My Top 10 resolutions for 2012

(1) To continue opposing VRS campaigns in the UK until someone actually proves there is a market for it, and deaf can actually see the point of paying through the nose for 7.5 minutes communication a week, and assuming you know deaf who have the equipment, can actually receive a call from them, and the UK government funds ALL the running costs,and can find enough regional interpreters to make it remotely viable.

(2) To NOT support glasses for use in the cinema that resemble Mr Magoo's cast-offs, or signing extroverts, with ADD at the side of the stage in theatres. One interpreter CANNOT act for a whole stage cast, get real, get captions.

(3) To never again read of an imminent cure for deafness based on sewing an ear on a rat's ass.

(4) To continue to treat deafhood with the disrespect it deserves and oppose the hatred it instils in its zealots, so we can get back to being nice to each other.

(5) To continue ignoring social medias as the saviour of the deaf community, it isn't, deaf people are, let's cut the crap input at least, if you cannot talk sense with 130 characters, then don't contribute at all..

(6) To view deaf charities with the complete apathy they deserve, and until someone deaf actually runs one.

(7) To oppose any attempt to set up an UK 'Gallaudet', it doesn't work, it doesn't pay its way, and it's just a clearing house for disaffected barrack-room lawyers, who hate decibels and anyone who can hear anything at all, and who spend their wasted time developing terminological warfare to justify their course-work.

(8) To oppose segregated communication options for the deaf, like BSL or lip-reading, as we use either or both, or those and a dozen others, and the hearing community are the main pupils of both courses, what is the deaf point ? Let's integrate both modes and then some, it's about communication, you want politics join a a political party, and wear a funny hat.

(9) To encourage the total integration of deaf people with hearing at educational and all other levels, and to oppose deaf educationalists who advocate deaf are kept apart for 'cultural and language' reasons, when its just an excuse to maintain an defunct segregationist system, so the one-eared deaf can run the show again.

(10) Peace, goodwill, and a real cure for my deafness so I can listen to music, and my son talking to me. I have a bet the first thing I hear will be he wants more pocket money....

Happy whatever for 2012.

Culpepper claim thrown out.

"Experience of Listening" valid. Discrimination claim in Arkansas thrown out. (Background) : Ms Culpepper has suffered from a severe hearing impairment, which the parties agree qualifies her for protection from discrimination and retaliation under the Rehabilitation Act, since her early childhood. Culpepper began working for the USDA in 1979 and at the time of the filing of her suit was a loan technician in the Single Family Housing Section of USDA Rural Development's Little Rock, Arkansas office with a federal employee grade of GS-7.

Over the course of her employment with the USDA, she has filed numerous complaints of workplace discrimination. On January 17, 2005, she sent a letter to the USDA's Office of Civil Rights alleging discrimination against her because of her impairment and retaliation for her previous complaints. She raised a number of issues including her non-selection for a purchasing agent job announced in November 2004 for which she had applied. On May 22, 2006, Culpepper sent another letter alleging discrimination and retaliation related to the announcement of a loan specialist position in April 2006 for which she had not applied, claiming that the inclusion in the announcement of language referring to "experience in listening" was discriminatory.

The Office of Civil Rights never acknowledged these administrative complaints, even after Culpepper sent follow-up letters requesting final agency decisions, and later claimed first that it had not received the complaints and then that it had lost them.

After receiving no response to her first complaint letter, Culpepper filed suit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas on February 6, 2006, alleging discrimination on the basis of her disability and retaliation for her prior complaints. She later amended her complaint to include claims relating to her May 2006 complaint letter.

