Recently, I donated for a fund-raiser, for the Deaf Bilingual Coaltion,a Polish poster of Children of a Lesser God and some old ILY (mother signing to a baby) postage stamps. As I looked around the room of almost hundred signing Deaf people, I wondered why it was so hard for hearing parents, doctors, and most of society to accept these people as equal to us. They have their own language, sports teams, churches, traditions and customs, and beautiful art and poetry. What is it that makes humans focus on differences rather than similarities, and worse, abuse minorities who are not "like us"?
This last Thursday, the U.S. celebrated Thanksgiving, a holiday dedicated to gratitude. We are all grateful for diversity in nature - plants, animals, landscapes. Nature includes all the varieties of humans, making life much more interesting. I'm grateful for every word of every foreign language I've learned - it's the beginning of a window into a different culture and way of viewing the world. I'm especially grateful for meeting Deaf people and learning a 3-D language and a richer way of seeing.
Yours for language rights for all people, especially deaf babies,
susan schaller
www.susanschaller.com
Tuesday
Autumn Planning for Spring Flowers
We need to finish planting our winter crops before the cold and wet chases us inside.
The winter crops I would like to see grow are:
A broader coaltion of people working together to combat "anti-otherism." Linguistic minority rights, children's rights, disability rights, purple-spotted, three-legged hermaphrodite rights all huddle together under HUMAN RIGHTS. The more WE recognize ourselves in others, the more we can learn from each other, build community and live fuller lives.
A deeper understanding of how our human condition is related to environmental crises/opportunities, our expressions - academic, artistic, political-public (as in town meeting action, not just voting), and how solutions to all our problems begin with connection to each other.
Laughter. Let's plant the seeds of honesty and humility (objectivity - letting go of ego), so we can step back, not take everything personally and LAUGH at ourselves.
Perspective. See "laughter."
Tell me about your plans for the coming season.
Yours for a better life,
susan schaller of susanschaller.com
The winter crops I would like to see grow are:
A broader coaltion of people working together to combat "anti-otherism." Linguistic minority rights, children's rights, disability rights, purple-spotted, three-legged hermaphrodite rights all huddle together under HUMAN RIGHTS. The more WE recognize ourselves in others, the more we can learn from each other, build community and live fuller lives.
A deeper understanding of how our human condition is related to environmental crises/opportunities, our expressions - academic, artistic, political-public (as in town meeting action, not just voting), and how solutions to all our problems begin with connection to each other.
Laughter. Let's plant the seeds of honesty and humility (objectivity - letting go of ego), so we can step back, not take everything personally and LAUGH at ourselves.
Perspective. See "laughter."
Tell me about your plans for the coming season.
Yours for a better life,
susan schaller of susanschaller.com
Monday
In Search of the Languageless Tribe
My second book, now entitled In Search of the Languageless Tribe, is finally being considered for publication. Stay tuned for news on that front.
Another director/screenwriter is brainstorming with me and others on dramatic film possibilities for A Man Without Words or a documentary on languageless people.
September 28th, at 4:00, a presenter is introducing me and the advocacy work of the Deaf Bilingual Coalition. If you're in Berkeley, find the Arlington Café on the Arlington, a mile above the Marin Avenue circle. If you mention this blog, I'll give you a free DBC shirt.
The new academic year has begun and deadlines for papers and conference registration have begun to pepper my calendar.
I have an invitation to present in England, and hopefully, will be busy rewriting my book for publication.
In conclusion, contact me now if you, your class, university or bookstore would like to add to my calendar art.
Write me with any specific questions, comments or requests for a denser blog entry!
yours for language rights,
susan from www.susanschaller.com
Another director/screenwriter is brainstorming with me and others on dramatic film possibilities for A Man Without Words or a documentary on languageless people.
September 28th, at 4:00, a presenter is introducing me and the advocacy work of the Deaf Bilingual Coalition. If you're in Berkeley, find the Arlington Café on the Arlington, a mile above the Marin Avenue circle. If you mention this blog, I'll give you a free DBC shirt.
The new academic year has begun and deadlines for papers and conference registration have begun to pepper my calendar.
I have an invitation to present in England, and hopefully, will be busy rewriting my book for publication.
In conclusion, contact me now if you, your class, university or bookstore would like to add to my calendar art.
