Perhaps you should think about why a Deaf organization is afraid of healthy questions and dialogues?

I dare say that Richard rather used poor or inappropriate comparison (9/11). He (and core members) need to realize that DBC needs to improve their better marketing approach/practice in order to be more effective reaching hearing parents of deaf children to understand why visual language should be their “automatic” language, name it ASL given available in the USA.

Amy and MZ happened to be the few ones leaving DBC on their terms. Did they support ASL for the babies despite leaving DBC? Yes, they do in case those attackers didn’t realize or overlooked! They just disagreed with their strategies, and that I agreed with their reasons. Yet please believe that most of them including me hope that DBC needs to realize big time especially on their marketing approach and the same for those DBC supporters need to increase their perspectives, too.

At last, healthy questions are good for its own reasons, like it or not. That is what debates are for. Attacking never solves, imo!

Your question is valid. However, unlike you, I see it differently. A yes/no approach doesn’t still elicit an one-sided answer as this question was directed toward DBC and Deaf Community, meaning people could have responded affirmatively, too. People who agrees with the tactic can explain, so others can understand better. Some people may not agree, but that’s ok. There will always be disagreements in a community as diverse as ours, but the most important thing is to understand the rationales. For myself, I like hearing different perspectives of an issue, to help me gain better understanding. Like everybody else, I am still learning. This analogy is something some people in the Deaf Community feels strongly which I can understand.

It’s not a matter of wanting to defend my friend or not. It’s about the freedom of exploring different topics without being attacked or criticized at a personal level. I would feel the same way with other Deaf or deaf b/vloggers, regardless of my personal feelings for them.

I would recommend that this organization keep an open mind about questions and address to the topic rather than the person. Instead of assuming the questions are designed to disintegrate the organization, seize the questions as wonderful opportunities to educate the Deaf Community. Sheri explained that the transcript version didn’t do the ASL version justice. That was very helpful. I wish there is a vlog showing Ray with that presentation as I would love to see the ASL version.

I would also gently suggest to the organization to develop a thick skin. There will always be questions, agreements, and disagreements. The members, including the leaders, are encouraged to stand strong for their beliefs and explain their positions, while respecting the diversity of the Deaf Community. Keep the big picture in mind, but refrain from personal attacks as that doesn’t reflect well on the organization and its members. Feel free to take my suggestions or not. We all are different and can learn from each other. We may not agree with all, but it helps us to understand better and also look at some things differently.

Peace

> Really? I am sure countless teachers, lawyers,
> and countless others disagree with you. It’s
> a very common practice to raise questions to
> encourage an audience to discuss and explore
> issues.

Let me try again…

Teachers may ask questions to promote discussion, but the questions that ACTUALLY promote discussion are those to which the answer is not already known. Since Amy asked a yes/no question, let’s look at two statements here:

ACE agrees that Richard Ray’s Presentation will help hearing parents of deaf babies and children understand the situation better.

and

ACE DISagrees that Richard Ray’s Presentation will help hearing parents of deaf babies and children understand the situation better.

Which do you think is true?

Pretty much narrows the scope of inquiry to a decision process of whether or not what the DBC did was right, no?

As for lawyers, well there, such a leading question is appropriate! Of course lawyers want to STOP anything but inquiry along their favored lines! As such, this question is quite effective.

No attacks intended here. HONEST inquiry happening here. How SHOULD Amy’s motivation be evaluated? Based on past dealings with the DBC? That would favor the “lawyer-like” leading question interpretation of her motivation, right?

I guess I can understand your defending your friend, but still feel that she is “guilty” here of her own worst criticism of the DBC. That they suffer from REALLY poor marketing.

What’s being done with the hearing parents of deaf babies/children is a serious travesty. I agree with you that the beauty of ASL is unrecognized by the majority of hearing parents and maligned unfairly by the oral deaf educators, speech therapists, audiologists, and the majority of doctors, at the expense of most deaf kids. I think it will make a great story for the reporters to cover: the long history of deception by the oral deaf education.

“A teacher? A lawyer? Is that how you see yourself and your role in this v/blog? Somehow over us and instructing us by asking leading questions?”

Please do indicate where in this post I said I am above you and instructing you? Oh, that’s right. You won’t because I never said that.

This kind of questions may reflect the insecurity you may be experiencing. This may explain why this organization cannot handle the healthy discussions of the Deaf Community, feeling threatened by the questions and different POVs of a richly diverse community.

How do you like when I use your tactic on you? This is not productive and I am not interested in playing your game.

….”Don’t question the questions. Question the problems!!”

And uninformed Hearing Parents are STILL producing linguistically challenged deaf children in this day and age,..thirty years after it became illegal to place Deaf and deaf children in mental institutions for the mentally retarded and mentally challenged..just because those children were deaf!

Stanelle ares at the human bites on the backs of my hands that were placed there by deaf children,..who didn’t even know that they had a name.

I used to teach such children and the only infighting involved in that was teaching the child to sit still long enough so that you could show said child how to make a sign and give that sign meaning..before the kid took a chunk out of you with his or her teeth!!

Fighting over quibly little things won’t keep the “big bad wolf” of hearing ignorance about the Deaf and deaf at bay!! There are still hearing out there who call ME a DUMMY because of their ignorance..just because I can’t hear,…and I do public speaking vocally and do it quite well!!!!

It is sad to see how it has come to this level. This is not about specific individuals, but how some (or should I say most) commenters have no understanding about why DBC serves as the front for the majority of hearing parents and hearing people in general. We need to understand there are many, many, many people who do not see the beauty side of how ASL will improve the ability to learn English language far better than other communication choices. These people (even some Deaf people who have no conception of ASL) are doing more harm than good to parents who do not know all the facts about ASL and Deaf education. They are being misguided which ruins the beauty of making the best decisions for Deaf babies. Bilingualism is not yet well publicized. Clinical programs are on the rise. Great deals of misleading intervention materials are leading parents on. Answers to such question provide insights into what we understand, and what we do not understand. Implants for Deaf children are fast becoming commonplace, if not the norm, as they have been demonstrated consistently to contribute to language development and academic achievement. DBC shares the findings of the benefits of bilingualism, and to encourage parents and members of the public to learn more about the truth.

Again, I ask for the sake of Deaf babies and children, preserving ASL and our visual/manual communication world, we get to the task of exposing ourselves as staunch advocates ensuring that all Deaf babies and children do succeed and thrive though early and strong acquisition of ASL. Give our Deaf babies/children the value of ASL – the very right of a language.