[nfb-db] HKNC

[Beth Koenig]

I have not personally been to HKNC, I have however had many clients that
have been and most all of them came out with no real skills. All of the
clients went there mostly for blindness skills and to learn to read the
sign language they already knew tactility. I am not sure how they are with
people that already have blindness skills and need to learn to deal with
deafness. The Deaf culture and world is very different than the hearing
culture. I am a person that does believe there is a blindness culture, you
can argue with me all you want, go look up the word culture and meditate on
it if you didn't believe me. The deaf-blind have a culture all their own
and it blends and modifies things to a degree that few seem to comprehend.
If you want the culture then HKNC is where you will get it, that is one
thing I know for sure. The problem is that it won't help you when you come
back home and you are the only Deaf-blind person for miles around.

I think what you are looking for is some place that can teach you how to
deal with hearing loss. The two biggest things you are dealing with are
communication and the disorientation from your sound cues being taken away
from you.

The disorientation will lessen as your other skills sharpen. Doing balance
exercises helps. Just as you can walk around your house, your brain can
adjust to walking outside and in unfamiliar building. Bathrooms are always
a problem for people, there are too many sounds bouncing every which way
and just as a person with low vision has vision that is not always
reliable, hearing is also unreliable for the person with severe hearing
loss. If it is too unreliable there might be times when it is best to shut
of the hearing aids or train yourself to do things while listening to some
loud music. This way when your hearing does fail you will not be
disorientated by it, you can just think back to the loud music and carry on.

Communication is another thing you are most likely having issues with.
There are so many ways to communicate that even I haven't heard of them
all. The options available are astounding there is literally something for
nearly situation.

I would go on but I have a newsletter that is do soon.

Thanks,

Beth Koenig
bethko at gmail.com
(714) 699-DEAF (3323)
Deaf Blind Services Specialist
Executive Director
Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center
1525 Durant Street 303
Santa Ana, CA 92706
http://www.deafadvocacy.org
Health, safety, and productivity are the cornerstones of independence. At
the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center we provide the training and services
necessary for the deaf and disabled to achieve equality and independence in
all areas of life.


On Tue, May 21, 2013 at 7:14 PM, Marsha Drenth <marsha.drenth at gmail.com>wrote:

> Hello Listers,
>
> For the past year I have lost a significant amount of hearing. Last tested
> I was at a 100DB loss. I have been totally blind for the last 10 years. as
> a child I attended a school for the blind. So my blindness skills are good.
> But now with the loss of my hearing, life has certainly gotten interesting
> and challenging. I will be the first to say that I have been struggling.
> Currently I am a full time student at a major university pursuing a degree
> in Social Work. I have one year left.
>
> So my questions are this, Has anyone on this list been to HKNC? I know the
> NFB advocates for a blindness skills training center, but that is NOT what
> i need. my OVR came to and has recommended that I go to HKNC for training.
> If you have been, I have a whole slue of questions, that i'll ask at
> another point.
>
> What is the NFB's stance on HKNC? This by no means will impact my desicion
> to go or not to go. I am curious.
>
> I guess a better reason of why I ask the above questions, is that I have
> been an NFB member for my entire life, my parents, my grandparents all have
> been in the NFB. my grandparents were around when the two organizations
> split. I have grown up with the positive philosophy. I get it, I truely do.
> But here I have been thrust into the world of deafblindness. Not many
> people know this yet, as I am working to figure things out, I am only
> begining to be comfortable with expressing my needs to others. I know that
> is whole another subject on acceptance, but that is not my point for this
> post.
>
> I will relay an experience I had at my last national convention, last year
> in Dallas. I was in the general session, I got up to go to the bathroom,
> found my way out fine. Found the bathroom fine. But when I entered the big
> huge room, I was lost. I asked persons around me where I was. People were
> rude. i said I can't hear. people made fun of me. I walked around looking
> for my state for atleast 15 minutes. I was frustrated, I didn't know which
> way was to the front or the back of the room or the way to get out.
>
> I tell you all this, because I realized that my ability to hear, my
> independence was changing. There were other times that I got lost, but
> people were so rude, so mean. When I expressed that I was hard of hearing
> and totally blind, people did not understand, care, or get it. In other
> words I was shunned, looked down upon, made fun of.
>
> Why can't people in the NFB accept persons who are different? Why are us
> who are deafblind looked down upon? And if confirmed, its just because our
> blindness skills are lacking. That is not the case.
>
> So do the NFB people look down upon those who go to HKNC? Is there a
> difference in training philosophy? Again I said this won't change my
> desision to go for training or not. more curious than anything.
>
> Look folks I don't want to argue about this, but I do want answers.
>
> Thank you for reading, and sorry this is so long....
>
> Marsha drenth
> Sent with my IPhone
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>
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