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

Tue Mar 15 22:49:54 UTC 2022

Hi Rod.
Would it be possible for you to share the paper? I'd be very curious
to read it now in 2022. To give a little context, I was 7 when you
wrote that paper, and doubt I have matured at all since then. Smiles.
I think in the same way that Rod writes deaf-blind, everyone is free
to use whatever form of the word they wish to identify. I think Rod is
saying that it's ok to write and identify yourself however you wish. I
don't read too much into a label, really, which is my choice and I
absolutely respect that people have other ideas on this than I do.  I
tink agreeing to disagree is the best thing, but also to try to
support people with their own choice in how they are identifying.

Just my thoughts,
Scott

On 3/15/22, Rod and Ele Macdonald via NFB-DB <nfb-db at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 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
>
>