News & Articles

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CSDVRS Z 340 w/ Verizon MiFi 2200 Wireless Router!

Message from FAD President:

We had our first board meeting of the new administration on July 10, 2009 in Orlando. There were 13 representatives present and some visitors. We were thrilled to have George Boyd make a presentation on Camp Endeavor’s program for deaf and hard of hearing children. We ratified the e mail motion to donate $1500 to Camp Endeavor and $500 for the picnic lunch. We also presented packbags with the FAD logo. The board also approved a motion to purchase a water trampoline for the Camp.

Cindy D’ Angelo gave a report on the 2011 Convention and she has chosen her core committee. We will have Jon Ziev explore the hotels in the St. Augustine area. The FAD presented a check of $2000 to the convention committee to be used as startup/seed money to host the convention to be held at St. Augustine, Florida.

I am thrilled to announce that Arnold Hatton from St. Augustine has accepted my appointment to be member-at-large and I am looking forward to having him on the board.

The board has approved to send 6 representatives to the NAD Leadership training and conference in Columbus, Ohio on October 29-31. Hilary Ainbender, Tom and Cindy D’Angelo, Mary Moore, Arnold Hatton and I will be attending.

The Wet and Wild event was a great success as over two thousand people attended. I would like to thank Sarah Harris and Jon Ziev for their hard work. I would also like to thank Danny Harris, Hilary Ainbender, Judy Ricca, Dolores and David Tropp and Bob McMahon for their assistance at the booth. We sold raffles for Z and Purple products as well as two printers. I would like to thank the sponsors for their support. People filled out forms for free membership for one year. The board also voted that we offer free membership for the month of September.

A great fundraising opportunity for FAD: if you want to purchase a Z340 at a cost of $99, please fill out the form and the FAD will be profited $50 for each product sold. Please fill out the form on the website.

I have been getting calls and e mails asking for information and I have made some referrals. This shows that there is a need for a Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. We will work on a bill for the establishment of a state Commission in Florida.

Upcoming events are:

Educational Summit - September 24-26 at the World Golf Village in St. Augustine. The FAD will have a booth along with Northeast FAD and the Deaf Bilingual Coalition Florida.
The next board meeting will be on Friday, November 6th in the evening at The Villages. There will be a Government Day on Saturday, November 7th, 2009.

June McMahon
FAD President
July 26, 2009

Florida Association of the Deaf, Inc. Announces

FAD Website’s New Look!

Florida Association of the Deaf, Inc is pleased to announce the new look of our FAD website. A big thank to Jon Ziev, webmaster for doing wonderful work. Please check the website at www.fadcentral.org.

If your deaf organization or business has news, information or announcement that you would like to announce, please contact FADezine at ezine@fadcentral.org.

Florida Association of the Deaf, Inc.
7852 Mansfield Hollow Road
Delray Beach, FL 33446

A foreword: This article is something that George Ketcham wrote back in May of 2006. This article is currently being used as teaching material in ASL and Deaf culture programs nationwide. What you will read is actually an updated and ’softened up’ version of the original. Time and age does change how one expresses themselves. Bearing this in mind, this article is more refined than the original, but the gist of it is the same.

Audism

By: George Ketcham
Written on May 16, 2006 & updated on June 2, 2009

There are many different words in the English language that describes a negative attitude, views, and behaviors towards a certain race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, and so forth. Considering there are such people living on our planet that does not tolerate and accept diversity in people, it has become necessary to invent words such as: racism, sexism, nazism, ageism, sizeism, and anti-semitism. Those ‘isms’ defines the very element of extreme ignorance and bigotry towards a specific person or a group.

When you are dealing with a bigot that is prejudiced to a race other than his/her own, they’re guilty of racism. If a male/female thinks that their sex is superior to the opposite sex, that’s sexism. If one is a supporter of Hitler and his Nazi atrocities, then they are participating in Nazism. If an employer does not hire a person because he/she is too old, or considered too young, that is an act of ageism. If someone exhibits hostility or discriminates against a Jewish person, that’s anti-semitism. Now, what do you call the act of discriminating against a Deaf person? Audism.

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*Audism (from Latin audire, and –ism, a system of practice, behavior, belief, or attitude) has been variously defined as:

1.) The belief that life without hearing is futile and miserable, that hearing loss is a tragedy and “the scourge of mankind,”
and that deaf people should struggle to be as much like hearing people as possible.

