Tag: Listening and Speaking
Why False Hope?
Cochlear implant continues to be marketable and practice public shaming of the Deaf community. Exploitation targets Deaf to be immediately identifiable and forget their Deaf identity. False hope is not cool. Audism leads to false hope, yes?
The Illusion of a Poll: Fact and Fable in Deaf Community
What would it like not to live without history that reflects all of us who Deaf people are? The history of idea of creating “poll” goes back to George Gallup who defined the American information to give voters the right to democracy, and most importantly, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) gives any person has the right to seek access for information at the request including the right to poll.
Guaranteed. Deaf people have seen the Gallup Poll sharing national news with anchors talking about it on national television, there is no way to miss this. It has changed the history of American politics including our own Deaf community.
It is a poll that Deaf people have right to gather their opinions for the fact of the matter is voting that creates truth to understand the power-struggling experiences and should not hide the emotional suffering in denial, and somehow suffering and does not know it.
Remember the times where there would be a tent with pollsters asking someone to taste the hidden drink which it would be COKE or PESPI. If you are right with the chosen drink brand, you get a prize. Come on, we cannot forget that. I did that. I like Pepsi. It is a simple and democratic poll. We are created as statisticians because we have the right to vote even for a poll.
We are strong believers in polling, too. When someone Deaf writes: “Deaf Life is abusing its powerful influence in the Deaf community.” That’s far fetched.
That is a one-sided perspective and never read diverse variety of information chewing influence away, and the poll created by DEAF LIFE is simple, harmless and a human right for anyone to vote in a poll when it comes to LEAD-K and Alexander Graham Bell. Would you react differently if it was George Veditz partners up with Alexander Graham Bell? What about truth partners up with toxicity? Would it go quietly deliberate and depend on the information to create their own viewpoints in polling? Do Deaf people have right to get Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), too?
There is the subscription in truth for freedom of information act and Deaf community should not deal with Alexander Graham Bell getting away with the fear of having a different opinion from the rest of Deaf community like us. Within polls like this one in Deaf community, we would want to fit in society without fear and hatred from Alexander Graham Bell. That kind of thinking does not develop social justice that shows many survivors who experienced language deprivation from the biggest oppressor, Alexander Graham Bell.
That is the kind of justice that is rightfully important to all of us and we need more people like us that are courageous enough to vote in a poll to stand up against what is wrong in society we deal with every day, and it starts with us to make a better place for all of us to live safely as much as possible, and that starts with a poll that is historic enough.
It sends a wrong message with final answer: Because Deaf community continues to live in Alexander Graham Bell’s America where its American citizens gets their news from known-sided organization like AGBell filled with propaganda and disinformation which best option for a language to learn other than rejecting American Sign Language off the book to control Deaf people’s use of the powers of emotionalism to allow modes of communication like Cued Speech, Oralism, Cochlear Implants all are Alexander Graham Bell’s favorite tools that will improve English in listening and writing far skyrocket…..the very same fear in and of themselves that ASL is powerful and best choice of all languages.
It should concern all of us that we continue to ignore the facts and follow our emotions when it comes to give Alexander Graham Bell the crown like a king. What should public opinion like this poll be based on? Should it be based on forgotten experiences? What would it mean to us in the eyes of educational polling? It also abuses its powerful influence of journalism that is often not enough discussed in Deaf community.
-JT
Copyright © 2019 Jason Tozier
This text may be freely copied in its entirely only, including this copyright message.
ASL: Emotional Intelligence?
Will we agree that American Sign Language (ASL) ever succeed as an emotional intelligence?
Dealing with Plantation Mentality. WHY?
Written English Transcript in the video:
Heroes & Villains
Upon reading from sociologist Will Wright helps me wonder if it would match Karl White.
ALERT! AGBell is Back in…..Oregon?
That is right. Alexander Graham Bell Association is making a come back for the state of Oregon chapter. Janet Weil, President of AGBell, Oregon Chapter writes, “Did you know that his headstone in Nova Scotia says, ‘Teacher of the Deaf’?” to make sure Oregon must be listening and speaking state champion. Rake in big money. Nothing more important than the legacy of Audism continues to bulldoze Deaf community. No headstone of AGBell is allowed in Oregon.
Ms. Weil had enthusiastically described and explained in her letter, that it is time to track and deliver the message that AGBell services could provide. With confidence in an oppressive tone, she had brought her authority to a close with in her mind, “Now we are making sure Deaf community will lose”—It took only a few seconds for her to realize that she was in for a disaster.
Just three sets of eye staring—one set at her, one set at Deaf community, and one set out to get rid of American Sign Language (ASL) and force them to listen and speak instead. As the silence walks into Deaf eyes, Janet needs to know that her confidence is slipping away. The Audist behavior. Understanding the Audist behavior. Audists in review. Coping with Audists.
There were plenty of Deaf Oregonians had been oppressed under AGBell practices according to Paulo Freire in his book: The Politics of Education:
Washing one’s hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.”
