I went to bed especially early
and slept especially soundly.
So imagine my surprise when I found out that
these fell
and these lit up the sky
as these blasted.
All while I got to catch up on my beauty sleep.
Jealous?
I know my family was!
Showing posts with label deaf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label deaf. Show all posts
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Monday, December 20, 2010
School's Out...
(for 2 weeks)
Hallelujah!
Soo glad to be out (and even more excited that I only have 6 months until I am DONE with this school forever. My district divides the high schools up 9th-10th graders and another school for 11th-12th graders). I did well on all of my exams; even better than I expected. I'm leaving in a couple of days to fly up north (all by myself!) to visit a very dear convention friend. Super excited!
After kicking off the break with an ugly-Christmas-sweater/White-Elephant/gingerbread-house-decorating/Christmakuh party on Friday night, I went to the Dallas Hearing Foundation's Sounds of the Season Gala/fundraiser. This was the first year I have attended; I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was absolutely wonderful!
A while back they asked me for my cochlear implant story for the gala and had me get my picture taken. I wasn't quite sure how it was going to be used..
Well, I had "my" own table! It was named after me, and each place setting had my picture with the story on the back. Pretty cool!
My picture/story was also turned into a poster board that greeted all the people as they walked in.
I really wish I had gotten pictures of my favorite part, which was the presentation by 5 kids who had been helped by DHF. All of of them had cochlear implants, enjoyed the benefits of speaking and hearing, and were absolutely adorable! I was too busy enjoying it to snap any pictures. By the end there wasn't a dry eye in the house. If I had brought any money with me, I would have dumped it all right into one of the donation envelopes right then ;)
There was Meghana, the junior emcee, who hosted the event along with her sister. She's in second grade, and was implanted when her family moved from India to Texas when she was four. She had a precious performer personality, and did a great job. Some of the other kids included:
Happy Holidays!
Hallelujah!
Soo glad to be out (and even more excited that I only have 6 months until I am DONE with this school forever. My district divides the high schools up 9th-10th graders and another school for 11th-12th graders). I did well on all of my exams; even better than I expected. I'm leaving in a couple of days to fly up north (all by myself!) to visit a very dear convention friend. Super excited!
After kicking off the break with an ugly-Christmas-sweater/White-Elephant/gingerbread-house-decorating/Christmakuh party on Friday night, I went to the Dallas Hearing Foundation's Sounds of the Season Gala/fundraiser. This was the first year I have attended; I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was absolutely wonderful!
 |
| My older sister and I |
 |
| Please excuse the fuzziness- this was taken from my sister's phone. |
There was Meghana, the junior emcee, who hosted the event along with her sister. She's in second grade, and was implanted when her family moved from India to Texas when she was four. She had a precious performer personality, and did a great job. Some of the other kids included:
- A little girl, whose entire family (including herself, her parents and brother) were born deaf and wear cochlear implants. She spoke beautifully about the miracles of Hanukkah and described the miracle of her cochlear implants.
- A 12 year old boy implanted when he was 5. He got up and sang a pretty awesome rendition of "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer". He even got everyone to sing along!
- An eight year old bilaterally implanted when he was one. He wowed the crows with his breakdancing skills!
- A boy who has bilateral implants, as do all of his siblings. He thanked his mom, describing how she checks 6 processors and 18 (!!!) batteries every morning to ensure each of her kids can hear. He told of his struggle to learn to hear and speak for the first time when he was implanted, at age 8. It was clear he had worked hard and had made tremendous progress, and hearing him exclaim "Just look at me now!" brought on a flood of tears.
Happy Holidays!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Raising money for a good cause
And all you have to do is watch a sweet little video! Every time this video is viewed, various sponsors will donate 2 cents to the American Society for Deaf Children. I must admit this is the first time I've heard of this organization, but it sounds like they do great things and the video is pretty cool!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Search for teenage and adults deaf actors for upcoming TV show
No, this is not turning into a news blog :) I will post an update about myself soon, there just hasn't been much of anything to report. I saw this page on Facebook after a few of my friends "liked" it, and thought some reader might be interested. The plot sounds interesting, and it would be pretty cool if a "typical" speaking, hearing deaf kid was plucked from everyday life into TV fame. Note that they are looking for people who can both sign and speak, and the deadline is October 15th.
From the page:
** REMEMBER: YOU MUST FILL OUT AND SUBMIT A "WAIVER" FORM ALONG WITH YOUR VIDEO SUBMISSION. **
WHERE TO GET A COPY OF THE AUDITION SCENES AND WAIVER
You can find a copy of the waiver, together with the audition scenes here:
DAPHNE: http://www.nowcasting.com/switched/daphne.pdf
** Note: The character of Daphne will be speaking, signing (ASL) and using sim-com during the show. The producers would like to see you do all three at some point during your audition. So, pick some lines from the audition scene where you will speak only, others where you will sim-com and others where you will use ASL only. **
EMMETT: http://www.nowcasting.com/switched/emmett.pdf
PENN: http://www.nowcasting.com/switched/penn.pdf
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
You’ll need some sort of digital video recording device. It can be your iPhone, cell phone, Flip camera, small digital video camera, etc, etc, etc.
BUT KEEP THIS IN MIND:
-- The accepted formats for uploaded files are: Quicktime (.mov), Flash (.flv) and MPEG4 (.mp4) ONLY!
-- You may be able to "convert" your file into one of these formats. But make sure you can and know how to do so, or find someone who does.
-- YOUR FILE CANNOT BE OVER 20MB!
-- Alternatively, you can supply us with a You Tube Video link, which must be set for public viewing.
-- Do not name your video files with punctuations (for example: * " ' / \ @ &)
FILMING YOUR AUDITION VIDEO
It doesn’t have to be a “big production.” But, we need to be able to see you – and hear you – clearly on screen. So make sure you have plenty of light when you record yourself, and make sure the camera is not too far away from you.
Put your camera or phone on a stable surface, like a tripod or table. Again, make sure there’s plenty of light so we can see you. And then … perform like the character you want to play!
Remember, be easy and just be yourself. You have nothing to lose! Ultimately, what we want to see, is the true essence of who you are.
When you're done, you must do two things
1. Fill out and return the "waiver form" you found attached to the audition pages.
- You can fax it to: 323-874-2268
- Scan and email it to: switchedpilot@yahoo.com
- Or include it with your "hard copy" DVD submission in the mail.
2. Upload your video. Here's how:
HOW TO UPLOAD YOUR VIDEO
Click on this link to go to the Now Casting website. You will upload your videos there:
https://www.nowcasting.com/uploadauditions
- When asked for the role code, use 1133bf53
- Click "submit."
- Fill out the required fields and enter only the role you are auditioning for in the "Description" field. Do not put /&"!'@ in the description or the name of the file.
- Click "choose file" [next to where it says "Audition File" -- underneath where it says "Description"] and pick the file you will be uploading from your computer.
- Click "submit." The audition will be delivered directly to us.
That's it! You're done!
SUBMITTING A HARD COPY THROUGH THE MAIL
Please note that the preferred method of sending us your audition videos is THROUGH THE LINK ABOVE.
If you submit your video this way, there is no postage to worry about, we are guaranteed to receive your video and we will see it much faster.
As a last resort, you can also submit a "hard copy" of your audition video, along with the waiver and personal information, IN DVD FORMAT ONLY to:
Deedee Bradley
6767 Forest Lawn Drive, Suite 100
Los Angeles, CA 90068
Actors should write a short paragraph about themselves and include:
1. Their name
2. Their AGE ( Very important)
3. Where they are currently living.
4. Best way for us to contact them.
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS
The deadline for submissions is October 15th, 2010.
Now, good luck! We hope that you are who we’re looking for!"
Here is the plot outline for the show, Switched at Birth which will be on ABC Family and the roles they need to fill:
The show revolves around Daphne, a smart, confident and well-adjusted deaf teenager who has her world turned upside down when she discovers that she was switched at birth with another girl.
DAPHNE - ACTRESS MUST BE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING AND MUST SPEAK WELL, AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE PREFERRED. Age range from 16 to early 20’s to play high school. Actress is to be light-haired or willing to dye hair blond for the role, and if the show moves to series, actress must be willing to relocate to Los Angeles in February.
Smart, confident, and well-adjusted Daphne is stunned to learn that she and Bay Kennish were accidentally switched at birth 15 years ago. Having grown up in a working-class household as the only child of a single mom, she is excited to meet her new parents, and especially thrilled at the idea of having brothers and a dad. But balancing two families is trickier than she expected, particularly because her biological parents have never been around anyone deaf, and are eager for her to enter a mainstream school and a less deaf-centric world.
EMMETT - 16, ACTOR MUST BE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING, MUST BE FLUENT IN AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE. Emmett is Daphne's best friend. Raised by deaf parents and educated in a deaf school, Emmett doesn't talk orally, and is more comfortable in a deaf world. Rugged, reserved, a young deaf James Dean.
PENN - late 30’s or 40’s. male, ACTOR MUST BE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING, MUST SPEAK WELL. Penn is Emmett's father and Daphne's mother's best friend. Penn is the one who educated Daphne's mother about the importance of learning sign, schooling Daphne in a deaf world, etc.
