NAD, only for the oppressed?

Is NAD (National Association of the Deaf) only for deaf people who suffered and were oppressed against?

Are you unqualified because you might not have suffered or experienced oppression as a deaf person?

That is what I was told by a deaf gay man. To begin with I thought it was a laughable notion until I realized how serious this man was and that he really believed it.  And then I realized something.  It's the root of a culprit within the big D society.  This man actually believed it and he was so disappointed with his own life.  He's like many unhappy and disappointed big D people I knew.... always busy whining about how they have suffered and experienced oppression in a horrible way.  Read below and see what I just learned from this deaf gay man who wanted to ask me these questions directly.

*quoting this man*

Do you remember there were times when you went online and watched a video and then find out that the video isn't captioned?

Do you remember the time when you looked at the facial expression of a hearing employer, knowing that they're not interested in you?

Do you remember the time you were bullied because you were Deaf? 

Do you remember the time where your parents don't sign or encouraged you to use your speech?

Do you remember the time when your hearing family members left you out of their conversation?

Do you remember the time that Deaf people couldn't get married?

We, as a Deaf people, sometimes take things for granted. We forgot what it means to be Deaf. We forgot what it meant to be discriminated. We forgot what it meant to be oppressed. We forgot what it meant to be a minority. To this day, we are still struggling for our rightful place in our society. 

*end quote*

I told him I honestly did not remember this kind of life. I told him I grew up having weekly captioned films in my own home.  Told him I never applied for a job because at age 18 I went straight into corporate world and made a name for myself. I told him I was never bullied. I grew up in a big deaf family so signing were everywhere. Told him I never felt left out.  Told him deaf people could always marry and that my seven generations of deaf family were all married to deaf spouses.  Told him as I  grew up I've never felt oppressed by anybody.  Told him that it probably had to do with one's attitude and that I thought I probably had the right attitude. I told him I was sorry if he had a different experience.

His response was, "It was not because you had the right attitude. It seems like you have never experienced oppression, discrimination, rejection and bullying. That explains everything. You are unfit to understand the minority and the oppressed.  

I replied and told him that was precisely my point.  Not every deaf person experienced oppression. Not every deaf person have exactly the same struggles therefore I asked him not to speak for me or others.  I suggested that he speak for himself. Otherwise he would be a fool.

He replied and said, "Fool... I am going to show you who's the fool.  You just proved my point. Just  because you have never experience such struggles, does not give you the place to say that NAD is wrong for endorsing to end the injustice, struggle, and oppression. Sir, this is called ignorance. I am through with you."

I replied and told him that NAD was not only restricted to those who suffered, struggled and were oppressed against.  I asked him to show me a statement where NAD might have said that the organization was only for those who suffered, struggled and were oppressed against.  And I repeated my point that not every deaf person suffered.  I suggested that he learn to speak for himself and respect others who might have a completely different journey and perhaps learn how one could lead a productive and happy life as I have.  

But no, he was not interested in hearing successful stories. He was not interested in learning about some of the happy and productive deaf people out there in this world.  He did not want the recipe for success I had offered. He was only interested in unsuccessful stories.  He was actively pursuing recipes from those who suffered and failed.  His energy feeds off negativity because his lifehood and deafhood depended on it. Negativity seem to validate his inferior esteem.

After having this conversation with him I gained a better understanding of what was wrong with the big D society.  They're not interested in successful stories because it offends them greatly.  They only want to hear about those who didn't have a good life in order to feel validated.  I thought it was rather interesting.  It gave me something to think about.  

Is NAD strictly for those who suffered and those who were oppressed against?  If so, I apologize. I had a completely different view of NAD. I saw it as a a place for all deaf people who could share their experience, the good and the bad, including unsuccessful and successful stories.  Why reject successful and happy deaf people who did not suffer in this world?  Don't they see these happy and successful stories as an asset to the deaf community so that deaf people are able to learn from them?  Is it a sin to say I've had a great life as a deaf person?  Is it a sin to live and tell about it?

Apparently it is the ultimate sin as far as the culturally and linguistically big D deaf people are concerned.  Could it be the reason why they are not winning very many battles?  Is it why their world's becoming rapidly small and smaller?  Are they the reason why young deaf people are not engaging themselves into the deaf community?  What made these 'desperate and angry' big 'D' people think that deaf youths would find them interesting and appealing if they didn't host a wealth of successful and happy deaf people.

