Mishka Zena

Dramatic life-and-death scene at NC School for the Deaf.  Football coaches jumped over fence to rescue a CODA who trashed a motorcycle.  Injured Motorcyclist is thankful, feeling prayers and finding a renewed faith in people.

“Freeman, 21, from Morganton, was riding past North Carolina School for the Deaf on Saturday when he decided to ride a wheelie in front of people gathered on the football field at the school. He said his father is deaf so he’s familiar with the school. He admits he was being young and stupid and wanted to show them what he could do.

A large group of Pioneer Football League players and their families were on the field for the first-of-the-season “blitz” games. The league is made up of boys who are home-schooled or attend schools that do not have a sports program, said Shannon Friedmann of Lincolnton, a mother of a player.

Soon after Freeman’s bike started flipping end over end, coaches ran to his aid, while a group of 160 teenage boys knelt in prayer.
 
It was those prayers, Freeman believes, that saved his life and answered his own prayers. ” To read the full story, click on Injured motorcyclist thankful to be alive.  The motorcycle was wrecked, but he came out alive. No broken bones. No head injuries.  Man, this young dude is very lucky!

Fay and Gustav: Over a decade ago, a Category 5 hurricane was heading for my hometown in FL. Afterwards I’ve heard frustrations from the local Deaf friends who tried to find out the current status of the deadly hurricane in vain.  Some decided to hit the highway, woefully unaware that the emergency alerts on televisions and radios cautioned people to stay home due to massive traffic jams in the emergency exit routes.  After few hours being stuck in a jammed highway, they turned around and went back home where they hunkered safely.  Fortunately, by the time the hurricane struck land, it had already been downgraded to Category 2.  I was like Whoa! That was way too close for comfort.   Shortly afterwards, Hurricane Andrew struck FL. There was no communication accessibility to Deaf people during that horrible time. Ever since then, the FL officials have made its hurricane alerts more accessible. Unfortunately a similar scenario was repeated in LA a decade later with the hurricane Katrina, with minimal or no accessibility for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, mostly none. I recalled hearing that some weren’t even aware of the presence of the incoming hurricane. Unfortunately several have perished as a result of this inaccessible communication.

Over the last one and half weeks, the ASL interpreters were shown along with state officials in updating the public on the status of two hurricanes, Fay and Gustav.  A lot has changed for the better with the accessibility of emergency alerts for Deaf and HoH in FL and LA. I am hopeful it’s the same with TX, MS, and AL, too.  Thank you, interpreters, for doing a great job.

Theft of confidential data from NTID: Someone asked me if the theft of confidential data is serious. Oh yes, once your social security number is passed around in the wrong hands and used illicitly, you will have a hard time cleaning up your credit rating, often taking years to straighten everything out. While you are at it, your credit rating is severely damaged, making it harder to obtain loans. This theft affects not only the NTID students, but also all who have applied there, dating wayyyyy back to 1969. Deaf Sherlock has valuable suggestions how you could protect yourself and your credit rating.  http://thedeafsherlock.blogspot.com/2008/09/when-id-theft-hits-home.html

Employees’ rights and work computers:  Some people apparently don’t realize that their employers have special software tracking the Internet usage of their workers. There is no such thing as privacy while using computers at work. According to the judicial courts, it is perfectly legal.  An employee can get into trouble for using the work computers for inappropriate uses, even while the boss is away.  It pays to keep in mind that Big Brother aka your boss is monitoring you via your computer while you surf through the cyberspace.

Trivia I got an email warning about thieves armed with ‘code grabbers’ breaking into cars by recording signals sent by remote keyless entry devices. According to the article, they use an electronic scanner to copy the code released when the owner presses the buttons, digitally locking the car doors.  After he leaves the scene, they will use the recorded code to break in and steal all the goodies. Well, fear not.  According to Snopes, it is false.  Some people have too much free time on their hands

Want to test how good your memory is? Here is your chance: http://flashfabrica.com/f_learning/brain/brain.html

 Police: Man Who Bit Officer Tests Positive For HIV - News Story - WSB 4.    Excerpts: Police say the incident began when an officer tried to pull over Deadwyler for driving with a broken headlight, but the man sped off. Authorities eventually caught Deadwyler, but he bit an officer as he reached into the suspect’s car to shut off the ignition.