I will admit it does sound a bit "stereotypical deaf", with the importance of sign, Deaf culture etc.. However, its still in its infancy and I highly encourage you to audition ASAP if you're interested! There's no telling how things will turn out! Here is the Facebook Fan page that includes all of the information I have posted:
http://www.facebook.com/SwitchedSearch
From the page:
** REMEMBER: YOU MUST FILL OUT AND SUBMIT A "WAIVER" FORM ALONG WITH YOUR VIDEO SUBMISSION. **
WHERE TO GET A COPY OF THE AUDITION SCENES AND WAIVER
You can find a copy of the waiver, together with the audition scenes here:
DAPHNE: http://www.nowcasting.com/switched/daphne.pdf
** Note: The character of Daphne will be speaking, signing (ASL) and using sim-com during the show. The producers would like to see you do all three at some point during your audition. So, pick some lines from the audition scene where you will speak only, others where you will sim-com and others where you will use ASL only. **
EMMETT: http://www.nowcasting.com/switched/emmett.pdf
PENN: http://www.nowcasting.com/switched/penn.pdf
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
You’ll need some sort of digital video recording device. It can be your iPhone, cell phone, Flip camera, small digital video camera, etc, etc, etc.
BUT KEEP THIS IN MIND:
-- The accepted formats for uploaded files are: Quicktime (.mov), Flash (.flv) and MPEG4 (.mp4) ONLY!
-- You may be able to "convert" your file into one of these formats. But make sure you can and know how to do so, or find someone who does.
-- YOUR FILE CANNOT BE OVER 20MB!
-- Alternatively, you can supply us with a You Tube Video link, which must be set for public viewing.
-- Do not name your video files with punctuations (for example: * " ' / \ @ &)
FILMING YOUR AUDITION VIDEO
It doesn’t have to be a “big production.” But, we need to be able to see you – and hear you – clearly on screen. So make sure you have plenty of light when you record yourself, and make sure the camera is not too far away from you.
Put your camera or phone on a stable surface, like a tripod or table. Again, make sure there’s plenty of light so we can see you. And then … perform like the character you want to play!
Remember, be easy and just be yourself. You have nothing to lose! Ultimately, what we want to see, is the true essence of who you are.
When you're done, you must do two things
1. Fill out and return the "waiver form" you found attached to the audition pages.
- You can fax it to: 323-874-2268
- Scan and email it to: switchedpilot@yahoo.com
- Or include it with your "hard copy" DVD submission in the mail.
2. Upload your video. Here's how:
HOW TO UPLOAD YOUR VIDEO
Click on this link to go to the Now Casting website. You will upload your videos there:
https://www.nowcasting.com/uploadauditions
- When asked for the role code, use 1133bf53
- Click "submit."
- Fill out the required fields and enter only the role you are auditioning for in the "Description" field. Do not put /&"!'@ in the description or the name of the file.
- Click "choose file" [next to where it says "Audition File" -- underneath where it says "Description"] and pick the file you will be uploading from your computer.
- Click "submit." The audition will be delivered directly to us.
That's it! You're done!
SUBMITTING A HARD COPY THROUGH THE MAIL
Please note that the preferred method of sending us your audition videos is THROUGH THE LINK ABOVE.
If you submit your video this way, there is no postage to worry about, we are guaranteed to receive your video and we will see it much faster.
As a last resort, you can also submit a "hard copy" of your audition video, along with the waiver and personal information, IN DVD FORMAT ONLY to:
Deedee Bradley
6767 Forest Lawn Drive, Suite 100
Los Angeles, CA 90068
Actors should write a short paragraph about themselves and include:
1. Their name
2. Their AGE ( Very important)
3. Where they are currently living.
4. Best way for us to contact them.
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS
The deadline for submissions is October 15th, 2010.
Now, good luck! We hope that you are who we’re looking for!"
Here is the plot outline for the show, Switched at Birth which will be on ABC Family and the roles they need to fill:
The show revolves around Daphne, a smart, confident and well-adjusted deaf teenager who has her world turned upside down when she discovers that she was switched at birth with another girl.
DAPHNE - ACTRESS MUST BE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING AND MUST SPEAK WELL, AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE PREFERRED. Age range from 16 to early 20’s to play high school. Actress is to be light-haired or willing to dye hair blond for the role, and if the show moves to series, actress must be willing to relocate to Los Angeles in February.
Smart, confident, and well-adjusted Daphne is stunned to learn that she and Bay Kennish were accidentally switched at birth 15 years ago. Having grown up in a working-class household as the only child of a single mom, she is excited to meet her new parents, and especially thrilled at the idea of having brothers and a dad. But balancing two families is trickier than she expected, particularly because her biological parents have never been around anyone deaf, and are eager for her to enter a mainstream school and a less deaf-centric world.
EMMETT - 16, ACTOR MUST BE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING, MUST BE FLUENT IN AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE. Emmett is Daphne's best friend. Raised by deaf parents and educated in a deaf school, Emmett doesn't talk orally, and is more comfortable in a deaf world. Rugged, reserved, a young deaf James Dean.
PENN - late 30’s or 40’s. male, ACTOR MUST BE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING, MUST SPEAK WELL. Penn is Emmett's father and Daphne's mother's best friend. Penn is the one who educated Daphne's mother about the importance of learning sign, schooling Daphne in a deaf world, etc.
I will admit it does sound a bit "stereotypical deaf", with the importance of sign, Deaf culture etc.. However, its still in its infancy and I highly encourage you to audition ASAP if you're interested! There's no telling how things will turn out! Here is the Facebook Fan page that includes all of the information I have posted:
http://www.facebook.com/SwitchedSearch
Deaf teacher publicizes discrimination, gets suspended
So it just seems that there has been a lot of hearing loss/discrimination related new in my area lately. This article caught my eye when I was reading the newspaper this morning (Yes, I read the paper and always have. My friends like to make fun of me for doing so, but I'm always well informed!)
My summary: Kathleen Nosek is a deaf special ed teacher and has been teaching at the same school for ten years. In the past couple of years the principal of the school, Amy Miller, began insisting that Nosek administer pronunciation tests to her students herself. In the past Nosek had other teachers perform this test (which only had to be done a few times a year) for her, and it wasn't a problem. When Nosek told Miller that her hearing loss made it extremely difficult to accurately perform the tests, Miller questioned whether Nosek's hearing loss made her unfit for her job (which she's been doing for years just fine!). Well, Nosek chose to bring allegations of harassment and intimidation by Miller before the school board. The morning of, she had a local news reporter in her classroom and was interviewed. This led to her suspension.
The full story along with hundreds of comments is available here. If you ask me, this story is blatant discrimination, and her suspension is just the tip of the iceberg.
The news reporter published a blog post with a few clarifications and updates, available here.
My summary: Kathleen Nosek is a deaf special ed teacher and has been teaching at the same school for ten years. In the past couple of years the principal of the school, Amy Miller, began insisting that Nosek administer pronunciation tests to her students herself. In the past Nosek had other teachers perform this test (which only had to be done a few times a year) for her, and it wasn't a problem. When Nosek told Miller that her hearing loss made it extremely difficult to accurately perform the tests, Miller questioned whether Nosek's hearing loss made her unfit for her job (which she's been doing for years just fine!). Well, Nosek chose to bring allegations of harassment and intimidation by Miller before the school board. The morning of, she had a local news reporter in her classroom and was interviewed. This led to her suspension.
The full story along with hundreds of comments is available here. If you ask me, this story is blatant discrimination, and her suspension is just the tip of the iceberg.
The news reporter published a blog post with a few clarifications and updates, available here.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Followup Article- Deafness in the Legal System
Yesterday, I posted about a deaf man freed after a DNA test proved him innocent of a crime that he had already spend 20 years in prison for.
Today, I saw a great article that talked about his conviction and exoneration, with much of the focus on his deafness and how it impacted the case. Here is the link to the article, along with some quotes that I thought were noteworthy.
Today, I saw a great article that talked about his conviction and exoneration, with much of the focus on his deafness and how it impacted the case. Here is the link to the article, along with some quotes that I thought were noteworthy.
- "Prosecutors don't routinely check whether a deaf defendant had a certified interpreter during police questioning, or whether the defendant's written words would have a different meaning in American Sign Language."
- "When Richardson police asked Brodie in writing why he abducted and sexually assaulted the girl, he wrote, "I don't know WHY?" Those words were taken as a confession until the district attorney's office began reinvestigating the case."
- "They said police should use a certified interpreter who is trained to sign legal words like those that come up in Miranda warnings when officers ask suspects to waive their rights. Elliott said the ideas of waiving your rights to remain silent and to have an attorney don't automatically translate in deaf culture. "
- For 20 years, authorities have said that the 5-year-old victim told them her attacker spoke with a "clown" voice. Police and prosecutors have said the girl was describing how a deaf person speaks. But a recording of the interview shows the girl actually told police the man had a "low voice."
- My side note: What the heck?! What does a "clown voice" even sound like? I don't think I've ever heard a clown talk...
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wrongly convicted deaf man freed after 20 years
Not the type of stories I usually post, but it was in the newspaper and caught my eye. Thought it was interesting, and wanted to share!
Stephen Matthew Brodie, 39 lost his hearing to meningitis at 18 months, and communicates using ASL. He was convicted of sexually assaulting a five year old girl in 1990. Turns out, he didn't actually do it. The following quote from the article really struck me, and I wonder if this sort of thing still occurs today. It wouldn't surprise me, but it's still upsetting.