2.) The notion that one is superior based on one’s ability to hear or behave in the matter of one who hears. (Zak 1996)

3.) An attitude based on pathological thinking, which results in a negative stigma toward anyone who does not hear; like racism, sexism, audism judges, labels, and limits individuals on the basis of whether a person hears and speaks. (Humphrey and Alcorn 1995: 85)

4.) The corporate institution for dealing with deaf people—dealing with them by making statements about them, authorizing views of them, describing them, teaching about them, governing where they go to school and, in some cases, where they live; in short, audism is the hearing way of dominating, restructuring, and exercising authority over the deaf community. It includes such professional people as administrators of schools for deaf children and of training programs for deaf adults,
interpreters, and some audiologists, speech therapists, otologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, librarians, researchers, social workers, and hearing aid specialists. (Lane 1992: 43)

5.) Lack of providing proper accessibility for the deaf anywhere, the ignorance of, or the neglecting of doing their research and providing equal accessibility. For instance, providing wheelchair ramps, Braille on buttons, but not captioning, or providing interpreting for the deaf, or ensuring equality in terms of such other Deaf-related accessibilities are provided for.

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For a long time, there has not been a definition of “audism” in the dictionary, in our society, and in general. The reason for that being, the very word “audism” generally is much more rampant than other ‘isms’ that exists out there- why? We are surrounded by audists 24 hours, 7 days a week, everywhere. It is so rampant that people are very desensitized to it, in addition to the fact that the public in general view the Deaf as a very severely handicapped group. Most of people in society even feel justified in their audistic beliefs. For the most part, it is a result of ignorance and a lack of interest in the people that surrounds them. In effect, the fact that the words such as racism, ageism, sizeism, sexism, and nazism- existed long before the word ‘audism’ is in itself, audism. The fact that audism does not register as something that is very real and present in most people’s minds is audism itself, because the root of the very problem is the ignorance, fear and superiority-minded of/over the Deaf person.

Finally, in 1975, Tom Humphries coined the word “audism” in need for a word to describe the very act of hearing superiority. Capital D Magazine, (Vol. 1, issue 1) This is not too long ago, in the greater scheme of things.

Whenever a Deaf person goes to the store and faces a hearing cashier that looks at him/her funny, because he/she is Deaf- is an audist. In a school for the Deaf, whenever a hearing administrator makes decisions concerning the deaf without consulting a Deaf person, that is an act of audism.

Whenever a school, institution, or a deaf-oriented entity hires a teacher or an administrator that doesn’t know ASL, is an act of audism due to the fact that it is an arrogant assumption that hearing people know what’s best for Deaf people, when they have not experienced true Deafness themselves and have not experienced the trials and tribulations of being a Deaf individual.

Whenever one goes to the movies, and there is no closed captioning or open captioning on the screen, that is audism, because the theaters are providing a service for the public and excluding Deaf people. Theaters say they are accommodating to people with disabilities, and they provide wheelchair ramps for those that are physically challenged. But, what about the Deaf? Don’t we exist too?

Whenever riding an elevator, you see Braille on the buttons, but no TTY for the emergency phone, or a captioning screen for the elevator music or PA systems- that’s audism. Again, a service is being provided for every disability group- Braille on the buttons for the blind, smooth threshold for wheelchairs, but, what about the Deaf? What about the emergency telephone that’s in all elevators?

Whenever a Deaf person’s suggestions & opinions for improvement related to Deaf accessibility are ignored, simply because it came from a Deaf person, that’s definitely an act of audism.

A hearing teacher or administrator’s pathological need to control a Deaf child

Did you know that there is such a term in the deaf community called “The Family Dog”? No, it doesn’t mean literally the family dog. It is a term to describe a deaf person that is left out to the point that their attention and treatment is comparable to how they’d treat a dog. Many deaf people, when at their hearing relatives’ houses, hearing friends, or a public gathering with hearing people, Deaf people are left out- forcing the deaf person to entertain themselves somehow. Many Deaf people would look at the ceilings, the wall, study people and try to understand them, or they would make best friends with the household pet. Did you hearing parents really think your deaf child did miracles by creating a special bond with your family pet? It’s no miracle… It was a desperate act of entertainment. The very act of leaving your Deaf relative or friend out is gross audism.

The Family Dog

In some cases, some hearing parents are worried that their Deaf child will “turn against them” if their child developed a Deaf identity. In certain cases, their concern is validated- that is- only if they’re audists. Deaf children don’t turn against their parents just because they discovered their identity. They turn against them because they were audists and oppressed them, or treated them differently. In fact, the very thought or belief that their Deaf child will “turn against them” just because they discovered their Deaf self is audistic.