AGBell was powerful and Deaf Oregonians were powerless. They were forced to side with the powerful dictatorship, according to Ms. Weil’s “Teacher of the Deaf” refers in to AGBell. Now they are no longer powerless. The key is to cope successfully with complainers like AGBell. We need to know what lies behind their actions and how easy it is to be sucked into their world. We need to be aware the real problems, but AGBell is doing it in a private manner that elicits defensive responses from Deaf community.
Survivors of AGBell practices, we understand as the only kind of active behavior that seems possible to those people like AGBell feels powerless to determine Deaf people’s own fate. Deaf community refuses to be powerless when they favor American Sign Language for the instruction of learning. Ms. Weil writes, “I am passionate about this organization http://www.agbell.org and even more excited about what we can all do together to make a lasting difference, while having a great time. Looking forward to hearing from you.”
Who might Janet Weil? Her uncle, Arthur Simon was a founder of the Deaf Adults Section of AGB. She was an executive director and principal for Children’s Hearing and Speech Centre of BC (British Columbia) in Vancouver, Canada and it has been supported by the Alexander Graham Bell Association in Washington, D.C. and has been frequent supporter for VOLTA VOICES. She was a teacher-trained at Central Institute for the Deaf.
Any AGBell chapters in America, including Oregon are not welcomed. Deaf community will be continue to be the protectors of ASL, and give Janet Weil the balloon known as the phony know-it-all expert, balloons seek the attention of others by acting an expert when she is not. Janet also needs to be aware that she is not speaking for us, Deaf community behind her knowledge. Janet’s balloon is often tracking and targeting Deaf people for information to make AGBell proud, and that would lead to trouble only and be aware that the balloon will face the moment of truth that AGBell will be immobilized. Inactive. Deactivate.
Notice the area code. 415. That is in San Francisco. Janet is making all the decisions while living in California and tell Oregon what to do to build more Audists. What an attitude! How much is she getting paid to do? Living in San Francisco is expensive…….
The presence of ASL will always bring awareness and the probability of Oralism loss of face, on the other hand, will reduce the balloon to the most elemental kind of knowledge. ASL will always making a lasting a difference for lifetime. ASL will be always expensive to replace for listening and speaking or in the name of Oralism to please AGBell.
Do we do not need more scars anymore?
-JT
Copyright © 2018 Jason Tozier
This text may be freely copied in its entirely only, including this copyright message.
Gallaudet Pitfall: Deaf People’s Harmony
From one of my previous blogs, someone asked me to show the proof that Aristotle committed suicide; there is no need to criticize my truth. That person had an access to the higher education and can find out from there. It is an easy vocation to do it. Hint: A book that focuses only on Alexander the Great’s life. After Aristotle actually took his life, his work fell into the hands of the Arabic world, Islam, the enemy of the Church. Although the Church was aware of Aristotelian thoughts, they refused to incorporate his work into the intellectual life. Reason: Aristotle did not die naturally. Aristotle’s work became appreciated in the 13th century Spain where Judaism, Christianity and Islam lived in harmony. Aristotle lived in harmony to mock Deaf people’s solemnity.
The copies of Aristotle’s work eventually fell into the hands of Saint Thomas Aquinas who promoted some concepts into the Church in the 14th century. Aristotle lived way after Socrates passed away in 399 B.C.; his thoughts were evolved from the Socratic doctrine that the mutes, who signed in groups, had intelligence. Saint Augustine was the 4th century AD bishop who ordered Saint Jerome to put together and compile the Bible. The same guy, Saint Jerome who wrote EPHPHATHA in the Bible. Much information was deliberately eliminated, but St. Augustine pointed out that the Deaf do have the soul if they are able to talk about the same GOD. The whole point is that EPHPHATHA is very Aristotelian method.
I began to realize that many people are not aware of the governance at Gallaudet University—a system of higher learning management. EPHPHATHA is a governance duty to make sure Deaf people is healed from their ears. Alan Hurwitz could not do anything to make Deaf students better on campus or even to offer an academic course. It is the Board of Trustees (BoT) that is more powerful than Faculty Senate. It is the same truth for all other colleges and universities. If Board of Trustees said no, then we are all struck. For example, if a professor can facilitate a course proposal through the Faculty Senate’s Curriculum Committee, and if the Committee said no, then the professor is stuck. An administrator could not touch the Senate because he is an administrator. The same thing goes to Alan Hurwitz.
In 1988, when there was a Deaf President Now (DPN) protest, the Faculty Senate voted to disassociate itself from the Board Chairperson Janet Spillman for saying that the deaf people were not ready for a higher position at Gallaudet. It was the vote that helps winning the protest. It is time to erase EPHPHATHA from Gallaudet campus and vote no confidence in BoT’s leadership. Also it hurts not only the university but also our Deaf intellectual life—our academic freedom. It must not be over-sighted.
