Response to "War with CODAs", at Least the Beginning, Anyway...

Having technical difficulties with video uploads. You can view the ASL version of this post at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYnS1lwyzDI

Hello everyone,

Recently my attention has been on an ongoing issue. I want to respond to it, but I need to take time and think about how I should respond. A little while ago, on Facebook, someone in my circle of friends posted a link to a blog post. The woman who wrote it is hearing and is married to a deaf-blind man. The post is titled “War with CODAs”. When I saw that, I thought to myself, “War with CODAs? Who am I at war with?” 

I admit it’s true that I have an agenda because one of my goals is to help hearing people with no Deaf experience understand what Deaf people are like, how they live, and what struggles they go through. What I hope is that they will develop a measure of respect that will change their perspective, and maybe that will help reduce Audism. So maybe I do have some adversaries worthy of going to war with, but I really don’t feel that way.

“War with CODAs” was written last year. However, it’s only been recently that people have really taken notice of it. I saw many responses posted by CODAs who were irate at being insulted in this way. I don’t feel any different about it myself. I am a CODA, and I was insulted, too. I don’t want to yell at this person, and I want to be fair, so I thought about what I should do. After reading the post again I wondered if she had other posts related to Deaf and/or CODAs. So I checked through the blog and I found quite a few. I read them all. And I noticed something common popping up in every post. 

I feel like her attitude, after reading her commentary, shows that she doesn’t really understand Deaf culture. She’s really ignorant of this. Some of the other comments made me feel as though she is a deep-rooted Audist. You know, sometimes it’s not so easy to separate Audism from ignorance, but I will give it a try.

So my plan is to start at the beginning of this with the “War with CODAs” post and evaluate it. I will discuss those comments that exemplify her ignorance and Audist attitude. From there I will move on to the next post, and the next one, in chronological order, and do the same type of evaluating.  I’m going to call this series “I am CODA, and I Know”. I don’t say this to mean “Hey! Look at me, a CODA who knows everything!” My point is to use my experience growing up in two worlds, hearing and Deaf. The cultures are different, but I am involved in both of them. I am going to use this unique experience as my viewpoint, but do so in an objective manner. 

One thing I do want to say to the woman who wrote the post is this; “Just so you know, I read your blog posts, and noted how many times you said things like ‘I’m just ranting’, or ‘I’m just expressing my opinions’, or even ‘My blog only has like 40 followers, so really not very many people read this, it’s no big deal.’ That’s ok, I guess. You DO have a right to free speech, but at the same time, you DO have a responsibility. Yes, you do. When you make generalized comments that stereotype different groups of people on a blog, you’ve also made it open to the public. Imagine if you will a time long ago when there wan’t any real technology. There was no internet, but there big printing press machines. So you decide to print up an article declaring that all Deaf people act the same and insult you, and therefore should just go away, and that all CODAs are a bunch of little whiners and ‘Damn! What’s wrong with all of you?’ So then you take that printed article and bring down to town square, where you proceed to find a post (maybe a light post, perhaps, or something suitable) and tack it up by its corners. Well everyone who sees it is going to come walking by and see it. Some will be curious and read it, only to be seething with anger by the end of the article, and will end up coming to your house, knocking on your door just top say ‘Hey! What’s up!? What’s your problem?, etc etc. Now you’re going to act surprised and be angry with them? That’s straight up not fair. You know that hearing people have a saying... ‘People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones’.” I think that sums it up well.

The next post will be up soon and will address “War with CODAs”. 

Until next time,

R. M.

RM Interviews Keith Wann - SuperCoda

Hello Everyone,

I want to say first that I apologize for not having a video of my interview with Keith Wann. I stated previously that all English blog posts in the future would have a corresponding ASL vlog to go with it. The interview began last year and slowly completed a few weeks ago, all via email, so unfortunately no video was taken. With that in mind, I want to say a few things about Keith before the interview. 

Early on after my first few blog posts I quickly realized that one of my goals was to give insight to hearing people about the Deaf community. As a CODA, I am very familiar with Deaf culture and my local Deaf community. I am still and always will be a part of it. One of the things I know is that most hearing people don’t get it. Please don’t take offense to that if you are one of those hearing people because it’s not your fault. You just never had any experience with it. But if you read these posts and get something meaningful from them, then I have accomplished that goal. This is where Keith Wann comes in. He is a CODA like me and very involved in his Deaf community. 