….Deadwyler’s brother, who said he didn’t want to make excuses for his brother but he did want people to know more about him. “He’s deaf, first of all, and he’s been acting almost his whole life. He does sign language and he’s a good person,” said Robert Deadwyler….

Robert Deadwyler said everything changed after the death of their parents. He said his brother did not handle it well and was diagnosed with depression.

Robert Deadwyler admitted his brother had other run-ins with the law and he said Ross Deadwyler had a difficult time with the police.

“Sirens and guns and he just panics,” said Robert. “I think that night he just panicked and didn’t know what was going on.”

The article covering the trial of the murder four years ago: epeachy_blue : Message: Deaf man found not guilty of killing cocaine supplier: 

 excerpts: The foreman had twice announced “not guilty.” The verdicts Friday ended a weeklong trial in which Deadwyler, a deaf Decatur man, claimed he was defending himself when he stabbed to death his cocaine supplier, Alonzo Smith, last Nov. 4….Deadwyler testified that he had often let Smith use his car in exchange for cocaine but had refused on the night of Nov. 4, even after he took cocaine from Smith. He said he locked Smith out of the duplex on Missionary Drive in Decatur and only defended himself when Smith broke in.

In a lengthy cross-examination, DeKalb Assistant District Attorney Tom Clegg pressed Deadwyler to explain how he managed to inflict more than 30 wounds on Smith, some in his back, while suffering just two cuts himself.

Commentary:  Wow. I don’t know what to say… except that the guy is in deep trouble again.  From googling, this guy is reportedly well-liked and popular in the Deaf Community.  The deaths of one’s parents can turn one’s life upside down and using cocaine to cope with the grieving  isn’t unheard of, unfortunately.  I don’t approve of abusing illegal recreational drugs, but not everybody have healthy coping mechanisms.           

Who wants to get on the wrong side of a drug dealer? But 30 defensive stabs? Whoa, that is literally an overkill.  He was high on coke when this happpened. Panic and coke can make a deadly combination.

If this driver is hearing, I would judge his biting an officer very harshly. But I’ve heard enough stories about police mistreatment of Deaf citizens to understand the reason this Deaf guy may have panicked at the presence of police and ’defended’ himself by biting. However, it doesn’t  excuse his criminally reckless behavior, though. That officer doesn’t deserve to be injured or have his life endangered by a HIV positive carrier by doing his job.

It sounds like a difficult situation. I hope the officer will test negative. The Deaf guy will need to face the consequences of his behavior. Anytime a person carries a lethal virus, the person must take all preventive measures to avoid spreading the virus to another human being, panicky or not.

It’s very unfortunate that many police officers are clueless that many Deaf people don’t feel safe with them due to previous negative communication and/or attitudinal conflicts. Once the Deaf people have bad experiences with rogue or ignorant cops, some may panic and try to defend themselves the next time they encounter another officer which isn’t wise.

Biting someone, especially while carrying a lethal virus… *shaking head*.  If the officer gets the virus, this guy will be charged with attempted murder. MZ

Lighter Side:  If you want a good laugh, check this out.  http://video.aol.com/video/snake-attack/1893455?icid=200100397×1208327814x1200479281   Poor reporter!  (gotta wait for the stupid ad to run though first)

Being out of town for the last two weeks,  I was away from the computer most of the time, especially in the first week. The break from the Deaf Cyberspace was refreshing while I attended to important family matters.  Now that I’m back, I’ve decided to cut down the amount of blogging to some degree from now on to the christmas holidays, then I’ll take more frequent breaks afterwards.

