people have placed the highest value on speech over sign language for deaf people. You are in the country where the conference which determined that was held in 1880 (Milan). In fact, firing deaf teachers, banning sign language...condemning generations of deaf people to miss the mark of their human potential because language was kept from them. It was thought that deaf people would not go to Heaven if they could not speak to God and would be condemned to Hell so it was of the utmost importance to impose speech upon them to save their immortal lives. <BR/><BR/>You need to do a little more research on the history of deaf education and language policy and planning in deaf education and how it has limited the deaf community and kept them out of positions of power so they can effect change in their own community for their own people. I guess it is easer to point the finger back at deaf people. I know you said you are not an audist, but you need to examine your theory. It sounds somewhat audist to me. I am saying that in an objective way, not an accusing way. All of our thinking has biases and we need to stop sometimes, nay, often, and question our thoughts and beliefs...is this really true? Can I know absolutely that this is true? That this is without a doubt the cause?<BR/><BR/>I have seen firsthand oppression of deaf people. I am not against speech. I am not against technology, neither are most deaf people...but I am against keeping accessible language from any child, including deaf children.I am against gambling that an oral method or cochlear implant alone will be enough to give a child fully accessible language. I am against not using a deaf child's strengths, which often lie in vision.<BR/><BR/>Without full access to language, language and cognitive development are delayed. When these things are delayed, it affects social relationships, theory of mind, literacy, eduction, etc. Without a language, one cannot become literate, without literacy, one cannot succeed in school. If one cannot succeed in school, one cannot choose to go to college. One is kept out of higher education. One is kept out of professional positions and positions of power. And who controls deaf education?????? HEARING PEOPLE! Make no mistake. The flawed thinking of hearing people about the deaf and the rejection of the instrinsic value of a natural sign language for the majority of deaf people in allowing them to reach their full human potential is what oppresses and keeps deaf people down on the whole. They are trying to come out of it and what you are witnessing is an evolution of deaf people trying to find and express their "voice." They may not say things the way you want to hear them and some things may swing to the far side of the continuum in a backlash, but they are trying to empower themselves and evolving in learning how to do that...just like women, just like Blacks...and whatever other analogy of oppression you want to apply. <BR/><BR/>There are many well-researched books which document this history and the dynamics involved. Please think about what you said here and where you pointed your finger and why...just as an enlightening excercise of pushing your ego aside and getting at the truth. You strike me as a potentially spiritual and open person, so I hope you will see my words as one person to another giving you a different perspective perhaps to help you learn and see things in a different light with greater understanding :)<BR/><BR/>If you have not read it, I recommend a book called The Mask of Benevolence by Harlan Lane. He is an extremely thorough researcher and an eloquent writer. <BR/><BR/>I would also recommend checking out the website on the National Deaf Education Project and take a look at Lawrence Seigel's work. He is a lawyer and was the president of the National Deaf Education Project here in America. He has also written several books on parental rights and IEP's. America is not the only country struggling with these issues...so is Britain, Canada, Australia, etc. There are more progressive countries such as Sweden and Norway which we could learn some real lessons from regarding their Bilingual-Bicultural deaf education programs which progress has now been documented for going on ten years.<BR/><BR/>Happy reading/researching :)<BR/><BR/>Comment from ASL98Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854575870070704513.post-15452276534879526252008-03-03T12:43:00.000-05:002008-03-03T12:43:00.000-05:00Nice one, all the young dudes needs his ass kicked...Nice one, all the young dudes needs his ass kicked for playing to the gallery too... he does the very thing he attacks in others, BLAMES everyone else !<BR/><BR/>MMAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854575870070704513.post-64258974223334059442008-03-03T10:50:00.000-05:002008-03-03T10:50:00.000-05:00Beautifully written! I have commented on that oft...Beautifully written! <BR/><BR/>I have commented on that often, about ignorance, fear, etc... and how when one's perspective does not mesh with another person's perspective, the disagreements would result.Karen Mayeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08489062601774194183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854575870070704513.post-83202025661724529982008-03-03T10:32:00.000-05:002008-03-03T10:32:00.000-05:00Jodi,You say that the hearing world doesn't value ...Jodi,<BR/>You say that the hearing world doesn't value hearing. I beg to differ. I've lived as someone who does not have the amount of hearing people expect me to have. I've had to deal with negative reactions from people. Technology usually progresses in a sound-based direction before they move in a visually-based direction. Why is that, hmm? Take your recent lengthy post about music... sound IS important to you, Jodi. What I'm trying to say is this: the idea that hearing/sound is not valued is patently untrue. <BR/>And, BTW, about being a Rachel fan... I do think she is her own person, independent of her mother. She's more willing to listen than her mother is. I left this on another blog just now: There is a huge difference between a hearing mom like Jodi Del Dottore and a hearing mom like Melissa. While I wish Jodi were making sure Jordan learns LIS ASAP, she is open to everyone. She is not indoctrinating Jordan with the idea that Deaf culture is bad and scary, unlike Melissa. I believe Melissa made it so that Rachel thought Deaf people were bad. So when Rachel sees a tiny bit of anti-CI from a few of us (and it's just a few of us!), she immediately thinks "Mom was right," and reinforces what she learned from her mom - Deaf people are to be avoided. <BR/>So I appreciate that you're in here, actively trying to engage us in dialogue rather than huffily dictating to us from a holier-than-thou perch. Thank you, Jodi.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com