[NFB-DB] Fwd: Now Hiring - Please Share

Tue Mar 15 22:01:53 UTC 2022

Tracie,

Thank you, you did a fine job of expressing your identity.

I apologize if use of the term "baggage" was offensive to you. I meant it as a figure of speech, a metaphor. 

I suggest that while you "became" deaf-blind when you were very young, you nonetheless came from a background - possibly blindness, possibly deafness, possibly sighted-hearing - that you brought forward to your identity as a DeafBlind person.

In the 1989 paper I referred to, I said that, left to themselves, deaf-blind people might develop their own language. I do not claim to have "predicted" PT, but a consumer-developed language was part of that vision of deaf-blind culture.

But ... you are asking me to change how I spell the name of my identity to agree with yours? That is not embracing our unity of diversity is it? Because the hyphen is what I have lived with since becoming blind at age three, becoming hard of hearing at age 10, and profoundly deaf by the time I was 30 - and I am now almost 81.

I live in Hawaii, where the hyphen is used both in regulations and by the deaf-blind community - I am acting President of the Hawaii Association of the Deaf-Blind. PT is not used in Hawaii.

I agree with almost everything you wrote, but - and this is a big "but" -  why do I have to change? Why can't our identity embrace three spellings of a word ("Deafblind" is still used in places) if we can also embrace multiple languages and multiple methods of communication? 

Rod

----- Original Message -----
From: Tracie Inman via NFB-DB  <nfb-db at nfbnet.org>
To:  nfb-db at nfbnet.org
CC: tracielinman at gmail.com
Date: Tuesday, March 15, 2022 10:43 am
Subject: Re: [NFB-DB] Fwd: Now Hiring - Please Share