Some discrimination claims she made:

During a three-day bench trial, Culpepper alleged a large number of acts of discrimination or retaliation, including: (1) the 2004 failure to promote her to the purchasing agent position for which she applied; (2) the "experience in listening" language in the 2006 loan specialist vacancy announcement; (3) an inflation of the required employee grade level to be eligible to apply for positions to which she could otherwise have applied, allegedly in order to prevent her from applying to these positions; (4) the failure to promote her through the non-competitive "accretion of duties" process; (5) the use of an intercom system that she could not hear to make announcements to employees; (6) a failure to notify her of various computer issues via her telecommunications device for the deaf ("TDD"), instead relying only on email; (7) a failure to recognize Disability Awareness Month; (8) her omission from two employee telephone extension lists distributed in March 2004; (9) a supervisor's failure to include her on the initial copy of an email about a telephone conversion process; (10) the failure to provide her with an interpreter at a meeting in July 2009 called to discuss her request for sick leave; (11) a supervisor's demand that she take notes during a meeting in July 2009; (12) the failure to provide open or closed captioning for a number of informational and training "webinars" in March 2009; and (13) a delay in the issuance of her annual performance plan, due in October 2009 but not issued until April 2010. Culpepper also argued that the various actions taken against her cumulatively gave rise to a valid claim of discrimination.

SOURCE/BACKGROUND/MORE

Deaf-Blind student told no to accessible education..

A YOUNG deaf and blind student has been left devastated after being told the £30,000 funding for her specialist college course is to be cut.

Caroline Potter, of Wolstanton, is currently in the second year of a three-year access course at Exeter Royal Academy for Deaf Education. But her family says the 20-year-old's social worker at Staffordshire County Council, which provides the funding, has told them it will not be available next year.

The authority says no decision has yet been made.

Twin sister Laura Potter-Dunn said: "When Caroline's social worker came round we thought it was a routine update but she said she'd come to discuss what the council wanted Caroline to do in the future. She said she'd been told by her manager Caroline wasn't going to get any funding for the next year of her access course.

"Instead she said the proposal was for Caroline to live in a flat on her own here in Staffordshire and given direct debits to pay for support workers, which would mean her education and her social life would be taken away."

Laura, a second-year student at the University of Gloucestershire, added: "It was a shock – Caroline was crying, saying 'this is what I want to do, I want to learn how to work on my own and get a job'.

SOURCE

VRS Fraud rife in USA ?

What safeguards are in place for the UK ? Allegations of backhanders have already been mooted with 'donations' to VRS BSL campaigns in the UK from American hardware providers...... Why WERE American reps of Sorensons at UK VRS meetings ?

LINKS

NO!

Social Media, anti-social ?

Social media, the be-all, end-all, yet many deaf are just as isolated as they were prior to its inception, in that they still have tremendous issues communicating on the ground and face to face. This vblog extols the virtues of social medias in levelling the playing field, assuming of course you do NOT Use sign language as the tool in social medias to do that, at least not without effective captioning, and narrowing your field of response at the same time.

Social media as an tool to make a point, which I would not disagree with, I would disagree it enhances communications to deaf people face to face on the street with anyone hearing. So in that respect I don't find social media of use. In exchanging views putting forward opinions in text certainly no-one can tell if you are deaf or not, but, is that levelling any playing field if you have to 'suggest' you are actually hearing ? Or have you swallowed the myth of the 21stc ? we don't have to say any more ? Well, let us suggest we don't have to tell some social medias we are, we still HAVE to inform mainstream generally, having an Cinderella disablement means they can't mind-read us.. In reality it is still par for the course deaf gravitate in social areas like to like anyway. where there are deaf, there is the ready made clique, few hearing would butt in.

We must not forget although hearing utilise social medias considerably, they have the back up of basic oral and hearing communications and interaction, when they switch these electronic medias off, we don't, we are stuck with the reliance on the technology. While this suits some deaf areas it doesn't suit everyone.

Social media may enable by proxy, but not directly, it is if you believe integration without actual face to face, is really that, or an acceptable alternative. It's a fallacy to assume we are using social media the same way hearing are. E.G. Deaf people could always write letters to medias etc expressing a view, social media is the modern update to that, it provides more avenues to do it. For deaf people, direct communications is pretty essential, and basic a want, we don't want to end up with thousands of 'followers' we will never see, never meet and if we could, would still not be able to communicate to them as a norm.