Imagine this, if Deaf people, the Deaf world, populated the world, our beloved earth. What if the world was devoid of hearing people? At very least a Deaf world would be a signing place where everything had a sign name thought of or experienced, for there would be just a signed language. Unfortunately, the world is not Deaf. Indeed, it is thickly populated with people who can hear and speak. In this very world today, I am asking if these hearing people do actually listen to themselves and to speak with the Deaf. Or should I ask whether these hearing people so gullible there exists the medical and scientific arrogances. For instance, the term, EPHPHATHA, the world’s invisible Audism had proposed that Deaf people must be cured. If we manage to get the media to recognize the extent of Audism on Gallaudet campus, then we move them closer to an open mind because Audism is “unheard of”—Aye?
In the 15th century, Martin Luther challenged the Church by publishing the Bible in the German language. In the 16th century, Henry VIII broke up with the Church. In the 17th century, the Puritans became the pilgrims in America. In the 18th century, America revolted against the British Empire. In the 19th century, America had the Civil War. In the 20th century, America saw two World Wars. In the 21st century, the term EPHPHATHA is still around Gallaudet. Why not we the Deaf challenge BoT and remove the term off the seal. It is time for Deaf people to live in harmony. The irony thing is that one of the BoT members holds PhD in Cross Cultural Communication and Language and the same guy who coined Audism has not done enough conscious effort to stop it.
EPHPHATHA is very much the role of culture in attempting to medicalize Deaf suffering and toxic language in cross-cultural discipline and measures. Is it an occupation that many critics are not aware of EPHPHATHA at best, a betrayal at worse? We all ride. Now we can ride as one. The goal of removing the term is to gather thousands and thousands of support, to speak with one powerful “voice” and let policymakers, the media, and BoT know that removing Audism-theme is important and be supported. Also, will Gallaudet University we known ever grow into a reality or see the light of the day?
It is about liberty and democracy. As Deaf citizens of the world, exactly what is our responsibility toward deafness implies—ASL and sign language! Being Deaf does not mean listening and speaking.
Isaiah 29.18: “Is it not a duty that falls to all of us to take up these children and to protect them on behalf of God, to educate them so that, as the prophet tells us, every day the deaf may heard the word of the book”
-JT
Copyright © Jason Tozier
This text may be freely copied in its entirely only, including this copyright message.
Deaf Stories Wanted
We need to collect stories in ASL to study socialization as well as the production of Deafhood. We need to illuminate how Deaf stories “depoliticizes” between each other from long-term conditioning and not the dynamics of Audism to define human socialization as the process in which Deaf people learn how to carry themselves both mentally and physically in accordance with societal expectations. They learn what hearing people are supposed to do and what Deaf people are not supposed to do through four domains: their families, schools, friends, and the media.
FAMILIES:
Through parents, infants, and toddlers obtain “listening and speaking” lessons via activities that they are enrolled in and direct instruction. ASL is the direct instruction of all languages. For example, many Deaf babies who does not learn ASL are more likely to be language delay with no guidance. Once the babies learn ASL throughout their developmental period, they begin to identity with ASL and the state of being Deaf are more likely to grow strong identity. This influence is significant because many Deaf children develop strong Deafhood identities right there. It will become their role expectations and promote and cultivate with their parents and themselves into personhood.
SCHOOLS:
We need to bring more stories and to discuss ASL/Audism as if they affect Deaf people and policies as well as practices which has governed their education. The purpose in this article is to discuss what constitutes “deficit thinking” and contrast it with the prevalent Oralism approach to Audism which patterns other governmental policies in its “denial of the Deaf”–
FRIENDS:
The stories are our biggest assets in these domains fostering the world in which Deaf people are not equal in income, prestige, power and life changes in the society. The stories need to take a biological and historical look at whether or not Deaf people are not sufficient to suit to be intelligent as hearing people are. The 1880 Milan Resolution, for the last 133 years, Deaf people has been the part of “developing oppressed societies”, and it has caused Deaf people to live as demanded by a hearing society in order to survive.
MEDIA:
The account of travesties against many Deaf people in social media indicates that Audism is alive and well in its policy. Why does Audism prevail? Let’s look at the Deaf perception of observance of natural law, which higher than any human law, and governs how people view their interactions with other people, animals and plants on the mother Earth. In contrast, the politics of Audism has created thinking based on timelines and progression, and progression cannot happen without accumulation and consumption.
These values creates many things that are included sustainable living and reciprocity to all other living organisms. Balance, reciprocity, and cyclical thinking (all thinks natural are cyclical–moons, seasons, bodies, people, and time) and create a philosophy of knowing that Deaf people exist on a cyclical continuum, and what you do now will affect you in the future. In accordance, you do not take without giving and you take only what you need and leave the rest. Deafhood is built on these tenants, collected through hundreds of years of observation and practice and intimate knowledge of their Deaf stories and their roles as careful students and caretakers.
-JT
Copyright © 2013 Jason Tozier
This text may be freely copied in its entirely only, including this copyright message.
...And the Truth Shall Set You Free. 
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