Anyone who has seen one of Keith’s performances, or watched any of the plethora of videos he has online can tell that ASL and Deaf culture are huge parts of his life. Through his work he is doing the same thing I am, and reaching a much bigger audience, I might add. He does it in his way, through humor, performing, and storytelling. I have been watching him now for several years and wondered if I could convince him to take time to let me interview him. So, I found him on Facebook and sent him a message, asking him for an interview. His exact response was this - “sure thing! I would be honored - let me know what I need to do!”

Well over the last year we have finally completed this thing. Keith is a very busy person who wears many hats, and almost all of those hats involve Keith giving his time to others. Whether through performing/touring, his ASL radio program (which I just learned is no longer airing), his work with LegalShield, or with his family, he is giving everything he has of himself to other people, and that’s an invaluable contribution to humanity. I have a very deep respect for him, especially after meeting him recently. Anyways, I’ll end my ramble here and get on with the interview. Here goes....

RM: Are both of your parents Deaf?

Keith: Yes.  My mother became deaf at the age of three - german measles and pneumonia.  My biological father is hearing, (we) never met.  The man who I call dad who raised me was born deaf.

RM: As a CODA, and knowing other CODAs, we have all had some similar experiences growing up. Could you speak of these and how they affected your childhood?

Keith: I believe having similar experiences allowed me to have more empathy as a person later in life. I could hear someone and even if I didnt have that same experience I could understand that was their world and what they experienced.  For me this came as a lesson to me at the CODA Conference Hawaii 2004 - when I was asked to get on stage and do a bit of my show.  I said sure!  and then I was asked to voice and not sign...which blew me away...I always sign my show.  Then I was told there were codas in the audience that didnt know sign language so I had to be accomodating to them.  I was floored... I thought all codas had the same experience as me, deaf and ASL.  Lesson learned. For those that did have the same experience I always feel that kindred spirit.  The stories I do in my show are not all mine - they are OUR stories.

RM: What is your funniest Deaf related experience or story growing up?


Keith: Can't really name one - made a career out of sharing millions of the childhood stories - I do remember my parents buying me a radio and telling me to listen and learn to talk - they didnt know about the dial tone and didnt teach me either, so I listened for days to a station that played country that wasnt exactly on the dial - so the static was louder then the music.  Week later (an) older coda came over, and saw the radio and gave me the "lesson".

RM: What got you into, and when did you start doing ASL storytelling/comedy?


Keith: I was just flapping my hands as an interpreter and one night after bombing the gay and lesbian comedy festival since at that time I had no background in teabagging and tossing salads I decided to try out for a local asl improv group.  From there we traveled up and down the state of california until one night we were asked to each do a 10 minute solo from our childhood - my first story was the unplugging the vacuum story and the rest is history.

RM: I think it's safe to say that Peter Cook is considered one of the best ASL storytellers today. What is it like to work with him?


Keith: I still cannot believe that Peter is my personal mentor. He is such an inspiration and support that I now try to be with others that I work with. He has set the bar for ASL performing.  To have him treat me like an equal and ask my opinion on how he should change his story is an awesome feeling. To be able to travel with him and see how he thinks, how he treats people, and to see how genuine he is about life, I am one of the luckiest people. He became a close friend, was the pastor at our wedding. His work ethics is outstanding and something all of us need to strive for!

RM: What is the one piece of work you are most proud of?


Keith: Anything that one person takes away and it changes them. I can be proud of one particular piece but it might be for another reason, a simple statement, sign, or story that another person takes and it changes them. Gary Sanderson gave me a gem early in my career and he wasnt aware of it, and I was so happy I was able to talk to him years later and thank him for it. I had someone approach me a year later after one of my shows and say "thank you for pulling my sister up on stage (a silly improv asl song I do) - I am deaf and she is hearing and after you involved her she jumped into ASL and now we have regular sister -sister conversations without mom having to interpret." I get those kind of thank yous all the time and that is what I am most proud of.

RM: Tell us what Audism is in your own words.


Keith: Seems to be if a deaf person can talk they feel they are higher in the pecking order since they are 'closer' to hearing.

RM: Describe your ASL radio show.