Yesterday I came to this interesting trivia. Over the years I’ve noticed that the name Gallaudet is often misspelled by hearing people. Apparently it is also the most mispronounced word by hearing people in D.C.. According to this article, many people pronounced it Gal-yoo-det instead of Gal-luh-det.  A commenter mentioned that Baltimore is actually pronounced Bawl’mer by the locals there. Who would have thought of that? In my opinion, English is a difficult language to pronounce.  For example, it is not always obvious to people who cannot hear that the t in fillet is supposed to be silent.  But, hey, it could be worse.  I think mastering the speech and lipreading may be harder for Deaf Asians since the phonetics of their written languages appear complicated, but I really don’t know. I have never thought of asking my Deaf Asian friends with oral backgrounds during college.  Hmm, now this brings up a question… which language is most difficult for Deaf people to master the speech and lipreading? Does anyone know?  Washington City Paper: City Desk - The Most Mispronounced Word in D.C.

Great news for Deaf and HoH mainstreamed students in Rochester area! As we know, some Deaf and HoH students, especially teenagers, have problems socializing with their hearing peers due to communication and/or attitudinal barriers. Now with this new program, now they have more opportunities to socialize with other Deaf students after school hours at Rochester School for the Deaf. $900,000 for Rochester School for the Deaf - 13WHAM.com  I wonder how many schools for the deaf offer similar programs for the mainstreamed students in their districts, The funding and awareness of the deaf state educational programs are increased, which will help the schools stay afloat.  Incidentally more and more state schools are offering diverse programs than before, such as outreach program and infant-parent education programs. [Barb informed me it isn’t a new program. I was planning to ask her about it yesterday, but I was still crashing from the long trip on the road.  She also mentioned that her kids benefited from the interactions with the mainstreamed kids in that program, which is neat.]

The protest last spring at St. Mary School for the Deaf over the firing of a very popular mathematic teacher was victorious. Ms. Nettie Brewer will return to her math position in September.  http://www.smsdk12.org/suprpage.htm . The secondary principal, Ms Michalek had moved to a new position as the Curriculum Director while the Physical Education Dept Athletic Director’s position will be decided.  A new associate superintendent position was made two months ago to promote a smooth transition  to the new superintendent position when the current Superintendent Bill Johnson retires early. Personally I thought the protest was well-planned and organized. Unlike Mississippi School for the Deaf and North Carolina School for the deaf where the protests were carried successfully by the students alone, this school protest received more support due to the intense involvement of the parents and the alumni and was covered more thoroughly by the local media.  Unlike NCSD students who were disciplined harshly afterwards, the SMSD students weren’t penalized for exercising their rights to assemble peacefully and speak freely during the off school hours.  The result is a better and healthy discourse between the SMSD administration and its stakeholders with mutual respect from both sides. 

The concerned parents and alumni of the Phoenix Day School for the Deaf have been working with the PDSD administration for some time, bringing up issues they feel are obstructing the quality and accessibility of education to the Deaf students. Some of the grievances include lack of ASL knowledge, paucity of ASL-proficient teachers, the tendency of teachers to use oral and Sim-Com methods, and prevalent audism among the teachers and the staff, including the administration, toward Deaf people and students. At the end of the school year, the concerned stakeholders held a peaceful rally, promoting ASL.  Over the summer, the administrators have come up with a plan to address the ASL issue, which includes increasing  ASL awareness, which is a good start. Hopefully the administrators will address more issues as the school year starts anew.

Witnessing the emerging empowerment of Deaf students and concerned stakeholders in state schools for the deaf is inspiring.  More parents and alumni are getting involved and helping the Deaf and HoH students receive their much-deserved high quality academic programs with better communication accommodations and a reduction in audism, long unrecognized as a serious problem within the deaf programs.

If you are bored and want to play a game, here is one where you can click on the ball to change colors. It’s not so easy, is it? ;)  http://mazzanet.id.au/ball.php

Board of school for deaf, blind decides to replace president The President, Pamela Shaw, hired merely seven months ago, had tendered her resignation abruptly, allegedly under pressure. Her last day at work will be on Aug 29. The state is now investigating the state school for the deaf and blind for criminal allegations, something Shaw claims ignorance. SLED Investigating School For Deaf, Blind - News Story - WHNS Greenville

Remember one dorm was entered by a gun-wielding assailant last March? Fortunately nobody, including the sleeping students, were harmed in that incident. Our vlogger shared about his experience that night.  Last January, a 21 years old male student admitted committing a sexual assault on another 21 years old male student.  