Ever heard of this saying... "you are who you hang out with"?  What will happen to you if you constantly hang around out with angry deaf people who felt  that they have suffered and were oppressed against? Sooner or later you'll begin to sound like them and eventually, you'll be one of them.  Not kidding you here.   And that's what happened to National Association of the Deaf.  There seem to be no shortage of negativity in this organization.  They seem to lack positive and successful role models because they were chewed out for saying they didn't suffer or were not oppressed against.  

In short, NAD has been infested and is desperately in need of being disinfected.

I want to take few moments to thank this deaf gay man for giving me a new insight on this matter.

Thank you GLBT, our Trojan Horse!

In my recent blog post titled "Dear NADQ (National Association of the Deaf Queers)" I began to realize something quite essential.  The Trojan Horse has invaded NAD!  Much to our surprise this Trojan Horse was filled with GLBT warriors. I'm not kidding you here. The GLBT has invaded NAD (National Association of the Deaf) and applied enough pressure and changed their long held course.  NAD's former course used to for and about deaf people.  But now, thanks to GLBT warriors and their Trojan Horse, they have managed to seize NAD and possibly permanently altered their course.  There might be no opportunity for them to reverse their course unless they quickly take corrective action by publicly recognize every deaf minorities including deaf Christians, deaf Muslims, deaf Islamists, deaf Blacks, deaf Women, deaf Hispanics, deaf Native Americans and every other deaf minorities.  And yes, they should also recognize minority deaf Buckaroo like me.  You know, we got our own lifestyle as well as culture and language as well.

But in all honesty I sincerely hope that NAD does not correct itself.  Most deaf people I know do not recognize or appreciate NAD. Most of them do not see NAD as a representative body.  Many see NAD as nothing more than a small group of Deaf elitists.  It would not be a major loss to us if GLBT seized NAD and controlled their affairs from this point and forward.  GLBT would be doing us, deaf people in general a huge favor.  We would be free of NAD oppression.  We would no longer be of an interest to NAD because we're not queers. For those who tries to be a queer, be aware... you might not be queer enough.  Believe me, NAD has done this to millions of deaf people who were not culturally and linguistically deaf enough. They were not the big "D".  In essence it would not surprise me if they start a new 'not queer enough' saga.  It would be the least concern of mine but they've done this before.

I look forward to the day when GLBT controlled NAD are going to dismiss us (straight deaf and Deaf people as well as d/Deaf Christians) because we're not queers or because we're not queer enough.  That'd be the day... the day of our liberty... the day when we would no longer be oppressed by NAD's false representation.  Not kidding you here. I can see this happening, really.

Back to the point of this blog... I'm having second thoughts.  I think that this GLBT Trojan Horse is probably the best thing that has ever happened to deaf people in general who have been snubbed by NAD. They're doing us a huge favor.  They've infiltrated NAD and turned them into something more... something else that has nothing to do with our deafness.  Who would have thought of mixing our national deaf organization with our sex lives and/or sexual lifestyle.  That's really creative, just like the Trojan Horse. I'm so impressed. Just brilliant! In all honesty I could see myself rallying behind this GLBT Trojan Horse pretty soon, if not already.

For those who have low opinion of National Association of the Deaf, kindly take your hats off and bow towards GLBT community.  We give them our blessings.

(Disclaimer: This blog is not humor-based. There is no humor in this.)

Dear NADQ (National Association of the Deaf Queers)

Dear NADQ (National Association of the Deaf Queers),

I apologize for my tardiness in the coming but I was able to catch a whiff of what has just developed over at NAD on the subject of queer deaf people.  I thought it was rather interesting because I didn't know that NAD had a vested interest in people's sex lives or people's sexual lifestyles.  I've read some of the pro-active queer advocates who wrote letters to NAD, encouraging them to recognize and support their sexual lifestyles.  I read them with an open mind and heart but I could not connect the two.  The logic was simply not there.

I'm not sexist. I do not discriminate against those who prefers a different sexual lifestyle.  The choice is theirs but does that mean I have to be a conformist and approve their lifestyle?  No, it does not. I can disapprove their lifestyle but yet respect their choices.  I see queer people's desperate effort to confuse the two. If you don't approve their lifestyle then you're a sexist...  if you don't approve then you hate them... if you don't approve then you are against them.  This is far from the truth.  I don't hate them and I do not disrespect them.  It's just that I do not agree with practices of sodomity.  So, kindly do yourself a favor and don't take my comments out of context.