>
>
> Hello: 
>  Please remove the hyphen between the words "Deaf" and "Blind". We no longer use it. We are DeafBlind. A couple of thoughts on your statements come to mind. First, I am a bit offended by your statement of "bringing baggage from my former life" when I became DeafBlind. For me, I was much too young to remember life before becoming DeafBlind, so how could I have "baggage"? One does not carry "baggage" into a disability. Maybe that is your perception, but it is not mine.  
>   PT (ProTactile) is itself now a language of the DeafBlind. It is a language unique to the DeafBlind. None of the concepts of PT are "borrowed" from either the ASL or the English languages. It is a language of tactile communication providing visual and auditory information to the DeafBlind.  
>   That said, we have not two, not three, but four languages. TASL (Tactile ASL) must also be counted.  
>   The DeafBlind world is a "melting pot" of culture, language, and lifestyles unique only to our community. Joe Naulty once explained it this way: (We love you Joe and your unique perceptions are so awesome!) "The DeafBlind community is like a pretzel: there are many parts in the whole pretzel"
>   The challenge we face is full inclusion and integration in our communities.  We have so many barriers to overcome.  We are, in so many ways, a "forgotten" minority.  We face so many isolations and obstacles. Yet, when we come together we are joyful. We can "touch" each other in a positive way to communicate directly with one another in a language that is ours. 
>   I believe with all my heart that our community is special. We are unique. We have a lot to give back to society. We show people, and the world around us, that we, too, can live the life we want - with joy, love, and peace - together through touch, through total communication, and through peer support. 
> 
> 
> Kind regards,
> Tracie
> 
> 
> On Tue, Mar 15, 2022 at 4:03 PM Rod and Ele Macdonald via NFB-DB <nfb-db at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello Scott,
> 
> The situation is not likely to improve much until someone who actually wants "the job" challenges the discriminatory practice. 
> 
> The underlying issue is that blind people regard themselves to be part of a community, while Deaf people regard themselves to be part of a culture. There is a big difference. When a blind person or a Deaf person "becomes" deaf-blind, that person brings baggage from their "former life" into a new identity. 
> 
> I wrote a paper in 1989 entitled, "Deaf-Blindness: An Emerging Culture?" That paper introduced the "possibility" that a culture unique to deaf-blind people exists, or at least was in the process of developing. "Deaf-Blind Culture" was a controversial topic back then, but it is a cherished belief among many now. The question is - is there a comprehensive culture of deaf-blind people? 
> 
> I know of no other culture that has TWO languages - and both English and ASL are not "ours" but are borrowed from hearing people and Deaf people, and that does not even take PT into account. We do not even have a unified means of receiving and expresssing our language, even assuming we came from one sid3e or the other. Braille can be a "natural" means of accessing written information, but ASL does not have a written component and those who grew up relying on visual ASL find it hard to learn or feel comfortable with braille. 
> 
> I think that at some point we - us, not professionals who serve our group - need to decide: do we embrace the concept of an umbrella culture we all belong to, a culture with two languages and many, often competing needs? Or are we to go for two separate groups based opon language needs? 
> 
> I am wholeheartedly in favor of the "umbrella". I think we are too small a group to divide into sub-groups. I think we share toomuchtogether to focus on how we are different.
> 
> One can be blind and become deaf, and one can be deaf and become blind. The new person ... physically there is no difference, but culturally? The baggage from our "former" life will dictate our outlook, needs and our approach. I am all for an identity that embraces who we have become, and not who we once were.
> 
> Rod 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Scott Davert via NFB-DB  <nfb-db at nfbnet.org>
> To:  nfb-db at nfbnet.org
> CC: scottdavert at gmail.com
> Date: Tuesday, March 15, 2022 8:08 am
> Subject: Re: [NFB-DB] Fwd: Now Hiring - Please Share
> 
>
>
> Hi Rod.
> It's very concerning. Unless PA has another form of service delivery
> for those who are "ASL illiterate?" I find the entire thing sad and
> agree 100% with your views on this subject. This is a sad example of
> how far we have not progressed.
> 
> Scott
> 
> On 3/14/22, Rod and Ele Macdonald via NFB-DB <nfb-db at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Scott,
>
> You are spot-on in my opinion.
>
> The deaf-blind "culture" - I introduced this concept over 30 years ago and
> still believe in it - is the only culture I know of with TWO languages,
> neither of which is "ours". (We borrow English from hearing people and ASL
> from Deaf people, then try to adapt as best we can.) I believe that any
> person who is (1) blind, has low vision, or has tunnel vision AND (2) is
> deaf or hard-of-hearing, is a deaf-blind person, and any attempt to provide
> services to this group should take into account the needs of the entire
> population to be served.
>
> I would presumably be a consumer of such services if I lived in the service
> area, but I neither use ASL nor have usable hearing: What should the hiring
> authority put in the job description such that my communication needs are
> "covered"?
>
> It is a challenge, but an issue that should be challenged.
>
> Rod
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Scott Davert via NFB-DB  <nfb-db at nfbnet.org>
> To:  nfb-db at nfbnet.org
> CC: scottdavert at gmail.com
> Date: Monday, March 14, 2022 12:52 pm
> Subject: [NFB-DB] Fwd: Now Hiring - Please Share
>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Passing along. I noticed there is no mention of the requirement forhard of
>> hearing culture and that ASL fluency is required. I guess they only want a
>> someone who is DEAF STRONG for this. Maybe my impression is off? I'm
>> passing this along as FYI...
>>
>> Scott
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> Begin forwarded message:
>>
>> From: Richard <prmcgann at comcast.net>
>> Date: March 14, 2022 at 10:47:04 EDT
>> To: NADBAmericans at groups.io, aadb-l at googlegroups.com, "Professionals
>> Serving DeafBlind Consumers (PSDBC)" <psdbc at googlegroups.com>
>> Subject: [AADB-L] Fwd: Now Hiring - Please Share
>> Reply-To: aadb-l at googlegroups.com
>>
>> ?
>> to all,
>>
>>
>>
>> passing around.
>>
>>
>>
>> -------- Forwarded Message --------
>> Subject:     Now Hiring - Please Share
>> Date:        Mon, 14 Mar 2022 10:39:02 -0400
>> From:        SSP Program <ssp at deafstone.org>
>> To:  SSP Program <ssp at deafstone.org>
>>
>>
>> Hello!
>>
>> Please share the following open positions:
>>
>> * Director of DeafBlind Services - West PA
>> * Director of DeafBlind Services - East PA
>> * SSP Coordinator - East PA
>>
>> Job descriptions attached in Word and PDF documents.
>>
>> Thank you,
>> Jessica K Adams, CI & CT
>> COO
>> Email: JAdams at DeafStone.org
>> Phone/Text/FaceTime: 412-616-0400
>> Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
>>
>> www.DeafStone.org
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> -- 
> 
> Tracie Inman
> 
> ===231197443961970ÚH