Write me with any specific questions, comments or requests for a denser blog entry!
yours for language rights,
susan from www.susanschaller.com
Sunday
Summer School
Teaching disadvantaged inner city youth took over my summer. I taught beginning ASL to a wide variety of struggling teenagers. I don't know if I taught anything, but I learned an amazing amount.
I will be back soon to my website and blog. I have an almost overwhelming writing job that I will tell you all about - some other time.
soon
susan@susanschaller.com
I will be back soon to my website and blog. I have an almost overwhelming writing job that I will tell you all about - some other time.
soon
susan@susanschaller.com
Friday
Community Development
The ideal for workers in social service, education, politics or raising children is to work one's self out of a job. Success is moving someone from dependence to independence and the teacher, facilitator, politician, or mother is no longer needed.
Perhaps, I am out of a job for Deaf people are standing up for themselves for the first time in American history. I just came back from Milwaukee where Deaf people from all over the country stood up to the giant Alexander graham Bell association and said, "ENOUGH - NO MORE LANGUAGE ABUSE." The obvious theme was equal language rights for deaf babies with the explicit message that deaf babies are human babies first and their biological difference is secondary.
The Deaf Bilingual Coalition is using the same language, especially "human rights" that the World Federation of the Deaf (and I) have been using for decades. There have been many individuals, of course, who have understood the issue, but this was the first national organized rally by and of the Deaf community against the fanatical and ruling ideology of oralism.
I'm hoping that I have worked myself out of a job.
Yours for peace, justice, language rights, minority rights, equality - for COMMUNITY,
susan schaller
susanschaller.com
Perhaps, I am out of a job for Deaf people are standing up for themselves for the first time in American history. I just came back from Milwaukee where Deaf people from all over the country stood up to the giant Alexander graham Bell association and said, "ENOUGH - NO MORE LANGUAGE ABUSE." The obvious theme was equal language rights for deaf babies with the explicit message that deaf babies are human babies first and their biological difference is secondary.
The Deaf Bilingual Coalition is using the same language, especially "human rights" that the World Federation of the Deaf (and I) have been using for decades. There have been many individuals, of course, who have understood the issue, but this was the first national organized rally by and of the Deaf community against the fanatical and ruling ideology of oralism.
I'm hoping that I have worked myself out of a job.
Yours for peace, justice, language rights, minority rights, equality - for COMMUNITY,
susan schaller
susanschaller.com
Thursday
oralists = racists = sexists = rejecting our humanity
Greetings after my long, reflective break.
After my speaking tour in Indiana and Ohio, I came back with a head of questions. On the practical level, I questioned all the air, bus and car travel in a time when I am striving to be kinder to the earth, growing some of my own food, walking ( I gave up by car, yesterday) and supporting local farmers. More appropriate to this blog, I wondered if my speaking was effective. Was I simply preaching to the choir: those already studying ASL, Deaf studies or Disability issues?
The question which surfaced again, and has been in my head for decades, is:
WHY DO WE TREAT DEAF BABIES SO BADLY?
Fear causes division. Hence the title above. Fear triggers blaming the victim, and the subsequent effort to "fix" the person different from us. Oralism - the Alexander Graham Bell philosophy (as well as most of society's) which discriminates againstsigning and ignores the visual nature of Deaf people - like racism or any "-ism" sees the difference as the problem. If Deaf people simply acted hearing, they would be successful. This is equivalent to "if African-Americans just acted more white, they would be more successful." The burden is placed on the person with the difference, so if he or she fails to be hearing or white, that person is at fault. The hearing parent, hearing doctor, or the hearing or white society is never examined or seen as the problem. A reaction based on fear and blindness becomes the convention. Any who speak out against this unfair system is seen as unreasonable.
My musings of the last month leave me wondering what I and we should do. The opposite of fear is love. The opposite of highlighting differences is to recognize our similarities. Recognizing our commonalities is embracing all humans as if we were all together instead of separate. No person is an island. We are tribal beings which would and should lead all of us to immediately see that a deaf baby needs normal and natural language and socialization: visual communication and language for visual creatures. And if we can see, then we can use our vision to connect with our visual babies.
Who should I be talking to, writing to, or working with, to help point to this obvious truth? Is it bigger than deafness and deaf babies? How can we all become more human and recognize each other as part of ourselves? Like Voltaire, after raving about the world's craziness, I see the wisdom in joining community and cultivating our garden. In other words, words may be a waste of time; growing, loving, touching, being, locally and in community, may be how I should live.