Whilst twittering away nonsensical asides and not having to mention you are deaf seems very liberating, but is it ? In the UK isolation is even MORE pronounced than it was prior to social media, so what has gone wrong with it ? I'm sure at some point you can marry, have kids and divorce then die via text, but it's not 'life' as I would see it. It makes nasties of some of us too, we can be more aggressive than we usually are face to face, build up a persona that basically is not what we are, or worse show a side that nobody likes to see, as all inhibitions and frustration spill out.

Surely the hype is social media opens up the world to everyone (Assuming they read and write of course and own a computer), mostly these users deaf will be stuck in their homes posting texts to people they may never meet. Billy no-mates ? not exactly, because the modern train of thought is the more unknowns you know (?) the more popular you are, but who is seeking popularity anyway,unless you are an budding celeb ? The modern view is talking to the world whilst remaining on your own, or still outside the scheme of things is now the 'Norm' for everyone. How many can name their own neighbours ?

As regards to ASL or BSL medias socially, there are still HUGE gaps of understanding, Americans cannot follow BSL, British have issues with ASL, and the whole vblog thing hinges on dual access most do not provide. In essence any huge jump in access via social media is via non-signed output. Would deaf people provide signed vblogs for hearing consumption ? suicide unless captioned. Would they dwell on deaf issues ? again an literal 'social' suicide as no-one wants to be bored with 'issues' unless topical.

Top youtube vid is a dog chasing some reindeer in an UK park. One doubts that the pros of social media in those respects have any validity except as a novelty of some kind. Not a single deaf vblog is listed anywhere as 'viral' unless you count the resent CI switched on lady who was left in tears of joy. Deaf are typically non-connected to topical issues despite this vblog suggesting social media has levelled the field, I ask where has it levelled the field.

Deaf-Deaf social media by its nature tends to inwardly focus and not make them with any hearing viewing in mind. The very nature of deaf media is isolatory,and simply because you utilise these medias does not level any field for the deaf since you are not competing in like for like,in fact excluding hearing to an large degree. Hence I use no social media at all, I prefer real people in real time. In reality no-one here really posts blogs for social interactional reasons. They simply make personal statements. I am not bothered if I get x amount of responses or not that's not the point of the blog. Indeed if you wait a week to respond there is no avenue to do so.

SOURCE

Going deaf makes you an better musician... we have proof.

This should silence those who suggest deafness is an negative thing.....I think I'll start composing now. Beethoven’s deafness could have been cause of greatest works, claims study. (NO truth in the rumour this study was commissioned by the British Deaf Association.).

BEETHOVEN’s deafness may have helped inspire some of his best-loved compositions, according to new research.

Experts believe that by 1820, when the German composer was almost completely deaf, he wrote some of his greatest works.

Medical experts said his deafness meant that Beethoven favoured lower notes in his later string quartets, as these could be heard more easily.

Music experts said the composer’s deafness actually improved his later works, with one claiming that it “shielded the composer from the disturbance of the outer world and forced him to live in his inner world.”

Ludwig van Beethoven, who died in 1827 aged 57, first reported a hearing impairment in 1796 when he was just 26.

As the years progressed, his deafness worsened, leaving him unable to hear woodwind instruments and reducing him to communicating through note books.

By 1826 the composer was completely deaf, with scientists from the University of Amsterdam claiming his disability had a profound effect on his later string quartets.

The findings, published in the British Medical Journal, showed that as his hearing failed Beethoven used more middle and low frequency notes, as these proved easier for him to hear.

And when his hearing disappeared completely, he was able to disappear into an ‘inner world,’ composing music using the same vivid imagination that had marked the early stages of his career.

SOURCE

Meet Mr Hearing CEO

Guess Americans need all the laughs they can get.... at mark 1:48 the UK gets the most laughs :)

Silent Night

Deaf Video Trial ends

Not captioned and the CC option is dire but......

Greek Deaf Support Abandoned

Evanthia Plakoura's life recently became a lot more complicated. Conversations with her boss switched to email only. Visits to the doctor require additional planning. She feels helpless in Greece's bureaucratic labyrinth.