"After 18 hours of questioning over eight days – much of it with no sign language interpreter present – Brodie had pleaded guilty[.]" ADA, anyone?!
Ironically enough, his deafness was the very thing that led a lawyer to further investigate his case, leading to his freedom. His father wrote a letter to a paralegal, Jena Parker. "Parker said that when she first read the letter from Brodie's father, two things stood out to her: If a deaf person had committed the crime, he would have had no gauge of how loud he was as he went through things in the house; and how did the child victim understand Brodie's instructions when his voice is often unintelligible?" I'm sure someone will manage to find offense with that quote, but it is what ultimately got him released!
Read the article here.
Stephen Matthew Brodie, 39 lost his hearing to meningitis at 18 months, and communicates using ASL. He was convicted of sexually assaulting a five year old girl in 1990. Turns out, he didn't actually do it. The following quote from the article really struck me, and I wonder if this sort of thing still occurs today. It wouldn't surprise me, but it's still upsetting.
"After 18 hours of questioning over eight days – much of it with no sign language interpreter present – Brodie had pleaded guilty[.]" ADA, anyone?!
Ironically enough, his deafness was the very thing that led a lawyer to further investigate his case, leading to his freedom. His father wrote a letter to a paralegal, Jena Parker. "Parker said that when she first read the letter from Brodie's father, two things stood out to her: If a deaf person had committed the crime, he would have had no gauge of how loud he was as he went through things in the house; and how did the child victim understand Brodie's instructions when his voice is often unintelligible?" I'm sure someone will manage to find offense with that quote, but it is what ultimately got him released!
Read the article here.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Alarming rate of teen hearing loss
I figure most of you have heard this by now, but being a teen I think it alarms me that much more to consider the number of friends that I have who will likely require hearing assistance when they are older. So, I'm posting this for those who already haven't already heard...
1 in 5 teens in the US has a slight hearing loss.*
1 in 20 US teens have mild or worsening hearing loss.
This is a 30% increase since the mid '90s.
Links:
Yahoo! Associated Press Article
USA Today Article
I think the problem is both a lack of education about noise exposure, as well as the all-too-common idea "it won't happen to me." The other day I got into my seventeen year old (hearing) sister's car, and as soon as she turned it on the car was shaking with the radio blasting at full volume. I could feel the beat in my chest, and could hear the low frequency sounds pumping without my implants (I can tell when I'm able to hear something with my residual hearing alone. It "comes through" differently.) I glared at my sister, and she turned off the radio. Lately she's been complaining about hearing a buzzing or ringing in her ear. I went on to tell her that this could damage her hearing, and that this tinnitus could actually be a sign of hair cells in her cochlea being killed off. She was actually surprised, and went on to ask me why *I* get to turn my iPod speakers up so loud. "Well, sis. I don't know if you've noticed yet...but I'm already deaf! I've got nothing left to lose!" (I suppose she doesn't think it's fair). I'm pretty sure as soon as I got out of the car she turned the radio right back on, but who knows. I'm sending her this article.
*"Slight" hearing loss in teens is consider to be a loss of 16-24 dB, and most of these are in only one ear. It is important to realize that many hearing aids (and even cochlear implants) don't always amplify/provide sound down to this level, it is very quiet. With my cochlear implants, the softest sounds I can hear range from 5-20 dB. With my hearing aids, it ranged from 40-80dB hearing loss (or so, this is based off of my memory). However, as these teens with hearing loss grow up and lose hearing from age-based hearing loss, they will need stronger hearing aids earlier, such as in their 40's rather than 50's, 60's, or 70's.
1 in 5 teens in the US has a slight hearing loss.*
1 in 20 US teens have mild or worsening hearing loss.
This is a 30% increase since the mid '90s.
Links:
Yahoo! Associated Press Article
USA Today Article
I think the problem is both a lack of education about noise exposure, as well as the all-too-common idea "it won't happen to me." The other day I got into my seventeen year old (hearing) sister's car, and as soon as she turned it on the car was shaking with the radio blasting at full volume. I could feel the beat in my chest, and could hear the low frequency sounds pumping without my implants (I can tell when I'm able to hear something with my residual hearing alone. It "comes through" differently.) I glared at my sister, and she turned off the radio. Lately she's been complaining about hearing a buzzing or ringing in her ear. I went on to tell her that this could damage her hearing, and that this tinnitus could actually be a sign of hair cells in her cochlea being killed off. She was actually surprised, and went on to ask me why *I* get to turn my iPod speakers up so loud. "Well, sis. I don't know if you've noticed yet...but I'm already deaf! I've got nothing left to lose!" (I suppose she doesn't think it's fair). I'm pretty sure as soon as I got out of the car she turned the radio right back on, but who knows. I'm sending her this article.
*"Slight" hearing loss in teens is consider to be a loss of 16-24 dB, and most of these are in only one ear. It is important to realize that many hearing aids (and even cochlear implants) don't always amplify/provide sound down to this level, it is very quiet. With my cochlear implants, the softest sounds I can hear range from 5-20 dB. With my hearing aids, it ranged from 40-80dB hearing loss (or so, this is based off of my memory). However, as these teens with hearing loss grow up and lose hearing from age-based hearing loss, they will need stronger hearing aids earlier, such as in their 40's rather than 50's, 60's, or 70's.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Lipreading Fail: A Frightening "deaf moment"
After a long day of SAT classes and a night of getting engrossed in the latest novel I was reading, I finally fell into a deep sleep late that night. I slept soundly, dreaming of puppies and butterflies..
*shake, shake* I rubbed my eyes. Why was someone awaking my slumber at this unearthly hour of *glances at clock* 9 AM?! I rolled over and shut my eyes, only for me to see my mom pounding on my bed again, and then walking out. That was...odd. Besides the fact that this was my one day to sleep in (and for a teenager approaching the end of summer, 9 in the morning is not sleeping in), I usually get a friendlier wake-up call than that. I mean, my sister was set to have her wisdom teeth out this morning, it's not like we were planning to go out and party. I dragged myself out of bed and into the hallway, only to see my mom standing there talking on the phone.
"What was that about?!" I asked in my whining sleepy voice.
My mom began gesturing wildly, a frantic look in her eyes, all the while staying on the phone. She tried talking to me, but my lipreading skills are declining by the day, and I still wasn't fully awake. I stared at her and threw my arms up, trying to signal the fact that I was confused and had no idea watch she was trying to say. I paced back and forth as my mom stood in the doorway of my sister's room, still on the phone.
She signaled for me to put on my processors. I shook my head, unable to recall exactly where I put them as I dozed off the night before. Besides, it was too early! I was ready to jump back in the bed!
"What do you want?!" I asked, starting to get annoyed.
I was finally able to understand. Downstairs..door...me...Ah, I got it! I have to answer the door!" "Who's at the door?" I asked.
My mom slowly enunciated what I thought looked a lot like "Rebecca is coming."
"Hmm, that's weird." I thought to myself. Rebecca was my sister's friend. But, as far as I knew, my sister was still sound asleep from the surgery less than a couple of hours earlier. I shrugged, and went downstairs to open the door for Rebecca.
I stood at the door, looking out the window for Rebecca. As I waited impatiently, I saw an ambulance, flashing lights and all, pull up in front of our house. "Huh..I wonder what happened?" I thought to myself. They stopped at the stop sign in front of our house. I kept watching to see if they were going in the direction of any of my friends' houses. Instead, 4 paramedics came running out, up to our front door. That's when it hit me that maybe my mom hadn't said anything about Rebecca after all. I opened the door and pointed upstairs, to where my sister and mom were. The first man nodded and ran up, the others followed. Then another 2 paramedics came up, holding a stretcher.
I watched from downstairs as my sister's room quickly filled up. I tried my best to see what was going on. Most of them looked like they were just standing around. "That's good, right? I mean, when they have to do CPR there's normally people running around and screaming." I thought, trying to reassure myself. I sent my dad a text message, hoping he would pause his work to let me know if he knew what was going on. I sat on the couch. Not too long after, the paramedics casually walked downstairs and left, my mom and sister still up in the room.
I soon found out that my sister, with a completely numb mouth, tongue, and throat, had managed to get the gauze stuck in the back of her throat and began to panic. My mom panicked too, since it could block her airway, and called 911. By the time the paramedics got here, my sister apparently had managed to swallow the gauze, so all was well.
That night, I went to check on her. She called out my name. "Yes?" I asked.
"You know, those paramedics were pretty hot." she said with a smile.
Yes they were, sister. Yes they were.
*shake, shake* I rubbed my eyes. Why was someone awaking my slumber at this unearthly hour of *glances at clock* 9 AM?! I rolled over and shut my eyes, only for me to see my mom pounding on my bed again, and then walking out. That was...odd. Besides the fact that this was my one day to sleep in (and for a teenager approaching the end of summer, 9 in the morning is not sleeping in), I usually get a friendlier wake-up call than that. I mean, my sister was set to have her wisdom teeth out this morning, it's not like we were planning to go out and party. I dragged myself out of bed and into the hallway, only to see my mom standing there talking on the phone.
"What was that about?!" I asked in my whining sleepy voice.