Keith: A way for the hearing world to hear more about our ASL world.

RM: What is your biggest fear?

Keith: That I go blind.

RM: What can we expect from Keith Wann in the future? 


Keith: More behind the scenes stuff and ASL children's book literature - my 10 years of being America's funniest ASL comedian has been a great ride and I have no problems helping the next generation of ASL performers like Wink and Austin Andrews have their 10 years...there is plenty of room for 100 more ASL coda performers - My show was never about me, but us.

RM: Is there anything that you would like to let the readers know?


Keith: I look forward to learning, growing, and sharing more with our ASL Community.

I was saddened to learn recently that the Keith and Wink ASL Radio Show is no longer happening. Its concept was great and its delivery medium was original, to say the least. Hopefully the good people of Florida got a lot out of it. Awareness of the Deaf community among hearing people is, in my opinion, the best way we can fight Audism. Power to the Deaf and ASL!

The above picture is (hopefully obvious) myself and ELF with Keith at his show in Cambridge, MA. The other performers, "Wink" Windell Smith, Jr., and Gregg Spera, both put on exceptional performances. They had us laughing all night long. I was able to make a connection with Wink, and we set aside some time before their next show in Manchester, NH (April 26) to do a video interview. That post should be coming within the next month. It could be a while. I need to go back through and translate all the signing for the hearing people who don't know ASL. Once that is more finalized I will let you all know of a date for that post, so keep checking back!

I want to personally thank Keith for the time he gave to this interview and the inspiration he has been to many of us. Don't stop performing. People need to know, and laugh about it, too! Find him at keithwann.com, and watch any of his many videos on youtube. It's great stuff!

Until next time,

R. M. 

Si5s.org and its Relation to Deaf Education

Hello everyone,

The following is a video I made several months ago. I decided to post it under the "ASL Vlogs" tab, and the following is a translation in English. 

I’m curious... has anyone in this group seen the book ASL Write? I think that’s the name... well the website is si5s.org. A Deaf man invented a writing system that matches ASL. I checked out the website, and it was pretty cool. 

I work in deaf ed, so I approached my boss and showed her the website. She looked it over and agreed that the school should order the book. I’m still waiting for it to arrive. My plan/goal is to read through all of it when it gets here. I want to know if it really matches up with ASL. 

If it does, I want to know if other Deaf people have looked it over or if any of you have. My gut feeling is that it’s truly important for deaf education to have an ASL writing system. Currently Deaf around the world have no writing system and kids don’t know of one. But if they knew, if they could learn it, then wow... ASL, signed language, that would feel more, really - no, that’s the wrong sign - LEGITIMATE. 

The proof would be right there. Just like with spoken language, English speaking and writing, Spanish speaking and writing, German speaking - and well, writing, and signing and writing... they would be equal. I feel that would be a good self-esteem booster for Deaf people. That would be one thing. The second thing would be more media access through writing. It would be possible for them. 

Let me think of other things. Well really, I know that in American deaf education, there’s a huge focus on learning to read and write English. It’s important, but English is really a second language for Deaf people and not the first one. So, I know some Deaf people who have spot on English reading and writing skills, but most that I know, whether they are children or adults, reading and writing skills in English are shaky at best. So my thought is that if Deaf people have a writing system of their own that matches ASL, well wow... they would have a fully accessible writing system. For Deaf people, there’s limited to no access to spoken language, and therefore access to its writing system is limited to none, as well. 

It makes me feel like this - how can we expect them to learn to read and write a language without full access to it? But writing in ASL would provide full access. That means that learning to write a fully accessible language first would allow skills to be transferred to the second written language, and wouldn’t that mean more successful results for the second one? 

My theory is yes, if there is a strong foundation in reading and writing ASL, then there would be an improvement in reading and writing English, too. They would both benefit. What do you guys think?

R. M. 

The Fraser File Vlogs and Blogs Ideas

Coming soon...

What's the plan? I'm thinking of having three tabs. The first one is the English blog, which is the ongoing posts I've been typing up. The next tab is "ASL Vlogs". This means all new posts I create will be done in ASL first, then translated to English for the main page. Third, I am thinking of a tab for "ASL Blogs", The reason for this is because ASL writing is now out there in America, whick I am now learning. If anyone has feedback for me, please let me know.