By recognizing deaf queers NAD has just invited quagmire and basically dug their own grave.  Allow me to explain why.  When we were born, we came in the form of human beings before we were anything else.  This much is assured.  It mattered very little whether we were males or females. When a new human being is being born, there was a great cause for celebration. And then human nature would kick in and we'd become piqued about the sex of the baby.  Male?  Female?  It was no longer sufficient being a simple human being. People's quest for power would kick in almost instantly and seek baby's second identity, that of male or female.  This is done for the sake of power hungry society.  Although their initial intentions might be good but it actually pits down the female as the less superior being and the male as the superior being. Worse yet, it became some kind of 'male over female' tradition. That is where and how we have shamed ourselves and our beings. Later on in life we begin to feel insufficient and powerless with our original identity as a human being and then we begin to feel insufficient and powerless with our second identity as a male or a female.  So, what do we do next?

People would begin to seek their third and fourth identities in search for greater power that would make them something more than the rest of human beings. It was no longer sufficient or satisfactory being a simple human beings and no longer sufficient being a simple male or a female.  That's where deaf identity kicks in for some people who could not hear.  Aha... now they believed that they were something special and that it would separate them from the rest of human beings. They formed advocacy based organizations to protect their civil rights as deaf people as if they lacked their first and basic rights as human beings.  Remember, they didn't feel that being 'human beings' were satisfactory enough. And then they didn't feel that being a male or female were satisfactory enough.  They staked a claim on "deafness" and called themselves "deaf", as in their third identity because they wanted something more. They saw it as a form of 'new power' that was up for grabs.  Now that they have three identities, what next?

They develop their skills and talents.  They get their education and then they become specialists and professionals in their own rights.  Let's say this 'power hungry' human being turned into a female being, turned into a deaf person became a teacher.  She is now a teacher and prefers to be seen as teacher because it represented greater 'status' in the society.  Such notion lead people to think and believe that a simple human being is now a lesser being.  It also lead people to think and believe that male and female beings are also lesser beings.  It also lead us to our quest for deaf identity when we were younger.  But it didn't stop there.  We became culturally and linguistically Deaf people who think and believe that being a simple deaf person is a lesser being. And yet this pursuit and hunger for greater status and power does not end there.

That is when, where and how we've become destructive and done more harm than good for our beings.  It's becoming a competitive world where dogs would begin to eat dogs. You see a lot of this in the deaf community these days.

This begs the question.  How far do we really want to go with our never-ending hunger for greater status and power?  NAD was never about anything else but civil rights of deaf people. It has nothing to do with their race, age, gender or sexual lifestyle. Not long ago I could walk into NAD if I choose to and participate just because I was deaf.  That would have sufficed.  It may not be sufficient today.  I almost have to be culturally and linguistically Deaf.  NAD hosts this mentality that it's better to be culturally and linguistically Deaf. Otherwise you are not deaf enough. This brings me to the underlying point... the term 'deaf' is now seen as a lesser being than 'Deaf'.  In this power-hungry society one has to be something more than the rest of the crowd. So what comes next after being culturally and linguistically Deaf?  Deaf Queers!  The birth of Deaf Queers made possible by NAD.

NAD's message is, Deaf Queers are something even more special.  Pretty soon, if not already, Deaf people in general will be seen and noted as a lesser beings due to influx of new identity, that of Deaf Queers. Oh, how special they are. All the more power to them. Congratulations. Apologies to Deaf people in general but you are no longer special.  No longer the focus of NAD because your sexual lifestyle do not promote or practice sodomity. If you wish to be recognized and respected in a special way by NAD then you need to reconsider your sexual lifestyle.  

Am I supposed to walk into NAD and say I'm a Deaf (culturally and linguistically deaf) Great Basin Buckaroo? Does that give me a greater power and footing within NAD?  Does that give me a greater status than the rest of the Deaf, deaf people and Deaf Queers?  How many Deaf Great Basin Buckaroo are out there?  None according to my knowledge.  That makes me extremely special!  Even more special than Queer deaf people. I believe I deserve the recognition from NAD for being the only Deaf Great Basin Buckaroo in this nation.  I deserve the civil rights protection as a Deaf Great Basin Buckaroo and I demand it now.  Recognize me!