My mom began gesturing wildly, a frantic look in her eyes, all the while staying on the phone. She tried talking to me, but my lipreading skills are declining by the day, and I still wasn't fully awake. I stared at her and threw my arms up, trying to signal the fact that I was confused and had no idea watch she was trying to say. I paced back and forth as my mom stood in the doorway of my sister's room, still on the phone.
She signaled for me to put on my processors. I shook my head, unable to recall exactly where I put them as I dozed off the night before. Besides, it was too early! I was ready to jump back in the bed!
"What do you want?!" I asked, starting to get annoyed.
I was finally able to understand. Downstairs..door...me...Ah, I got it! I have to answer the door!" "Who's at the door?" I asked.
My mom slowly enunciated what I thought looked a lot like "Rebecca is coming."
"Hmm, that's weird." I thought to myself. Rebecca was my sister's friend. But, as far as I knew, my sister was still sound asleep from the surgery less than a couple of hours earlier. I shrugged, and went downstairs to open the door for Rebecca.
I stood at the door, looking out the window for Rebecca. As I waited impatiently, I saw an ambulance, flashing lights and all, pull up in front of our house. "Huh..I wonder what happened?" I thought to myself. They stopped at the stop sign in front of our house. I kept watching to see if they were going in the direction of any of my friends' houses. Instead, 4 paramedics came running out, up to our front door. That's when it hit me that maybe my mom hadn't said anything about Rebecca after all. I opened the door and pointed upstairs, to where my sister and mom were. The first man nodded and ran up, the others followed. Then another 2 paramedics came up, holding a stretcher.
I watched from downstairs as my sister's room quickly filled up. I tried my best to see what was going on. Most of them looked like they were just standing around. "That's good, right? I mean, when they have to do CPR there's normally people running around and screaming." I thought, trying to reassure myself. I sent my dad a text message, hoping he would pause his work to let me know if he knew what was going on. I sat on the couch. Not too long after, the paramedics casually walked downstairs and left, my mom and sister still up in the room.
I soon found out that my sister, with a completely numb mouth, tongue, and throat, had managed to get the gauze stuck in the back of her throat and began to panic. My mom panicked too, since it could block her airway, and called 911. By the time the paramedics got here, my sister apparently had managed to swallow the gauze, so all was well.
That night, I went to check on her. She called out my name. "Yes?" I asked.
"You know, those paramedics were pretty hot." she said with a smile.
Yes they were, sister. Yes they were.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Comedy, Deafness, and Political Correctness
One thing that I've increasingly noticed on the internet is the argument of political correctness. Not only in terms of names used to describe people (hearing-impaired vs. deaf vs. hard-of-hearing), but also in terms of joking- what's okay, what isn't. I do think part of it is due to the fact that over the internet it's very hard to interpret tone of voice for tongue-in-cheek or sarcastic comments.
What really struck me is how widely opinions vary. Is it ever okay to make fun of a disability? Does having the disability give you the excuse to joke about it? Are these jokes ever even funny? A month or so back I was reading about Joan Rivers's new documentary, "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work", and it briefly touched the subject. At one of her shows, Rivers made a Helen Keller joke (which, my deafness aside, I never really found them to be particularly funny. Can't say that I'm offended by them either), and a man in the audience was outraged, yelling at her that he has a deaf child and was offended by such a joke. "The comedian tears into him, informing him her mother was deaf and howling, 'Let me tell you what comedy is about — comedy is to make everybody laugh at everything and deal with it!’" - as quoted from this site.
Most of the time, I try to not take a defensive, sensitive standpoint. More often than not, people will say things that offend people out of pure lack off knowledge, not necessarily ignorance or out of intent to harm.I am not a big fan of stand up comedians. I do believe that it can be okay to laugh at our struggles, since they certainly aren't going to go away. Here is one joke I've heard a few times regarding hearing loss, and I do think it's funny in a cheesy humor sort of way.
A concerned husband went to the doctor to talk about his wife. He said to the doctor, “I think my wife is deaf because she never hears me the first time and always asks me to repeat things.”
“Well,” the doctor replied, “go home tonight, stand about 15 feet from her, and say something. If she doesn’t reply, move 5 feet closer and say it again. Keep doing this until we get an idea about the severity of her deafness.” The husband went home and did exactly as the doctor had instructed. He started off 15 feet from his wife in the kitchen as she was chopping some vegetables.
He said, “Honey, what’s for dinner?” He heard no response. He moved 5 feet closer and asked again. No reply. He moved 5 feet closer. Still no reply. He finally got fed up and moved right behind her, about an inch away, and asked again, “Honey, what’s for dinner?”
She replied, “For the fourth time, vegetable stew!” -Taken from Only Funny Jokes
As I've mentioned before, I'm Jewish. Living in Texas, people from time-to-time are shocked and as pretty strange questions. Sometimes people crack a little innocent joke, and I do sometimes find them funny. I think the key is knowing where the line between offensive and hilarious lies, and not overstepping it. (For those wondering, here is a little key of the difference between amusing and stupid. Jewish guilty mother jokes=funny. Big nose jokes= can go either way. Holocaust jokes= waaay overstepping the boundary.) When it comes to serious disabilities that I am not personally affected by, I would never dare make a joke about it. I don't think it's fair to joke when I haven't lived through the day-to-day struggles of a particular disease or disability.
I'd love to hear what everyone else thinks. Is there a time and place for these jokes? Do you think people can be too sensitive, or are others just being too ignorant?
What really struck me is how widely opinions vary. Is it ever okay to make fun of a disability? Does having the disability give you the excuse to joke about it? Are these jokes ever even funny? A month or so back I was reading about Joan Rivers's new documentary, "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work", and it briefly touched the subject. At one of her shows, Rivers made a Helen Keller joke (which, my deafness aside, I never really found them to be particularly funny. Can't say that I'm offended by them either), and a man in the audience was outraged, yelling at her that he has a deaf child and was offended by such a joke. "The comedian tears into him, informing him her mother was deaf and howling, 'Let me tell you what comedy is about — comedy is to make everybody laugh at everything and deal with it!’" - as quoted from this site.
Most of the time, I try to not take a defensive, sensitive standpoint. More often than not, people will say things that offend people out of pure lack off knowledge, not necessarily ignorance or out of intent to harm.I am not a big fan of stand up comedians. I do believe that it can be okay to laugh at our struggles, since they certainly aren't going to go away. Here is one joke I've heard a few times regarding hearing loss, and I do think it's funny in a cheesy humor sort of way.
A concerned husband went to the doctor to talk about his wife. He said to the doctor, “I think my wife is deaf because she never hears me the first time and always asks me to repeat things.”
“Well,” the doctor replied, “go home tonight, stand about 15 feet from her, and say something. If she doesn’t reply, move 5 feet closer and say it again. Keep doing this until we get an idea about the severity of her deafness.” The husband went home and did exactly as the doctor had instructed. He started off 15 feet from his wife in the kitchen as she was chopping some vegetables.
He said, “Honey, what’s for dinner?” He heard no response. He moved 5 feet closer and asked again. No reply. He moved 5 feet closer. Still no reply. He finally got fed up and moved right behind her, about an inch away, and asked again, “Honey, what’s for dinner?”
She replied, “For the fourth time, vegetable stew!” -Taken from Only Funny Jokes
As I've mentioned before, I'm Jewish. Living in Texas, people from time-to-time are shocked and as pretty strange questions. Sometimes people crack a little innocent joke, and I do sometimes find them funny. I think the key is knowing where the line between offensive and hilarious lies, and not overstepping it. (For those wondering, here is a little key of the difference between amusing and stupid. Jewish guilty mother jokes=funny. Big nose jokes= can go either way. Holocaust jokes= waaay overstepping the boundary.) When it comes to serious disabilities that I am not personally affected by, I would never dare make a joke about it. I don't think it's fair to joke when I haven't lived through the day-to-day struggles of a particular disease or disability.
I'd love to hear what everyone else thinks. Is there a time and place for these jokes? Do you think people can be too sensitive, or are others just being too ignorant?
Monday, July 12, 2010
AG Bell (2)- Friday Afternoon and Evening
On Friday afternoon, we were given the options to listen to listen to some of the speakers. They gave us a list of sessions that they though might be interesting to teens, and we signed up for the ones we wanted to go to. I went to three and they were all very good. Here is a brief summary of them:
Teen Tales of Hearing Loss
Presenters: Melanie Paticoff, James Barden, and Patrick deHahn
I have blogged about Mel Paticoff before, and was interested in hearing the session that she was leading. It was basically a panel led in a question and answer format, which were both pre-written questions and questions the audience came up with. It was nice to hear other teens perspectives, although I suspect this was more interesting and helpful to the parents of tweens and younger kids who were wanting to know what their children would be going through in the future. They touched on a variety of topics from school (both guys had attended an oral deaf school when they were younger, then transferred to a mainstream school); the decision to get cochlear implant(s) (One had been implanted when he was 5 or so, the other when he was 11/12. The former chose to go bilateral when he was a teenager, but the latter doesn't want to go through surgery again); and explaining hearing loss/devices to your peers. It was all very well done and planned, and I do think everyone got a lot out of it. One person mentioned it would have been nice to get the perspective of a girl teen with hearing loss, and I think that is a good point. From the looks of the program, it sounds like they had planned for another person to be on the panel who was a girl, I assume a conflict came up.