Thanks!

R. M.

A Wonderful Night With Three Great Performers

Hello everyone,

It has been forever since I have posted anything on this blog. Much of what has been taking my attention away from writing is finally over, which gives me some much needed free time. So this post is me spending some of that time so I can share with you a wonderful experience that ELF and I had about two weeks ago.

Ever since I heard the term CODA, it gave me a sense of belonging to something. For the most part, that tie is to Deaf people. Deaf people who use ASL, but mostly my family, my parents’ Deaf friends, and the many Deaf friends I have made here in the Boston area. There is another tie, just as strong and as unique to my tie with Deaf people. It’s the tie to other CODAs, and it’s uniqueness comes from our common shared experiences. 

It’s because of these ties that I have become increasingly interested in ASL performances. Most everything I have seen has been via the internet, watching ASL poems, storytelling, and comedy routines. One of my favorite performers has been Keith Wann. Any CODA reading this likely knows exactly who I am talking about. He may be one of the funniest performers I have ever seen. It’s been a dream to see him perform live, and two weeks ago I finally got to when he came to perform at Harvard University. 

The first surprise came after ELF and I parked the car in a local garage and began walking towards Sever Hall where the show would be. On our way down Quincy Street I had noticed and pointed out to ELF two Deaf women just ahead of us on the sidewalk. We had no idea where Sever Hall was, but knew they were on their way there, so we decided to follow them. In about another 200 feet, one of them got into a car, and the other one turned around to make her way to the same vehicle. That’s when I recognized her face. As a young child, my family spent a lot of time with hers. Her father and my father were good friends all through school. 

I waved her down and introduced myself. Before I could finish spelling my last name, her face lit up in surprised recognition and she immediately began to relay it through the car windows to her friends inside. The group turned out to be her husband, who had been a more recent fishing buddy of my father’s, her mother whom I haven’t even seen since childhood, and another couple who were also good friends with my parents and hers. They had made the four hour drive from Bangor, Maine to Boston just for the show. We had a great conversation on the way to the hall and while waiting inside before the show began. 

It was great catching up with all of them, and before I knew it, one of them expressed his thoughts to me on my father, his good friend, and what it meant for him to miss him. His little speech on this caused me to choke back some nearly uncontrollable tears on the verge of crashing down in front of everyone. It was a very thoughtful gesture, and I’ll never forget his words. Loosely translated, he said that he really missed my father, would always remember his laughter, and pointed out that I must miss him dearly. That’s when the flood came for me, and as I was nodding yes he hugged me out of nowhere. I hadn’t seen this man since my father’s funeral service over five years ago, and I’m pretty sure we didn’t even hug then, but it was a very welcome thing nonetheless. I mean, where else can one find such a small community closeness? For me, there isn’t really any other place that lives up to that Deaf community standard. 

Well, anyways, after that it wasn’t long before we were allowed into the lecture hall for the show. It was a small audience, maybe about 100 people or a few more. It turned out to be a great show. I was surprised to see one Gregg Spera perform an opening act (very good one-of-a-kind performer, by the way) before another man named Wink performed. If you’re familiar with Keith’s work then you may recognize Wink as well. They have been working together for some time now on an ASL radio show in Florida. The show broadcasts over the radio for the hearies and podcasts on the internet for all the ASLers. Wink is a CODA as well, and his stand up routine had me laughing almost constantly. 

When Keith went up to perform it was no different. The man is incredibly funny, and between the two of them I identified with so many CODA experiences. Everything they said and did was funny, but to relate to it so well just made the laughter all the more special. I really felt at home, so to speak. After the show ELF and I hung around to meet them, and to our surprise we were invited to hang out with them at a local restaurant. 

This second surprise was something I couldn’t turn down, despite how late it was and the fact that ELF and I had to be up early the next morning. So we threw caution to the wind and had ourselves a good time. I do want to say that Keith seems like an incredible guy, and he was very down to earth. We just hung out and ASLed for a couple of hours, occasionally attracting the attention of hearies trying to figure out what all this hand-flying around stuff was all about. One guy literally stopped outside a window to look in on us with his mouth wide open. Well whatever, I’m used to that, I suppose. 

