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This is the first time I saw this vlog. Your mom as my mom had to beat doors down to get the resources we needed.
Back 39 years ago, doctors could not answer any of my mom's questions. She had to fight, I mean fight 10 years to get hearing aids for her deaf child. There were no services available in the 60's and 70's. AVT what is that, oh my mom invented that. She would work full time and then spend hours teaching me to speak. My sisters spent hours teaching me to speak.
Adversity, we all face it. I chose to say I can.... I have, I will, and I do each and every day of my life.
Thanks Mike....great vlog. Keep using your voice....
Another fantastic blog, Mike!! It brought back a lot of memories for me as well, as I lost my hearing when I was 9 (meningitis) and my family lived in a small town with no access to anybody knowledgeable enough about deafness to help. I remember my Mom spending countless hours on the phone, writing letters, reading pamphlets, even ordering books from city libraries because our local library carried nothing about deafness beyond the etiology. I'm amazed at the abundance of information available to parents today, and how liberating it must feel for them to realize they aren't alone. It wasn't that way for my parents. It was isolating, lonely, and scary for both them and myself. I didn't become fluent in sign until college (RIT,) and since then, although my receptive stills are still half decent, I've lost most of my signing skills because there's nobody here to sign with. All my local friends, all my family members are hearing, and I speak clearly. I find it amusing that those of us who can communicate linguistically are accused of denying our deafness. Its not about denial - as you said - its about overcoming adversity. I'd like to try putting up a vlog with me signing but I will admit - I'm intimidated because I *KNOW* I will be mocked for my lousy ASL.
I see you are getting negative reception over at DVTV. Oh well, ignorance breeds rejection and hostility.
Looks like we have a LOOONNNNGGGG road before we finally reach the "unity", whatever it means.
Yes Karen, I saw that, too.
Amy Cohen Efron has a message for you, Mike.
*Rubbing your hands, Voldermort.*
I don't visit DVTV. The site doesn't fancy me. Ah, Amy Cohen...an old college friend of mine. I can imagine what that "challenge" might be.
Well said. What you're saying makes a whole lotta sense. Too bad they're letting their fear preventing them from reaching the higest mountains.
Why limit oneselves?
Candy,
Don't worry about being limited oneselves.
Just be yourself, girl.
Mike, I knew you would not watch all of them.....
Many of them I don't understand because of the poor quality of background. I am glad I don't post or comment in DVTV. I prefer to read the blogs the most.
I didn't grow up deaf, so can't judge those who did, but I do agree deaf people don't have a monopoly on adversity. There's growing up with alcoholism, people who have been raped, people who have survived other kinds of abuse, people who have survived cancer, people who have survived bad car accidents, people who survived war-- just to name a few. Many, many hearing people face adversity. You do learn to pick up and move on from today and count your blessings-- of which I have many. It does no good to look back.
One of my friends who suffers from MS said one time, "The only difference between US and THEM is we know what we're facing. We have better perspective on life-- that it can take a turn for the worse at any time."
I loved that she said that. On my job I meet people struggling to survive every day.
That's not to say I am not empathetic towards others. I AM-- it's just that focusing on the positive is a healthier way to live for me personally.
Also I think it helps to realize that very few people have had perfect childhoods. Most parents do the best they can. As children we didn't understand the struggles our parents faced while raising us. If you can reframe that same situation from an adult point of view rather than reacting to what happened as a child, it's sometimes easier to get past. You can realize your parents maybe didn't do the right thing, but they had good intentions.
And learn from that.
People aren't perfect.
Sorry for the long comment.
WG, well, I don't go over there.
You can't post written comments over at DVTV.
The only way you can post your feedback is by submitting a video comment. So, they are a very secluded group of people that prefer that it be only an ASL site for people who know ASL. Very sequestered. There was even a discussion once about why are the Gays and Christians even posting their videos there. Just giving you an example of constant exclusive behavior.
I go there once in a while to see if there's any interesting videos. Most of the time, it's pretty nonsensical (i.e., the message being?). Lot of bickering going on among them, even. They fight among eachother. Yup and you hear them blaming it on "others", yet they do it to each other over there. Not suprising, actually.
Candy --
It's the same with DRs.
No differences.
I find it amusing that people over on DVTV are calling for new rules to make it so that anybody who submits a vocal video with cc/subtitles is automatically banned. And yet they cry that DV is excluding them by requesting the inclusion of cc/subtitles/transcripts. Hypocrisy, anyone?