College Life 101
Presenters: Mark Leekoff, Ari Sagiv, Dorie Shapiro, Lindsey Rentmeester
This was another panel, and since I attended the same session at the last convention, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect (although it was all different people). It's fascinating how one person's experience can be vastly different from that of another. Most of the panel from the 2008 convention, if I recall correctly, said that while they didn't outright state their hearing loss when applying for college, they mentioned it in their application essays. One person on the 2010 panel said that they did not want to disclose their hearing loss, a couple of people said they did, and one even went as far as saying that it would be dishonest not to disclose it. I do think he had a point there, and he went on to say that if a college doesn't want you with your hearing loss, you really can't expect them want to give you accommodations. That being said, the panelists still had issues with accommodations even if they did disclose their hearing loss. One girl remarked on the irony of being in an Audiology program, and having the school come to her and question her need for CART and other assistive services for her hearing. I don't think she said the name of the Grad school, but she ultimately made the decision to leave for another school that she felt was a better fit. It also came to light that even with the ADA in place, people won't necessarily follow it. One guy was saying that in an interview (for medical school, I believe) the interviewer actually asked him "I know that many people with hearing loss have multiple other health problems. Do you have any other health issues I should know about?" This, I came to find out, is illegal and a huge red flag. The only thing that you are allowed to be asked in an interview regarding hearing loss or any other disabilities is "Do you have any disability that would interfere with your ability to do this job?" The interviewee does have the option of bringing up and talking about his/her hearing loss as much as desired, but it is not required. I learned a lot from these speakers.
Health Care Professionals: Learn from our Experiences
Presenters: Stacey Carroll, Ph.D., ANP-BC; Christopher Lehfeldt, DDS; and Lindsey Rentmeester, Au.D.;
I was really looking forward to this session, since I had not ever met someone with hearing loss in the medical field. The panel featured a deaf dentist, nurse, occupational therapist, and audiologist. They also planned on having a deaf physician there, but he ended up having a family emergency and was not able to make it. There was a wide age range, from (these are my estimates) mid 20's to 40's. They all had great stories to tell, and the vast majority of the people that spoke had experienced an overwhelming amount of adversity and doubt when going into the medical field by teachers, bosses, and employees, but were greeted with open arms by patients. I found this to be very interesting, as I would have thought gaining a patient's trust would be the biggest problem.
The occupational therapist told about her first rotation as a student, in which she was placed with a teacher/boss who pretty much from the first day told her he was going to fail her because of her hearing loss. She described her frustration with working with someone determined to fail you, and how discouraged she became, even taking some time off after to decide if it was still something she wanted to do. She ultimately persevered, but this really demonstrated to me how much harder we (people with hearing loss) have to work to prove ourselves.
The nurse spoke about only the students with the 30 best GPA's getting into nursing school. She had an extremely good GPA, and recalled her professor calling her into his office to tell her she wasn't going to go on to nursing school. She was a little bit confused, and asked if she had not been in the top 30. "No, that's not it." the professor had said, "It's just that you're... 'unique.'" She went to the dean of the school (who, by some stroke of luck, happened to have a deaf son) who assured her that he would handle it, and she obviously ended up getting in!
One thing I found really exciting is that they have developed transparent surgical masks (patent pending), and are just waiting on a manufacturer. This is great news, not just for health care professionals with hearing loss, but also for patients with hearing loss. I cannot tell you how many times I've had to remind my dentist or orthodontist to "take off the mask, please" when they are talking to me (this is typically when one or both of my CI's have been knocked off in the chair!) They passed around the mask, now I'm wishing I had taken a picture. The part that goes around the face/lip area is transparent, but the part that goes under the chin is made of the same material as typical surgical masks, as is the part that hooks around your ears. I really hope they are mass manufactured soon, as there is a huge need and consumer audience.
After a long day of speakers, one of my friends from the past convention, her mom, my mom, and myself rushed to catch the shuttle to go to Downtown Disney. It was really cool, with a bunch of shops and restaurants lining the path. There had been some confusion as to what time the Opening General Session started that evening, and we ended up missing it, so I can't comment on that. We got there right in time for the Exhibition Hall grand opening/reception. This year, they were clever and gave out "game cards" with 9 of the exhibitors names' on them. Each card was different, and the idea was to get stamps from all 9 of the exhibitors on your game card. You then placed the card in a drawing, and were entered to win one of many great prizes (an iPod; all expenses paid for 2 people for the next convention in Scottsdale, AZ; a ton of books from the AG Bell bookstore worth hundreds of dollars, and more). Of course, in the process, the exhibitors would try to get you interested in their products. We didn't win, but I still loved the idea.
I explored the exhibit hall with a couple of my friends from the teen program, and they really did have a lot of things in it. There was a lot of free stuff! As always, the 3 CI companies had gigantic areas as opposed to a tiny booth that most other companies had. We received a lot of goodies from Cochlear- from cookies to beach balls to tote bags. We also got our picture taken with Kayci the Cochlear Koala, but we had to leave before it was printed. (if any Cochlear employee still has the pictures and wants to email it to me, please do!)
Teen Tales of Hearing Loss
Presenters: Melanie Paticoff, James Barden, and Patrick deHahn
I have blogged about Mel Paticoff before, and was interested in hearing the session that she was leading. It was basically a panel led in a question and answer format, which were both pre-written questions and questions the audience came up with. It was nice to hear other teens perspectives, although I suspect this was more interesting and helpful to the parents of tweens and younger kids who were wanting to know what their children would be going through in the future. They touched on a variety of topics from school (both guys had attended an oral deaf school when they were younger, then transferred to a mainstream school); the decision to get cochlear implant(s) (One had been implanted when he was 5 or so, the other when he was 11/12. The former chose to go bilateral when he was a teenager, but the latter doesn't want to go through surgery again); and explaining hearing loss/devices to your peers. It was all very well done and planned, and I do think everyone got a lot out of it. One person mentioned it would have been nice to get the perspective of a girl teen with hearing loss, and I think that is a good point. From the looks of the program, it sounds like they had planned for another person to be on the panel who was a girl, I assume a conflict came up.
College Life 101
Presenters: Mark Leekoff, Ari Sagiv, Dorie Shapiro, Lindsey Rentmeester
This was another panel, and since I attended the same session at the last convention, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect (although it was all different people). It's fascinating how one person's experience can be vastly different from that of another. Most of the panel from the 2008 convention, if I recall correctly, said that while they didn't outright state their hearing loss when applying for college, they mentioned it in their application essays. One person on the 2010 panel said that they did not want to disclose their hearing loss, a couple of people said they did, and one even went as far as saying that it would be dishonest not to disclose it. I do think he had a point there, and he went on to say that if a college doesn't want you with your hearing loss, you really can't expect them want to give you accommodations. That being said, the panelists still had issues with accommodations even if they did disclose their hearing loss. One girl remarked on the irony of being in an Audiology program, and having the school come to her and question her need for CART and other assistive services for her hearing. I don't think she said the name of the Grad school, but she ultimately made the decision to leave for another school that she felt was a better fit. It also came to light that even with the ADA in place, people won't necessarily follow it. One guy was saying that in an interview (for medical school, I believe) the interviewer actually asked him "I know that many people with hearing loss have multiple other health problems. Do you have any other health issues I should know about?" This, I came to find out, is illegal and a huge red flag. The only thing that you are allowed to be asked in an interview regarding hearing loss or any other disabilities is "Do you have any disability that would interfere with your ability to do this job?" The interviewee does have the option of bringing up and talking about his/her hearing loss as much as desired, but it is not required. I learned a lot from these speakers.
Health Care Professionals: Learn from our Experiences
Presenters: Stacey Carroll, Ph.D., ANP-BC; Christopher Lehfeldt, DDS; and Lindsey Rentmeester, Au.D.;
I was really looking forward to this session, since I had not ever met someone with hearing loss in the medical field. The panel featured a deaf dentist, nurse, occupational therapist, and audiologist. They also planned on having a deaf physician there, but he ended up having a family emergency and was not able to make it. There was a wide age range, from (these are my estimates) mid 20's to 40's. They all had great stories to tell, and the vast majority of the people that spoke had experienced an overwhelming amount of adversity and doubt when going into the medical field by teachers, bosses, and employees, but were greeted with open arms by patients. I found this to be very interesting, as I would have thought gaining a patient's trust would be the biggest problem.
The occupational therapist told about her first rotation as a student, in which she was placed with a teacher/boss who pretty much from the first day told her he was going to fail her because of her hearing loss. She described her frustration with working with someone determined to fail you, and how discouraged she became, even taking some time off after to decide if it was still something she wanted to do. She ultimately persevered, but this really demonstrated to me how much harder we (people with hearing loss) have to work to prove ourselves.
The nurse spoke about only the students with the 30 best GPA's getting into nursing school. She had an extremely good GPA, and recalled her professor calling her into his office to tell her she wasn't going to go on to nursing school. She was a little bit confused, and asked if she had not been in the top 30. "No, that's not it." the professor had said, "It's just that you're... 'unique.'" She went to the dean of the school (who, by some stroke of luck, happened to have a deaf son) who assured her that he would handle it, and she obviously ended up getting in!