"It's like someone flicked a switch and turned off your voice," said Plakoura, a deaf woman who works at the Education Ministry. Plakoura joined some 2,000 disabled demonstrators at a rally in central Athens this week to protest sweeping benefit cuts imposed in Greece's economic crisis that have deprived her of sign-language translation.

In August, a five-year-old program providing deaf people with interpreters was suspended after the government abruptly cut its funding to less than half. Overnight, 15,000 deaf people around Greece were left without help to report a crime to the police, rent a house or go to a job interview.

SOURCE/MORE

Congo Bans deaf from text messaging...

Deaf people in the Democratic Republic of Congo say a ban on texting threatens their lives because they no longer receive warnings of violence.

The government banned SMS messages more than a week ago to preserve "public order" following disputed elections.

President Joseph Kabila was declared the winner, but his main rival, Etienne Tshisekedi, rejected the result.

There are an estimated 1.4 million deaf people in DR Congo, which is recovering from years of conflict.

Last month's elections were the second since the 1998-2003 war which claimed about four million lives.

Four people were killed in the capital, Kinshasa, after Mr Kabila's victory was announced. He is due to be inaugurated for a second term next week.

The official results gave him 49% of the vote against 32% for Mr Tshisekedi.

The opposition says they plan to organise mass protests, alleging the polls had been rigged. " When shooting started in the city I wanted to contact those who were sleeping here and tell them not to go out” Freddy Mata/Deaf cultural centre,
"Since 3 December, we've been unhappy," said Pastor Kisangala, the deaf community's religious minister in the capital, Kinshasa.

"We're finding it very hard to communicate. All our communications used to go through SMS messages," he says.

SOURCE

The UK's 'Hearing Times'

Poor title or what? Interested ? 0845 code: HEARING line ?

Deaf MP hasn't all her faculties...

Seems we are not over the assumptions yet re being deaf, foot in mouth time again. Green MP-in-waiting Mojo Mathers has accepted an apology from a Conservative Party member in New Zealand, who questioned whether the deaf Ms Mathers should be an MP because she didn't have all her "faculties".

Kevin Campbell, who was previously a member of the Act Party, made the statement on his Facebook profile, but later emailed Ms Mathers an apology. He told the Herald he had "goofed". "It was a mistake and I recognise that." Ms Mathers will become the Greens' 14th MP after the official election result on Saturday boosted their party vote to 11.06 per cent. In the email, Mr Campbell said his comments were "a poor lapse of judgment".

Ms Mathers accepted his apology and said she was not offended.

Hypocritical blog of the week..

Pots, kettles and the whole damned thing.... Biased, surely not !!! This is a blogger who refuses to accept feedback too...... how about 'hard of listening John ?'

Who is deaf ? Who isn't ?

This is an never-ending debate, who IS deaf who isn't, it's all about decibels and whether any decibel use you have is effective enough for you to follow unaided OR with alleviating aids/CI/BAHA's. I think the debate is probably more about the latter category, i.e. hearing use WITH these 'aids'. Then it comes down to how YOU feel that effectiveness IS, on an personal level. Ignoring of course those born deaf who STILL use hearing aids and insist they are still in the former category of total deafness. I think profound and total ARE totally different categories, and personally I would like to see clarifications, because I'm not happy with the db argument which in reality is superfluous in that personal perception determines, not the db rating and even cultural arguments overrule loss accuracy and effectiveness.

Follow so far ?! Happily (Or not !), I AM in the total loss category since medically an CI/BAHA would not be viable and, there is virtually no register at all re db. I'm as deaf as anyone is likely to get. In that respect I can feel able to challenge those claiming total deafness who then walk about clearly able to 'hear' to an significant degree with aids or such. Are THEY now deaf ? yes and no ! yes they are deaf if the aids fail, no if they don't. In short they have an choice of some degree, I don't. You base an culture or loss degree on if your battery fails or not. ? At worst some would still qualify as HoH and not deaf at all as we understand it. I am talking basic loss, not other medical areas that can affect comprehension of what you hear.