Now, no one is forcing anybody to join Deaf Village. Either you subscribe ideally to DV’s #5 guideline or you don’t. If you want to reach out to a larger audience and get your message heard then certainly adding captions/subtitles or transcripts will help lots. This is the accessibility philosophy shared by those in DV based on the notion that the English language is the most widely used and accessible language format for Deaf, deaf, hh, and hearing people. There is no double standards. Double standards would be to allow ASL videos in DV with no texted format knowing that the majority of those who come do not know ASL and have no access to what’s being said. While in the printed English format the access to such a language is much, much bigger. Even among Deaf people. Unless, of course, they are saying that the majority of them are so illiterate they cannot read simple sentences?
Even if many are illiterates, They're still capable of picking up on English. It's just a cop out excuse.
Another great blog Mike. You are so right about adversity and how we deal with it. We have never let our son off the hook in anything because of his deafness. Out there in the real world when he leaves school, he will have to deal with everything that life throws at him, so what better time to start than while you are growing up and going through school???? Self belief is the most powerful gift I can hope to provide him with.
Mike and Candy,
The issue IS NOT ILLITERACY, The issue is RECIPROCITY, DOUBLE STANDARDS AND MUTUAL RESPECT. You expect ASL vloggers to subtitle or transcribe their vlogs, and yet DV folks REFUSE to make their blogs accessible to ASL users. This has got to be a two-way street, or else ditch that guideline.
Curious Eyes stated in a comment to your other blog, Mike, that she or he(?) does not feel comfortable with ASL to translate. That is perfectly understandable. DITTO for ASL users who don't feel comfortable with English. That is perfectly understandable too.
Mike, I could use your argument against you. I could say that you English-speakers are illiterate in ASL and should not let your lack of competency in ASL stop you from signing.
It's two sides of a single coin. You simple prefer to look at ONE and refuse to turn the coin.
Shelley
No, Shelley, we like to see all forms of visual communications (including PSE, SEE, LOVE, Rochester, manual alphabet, etc) seen in videos to include texted versions as well.
Again, the underlying and common language that we all have immediate access to is the printed English language.
Now, tell me, why hasn't there been a collective hue and cry over Deaf bloggers for not including ASL video versions of their blog entries? Deaf bloggers have been doing this for years (e.g. Ridor) and ignored those who want/require/need an ASL video version. What about DeafRead? They failed doing that and yet no screaming bloody murder over that one? What about Gallaudet University's website for not including ASL video versions with all of their texted versions? And NTID? Or other Deaf websites? Why not the outrage over theirs? It's because everybody knows that English is the one common language that is immediately accessible to the largest group of people, including Deaf. So by eliminating the texted version requirement would not fit the philosophy of DV on providing the most common form communication access. The printed English language is that common ground.
Now, until *YOU* address the issue of "non-compliance" by Deaf bloggers, Deaf websites, Gallaudet University, etc, for not including ASL video versions of their texted entries then you "might" have a leg to stand on, otherwise trying to spin it in DV's direction about "mutual respect" would be nothing but a farce and hypocrite response. I'm sorry to say this but you and others need to look into your Deaf mirrors before making those charges of double standards. Go after the Deaf bloggers first for a change because they ought to know better not to include ASL video versions of their texted entries. Right?
DV's target audience isn't Deaf people but people with heairng loss and those who want to learn more about deafness, and deaf/hh/Deaf people experiences and stories.
Now, again, no one is being forced to join DV. No one is being forced to agree with DV's policy or guidlines.
I just now looked at DVTV realizing that anyone can enter anybody's YouTube name in the video submission box. I didn't quite understand why people were bringing up DVTV and me in the same sentence. Now I know seeing that my videos are in DVTV! Why on earth would DVTV allow subtitled videos of a person talking seeing that DVTV is obviously a signing forum community? Even in the drop down menu on language says "ASL," "BSL," and "Other." Now, I'm not laughing over this discovery of suddenly seeing my videos over there. Heck, I don't even go there!
It's incumbent that DVTV's staff ensure that videos stay consistent with DVTV's goal which would be to accept videos that are the signed version. How much of an IQ does it take for DVTV to remove such a video if it doesn't fit with the community's own standards? And it's also equally curious that DVTV doesn't have any requirement stating that videos "submitted" need to be in a signed format.
Heck, maybe I'll just make my next video just me talking about a non-deaf topic without adding any subtitles because it''d be geared toward a hearing audience instead? Tayler...are you listening? Just because I have a YouTube video doesn't mean I MUST have it subtitled nor does it mean that I MUST have it in a signed format. Still, I obligate myself to make sure my videos are subtitled anyway. But I don't have to and yet I do it anyway.
Holy moly.
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