This blog entry is my opportunity to recognize two b/vloggers who have done so much to the community, and graciously thanking me for my contribution for the community too.

It is a time for all of us to put aside the labeling business, and start supporting each individual’s contribution to the society no matter how large or small it may be. Also, no matter how productive or counter-productive it may be. It shows how passionate our Deaf Community are with educating, advocating and supporting each other.

The links which Barb DiGi and Paul Kiel wrote:

Deaf Progressivism : Evidence of Audism Behavior from AGB and Ways to Combat Audism
Show Me Deaf Community : Thank you Amy Cohen Efron for the Truth

I am posting my comment I left at Barb DiGi’s blog to share with everyone of my thoughts.

Thank you Barb for offering the link to my website and my blog entry about the letters. Most of the credit go to Merv Garretson who held these documents and he graciously gave them to National Association of the Deaf. We also need to thank National Association of the Deaf to share these documents to the public.

There are so many other documents and evidence that we can look into about audism. The AG Bell Association is one of the examples, and believe me, it is not the only organization. It is much more out there.

For someone who is very curious about getting more documentation, Gallaudet University have their archives where they store a lot of documentation that has language which discriminates, belittles and degrades Deaf people, especially using American Sign Language.

Handling documentation require a very special process, which I’ve learned recently. Any correspondence needs a special permission from the parties who wrote these letters, and we need to handle them with care.

For example, United States cannot release Census reports until after 70 years, to protect the individual’s privacy. Because it is a third-party release of documentation.

How to share documentation, the consent must be given by a person who wrote the documentation first before releasing to the public.

There is one journal article in Sign Language Studies, Volume 8, Number 4 (Summer 2008 Issue) written about the famous Smithsonian Exhibition story. The author is Jean Lindquist Bergey who did an extensive study of documentations available at Gallaudet University. If you wish to order this, go to this link: Sign Language Studies

While we all collecting ‘evidence’ of rampant bigotry and discrimination against deaf people who use sign language. We need to do three things.

1. Education
2. Advocacy
3. Social Movement

These three things needs a balance. Many and many parents are craving for information about the benefits of American Sign Language and how would ASL help with the oracy in some deaf children with cochlear implants.

Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf had already scheduled symposium /conference at St. Louis, Missouri in this summer. For more information, click this link.

The focus of this symposium is about cognitive development with listening and talking in deaf children. They are already ahead of the game. We as the Deaf Community haven’t had a formal symposium supporting cognitive development with American Sign Language, Baby Signs, and how this will help with speech development. How this will help with the infant’s and toddler’s cognitive development. There are a few journal articles supporting this area, and we do really need more of that. We need to have professionals to meet together to present their papers.

We also need to provide information to parents too. I know about the costs and the implied influence behind distributing the information. Hands and Voices are educating parents to recognize the ’sniff test’, and these parents need all kinds of information. They got information about ASL, and they need much more.

To summarize this, we all need encouragement and support for each individual’s contributions. No matter how large or small the contribution it may be, all do count. Thank you for your contribution to the community, Barb. Thank you everyone who also made contribution that made a difference too.

Let’s put aside labeling, and educate about the behaviors associated to audism, bigotry, prejudice and discrimination against the signing community who are Deaf.

Thank you and I tip my hat to ye for your hard work.

Everyone, thank you for your contribution to make our community better in many different ways. The good, the bad and the ugly. That’s makes us a very vibrant community with amazing discourse.

Just, my advice is: Don’t abandon parents. Don’t judge parents for making a choice for their child. Continue educating, advocating and supporting them.

And…

Don’t forget to thank each other for our hard work, no matter how big or small. A contribution is a contribution, which is important.

Best,
Amy Cohen Efron