I mean, where does it end?  Is it not sufficient to say we are human beings first before we're anything else?  Is it not enough to recognize ourselves as deaf people whether we've been culturally and linguistically raised?  Why do we continue to marginalize ourselves as Human Beings?  Why do we marginalize deaf organization and reject deaf people that were not linguistically and culturally Deaf?  And especially now, why are marginalizing Deaf people in favor of Deaf Queers? I mean, what does NAD have to do with Deaf people's sex lives?

In short, everybody's world just became smaller.  It will become even smaller when the Deaf Queers begin to find it unsatisfying with their so-called "queer" identity. What identity will they seek next?  It won't matter because whatever they decide to do they are going to continue to marginalize themselves.  This is a recipe for self destruction.

And NAD did not see this coming?  Pretty soon, if not already, NAD is turning into NADQ.  Who knows what the future has in store for them. All the more reason for me not to join and become a member. I know I won't be treated fairly there because I'm not queer. Heck they may even start "not queer enough" saga in the future.  This whole thing is so unfortunate.  We lost NAD when they meddled with Deaf people's sex lives.  I just don't see what our ears, our deafness, our deaf culture and language might have to do with our sex lives.  This is beyond stupidity.  No pun intended.

AFA's Demands. EHDI's Response.

One other letter was brought to my attention just now and due to the nature of recent debates on AFA (Audism Free America) and EHDI (Early Hearing Detection & Intervention) I thought I'd share this one with you. This one was written some time in Janyary 2012 and is older than the earlier one I posted. That is what makes it even more interesting. Before I published this one I asked Karl White for permission to share it with you and he did not have a problem with that.

--------------------------------------------

Dear AFA Representatives:

Thank you for your letter of January 3, 2012. We are happy to meet with you to discuss ways of improving Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) programs. The National EHDI Meeting is a busy time for the three of us and there is not a time on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday when all three of us are available for an hour. Therefore we invite you to meet with us on Saturday afternoon from 4-5 PM. Given that the pre-sessions for the Meeting start on Sunday morning and there are several affiliated meetings on Saturday, many people are planning on arriving at the hotel on Saturday afternoon, so we thought that might be a convenient time. If it would be better for you to meet later Saturday evening (perhaps from 7:30-8:30 PM), we could also do that.

To make the meeting as productive as possible, I thought it would be useful to provide some initial feedback to your demands.

First, it is important to clarify that EHDI is not an organization or program within any Federal agency. The Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are federal agencies with the US Department of Health and Human Services that administer competitively award grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. A small part of each agency’s work is to promote Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) programs. Competitive awards have been made in the past by each agency to departments of health, universities, associations, and others to assist with the development, operation, and improvement of EHDI programs. Every state and territory has organized one or more program(s) to assist with the provision of newborn hearing screening, diagnosis, intervention, family support, and health care programs. Some of these programs are assisted with federal money, but most of the financial resources for these programs come from other sources (e.g., school districts, hospitals, insurance proceeds, private pay, charitable gifts, etc.). The people who are providing services to children and families in all of these areas work under a variety of circumstances -- including state employees, private practitioners, school districts, private organizations, volunteers, etc. NCHAM is one of the grantees and receives funding from MCHB to serve as the National Technical Assistance Resource Center for EHDI Programs.

Now that you understand that EHDI is not an organization or agency that establishes requirements for how various activities are done, and that the vast majority of funding for EHDI programs come from non-federal sources, you can see that we are not in a position to comply with your demands. I will however, comment briefly on each one (quoted below from your letter) to begin a conversation of how we might be able to work cooperatively to continue to improve EHDI programs.

Demand #1: Equitable funding. AFA calls upon EHDI, CDC, NIH, and US Dept of Education to address the historical and contemporary inequality of funding by increasing funds for bilingual (ASL and English) materials, early educational programs, Deaf mentoring programs, and services to parents. AFA cannot condone funding of any oral/aural only program as in compliance with a Deaf child’s human right to sign language, and governmental bodies such as EHDI that have professed a mission of ‘appropriate’ intervention services have, in practice, promoted services which focus almost exclusively on speech, medical and audiological services. Equitable funding should be transparent. (Relates, in part, to EHDI goal #3. Please note also that nowhere in the 2012 Conference is there a presentation which has ASL in the title).