Really speaking people with hearing loss often have NO idea how much they are expected to hear. I've seen many with hearing aids complaining they still cannot hear 'everything', in reality those classified as 'Hearing normally' do not get everything either. I found people going deaf were more attuned to feeling they are missing more than they are. I'm a total stickler for details to the point of excess, and to the point I never was when I had full hearing, go figure, perhaps an desperation not to be left out ? Last year I attended an audiology meet, and there was an deaf woman there (Born that way), who related she was issued with an digital hearing aid, and was able to hear, she was put into shock, and consistently returned the aid to the ENT convinced it was set 'too loud'. After changing her settings and 3 digital aids, she decided hearing wasn't for her and told the ENT she didn't want to hear any more.

I would suggest that is good enough reason to ensure children assumed born deaf had access a lot earlier than they actually do, so as to avoid "Hearing phobia" when they might decide later to try an aid or CI. It is however fraught with political overtones in the 'Deaf' world as many are painfully aware ! I attend an deaf club fairly regularly despite being born hearing, and an snap survey of members of that deaf community put me and only 4 others in the total deaf catagory out of 46......... and 30 of them attended deaf schools apart from hearing. You have to wonder sometimes don't you how many in deaf schools are actually erm.... deaf or was it just an case they didn't get assessed and supported a lot earlier before the mind-set was entrenched ? How did I feel that 5 of them always removed hearing aids prior to attending the deaf club..... confused or annoyed ?

Hands ON hands out Deafhood plug

My way or the Highway ?

In responding to Liz's blog (Mainly because I was unsure she would print my response !), I would like to suggest why I think Liz is naive in her approach. Liz:

"Let me first suggest, there is an total lack of cohesion in the UK regarding support or campaigns. There is too much division. Too many loose cannons, too many clique's. I've blogged for years, I do not fool myself in the scheme of things, the world is watching and waiting with bated breath to read what I post next. Hell in some UK quarters they post warnings about my blog. Do I care ? no. 4 BILLION blogs exist, 99.999999999% of online have never, nor will ever, read about us. Blogs are an expression of frustration little more, we rattle around in our own micro-cosmic world while the world revolves regardless. It would be comforting to believe a few texts online and a few blogs we write get read now and then, but being realistic ......

We CANNOT as late-deafened campaign as any sector with just a few friends, there is but one option sadly, every one for him or herself. I have been acquired deaf 38 years, NEVER in that entire time has any late-deafened sector made ANY significant move to campaign on our platform. Charities are more interested in making hay while we stay with issues or trying to belittle us by stating to the world you are better off hearing, as if we aren't painfully aware already, and your blog gives them air time, I would attack that premise and certainly NOT give the air time to pontificate it, under the view they 'support' us, whilst consistently telling the world deafness is bad and hearing is good. Neither of us chose to be late-deaf. I'm damned if I am going to be sitting there feeling guilty about it.

I don't allow the "Deaf" to post here stating the opposite, not interested. Dogma is for religions and atheists have it all going for them.. Isolation affects us ALL, strange to say I get it as well. You can do one of two things, you can roll over and cry woe is me, or you can stand up to be counted and fight your corner, mostly that is determined by your own character, where I was brought up you don't take crap thrown at you, you fight back. It wasn't easy, it still isn't, and it took me 11 years to realise if I don't fight, I am finished. Where I am able I fight other people's corners as well, I try, I cannot fight the entire planet. I target specific areas I can make headway with.

That means standing up to everyone not just hearing people. This has made many of us either apathetic or angry at that fact, (Mostly anger which is an perfectly natural reaction to being late-deafened), some of us caved in and some gave up. 40% of us are said to have mental health issues as a result. I say its time we took over the asylum. So whose 'fault' is it support is poor ? and representations worse ? It's ours ? Many of us live nowhere NEAR any group at all, are isolated and unless WE DIY, we will get nothing, we also have to compete (Which is utterly unfair and wrong), with more strident sectors of the Deaf or deaf, which we are NOT members of . I'm not creating divisions, they already exist and I recognise them.