Many hearing parents cry when they discover their child is Deaf. That’s audistic thinking. The Deaf child is capable of learning ASL and adapting. There are many successful deaf people that functions just as well, or better than the average American citizen. Many parents and people in society tend to feel sympathy for the Deaf. It suggests that because they are without hearing, they are severely handicapped. In what way is the child severely handicapped? Just because he/she can’t hear music, doesn’t mean that they’re severely handicapped. Just because they can’t hear, doesn’t mean they can’t succeed out in the world. In other words, they are obsessed with
hearing aids, cochlear implants, and speech therapy. That’s a form of audism as well, in the sense that the thinking is “hearing is better”.

An audist pities herself & her Deaf baby

The fact that a hearing person would think that deafness is a problem needs to be fixed is audism. The whole existence of hearing aids, cochlear implants, and any other hearing assistive devices is a result of audism. It’s also a direct result of ignorant audiologists’ pathological need to ‘fix’ or ‘repair’ a deaf person’s hearing- or to force and/or encourage them to hear. In fact, there are many Deaf people that find hearing aids useless. Why force them to wear them? Hearing aids causes ear infections & discomfort in many Deaf people, cochlear implant causes nerve damage and discomfort, and it encourages the idea that deafness needs to be fixed.

The hand of audist parents, oralists and audiologists

Have you realized that clumping Deaf people with other disabilities is audism? For instance- the special Olympics- the fact that they put Deaf people in the special Olympics is outrageously audistic! Why? How are we physically incapable of doing sports? How are we incapable of participating in the regular Olympics?
The mere suggestion that the Deaf be a part of that is suggesting that they are incapable of competing in sports events like everyone else. It is suggestive that the hearing organizers, participators, spectators, sponsors, and activists believe that Deafness itself is a disability. It suggests a mindset that all the ‘disabled’ people belong together, away from the usual society happenstances. That’s discrimination, as well as a form of blatant audism.

Just food for thought- The term: “Special Education”. What does it have to do with teaching Deaf people? What’s special about it? Nothing. Think about it. How about this- there have been times where when a hearing person mentioned that they have a friend that’s in a wheelchair, and then the other hearing person says
“oh yeah, I know a Deaf guy”.

Sometimes audism has such an impact on a Deaf person that without realizing, they participate in audism themselves. Once, I had a friendly discussion with a Deaf person, about the topic of discrimination. This person asked me “honestly, which would you prefer- a hearing army to protect you, or a Deaf army?” The point of that comment was to suggest that not every job is suitable for a Deaf person. I pointed out “Well, I’d trust a Deaf army well equipped with assistive devices.”

How about this one- Gallaudet University.
Gallaudet is supposed to be the Deaf center of America- many deaf people have attended Gallaudet University at some point in their lives. Many books on the topic of deafness has been published by the university, “Deaf President Now” happened at Gallaudet University, and many other such related things has occurred there- as it is a political hotbed for Deaf politics.

Do you notice something odd about the name- ‘Gallaudet’ University? Who brought the idea that Deaf people are independent, capable, and normal- to America? Was it Thomas Gallaudet? No. He was merely a vessel that brought Laurent Clerc to us, and so was Alice Cogswell’s father, Dr. Mason Cogswell- the financier of Gallaudet’s Journey in searching for a communication method for the Deaf.

I would like to remind the reader that Gallaudet first went to England to learn the oral method. It was not until the school turned him down, and he saw a poster advertising “hand communication” that he considered the concept of sign language in order to communicate. It was Clerc that converted Thomas Gallaudet and Dr. Mason Cogswell.

Clerc was a Deaf man, the grandfather of Deaf culture, and all that is Deaf in America. He is responsible for the existence of our culture, our language, our identity, and our pride. Without Clerc and Alice Cogswell, there would probably not be a such thing as ASL or ‘Deaf culture’ in America. Without Clerc and Cogswell, the Deaf would have continued to be considered incapable, incompetent, be cast aside, and they would remain uneducated. Fortunately, Clerc & Cosgwell put us all on the right path and saved us from certain audistic hell.

Yet, Gallaudet University is called “Gallaudet University”. Why? Audism. Throughout history, hearing people have always taken credit for the deaf’s hard work. It’s time to push aside Thomas Gallaudet, credit him simply for bringing Clerc to America, and start recognizing Clerc as the one to thank, respect, & honor. American hearing culture cannot claim that they are not audists, until they change the name of the university to honor either Laurent Clerc, or Alice Cogswell, the mother of ASL. (While Gallaudet was in Europe, Alice and her Deaf band of friends developed their own form of sign language of which was eventually merged with Clerc’s Language Signed French… Creating the majority of today’s ASL.)

An audistic statue of Thomas Gallaudet and Alice Cogswell

(Notice how Thomas Gallaudet takes on a fatherly/superior role over the Deaf? Notice how Alice is portrayed to be  “helpless”?)