Philosophically yours,
susan of www.susanschaller.com
After my speaking tour in Indiana and Ohio, I came back with a head of questions. On the practical level, I questioned all the air, bus and car travel in a time when I am striving to be kinder to the earth, growing some of my own food, walking ( I gave up by car, yesterday) and supporting local farmers. More appropriate to this blog, I wondered if my speaking was effective. Was I simply preaching to the choir: those already studying ASL, Deaf studies or Disability issues?
The question which surfaced again, and has been in my head for decades, is:
WHY DO WE TREAT DEAF BABIES SO BADLY?
Fear causes division. Hence the title above. Fear triggers blaming the victim, and the subsequent effort to "fix" the person different from us. Oralism - the Alexander Graham Bell philosophy (as well as most of society's) which discriminates againstsigning and ignores the visual nature of Deaf people - like racism or any "-ism" sees the difference as the problem. If Deaf people simply acted hearing, they would be successful. This is equivalent to "if African-Americans just acted more white, they would be more successful." The burden is placed on the person with the difference, so if he or she fails to be hearing or white, that person is at fault. The hearing parent, hearing doctor, or the hearing or white society is never examined or seen as the problem. A reaction based on fear and blindness becomes the convention. Any who speak out against this unfair system is seen as unreasonable.
My musings of the last month leave me wondering what I and we should do. The opposite of fear is love. The opposite of highlighting differences is to recognize our similarities. Recognizing our commonalities is embracing all humans as if we were all together instead of separate. No person is an island. We are tribal beings which would and should lead all of us to immediately see that a deaf baby needs normal and natural language and socialization: visual communication and language for visual creatures. And if we can see, then we can use our vision to connect with our visual babies.
Who should I be talking to, writing to, or working with, to help point to this obvious truth? Is it bigger than deafness and deaf babies? How can we all become more human and recognize each other as part of ourselves? Like Voltaire, after raving about the world's craziness, I see the wisdom in joining community and cultivating our garden. In other words, words may be a waste of time; growing, loving, touching, being, locally and in community, may be how I should live.
Philosophically yours,
susan of www.susanschaller.com
Monday
April Action
I'm on the road speaking out against the human rights violation of raising babies without language.
Details and news will appear soon, but I'm now off to Columbus State Community College for two days of speaking.
Last week, I spoke and met with hundreds of people at Indiana University in Bloomington, and PBS broadcasted a TV interview throughout southern Indiana.
Wednesday, I move on to Dayton and Wright State University.
See www.susanschaller.com to get information on how to keep the word (and signs) moving.
Onward for human rights!
Details and news will appear soon, but I'm now off to Columbus State Community College for two days of speaking.
Last week, I spoke and met with hundreds of people at Indiana University in Bloomington, and PBS broadcasted a TV interview throughout southern Indiana.
Wednesday, I move on to Dayton and Wright State University.
See www.susanschaller.com to get information on how to keep the word (and signs) moving.
Onward for human rights!
Tuesday
Language Rights as if Babies Mattered
When my paper was accepted for the EHDI - Early Hearing Detection & Intervention - conference, I got a call asking if I would change the title (from the one above) to just Language Rights. I laughed - they sounded so serious and upset that I would imply they didn't care about babies - and immediately agreed.
I should have kept the original title.
New Orleans was a shock. Five hundred people talking about audiology, speech, cochlear implants and all the needs of all the EHDI programs in the United States, and only twenty of us (hopefully, there were maybe forty or fifty, but many were quiet) seemed concerned about the babies.
The babies are lost when the discussion, the money, the resources - ALL the attention is on hearing and speech, as if only ears and mouths existed. Language development, cognitive development, socialization, normal family communication, self esteem and identity, education, and mental health were secondary or not mentioned at all.
Fast forward two weeks: I presented at the CAL ED conference in San Ramon where everyone talked about babies, humans, whole people who have feelings and need language to be fully human. Language is not speech which is how it was interpreted in New Orleans.
Please, accept my public apology for changing the name. Refer audiologists, speech therapists, and ENT doctors to this site and ask them to back away from mouths and ears far enough to see the whole baby.
LANGUAGE (a complete accessible visual language for a visual baby)
and LANGUAGE RIGHTS
AS IF BABIES MATTER
Signing is a right for deaf babies, not a medical issue - pass it on.
susanschaller.com
I should have kept the original title.