Funding administered by MCHB and CDC is competitively awarded based on federal procurement regulations and Congressional direction. All funding opportunities are announced in advance through established sources such as www.grants.gov. Proposals from AFA or any other organization that meets the eligibility requirements for the various funding programs and is interested in improving EHDI programs are accepted. All proposals are objectively evaluated by a panel of experts who affirm they do not have any conflict of interest with the applicant.. Please note that Congress limits the authority of CDC for funding agreements for State agencies. Almost all federal funding that has been focused on improving EHDI programs over the past 10 years has gone to State Departments of Health or Universities and I know of no grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts from the MCHB or CDC EHDI programs that have gone to support an "oral/aural-only program." With respect to your claim that there are no presentations at the 2012 National Meeting with ASL in the title, please note the following sessions:

Topical Session 4: Jeffersonian Room: 'Massachusetts Family Sign Language Program: A Model for Effective Family-Centered Sign Language Instruction'

Topical Session 6: Frisco Room, 'Spoken English and American Sign Language: The Best of Both Worlds.'

More importantly however, almost all of the break-out sessions are organized based on proposals for abstracts submitted by people who plan to attend the conference. If you think there should be more sessions about ASL in the future, it would be good for you to encourage people to submit such proposals. All proposals are reviewed by a committee of experts (including people from the Deaf community) and approximately 85% of submitted proposals were accepted this year.

Demand #2: Early Healthy Deaf Identification. AFA calls upon EHDI to shift its approach to Deaf infants and their families from a pathological/medical bias to a positive/culturally-additive model in identification. To ensure this, parents need to be informed at the time of identification that American Sign Language is a linguistic human right for a Deaf child and Deaf/ASL early service providers are trained to work with them. In addition, EHDI should implement the labeling/way of thinking that was published in EHDI's 2011 Resource book in the chapter on Partnerships with the Deaf Community. (Relates to EHDI’s overall mission as well as Goals #2 and #3).

As noted above, there is no central control of the EHDI programs that are operated by states and territories, nor of the hospitals, health care providers, and schools that provide services to children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families. MCHB, CDC, and NCHAM have all worked to encourage all programs and people involved in EHDI to ensure that families are provided with complete and objective information, that family choice is supported, and that all services are provided in a way that is culturally appropriate and respectful. I agree that every family with a child who is deaf or hard of hearing should know that ASL is an appropriate option for communicating with their child. EHDI programs have been and will continue to be encouraged to make such information available to families.

Dedmand #3: Stakeholders in Leadership Positions. AFA calls upon EHDI to hire Deaf people who use and support ASL/Deaf Culture in leadership roles at national and state levels. (Relates to EHDI’s National Goal #7)

I believe both MCHB and CDC will continue to encourage all programs who receive competitively awarded federal funding to make concerted efforts to hire qualified Deaf people who use and support ASL/Deaf Culture and others who have disabilities or who come from typically under-represented minorities. This has been the case in the past and will continue to be the case in the future.

Demand #4: Full Disclosure. Audiologists should be required to explain the four international documents and their positions on the language and cultural rights of Deaf people. Also, they need to explain the recalls (both voluntary and involuntary) and risks associated with cochlear implants and Auditory-Verbal Therapy (AVT) programs. (Relates to EHDI’s National Goal #5)

Most audiologists who do diagnoses for infants and young children do not work for either the federal government or for state-based EHDI programs. Thus, it is impossible to mandate what they say or do not say to parents. I agree with you however, that all health-care providers who work with families of children who are deaf or hard of hearing should provide families with complete, objective, and relevant information that will help the family make informed decisions about the care and education of their child. State-based EHDI programs are in a position to educate health care providers and to encourage them to provide appropriate information. I hope your organization will work with state-based EHDI programs to help them understand what kind of information is needed by parents. Please understand that Federal agencies may not impose additional administrative requirements except those that have been codified in regulations published in the Federal Register or are provided in authorized Congressional language.

Demand #5: Confidential Information and Genetic Research. AFA calls upon EHDI to guarantee that information about Deaf children and their families will not be used for collecting genetic information beyond consults with the families. EHDI will not support financially nor in terms of information sharing any research related to genetic engineering. (Relates to EHDI’s National Goal #6).