One thing I found really exciting is that they have developed transparent surgical masks (patent pending), and are just waiting on a manufacturer. This is great news, not just for health care professionals with hearing loss, but also for patients with hearing loss. I cannot tell you how many times I've had to remind my dentist or orthodontist to "take off the mask, please" when they are talking to me (this is typically when one or both of my CI's have been knocked off in the chair!) They passed around the mask, now I'm wishing I had taken a picture. The part that goes around the face/lip area is transparent, but the part that goes under the chin is made of the same material as typical surgical masks, as is the part that hooks around your ears. I really hope they are mass manufactured soon, as there is a huge need and consumer audience.
After a long day of speakers, one of my friends from the past convention, her mom, my mom, and myself rushed to catch the shuttle to go to Downtown Disney. It was really cool, with a bunch of shops and restaurants lining the path. There had been some confusion as to what time the Opening General Session started that evening, and we ended up missing it, so I can't comment on that. We got there right in time for the Exhibition Hall grand opening/reception. This year, they were clever and gave out "game cards" with 9 of the exhibitors names' on them. Each card was different, and the idea was to get stamps from all 9 of the exhibitors on your game card. You then placed the card in a drawing, and were entered to win one of many great prizes (an iPod; all expenses paid for 2 people for the next convention in Scottsdale, AZ; a ton of books from the AG Bell bookstore worth hundreds of dollars, and more). Of course, in the process, the exhibitors would try to get you interested in their products. We didn't win, but I still loved the idea.
I explored the exhibit hall with a couple of my friends from the teen program, and they really did have a lot of things in it. There was a lot of free stuff! As always, the 3 CI companies had gigantic areas as opposed to a tiny booth that most other companies had. We received a lot of goodies from Cochlear- from cookies to beach balls to tote bags. We also got our picture taken with Kayci the Cochlear Koala, but we had to leave before it was printed. (if any Cochlear employee still has the pictures and wants to email it to me, please do!)
Friday, March 5, 2010
Hearing Loss in the Media
Whenever deafness and/or CI's are portrayed in TV shows, it's usually with much fanfare (and oftentimes debate) from the hearing loss community. I was quite surprised this evening, while watching my favorite shows, that they had a short story line about deafness.
I LOVE Grey's Anatomy, which shouldn't come as a surprise to any of you. ;) I'm going to give my best summary I can possibly give with the knowledge that many of you have not watched the show before:
Background info: Dr. Sloan (AKA, Dr. McSteamy) is a plastic surgeon, at Seattle Grace-Mercy West hospital. He's upset that his ex-girlfriend (Dr. Lexie Grey) went and made out with Dr. Karev right after they broke up, and while he was with his single but pregnant daughter, who was in the hospital facing complications with her unborn baby. Soon afterwards his daughter fled, leaving an emotionally-invested Sloan devastated. Still bitter and alone, Sloan is taking out his anger by making out with every woman (drug reps, nurses, etc.) who will let him.
A woman who appears to be in her 40's comes into the hospital with her elderly mother, who has just been in a car accident. As the mother is being examined, we see and hear the mother and daughter shouting at each other. We find out that the mother, who lives with her daughter, "stole" her daughter's car and went out for a ride, even though she wasn't in fit condition to do so. One of the doctors interrupts the conversation, asking if it's necessary for them to scream everything.
We then see the mother sleeping, having just finished the surgery. The daughter is sitting at her bedside, talking/flirting with Sloan. She tells Sloan how excited she is that she will finally be able to have her life back, and that she's miserable living with and taking care of her mother. Her mother suddenly awakens and says.
They excitedly realize that, indeed, the surgery has restored her hearing. We never see the mother and daughter again, but later on in the episode, Sloan mentions to another doctor that he slept with his patient's daughter. I don't think we'll be seeing the mother and daughter again, since most cases in Grey's Anatomy only last for one episode.
I liked it. Since there weren't CI's involved, that eliminated many of the myths and controversies that usually get into shows that try to do a story about deafness. It was also nice to finally see a deaf person who wasn't your stereotypical deaf person: she was late deafened, could speak, and didn't know ASL. It seems the majority of shows that have a character with deafness tend to make them know sign language. I like that it showed the communication difficulties that come along with deafness, and I felt everything was portrayed well. I couldn't find anything that offended me the slightest, so that was good! If you'd like to see the episode online (complete with closed captions- thank you ABC!!) click here.
I also realize that I've started two completely different series of blog posts that I haven't finished. I probably should stop doing that, because I start losing interest on that topic and begin to write about something else. Rest assured, the posts are coming!
(How do you guys like this? We had to create a monogram that reflected us using photoshop in my desktop publishing class. I like how it came out and thought it'd be a good signature for each post :) )
I LOVE Grey's Anatomy, which shouldn't come as a surprise to any of you. ;) I'm going to give my best summary I can possibly give with the knowledge that many of you have not watched the show before:
Background info: Dr. Sloan (AKA, Dr. McSteamy) is a plastic surgeon, at Seattle Grace-Mercy West hospital. He's upset that his ex-girlfriend (Dr. Lexie Grey) went and made out with Dr. Karev right after they broke up, and while he was with his single but pregnant daughter, who was in the hospital facing complications with her unborn baby. Soon afterwards his daughter fled, leaving an emotionally-invested Sloan devastated. Still bitter and alone, Sloan is taking out his anger by making out with every woman (drug reps, nurses, etc.) who will let him.
A woman who appears to be in her 40's comes into the hospital with her elderly mother, who has just been in a car accident. As the mother is being examined, we see and hear the mother and daughter shouting at each other. We find out that the mother, who lives with her daughter, "stole" her daughter's car and went out for a ride, even though she wasn't in fit condition to do so. One of the doctors interrupts the conversation, asking if it's necessary for them to scream everything.
The exasperated daughter replies, "Yes, actually. My mother is almost completely deaf and refuses to get a hearing aid or learn sign language, so we scream"They decide to take the mother for a CT scan of her head, and I figured that was the end of the deafness plotline. However, after the scans of the mom's head comes in, they call Dr. Sloan to come take a look. After looking at the scan for a mere second, he immediately proclaims, "She's deaf." The other doctors ask how he knows this, seeing as he's never even met the patient.
Sloan explains, "She has otosclerosis. (points to inner ear area on the scan). I can make her hear again by repairing it. I'm just that amazing of a doctor."They tell the daughter and mother, who are both elated at the chance to have their lives back, as the mother has apparently become very dependent on her daughter to "interpret" everything. After surgery is finished on the mother's knee, Sloan immediately goes in and begins working on her ears.
We then see the mother sleeping, having just finished the surgery. The daughter is sitting at her bedside, talking/flirting with Sloan. She tells Sloan how excited she is that she will finally be able to have her life back, and that she's miserable living with and taking care of her mother. Her mother suddenly awakens and says.
"What are you talking about? You were divorced and alone, and you needed ME! I never needed you for anything, I was the one taking care of you!"Rather than getting angry, the daughter, in a super-cheesy-but-sweet-way, shouts "Mom! You heard that!"
They excitedly realize that, indeed, the surgery has restored her hearing. We never see the mother and daughter again, but later on in the episode, Sloan mentions to another doctor that he slept with his patient's daughter. I don't think we'll be seeing the mother and daughter again, since most cases in Grey's Anatomy only last for one episode.
I liked it. Since there weren't CI's involved, that eliminated many of the myths and controversies that usually get into shows that try to do a story about deafness. It was also nice to finally see a deaf person who wasn't your stereotypical deaf person: she was late deafened, could speak, and didn't know ASL. It seems the majority of shows that have a character with deafness tend to make them know sign language. I like that it showed the communication difficulties that come along with deafness, and I felt everything was portrayed well. I couldn't find anything that offended me the slightest, so that was good! If you'd like to see the episode online (complete with closed captions- thank you ABC!!) click here.
I also realize that I've started two completely different series of blog posts that I haven't finished. I probably should stop doing that, because I start losing interest on that topic and begin to write about something else. Rest assured, the posts are coming!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
School/CART Stuff- Part 2
Two days before the promised evaluation report was due, I noticed two women who were at the previous meetings about CART come into my class. I should probably note that we specifically told the evaluators that they should contact me or the teachers with the days they were thinking of coming, so as not to come on a test or video day, The teacher had told them they could sit in the back of the room. Right after the bell rang, my teacher said, "Oh, by the way, they're going to be taking a test for the entire class period. I hope that's okay."
One of the evaluator ladies got an angry look on her face, said, "No." and walked out. The other one followed.
Okay, then...
The next day, the two ladies reappeared in a different class. This class is one of my hardest, largest, most discussion-based classes. I expected them to come over and talk to me, or at least look at my notes sometime during the class. Why do that when you can simply sit in a chair for an hour?
The day they came, this is how the class went:
-We took a quiz over the previous night's reading
- There was a small amount of lecturing followed by a large amount of class discussion, which I struggled to follow and didn't participate in.
-We had to work on something individually
-We then had to discuss it with our table partner. It was really noisy, and the girl that sits next to me seemed to be much more interested in flirting with the guy in front of us, so I didn't get much out of that discussion..
The class ended, and the women left .As promised, the evaluation for CART was delivered to me the following day. I knew, from their one observsation, that the whole thing was going to be a joke. Here are some quotes from the evaluation.
And, here comes the best part, which they said after stating their denial of CART,
(Please note the sarcasm...)