I don’t know what’s going on other than what the media had been reporting, but it doesn’t look good.  Anytime a state employee had committed a felony, if any, the Deaf and Blind students pay for it. But, at least, the state is investigating this actively, rather than having whatever was done buried under the carpet.

A while ago, I was informed that there was an oral hard of hearing diver participating in the Olympics. Now a profoundly deaf competitor had also entered the Olympics: Competing in silence: deaf BMX cyclist fulfils Olympic dream (Feature) 

P.S.  Please address to the topic itself.  Comments with attacks on individuals will be deleted.

Now that I’ve gotten your attention away from the intense discussions about Deafhood….

This is the time we should all put aside our differences and unite, working on behalf of the rights of our Deaf Americans and children.

This past June 17, the Department of Justice  announced they wanted to change some of the details of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) before submitting it to Congress to become law. After 18 years, it’s about time the ADA was updated, but the DOJ gave the public a mere 60 days to weigh in on the proposed updates. The ADA we know had become significantly weaker due to Supreme Court decisions over the years,  its bark worse than its bite. We need to be hyperviligant and ensure ADA becoming stronger than before

One of the proposed regulations includes the Video Remote Interpreting  (VRI) Guidelines, decreed by the Department of Justice in July of 2006 as a part of the deal stemming from my lawsuit against Laurel Regional Hospital.  The VRI in that hospital was mostly inoperable due to technological difficulties, lack of training among the personnel, and ignorance of the laws.  Prior to that lawsuit, there was no universal standardization for VRI technology in the country. That decree was suggested as a national model two years ago but now is being proposed to be incorporated into ADA Title II and III, which would be a major victory for deaf Americans all over the country, if it’s implemented! When I found out about this several days ago about this VRI decree included in the ADA proposal, I was floored! This is the proof we as Deaf Americans can make a big difference!

I’m currently out of state. As I write this, I am painfully aware that the local hospitals here don’t even have VRI. This is scary, when one considers the severe shortage of interpreters facing Deaf people nationwide. How many hospitals don’t have VRI? Too many, unfortunately.  I am not a fan of VRI. However, since some Deaf people do like VRI, they are entitled to make their choices. It comes in handy, especially if there is no interpreter available.

A fundamental right millions of Americans take for granted, ADA hasn’t been updated to reflect the changes made possible by modern technology.  We need to see ADA updated so we can continue to enjoy our rights.  Contact the Department of Justice directly no later than this coming Monday, 8/18/08.

Do your civic duty as an American!

Diversity will always exist in the Deaf Community. If we concentrate on what we do share in common, like fighting for our rights, rather than on our differences, we can go a long way!

NAD, thanks for bringing this to our attention! MZ

Let the Department of Justice Hear From Us!!
http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=SubmitComment&o=090000648062a604

I support the comments of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD).

[Give examples, from your own experience, about the need for equal access to state and local government hospitals, law enforcement, emergency services, education, recreation, and other services, programs, and activities. Describe what needs to be done to ensure equal communication access.]

The NAD Says:

Stadiums
• Stadiums of all sizes, regardless of use, must caption all aural information, including emergency and safety information, unless doing so would be an undue burden
• Captions must be placed in the same lines of sight as the Jumbotrons or other video displays; handheld captioning devices should not be used
• Captions must be effective: same line of sight as the visual component; sufficient size and contrast to ensure readability; and be timely, accurate, complete, and efficient
• Captions benefit everyone

Qualified Interpreter
• An interpreter must be able to interpret both ways – “receptively and expressively” (ASL-to-English and English-to-ASL)
• Whenever possible, an interpreter must be certified
• List and describe different kinds of interpreters: sign language, oral, cued language, deaf-blind, certified deaf, and speech-to-speech interpreters
• Qualified interpreters can be provided “on site or through video remote interpreting (VRI) services”