To the best of my knowledge, the MCHB and CDC programs that are supporting EHDI initiatives have never collected genetic information about children who are deaf or hard of hearing. All grantees must comply with all federal and state laws and privacy regulations dictated by HIPAA, FERPA and IDEA.

It is possible that the proceeding information will make a face-to-face meeting unnecessary. But, if you would still like to meet, and can do so on Saturday afternoon or evening, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can secure a room and arrange for an interpreter. We hope you are planning to participate in the 2012 National EHDI meeting so we can all work together to continue to improve EHDI programs.

Sincerely,

Karl White

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Now this begs the question. Did AFA understand Karl's letter from January? If they did, why then did they stage a protest rally at EHDI's conference in St. Louis?

And since it happened I am left with no option but to wonder if these AFA leaders were scholarly intelligent enough to understand his letter. To be honest with you I have doubts about that and I meant no offense to anybody. However based on what Karl White tried to explain in that letter I just can not envision a protest rally happening afterwards.

There seem to be only two remaining possible explanations left. One, they didn't understand the letter so they rallied a protest anyway. Two, they understood the letter but did not know how else to contribute so they rallied a protest anyway.

Personally, I have known these AFA leaders for close to four years now. Each time I tried discuss various matters with them they would avoid it at all cost. They booted me out of DBC because I was a natural strategist and a critic. They walked out of DeafVideo.tv because they could not tolerate people who saw things differently. They walked out of DeafRead.com because they didn't like the openness of dialogues that took place there. Come to think of it, these AFA leaders has refused to debate directly with many of us. Instead they would run into their own blog sites, which gave them the desired control, allowing for statements that favored their view and blocking statements that didn't.

They're using the same tactics here with EHDI by protesting around the buildings and refusing to participate as a registered agent. The truth seem to boil down to their deficiencies in understanding and using academic languages rather than using their social language, that of protesting.

Think about it, people with academic language deficiencies relies heavily on their social language, that of protesting. Is it the reason why AFA leaders were afraid of participating in these EHDI meetings? Your thoughts on that?

Blacks, Gays, Women's Rights. Deaf Rights?

I have been observing some of the 'Deaf' rights movement for the past several years and I had to wonder if they really knew what they were doing. They kept comparing their movement with black movement, gay movement, women movement and such. Oftentimes they would make reference to civil rights leaders such as MLK Jr. and such.

Well, comparing us to the blacks, gays and women's civil movement is NOT a valid notion and I'll tell you why. People in this world will NEVER grasp the concept for wanting to stay 'disabled', especially in the light of modern technologies we have today. They can not turn a black guy into a white guy so they rallied for their rights. I don't agree with gay lifestyle and practices but apparently they could not undo a gay person and turn him into a straight person. So, naturally they rallied for their rights. They can't undo a woman and turn her into a male so they rallied for their rights. They could not turn Native Americans into White Europeans so they rallied for their rights. But what do we do now that they can help a deaf person hear sounds? Rally for our rights to stay disabled? That will NEVER make sense to the world no matter how hard the deafies fight them. They are waging a battle that simply can not be won.

Furthermore... these civil rights movement fought for new ideas and new changes. They wanted to rid themselves of old world and old theories. The movement to retain the old world and old theories belonged to the Kings and Queens. It belonged to white supremacist who wanted to enslave the blacks. It belonged to men who wanted to control women. It belonged to white Europeans who wanted to control the Native Americans. The list goes on and on.

Now, if you think about it... those who tried to cling onto the old world have ALWAYS failed. Exactly what is it that some of you were trying to do these days? Some of you are fighting to keep the old world and old theories. Some of you are fighting to keep your century old culture and language. Now, kindly tell me the truth. Which movement is actually fighting for new ideas and changes? You guessed it. Organizations like AG Bell, EHDI, Hands & Voices, and such. These movement are actually comparable to some of the prominent civil rights activists who sought after new world and new ideas. To fight for old world and old ideas parallels with the likes of Kings and Queens, white supremacists, and men who controlled their women. And YES! Deafies who wanted control over deaf children. Think about it.