People who have audist attitudes are considered to be audists. Under this definition, Deaf people who will not proudly use sign language and who will not identify with the Deaf community and consider themselves to be “better” than others who use sign language and are part of Deaf culture, are audist non-members of Deaf culture.

Deaf people and oralists that are associated with the Alexander Graham Bell Association falls under this category. Please note
that Alexander Graham Bell encouraged oralism and was against the use & existence of ASL, and tried to stop the use of ASL. For that reason, he is the Deaf public enemy #1.

Alexander Graham Bell, an audist

When you think of a person as a racist, sexist, fascist, or a rapist, does it send a jolt or a shock throughout your body, or does it make your stomach turn? If it does, it means you are alive, and a human being. Now, since the term ‘audism’ is now official, and now since the word ‘audism’ has joined the ranks of the evil ‘isms, does it shock your or make your stomach turn? It should!

Audism is a very ugly word, but quite necessary. It helps enable an audist to realize that audism is wrong, period. The term ‘audist’ is a term to describe an evil and vile person. An audist is a person that is just so horrible that we, as a Deaf ‘race’ should fight for our right to be ‘viewed’. Not heard, but ‘viewed’. It’s time that we stopped tolerating audism.

Some people say “but… I didn’t know.” So what? There is the internet, use it! Those ignorant people have a responsibility to know everything about the people that lives in his/her society. We live in a very modern society, and there is no excuse for any evil ‘isms, including audism. Here’s a good example- homosexuality. I personally am not homosexual,
however, I do have some basic understanding & acceptance of that community. I’m not African-American, but I do have a basic
understanding of their perspective on society, and their culture. I’m not blind, but I have a basic understanding of the accessibility
devices they have, the schools they attend, their terminology, and basic facts. This goes for every minority group in the USA. Why do
I know about them? Because I utilized the use of the internet, and did my homework.

Now it’s time for the hearing population to do the same. No excuses. An audist is an audist, regardless of the conditions, period. Terrible words like Racism, Sexism, Nazism, Ageism, Anti-Semitism, Nigger, Nazi, Old Fart, Kike, Mick, Faggot, Homo, Fatso, and Cripple. When do you think about those words, how does it make you feel? The word ‘audism’ should make you feel the same way.

LET’S STOP AUDISM!

To show your support for the fight against audism, please feel free to buy something from the deaf stuff section of
cafepress.com, to send a clear message to audists. Notice there’s
even a shirt for the dog? Say NO to audism!

‘What can I do’ to help stop audism?

1. Don’t tolerate it.

2. Don’t participate in audism.

3. Help spread the word ‘audism’ by telling people about it.

4. Discuss ‘audism’ with other people and understand its meaning & how it affects deaf people.

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*Sources:

Audism.org

Gallaudet University’s Audism FAQ

Audism at deafness.about.com

About Audism at Lifeprint

Dupor Deaf Art

Definition of Audism at www.wikipedia.com

Credits:

The Deaf artwork shown in this article was done by Susan Dupor, a wonderful & skilled deaf artist.

Please feel free to visit her webpage.
She has some artwork and posters available for sale.

New changes coming soon! On this page, there will be many articles on all different types of articles- on all topics.

Coming soon!

Unfortunately, due to the weather, the Memorial Weekend Cookout on 6/23/09 has been canceled. We regret the cancellation, but we look forward to future events!

The NEFAD board

Hello all, some people have asked the webmaster “how do I best view the NEFAD website?”

The answer is this: Mozilla Firefox 3.0+, viewing the website with your monitor set at 1024×768.

Those using Internet Explorer will be able to view the flying bird following the mouse cursor. Those using Firefox will not be able to see this.

People that use AOL browsers will not be able to see NEFAD’s website at all. This is due to limitations in AOL’s browser software.

People that are using Internet Explorer will not be able to view the calendar and archives whenever viewing the News, Events, and Community pages. Whereas, those with Firefox 3.0 will be able to view these.

So, in conclusion, Firefox 3.0 is the best browser for the NEFAD website, and the best browser you can use for the internet.

If you want to try Firefox, you can download it for free at:

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/

Cheers,
George
NEFAD Webmaster

Mickey Higgins, Vice President
$8.00  per shirt, contact Mickey at:      mickey@nefad.org

Hello all,

We have a new NEFAD forum! You can click the “Forum” button on the far top right side of the NEFAD menu bar to go to the forum.

100% free registration is required to use the forums. Just click “forum” then click “Register” and put in your user ID and create your own password and you are all set! It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3!

Come and join us and chat away!

NEFADLY Yours,
George
NEFAD webmaster/Forum Administrator

p.s. If you are already a NEFAD member, please let us know and you will have special permissions and access in the forums! ;o)