Video Interpreting Services
• Don’t make up new names – call it “video remote interpreting” (VRI)
• Define as “qualified interpreter services delivered through the use of video conference technology”
• Explain that VRI is not the same as “video relay services” (VRS)
• Clarify that the rules about technical requirements for VRI are minimum requirements
• VRI service should be provided only when it is expected to and actually results in effective communication
• VRI services may not always be appropriate

Other Aids and Services
• Do not add “exchange of written notes” – not effective except for brief, uncomplicated, and inconsequential communication
• Add “support service providers (SSPs)” for people who are deaf-blind
• Change “computer-aided transcription services” to “computer aided real-time transcription services” (like CART)

Effective Communication
• Do not delete: “In determining what type of auxiliary aid and service is necessary, a public entity shall give primary consideration to the requests of the individual with disabilities.”
• Add: “The type of auxiliary aid or service necessary to ensure effective communication will vary in accordance with the method of communication used by the individual, the nature, length, and complexity of the communication involved, and the context in which the communication is taking place.”

Companions
• Communicate effectively with companions who are deaf or hard of hearing (companions are family members, friends, or associates of another person)
• Clarify “companions” must include, for example, a deaf wife of deaf husband or hearing husband; a deaf parent of deaf child or hearing child
• Make absolutely clear that children are not to be used for interpreting or facilitating communication

Telecommunications
• Add: Public entities should provide TTYs and “other voice, text, and video-based telecommunications products and systems, such as videophones and captioned telephones” when they offer the opportunity to make outgoing calls on more than an incidental convenience basis
• Accept and treat relay calls the same as telephone calls
• Automated answering systems must work with TTYs and relay services, and should include early option to connect with live person
• Ensure that emergency call centers, including 9-1-1 services, provide direct access by TTYs and other text and video-based telecommunications products and systems, to the extent technically feasible and as required by the “next generation” of 9-1-1 services

Complaints
• Do not change the requirement for agencies to investigate each complaint for which they are responsible

Detention and Correctional Facilities
• Give deaf and hard of hearing inmates the choice between a integrated setting with inmates without disabilities, or a specially designed unit that may be at a different or more distant location
• All options should be fully accessible to deaf or hard of hearing inmates
• Assignment to administrative segregation based only on the basis of the disability label cannot be condoned

NAD Calls for Equal Access to Community Services
(http://blogs.nad.org/advocacy/2008/08/15/nad-calls-for-equal-access-to-community-services/)

and

NAD Calls for Strong ADA Rules for Businesses
(http://blogs.nad.org/advocacy/2008/08/15/nad-calls-for-strong-ada-rules-for-businesses/)
                             

NAD Calls for Equal Access to Community Services and for Strong ADA Rules or Businesses
                   
Want better access to health care?

Want to make sure video remoteinterpreting (VRI) services are used appropriately?

Want equal communication access with police?

Want to see more captioned movies?

Want stadium events captioned?

Want hospitals, hotels, and motels to provide videophones, not just TTYs?

Want to make sure relay calls are treated the same as telephone calls?
                  
Take Action Now!
                   
The US Department of Justice proposed changes to the rules for two parts of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA):
                                       
1. ADA Title II — state and local governments
                   
2. ADA Title III — public accommodations
                                       
The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) has posted two Action Alerts on the NAD Advocacy Blog (http://blogs.nad.org/advocacy/):
                                       
1. NAD Calls for Equal Access to Community Services
                   
2. NAD Calls for Strong ADA Rules for Businesses
                                       
These Action Alerts provide a summary of the NAD comments to the US Department of Justice. They also provide links so you can tell the
Department of Justice what you think. The NAD is fighting for equal access and advocating for strong ADA rules for businesses and state and local governments. You can, too.
                   
Tell the Department of Justice:
                   
                   
For more information about how to file your comments, go to:

NAD Calls for Equal Access to Community Services
(http://blogs.nad.org/advocacy/2008/08/15/nad-calls-for-equal-access-to-community-services/)

and

NAD Calls for Strong ADA Rules for Businesses
(http://blogs.nad.org/advocacy/2008/08/15/nad-calls-for-strong-ada-rules-for-businesses/)  (reprinted with permission from NAD Law Center)