Before you compare yourself with Martin Luther King, Jr. and the likes, you are going to have to constantly demonstrate new ideas and promote new changes. It will require you to move away from old world and old ideas. It's clearly not happening with the big "D" society. Movements that are pushing for new ideas and new changes are AG Bell, EHDI, Hands & Voices, and numerous others. It's okay if you don't want new ideas and new changes but it'll also mean a demise of your society. I don't have to remind you of what the history will teach you.

Oh Really? (for The Deaf Edge)

Instead of leaving a comment under your recent blog I thought I'd respond via my own blog. One reason is because I know you do not like me. This much is evident every where. For as long as I could remember you, dating back to at least four years ago, you have spoken ill of me numerous times. One source told me you had a healthy disdain for smart men. Go figure. Not long ago somebody shared a link with me showing your conversation with Ridor9th in a closed thread, whining about me and my presence in the v/blog sphere. You told him that I was nobody. If you really believed that I was nobody then why bother mentioning me every where?

The real reason you don't like me is because you are intimidated by my debating skills. Forgive me for saying so but it's been quite easy to read and detect your fears. You tried vlogging at DVTV but your vlogs could never seem to hold its own grounds. But then who gives? People saw you for who you were and that in itself spoke in volumes. If I was nobody, as you claimed then my v/blogs would not have amounted to anything. Mind you, credibility is not something you earn in a classroom setting where you seem to spend most of your time. Credibility is something you earn by being amongst the people. A classroom means exactly that, a confined room therefore only the people in that room will know who you are. You will only know what a classroom might have to teach you. Go figure.

The real purpose of this blog is to debunk some of the myths you managed to spew on EHDI and Karl White. Call it a bunker bomb if you like... the debunking of your myths.

First, I agree with you on strategic mistakes made by AFA when they appeared at a local CI clinic and two oral schools when the school children were still there. Thank you for acknowledging this much. You have the right to support AFA and their rally at EHDI conference. However you're turning a blind eyes on a couple of things here. Your blog clearly demonstrated denial on your part. Here is why I said that.

In your blog you gave Karl White way too much power and credit. You kept noting his vested interests and benefit as the ultimate sin. This is a laughable notion of yours. Everybody in the professional field has their own vested interest and hope to benefit from them. You are no different. You are one of these professionals who have vested interest in something and you hope to benefit from it as well. How are you any different than Karl White? The real reason you are disappointed with Karl White and EHDI is because you are envious of their demographic advantages. They represent a very large group of people who have vested interest on deafness. Being envious is probably the least of your sin but it does not give you the right to demean or belittle them and the larger deaf (non signing) community they represent.

It was quite lame for you to lay the blame on Karl White and EHDI because they were heavily supported by Federal funds. Who are you to talk about heavy Federal funds knowingly how much Federal funds we (deaf and signing community) received through the years. I do not need to remind you of a research that was presented at Wisconsin's legislative floor from several years when they disclosed how much the government spent on a single deaf/signing person in a lifetime. An average of one whopping million dollars per deaf person's lifetime. Talk about medical services, interpreting costs, deaf education (cost of these deaf school facilities, staff, resources) as well as vocational rehabilitation, Gallaudet University, post-education costs, social security income and/or Social Securuty Disability Income, medicaid and medicares, welfare programs. The list goes on and on. Try and calculate the total amount of money we (deafies) received from the government. Compare that with what the government has given EHDI to date.

Karl White did not refuse the "D" deaf people stakeholders' participation as you tried to put it. That was untrue. There are deaf stakeholders in EHDI. If you didn't know that then I'm going to have to ask you why you didn't know. I thought research was your specialty. However you got one thing right. You said "refusing the Deaf stakeholders' participation in the issue network fully. That's right. Nobody is entitled to participate 'fully' since nobody is everything. EHDI is filled with specialists who are limited to their own professions. That is the way it works. You are a specialist yourself so surely you know I would not trust you on everything. I'd only trust you based on what you know, as in a specialist because after all you went to school to become a specialist. EHDI is full of specialists like you. This does mean you're going to have to learn to trust other specialists who are professionals in their own rights. I mean, common sense prevails here. Full participation? My eye....

You kept on referring to Karl White and his oral extremists as the perpetrator of public and non-profit administration field. Kindly tell me how different it might be when we look at you as the radical big "D" militant extremists who perpetuates deaf schools and their respective outreach departments? If you think about it, you are no different than them. You all have vested interest in your fields, all the same. The goal is the same... to benefit from it.