New Orleans was a shock. Five hundred people talking about audiology, speech, cochlear implants and all the needs of all the EHDI programs in the United States, and only twenty of us (hopefully, there were maybe forty or fifty, but many were quiet) seemed concerned about the babies.
The babies are lost when the discussion, the money, the resources - ALL the attention is on hearing and speech, as if only ears and mouths existed. Language development, cognitive development, socialization, normal family communication, self esteem and identity, education, and mental health were secondary or not mentioned at all.
Fast forward two weeks: I presented at the CAL ED conference in San Ramon where everyone talked about babies, humans, whole people who have feelings and need language to be fully human. Language is not speech which is how it was interpreted in New Orleans.
Please, accept my public apology for changing the name. Refer audiologists, speech therapists, and ENT doctors to this site and ask them to back away from mouths and ears far enough to see the whole baby.
LANGUAGE (a complete accessible visual language for a visual baby)
and LANGUAGE RIGHTS
AS IF BABIES MATTER
Signing is a right for deaf babies, not a medical issue - pass it on.
susanschaller.com
Sunday
Honoring Biological Diversity
This coming weekend I fly to New Orleans for the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention conference. It is good to see folks like Ben Bahan of Gallaudet giving presentations. I hope to discuss bilingual policies and the human rights approach to meeting new deaf babies. If one thinks of human rights and what a child needs, language is early on the list, and the sensible response to deafness is "Oh, a visual baby - let's match him/her to a visual language."
I'll be curious how many people will be talking from this center as opposed to: " What's WRONG with this baby?" That question leads to trying to fix and mold the baby to fit one idea of how we all are suppose to be. Turtles are deaf, and I've never heard of anyone suggesting fixing a turtle. Is accepting and honoring differences such a strange idea?
Onward,
susan
susanschaller.com
I'll be curious how many people will be talking from this center as opposed to: " What's WRONG with this baby?" That question leads to trying to fix and mold the baby to fit one idea of how we all are suppose to be. Turtles are deaf, and I've never heard of anyone suggesting fixing a turtle. Is accepting and honoring differences such a strange idea?
Onward,
susan
susanschaller.com
Tuesday
Language Rights Globally
I finally made it back to California time after my trip to England where I presented to the National Deaf Children's Society, and met with Bencie Woll, director of a cognitive and language research center in London. England has certainly been progressing. British Sign Language is on television everyday, employment for the deaf has increased and diversified and Deaf leaders continue to emerge and assert their rights. Oralism and mainstreaming, however, still influence far too many hearing parents and many deaf babies are not exposed to signing. We need to roll up our sleeves and keep working.
The Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Conference has invited me to give a paper on language rights, so I am off to New Orleans February 23-27. I am meeting with some good Texan workers who will update me on what is happening in that big state. I will be encouraging everyone to view and use Vital-Signs, the DVD, to present a positive picture of the Deaf community and their wonderful visual language, especially to new parents and health professionals Check it out at www.susanschaller.com
Yours for bilingualism, multiculturalism and a more tolerant world,
susan schaller
The Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Conference has invited me to give a paper on language rights, so I am off to New Orleans February 23-27. I am meeting with some good Texan workers who will update me on what is happening in that big state. I will be encouraging everyone to view and use Vital-Signs, the DVD, to present a positive picture of the Deaf community and their wonderful visual language, especially to new parents and health professionals Check it out at www.susanschaller.com
Yours for bilingualism, multiculturalism and a more tolerant world,
susan schaller
happy new year
2008: Day One: As I am preparing for a presentation in England related to the Every Child Matters legislation, a theme for the new year weaves through my thoughts: every day matters.
So, today I continued to think of ways we can promote human rights for all people every day. Just as each one of us can promote peace by being more peaceful, we can each promote ideas of basic human dignity, equal access to health care, education and community through our daily attitude and actions. The easiest way is to be present, look each person you meet in the eye as an equal and celebrate whatever we can together, starting with the first day of the year. Today, let's help each other share this full life.
Happy New Year
susanschaller.com
So, today I continued to think of ways we can promote human rights for all people every day. Just as each one of us can promote peace by being more peaceful, we can each promote ideas of basic human dignity, equal access to health care, education and community through our daily attitude and actions. The easiest way is to be present, look each person you meet in the eye as an equal and celebrate whatever we can together, starting with the first day of the year. Today, let's help each other share this full life.
Happy New Year
susanschaller.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