It just kills me how every single observation they made is about how I "appeared" to comprehend or I "appeared" to understand. They're judging my acting, not hearing, skills.
This occurred before the winter break. My next post will be about the meeting we had following this evaluation...
One of the evaluator ladies got an angry look on her face, said, "No." and walked out. The other one followed.
Okay, then...
The next day, the two ladies reappeared in a different class. This class is one of my hardest, largest, most discussion-based classes. I expected them to come over and talk to me, or at least look at my notes sometime during the class. Why do that when you can simply sit in a chair for an hour?
The day they came, this is how the class went:
-We took a quiz over the previous night's reading
- There was a small amount of lecturing followed by a large amount of class discussion, which I struggled to follow and didn't participate in.
-We had to work on something individually
-We then had to discuss it with our table partner. It was really noisy, and the girl that sits next to me seemed to be much more interested in flirting with the guy in front of us, so I didn't get much out of that discussion..
The class ended, and the women left .As promised, the evaluation for CART was delivered to me the following day. I knew, from their one observsation, that the whole thing was going to be a joke. Here are some quotes from the evaluation.
"We did not see (LAM) enter the class discussion. She watched and did not appear to be confused."
"Socially, she appeared comfortable with her table partner. They did not appear to have difficulty communicating with each other"
"The cafeteria was very loud and she appeared to have no difficulty communicating. She was smiling and animated while conversing with her friends." No, I was not aware that they were watching me from across the cafeteria at lunch. The idea of it makes me strangely uncomfortable, in addition to the fact it's completely unrelated to the trouble I have in the classroom.
And, here comes the best part, which they said after stating their denial of CART,
"It is even possible that CART would be a hindrance to her during classroom discussions because of the lag time between the speaker talking and the captioner producing the printed word. She would be listening to one set of information while reading what was said previously. Taking into account the (ha!) quiet environment and her ability to use her cochlear implants to listen and speak, it was though that CART might be a disadvantage to her classroom access and performance."Isn't it just absolutely amazing how much you can gather from watching me for an hour? Because, as we all know, it's not like people with hearing loss bluff or pretend to understand or anything. We just do our best to appear utterly confused and dumbfounded whenever we misunderstand or can't hear something.
(Please note the sarcasm...)
It just kills me how every single observation they made is about how I "appeared" to comprehend or I "appeared" to understand. They're judging my acting, not hearing, skills.
This occurred before the winter break. My next post will be about the meeting we had following this evaluation...
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Oops!
I love my CIs- they're great, and most of the time I forget I'm deaf. And then other times..
My mom wanted me to do some holiday shopping for a specific person. We went to a very upscale store in the mall, and spent a pretty penny on a cute purse and wallet. The sales lady handed me the bag, and I walked out the door. I began walking towards another store when I noticed my mom wasn't next to me. I stopped to look for her, when I suddenly heard my name being shouted from the store I had just left.
I walked back in the door, only to hear the alarms blaring. Apparently, the lady had forgotten to scan one of the items.
Let's pretend that didn't happen!
My mom wanted me to do some holiday shopping for a specific person. We went to a very upscale store in the mall, and spent a pretty penny on a cute purse and wallet. The sales lady handed me the bag, and I walked out the door. I began walking towards another store when I noticed my mom wasn't next to me. I stopped to look for her, when I suddenly heard my name being shouted from the store I had just left.
I walked back in the door, only to hear the alarms blaring. Apparently, the lady had forgotten to scan one of the items.
Let's pretend that didn't happen!
Monday, November 9, 2009
I'm Not Laughing.
I was getting ready to go to bed, when this article from AOL.com caught my eye. On 'Seth & Alex' they did a skit impersonating Marlee Matlin. Well, actually- impersonating her voice. While Matlin was in on the skit, I thought the whole thing was pretty distasteful and offensive. What do you think? (Transcript below)
Man-We do a lot of celebrity gags on Family Guy (You know, making fun of celebrities). One of our favorites, though, was a gag in which Marlee Matlin calls Moviefone. It went something like this:
Man (as Moviefone): Welcome to Moviefone.Please say the name of the movie you would like to see now.
Woman (as Marlee Matlin) :500 Days of Summer (pronounces “500 day of dummer”)
Man: We did not understand your selection. Please say the name of the movie you would like to see now.
Woman (as Marlee Matlin): 500 Days of Summer (same as before)
Man: You have selected: Fame.
Woman (as self): It’s getting funnier.
Man: Seriously, if the Christians are right and I’m wrong, I’m going to seriously burn in hell. It’s going to be really bad.
Woman: Even if they’re wrong, I have a feeling that here on Earth, someone’s going to set you on fire.
Man: You’re probably right… Marlee Matlin- she really is an amazing woman. She was on Dancing with the Stars recently, but what you mat not know is that she also has an album coming out next year that also features pop song covers, including this little gem…
Woman (as Marlee Matlin): I wanna hold ‘em like they do in Texas … *sings Lady’ Gaga’s “Poker Face” in “deaf accent” and out of tune.
… oh- are you still playing? *puts hand on piano* Oh, you are. 1,2,3,… I wa- a rol wi you ( continues singing).. A little gambling is fun when you’re with me.. *Matlin walks in*
Woman (as self): Oh, *bleep*!
Matlin: Shut up!
Woman: I just want to say- I’m a really, really big fan of yours. Children of a Lesser God was amazing, you won an award. And your book was so candid, and so courageous. And your role on the West Wing is incredible
Matlin: oh- shut up! You’re embarrassing yourself! How do you think it feels to be made fun of? How about I do an impersonation of you?! Let me do it! I’m Alex, and I’m arrogant and a (sorry, this is a G-rated blog!) All I do is not exercise, eat Oreos, and complain that I’m not in more movies. Here’s me walking down the street…
*Impersonates Alex (woman)- blows up cheeks and “waddles”*
Matlin:Does that feel good?
Alex: No, it doesn’t Ms. Matlin.
Matlin: Does it?!
Alex:No
Matlin: NO IT DOESN’T! You know, you’ve made fun of me more than twice. Twice! Did you ever think once of calling me and asking me to use my own voice?
Alex: I swear Ms. Matlin, we did, we called. But the phone just rang, and rang… *laughter*
Matlin: You want to learn some sign language?
Alex: Yeah!
Matlin: Yeah? *Bleep*!
*Please let me know if there are any errors in this transcript. I typed it up myself, right as I was getting ready for bed, so it's probably got a couple of mistakes!*
Don't you think we've already got enough people making fun of the deaf?
Man-We do a lot of celebrity gags on Family Guy (You know, making fun of celebrities). One of our favorites, though, was a gag in which Marlee Matlin calls Moviefone. It went something like this:
Man (as Moviefone): Welcome to Moviefone.Please say the name of the movie you would like to see now.
Woman (as Marlee Matlin) :500 Days of Summer (pronounces “500 day of dummer”)
Man: We did not understand your selection. Please say the name of the movie you would like to see now.
Woman (as Marlee Matlin): 500 Days of Summer (same as before)
Man: You have selected: Fame.
Woman (as self): It’s getting funnier.
Man: Seriously, if the Christians are right and I’m wrong, I’m going to seriously burn in hell. It’s going to be really bad.
Woman: Even if they’re wrong, I have a feeling that here on Earth, someone’s going to set you on fire.
Man: You’re probably right… Marlee Matlin- she really is an amazing woman. She was on Dancing with the Stars recently, but what you mat not know is that she also has an album coming out next year that also features pop song covers, including this little gem…
Woman (as Marlee Matlin): I wanna hold ‘em like they do in Texas … *sings Lady’ Gaga’s “Poker Face” in “deaf accent” and out of tune.
… oh- are you still playing? *puts hand on piano* Oh, you are. 1,2,3,… I wa- a rol wi you ( continues singing).. A little gambling is fun when you’re with me.. *Matlin walks in*
Woman (as self): Oh, *bleep*!
Matlin: Shut up!
Woman: I just want to say- I’m a really, really big fan of yours. Children of a Lesser God was amazing, you won an award. And your book was so candid, and so courageous. And your role on the West Wing is incredible
Matlin: oh- shut up! You’re embarrassing yourself! How do you think it feels to be made fun of? How about I do an impersonation of you?! Let me do it! I’m Alex, and I’m arrogant and a (sorry, this is a G-rated blog!) All I do is not exercise, eat Oreos, and complain that I’m not in more movies. Here’s me walking down the street…
*Impersonates Alex (woman)- blows up cheeks and “waddles”*
Matlin:Does that feel good?
Alex: No, it doesn’t Ms. Matlin.
Matlin: Does it?!
Alex:No
Matlin: NO IT DOESN’T! You know, you’ve made fun of me more than twice. Twice! Did you ever think once of calling me and asking me to use my own voice?
Alex: I swear Ms. Matlin, we did, we called. But the phone just rang, and rang… *laughter*
Matlin: You want to learn some sign language?
Alex: Yeah!
Matlin: Yeah? *Bleep*!
*Please let me know if there are any errors in this transcript. I typed it up myself, right as I was getting ready for bed, so it's probably got a couple of mistakes!*
Don't you think we've already got enough people making fun of the deaf?