You claimed that there were only seven (7) registered ASL/Deaf centered presentations at EHDI. Just yesterday Karl White sent me a hard copy of registered ASL/Bilingualism presenters. The number was twenty-seven (27). And then I noted your choice of word, referring to the ASL/Deaf centric presenters. You see the problem here. You were looking for Deaf centered presenters. You are cherry-picking here, dismissing the rest of the ASL/Bilingualism presenters who were not Deaf centered. Now whose problem is that? Ours? Or is it pretty much your own. You decide what your standards are just like the rest of us will decide what we want our standards to be. I am content with ASL/Bilingualism presenters as long as they promte ASL/Bilingualism. But you? No. You wanted them to be Deaf centered presenters. A tad bit more integrity coming from you would be appreciated. There were twenty-seven ASL/Bilingualism presenters at EHDI conference. Not seven. Twenty-seven presenters out of over 120 presenters is a darn good figure, especially after the fact that we (signing community) only amount to less than 1% of the deaf population in America.

Now, whatever happen to your sense of appreciation? Didn't your parent teach you to appreciate little things? I sure hope they did.

I'd suggest that you contact Karl White if you're interested in securing a hard copy of registered presenters. I have my own copy here in front of me on my desk. I am not sure you would have the courage to ask Karl especially after making numerous ill statements towards him. Good luck with that.

Furthermore, you were aware of Karl White's email dated on March 1st, 2012. The letter was addressed to over 9oo EHDI participants. The letter ended up in numerous Facebook walls including this closed 'Deaf Community Action' group, which I believe you are part of. In that letter Karl mentioned his desire to share EHDI's stakes with Deaf people as well as AFA and DBC. He was open to the idea but yet what did you and AFA do? You continued to spread the lie. You continued to mislead numerous deaf people who didn't have appropriate education to know whether you were telling the truth or not. I saw how these people were manipulated in some of the rallies. They did not know any better but yet AFA leaders manipulated them and turned them into a group of angry people so that there would be bodies to count at their rallies.

Let's talk about imbalances in EHDI. It is supposed to be imbalanced. It's a reflection of deaf people as whole. Most of the deaf people out there simply do not sign. Gallaudet University's very own research confirmed this. There are millions of deaf people in America but yet Gallaudet University could only lay their fingers on between 300,000 to 400,000 signers in America. EHDI's structure reflected exactly that. EHDI is being realistic here. You are not.

If you still really believe in staging a massive protest then kindly address the matter with the appropriate person. The person you really need to talk to is God, Himself. Tell Him you're unhappy with the fact that he did not turn every deaf people into profoundly deaf people. Tell Him you're disappointed with him for creating hard of hearing people as well as people with moderate hearing losses. Tell Him you are sorely disappointed with him for creating inventors who invented all these technologies. Tell Him you are unhappy with people's variable opinions and views. Tell Him you hate independent thinkers.

And lastly, you might find this interesting. Karl White corrected me on something I said in my recent blog. I'm going to copy and paste it here. It's going to prove how wrong you were.

----Karl quoted----

In fact, about the only thing I disagreed with on your blog was the statement that:

"If I was in charge of EHDI and if I was so tired and sick of these ranting protesters who didn't know how to register themselves into meetings, I'd let them continue what they were doing as long as they continue to frighten the parents of deaf children. This would only work to EHDI's advantage."

I think I know what you meant, and I agree with the intent of what I think you meant. The reason I disagree with what you said is that we really do need the help of everyone to improve EHDI programs. So, what would really "work to EHDI's advantage" is if the protesters would decide to work together with the state-based EHDI Programs in a respectful way to educate parents of newly identified deaf children about services and options, and then work respectfully to help parents get the best services possible for whatever they choose. By ranting, bullying, threatening and disturbing, they only interfere with the process and make it more difficult for EHDI programs to help parents. That is sad.

----end quote----

Now kindly tell me what part you didn't understand. Better yet, explain it to God. And I'll apologize in advance if you didn't believe in God. If you didn't then it might explain why you're without logic.

AFA = American Failures Association

It was brought to my attention that 'Aufism Free America' was in fact a hideous mask, to supposedly mean 'American Failures Association. In short, if you feel that you have failed as a deaf person then you are entitled to register with American Failures Association who will then assist you in staging anger-based rallies against those who they believe were responsible for your failures.

Contact AFA for more information