No-one will act in unison, no-one will support the 3rd sector i.e. us, and worse we don't support each other because we either can't or there is no body of real representation so to do, and even the RNID accepts 'social' networking has added nothing in representative terms to any of us, petitions are an cruel joke, campaigns allotted to some 'que' along with thousands of others, and when people need to stand up to be counted, they revert to social sites and fudge it. If you want to put the late-deafened world to 'rights' then it's an very lonely proposition, and you need to understand no-one is going to support you except on some pathetic 'social' level of posting an 130 character text. Mainly because it is ALL about breaking the isolation and LESS about fighting your corner, I cannot see ANY Future in online socialising, as an person I prefer real people, I can talk direct to, I am sure you do too.

What else is your blog stance about ? All I read is this 'credo' of of pat explanations "deaf" do this "Deaf" are that, it is irrelevance to me, I'm past caring about what they need, it's time for awareness to appreciate what late-deaf need, their need is no greater than mine, we all have the same rights. I put our sector first because for sure no-one else will. Pigeon-holes are for pigeons not people. The value you say in meeting others albeit in print, for me that would not be valid unless you met face to face and could still carry any interactions on meaningful, I don't want hypothetical friends I prefer real ones. We could all post to social areas and have a love in, but any relationship stands of falls in REAL time. You or I are judged on what people read, they don't or cannot judge you any other way. To be totally honest you admit you tried setting up social areas, (All credit to you), and it fails. Why ? because you haven't understood the nature of them. Social areas do not want 'hard luck' stories, or descriptions of discrimination. They are swamped online with millions of them they talk Justin Beiber or TV. It's a no-contest you can compete with that, unless JB is contributing TO your site, even then readers would ignore your message..

You can be yesterday's chip paper in 30 seconds or less. We are THE largest sector of ANYONE with hearing loss, and, the most impotent. The message may seem to be negative, but the message is real and factual. Truth hurts. Late-deafened isn't fun... do we tell that as a truism ? or play to their sympathy ?"

For Kids, Be Safe with your mobile...

Deafhood, the scourge is here now....

Just when you thought it was safe....... For years we in the UK either ignored, laughed at, or generally and benignly indulged those who mentioned Deafhood or read a few pages of it, obviously this enforced our view deaf signers had no issue with English which is all it is in anyway....... we assumed most lived in Bristol or at the Deaf study enclave there, had hearing, or a few decibels spare, or were making money at it, by grabbing funds for cultural things instead of keeping deaf clubs or schools open where the culture base really was...... and what happened to Bristol Uni ? weren't they closing these people down ? Now it looks like an worthy deaf charity the BDA, an life long supporter of common sense and supporting deaf people, has officialy recognised this weird 'sect' up, and is bowing to this insidious alternative to equality, created by Paddy Ladd's ramblings.

I suppose any bandwagon British deaf still have rolling, is worth a punt (Definition: "Punt" means to gamble in British slang. If it's worth a punt, then it means the odds are reasonably good or it's worth the risk.). Will we now see the American approach to deafhood, where basic deafies are herded into various for and against deafhood camps ? Audism is an actual WORD ? God forbid ! Paddy Ladd as 'Deaf President Now !' ? we know what happened to the last one.....Take heart deafies.... Being a Brit I have complete faith it will NOT catch on here, and British apathy (for which we deaf are famous in the UK), will ultimately prevail. I would urge the BDA to stop playing to this silly gallery of divisions, take note of the hate it has created in the US of A, and get back to basics of support, not deaf politics which a charity should NOT be involved in anyway.

Deaf Genetics again ? After 8 years that got nowhere except some weird suggestion we should create MORE deaf people by choice once the option exists..... . One consolation, no-one joins the BDA any more... now they know why..... perhaps they are hoping for more members this way, which might prove pointless given they have nowhere to go.... Deafhood will make being deaf an academic pursuit where people talk about how deaf used to be, to people who are no longer deaf in that sense and cannot relate to it, however may be able to make a few quid at it.......

How many times can you reinvent a wheel ?