What turned out to be an amazing evening of surprises had just one more for us  after we parted ways. Keith and Wink returned to their hotel room, Gregg went home, and the other person who was there led us back to the path to our garage. Enter surprise number three; the garage was locked and the security doors down. No way in or out while raining in late March at twelve-frickin-thirty in the morning. So we did the only thing we could do - I called a friend out of bed to come pick us up and bring us home. Thankfully he answered the call. It even turned to snow for a short time before he finally made it there to pick us up. 

It didn’t damper the experience at all, however. It was quite a stamp to put on at the end of the day, but we had a great time. The only thing that made it better that it already had been was the fact that not at any single moment did ELF need anything interpreted. She has come such a long way, and I am so proud of her.

There is one other piece of news that I wish to share with you all. About one year ago, I contacted Keith Wann in the meager hopes that he would agree to do a blog interview. Well, he agreed to it on the spot, and that was a wonderful surprise. I mean, the CODA Brothers didn’t respond at all, and here was this guy ready to go. So I sent him some questions via email, and over the course of the past year, we finally found time to complete the thing. I will be posting this interview 28 days from now, on May 5th. Not sure by what time, but look for future posts either here or on facebook. If I decide on something, it will be mentioned either here or there. 

Until next time,

R. M.

Alliance for Deaf Children Petition to the White House

Hello everyone,

It's been so long since I have posted, but life happens. Then today, I find out there is a petition to the White House requesting that President Barack Obama and the rest of the federal government recognize American Sign Language as a language and as the language of instruction for deaf babies and children. This petition was put together by the Alliance for Deaf Bilingual Children. It was brought to my attention in an e-newsletter from the Deaf Bilingual Coalition. In order to be recognized for consideration by the White House, there needs to be 25,000 signatures. They only need another 8000+ to reach that goal, and I am calling on all of you readers (regardless how few there really are on this little blog) to do your part and show your support for the Deaf community by telling the government that deaf children should be ignored and misled no longer. I will post a link at the end of this rant. It will require you to sign up for a whitehouse.gov account, but it seems to just be a way for them to account for signature verification. i just did it myself and it took only a minute.

I cannot stress the importance for this enough. We live in a country where signing for hearing babies has become a popular option for many parents, yet all this time and historically it has not been considered appropriate for deaf children (go Audism). Many schools for the deaf refuse to recognize ASL as their language of instruction. Nearly every audiologist in the country makes no referral of deaf children and their parents to meet someone who is culturally deaf so that they can learn about more than just assistive hearing technologies like hearing aids and cochlear implants. Audism such as this has created a gross imbalance in what parents of deaf children receive for information on all the options available to them. ASL and the Deaf community almost never get equal representation. This petition could be a huge first step in laying a foundation for equality to be built upon.

As I mentioned earlier, I could not say enough in support of this petition. I hope what I have said is enough to help you seriously consider clicking the following link and sign the petition. Here is the link

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/officially-recognize-american-sign-language-community-language-and-language-instruction-schools/CRPw2JLk?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl

Please show your support!

Until next time,

R. M.

Come on App Store, really?

Hello to everyone,

Long time, no time. My apologies. There will be some more book reviews coming, but not until sometime in November.

I am posting this via my mobile app. Not sure how to entirely use this, but as long as text will post, the blog will happen. I was looking at certain mobile apps that teach people American Sign Language. There were some made by people I recognize from DVD programe, etc. Others just looked flat-out awful. For the most part, I have to say I'm disappointed with what's out there.

One app description actually claimed that American Sign Language is a language for people who cannot speak or hear. My first thought was "Really? Only for those who can't speak or hear?" So, from one perspective it came off as this is something for those who are disabled. I don't know, it must just be the CODA in me, but that's a ridicuklous statement. If that's their approach and understanding to Deaf people and ASL I am scared to see what's inside.

This did get me thinking about other things, though. First, I need to do something to put something correct about ASL and Deaf awareness in the app pool. I'm thinking its about time I learn to develop my own apps and get them out there. This needs to happen. The current available apps for the most part, are giving Deaf culture and ASL a bad reputation. So I'm going to try and bend the curve the other way. Besides, the next best thing to a Deaf person making a good quality ASL app is to have a native ASL signing CODA do it. Perhaps there can be an app for other things, too. Time to brainstorm!

Until next time,

R. M.