Thursday, August 20, 2009
It's That Time of Year Again- Main Subjects
See my post on Orchestra here. This is the letter I sent to all of my teachers in my core subjects, although I changed it slightly when I sent it to each teacher. I am taking two AP (the max offered) and the rest pre-AP classes, so this year should be fun. (ha!) I wanted to make sure I covered all my bases, so the email is somewhat lengthy. After sending this email, one of my teachers wrote me back telling me that there is a meeting about me scheduled for next week. I had requested to be present in this meeting, because I've found in the past they've never gotten the important points across (hence the email). So, as you can imagine, I'm not happy to find out from her that someone already scheduled a meeting about me. I mean, why am I the last one to know?! I haven't even heard from my Itinerant teacher of the deaf (not that she does much... or that I need her to, for that matter.) I did, however, pick up and test out my FM today. It works! (well, one one ear...)
Anyway, here's the email. Again, the ***ed out stuff is private and/or irrelevant.
Hi Ms. ***,
My name is L*** M*** and I am going to be in your ** period **** class. I wanted to let you know a few of things about me so that the year will run a bit more smoothly.
I wear a device called a Cochlear Implant in each ear. Rather than hearing naturally, I wear a microphone on the outside of my head that processes noise and then sends it to the implant in my head, which is then perceived as sound. With my cochlear implants, I can hear most sounds, they just aren't as clear and sound different to me than they do to you. Without my cochlear implants on, I am profoundly deaf.
I am completely oral and do not use (or know) any sign language. When you are speaking to me or the class, please try to talk in a somewhat loud and steady voice. I read lips, so I also need to have an unobstructed, lighted view of your face. I am constantly trying to fill in the blanks of what I didn't hear, so please try not to speak too fast! I also need to sit near wherever you usually stand while you are teaching, and it is also much easier for me to understand you and see your lips if you avoid pacing around the room. Please get my attention before you start speaking, because I may not notice at first that you are talking, and then miss the beginning of what you have said. If you are answering questions from students, please repeat the question back before answering it, because I often have trouble hearing students who are in various parts of the room. For example if John were to raise his hand and ask what page the homework is on, rather than just saying "Twenty four" say something along the lines of "The homework is on page twenty four." Otherwise I would have no idea what you meant when you said "twenty four" and it wouldn't do me much good!
I have the most trouble hearing through electronics, so if we are watching a video or listening to a tape, it must have captions. If not, I need a copy of notes with any important information that I need to know that was said. Legally, I cannot be tested on any sort of audio or video. Please also try to do your best to have a written copy of any instructions you give, whether it be on the board or on a piece of paper.
It is also especially hard for me to hear in noise, so if we ever have to break into smaller groups, it is much easier if I can work with my group outside in the hall, away from all the noise. If this is not possible, maybe we could work out an arrangement so I am in a part of the room that is quieter. I will do my best to remind you of this.
The last thing I wanted to let you know is that I use an FM system to help me hear a little bit better. I don't know if you have used this type of FM before, bu basically, you just have to hang a microphone around your neck, and your voice is wirelessly transmitted to my sound processors, so that it sounds a little bit louder to me. It's fairly easy to use, but I would be more than happy to come by **** [high school] today or Friday to show you how and explain it to you. It should only take a couple of minutes, but I would rather show you ahead of time, as it can get quite hectic on the first day of school (as I'm sure you already know!) Please let me know if there is a time you would like me to come.
Let me know if you have any questions at all, whether it be now or during the year. I am very comfortable talking about my hearing loss, and no one knows what I have trouble with better than I do!
Thank you!
Anyway, here's the email. Again, the ***ed out stuff is private and/or irrelevant.
Hi Ms. ***,
My name is L*** M*** and I am going to be in your ** period **** class. I wanted to let you know a few of things about me so that the year will run a bit more smoothly.
I wear a device called a Cochlear Implant in each ear. Rather than hearing naturally, I wear a microphone on the outside of my head that processes noise and then sends it to the implant in my head, which is then perceived as sound. With my cochlear implants, I can hear most sounds, they just aren't as clear and sound different to me than they do to you. Without my cochlear implants on, I am profoundly deaf.
I am completely oral and do not use (or know) any sign language. When you are speaking to me or the class, please try to talk in a somewhat loud and steady voice. I read lips, so I also need to have an unobstructed, lighted view of your face. I am constantly trying to fill in the blanks of what I didn't hear, so please try not to speak too fast! I also need to sit near wherever you usually stand while you are teaching, and it is also much easier for me to understand you and see your lips if you avoid pacing around the room. Please get my attention before you start speaking, because I may not notice at first that you are talking, and then miss the beginning of what you have said. If you are answering questions from students, please repeat the question back before answering it, because I often have trouble hearing students who are in various parts of the room. For example if John were to raise his hand and ask what page the homework is on, rather than just saying "Twenty four" say something along the lines of "The homework is on page twenty four." Otherwise I would have no idea what you meant when you said "twenty four" and it wouldn't do me much good!
I have the most trouble hearing through electronics, so if we are watching a video or listening to a tape, it must have captions. If not, I need a copy of notes with any important information that I need to know that was said. Legally, I cannot be tested on any sort of audio or video. Please also try to do your best to have a written copy of any instructions you give, whether it be on the board or on a piece of paper.
It is also especially hard for me to hear in noise, so if we ever have to break into smaller groups, it is much easier if I can work with my group outside in the hall, away from all the noise. If this is not possible, maybe we could work out an arrangement so I am in a part of the room that is quieter. I will do my best to remind you of this.
The last thing I wanted to let you know is that I use an FM system to help me hear a little bit better. I don't know if you have used this type of FM before, bu basically, you just have to hang a microphone around your neck, and your voice is wirelessly transmitted to my sound processors, so that it sounds a little bit louder to me. It's fairly easy to use, but I would be more than happy to come by **** [high school] today or Friday to show you how and explain it to you. It should only take a couple of minutes, but I would rather show you ahead of time, as it can get quite hectic on the first day of school (as I'm sure you already know!) Please let me know if there is a time you would like me to come.
Let me know if you have any questions at all, whether it be now or during the year. I am very comfortable talking about my hearing loss, and no one knows what I have trouble with better than I do!
Thank you!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Teens With Hearing Loss?
Are you a teen with hearing loss? Or the parent of one? Please read this and pass it on! Kristi is a 15 year old girl with cochlear implants, and is out to start an awesome project. I promised I'd help spread the word, and if you have any questions feel free to contact her. While I don't know Kristi personally, she seems like a really cool girl. To read more about her go to the website she gives in her post.
Here is what Kristi has written,
"I have an idea. I want to start a project, a giant one and I can't do it without your help. I want to start a traveling notebook for deaf teenagers all across the world.It will be a place for your heartaches, your fears, your pain, your hopes, dreams, memories and secrets that will be shipped all across America and possibly across seas if anyone afar is interested.And the best part? Everything you write will be completely anonymous. So don’t be afraid to spill your insides out all over the blank pages, because you don’t have to sign it.This will be your outlet.Write it, type it, draw it, glue and paste it on any page, in any order so it is all safe against guessing, and then send it off to the next city, the next state, the next country. Read the secrets of others, leave notes, underline, understand and feel it too.In the end I will receive the notebook and scan the pages for all to see.This is a project for everyone – I want you all to participate!This is still in it’s planning stages as in how the notebook will get to you: whether I send it to you and you send it back for me to send to the next person OR I send it to the first person to send to the next in line. And I’m considering starting a small fund for ‘in case’ emergencies.First I need to see just how many will be interested in joining this project. So please comment and shoot me a quick e-mail at deafteens@hotmail.com.Please help spread the word about this project! The more, the better!For more information: http://deafsecrecy.tumblr.com/ "
(It's formatted a lot differently, but when I copied and pasted it, it got all messed up. Go to her blog to see it for yourself!)
If you're interested, please contact Kristi. I know I will be doing this, and it seems really neat, so I thought I would share!
By the way- I edited my last post. Scroll down to the bottom of it to read my summary on being bilateral!
Here is what Kristi has written,
"I have an idea. I want to start a project, a giant one and I can't do it without your help. I want to start a traveling notebook for deaf teenagers all across the world.It will be a place for your heartaches, your fears, your pain, your hopes, dreams, memories and secrets that will be shipped all across America and possibly across seas if anyone afar is interested.And the best part? Everything you write will be completely anonymous. So don’t be afraid to spill your insides out all over the blank pages, because you don’t have to sign it.This will be your outlet.Write it, type it, draw it, glue and paste it on any page, in any order so it is all safe against guessing, and then send it off to the next city, the next state, the next country. Read the secrets of others, leave notes, underline, understand and feel it too.In the end I will receive the notebook and scan the pages for all to see.This is a project for everyone – I want you all to participate!This is still in it’s planning stages as in how the notebook will get to you: whether I send it to you and you send it back for me to send to the next person OR I send it to the first person to send to the next in line. And I’m considering starting a small fund for ‘in case’ emergencies.First I need to see just how many will be interested in joining this project. So please comment and shoot me a quick e-mail at deafteens@hotmail.com.Please help spread the word about this project! The more, the better!For more information: http://deafsecrecy.tumblr.com/ "
(It's formatted a lot differently, but when I copied and pasted it, it got all messed up. Go to her blog to see it for yourself!)
If you're interested, please contact Kristi. I know I will be doing this, and it seems really neat, so I thought I would share!
By the way- I edited my last post. Scroll down to the bottom of it to read my summary on being bilateral!
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