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rockdrummer
Guest
Source: HLAA Convention Keynote
I. King Jordan, Keynote Speaker
We were privileged to have I. King Jordan deliver the Keynote Presentation at this year's HLAA Convention.
He began by noting the long relationship between Gallaudet University (from which he retired as President at the end of 2006) and HLAA. He also noted with approval the growing number of hearing loss professionals who themselves have hearing loss.
Dr. Jordan honored Rocky Stone with the observation that he knew far more about hearing loss than most of the so-called experts. He knew that people had to become self advocates, and was very assertive about rights of people with hearing loss. Gallaudet honored him with an honorary degree in 1991.
Dr. Jordan then noted the plethora of wonderful technology that is bringing us closer to functional equivalence. He remarked on increasingly sophisticated hearing aids and assistive listening devices, the availability of captioning in numerous situations and on various media, the growing success of cochlear implants, and the availability of video phones.
Our lives have been improved by the large and growing variety of relay services, by interpreters and the growing number of programs to train them, by legal rights conferred by the ADA and other legislation, by hearing dogs, education options, and employment opportunities.
Another change is the diversity in the deaf and hard of hearing community. We have the same racial, ethnic, religious, social, economic, and geographical diversity as others, but we also have a wide range of hearing loss diversity. There are people who were born deaf, Deaf of Deaf, late deafened people, oral deaf people, hard of hearing people, hard of hearing people who don't call themselves hard of hearing, cochlear implant users, hearing aid users, people who are deaf and blind, people who are deaf with additional disabilities, deaf people who went to the Deaf schools, deaf people who went to mainstream schools.
Each of us has a place on that list, some of us in more than one group. Some of us have been deaf for a long time, some have just lost their hearing, and others have yet to lose theirs.
I say that there are many ways to be deaf. You can see that by looking at all the deaf and hard of hearing groups and the organizations of the people who serve them. There's the Hearing Loss Association of America, the Association of Late Deafened Adults, the National Association of the Deaf, the American Society for Deaf Children, the Alexander Graham Bell Association, the National Black Deaf Advocates, the National Asian Deaf Conference, Deaf Seniors of America, Deaf Women United, and the Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf. Most of these organizations are willing to work with each other. But we also know that some people think there is just one way to be deaf.
Some say that they know the best way to be deaf or to educate deaf children. Some people believe that the only way is the aural/oral way. Some believe in total communication and bilingual education. Some believe that one of the sign systems is the only way to educate deaf kids.
I believe that the decision on how to educate an individual deaf child should be based on the needs and characteristics of that child, not on a person's passion or passionate beliefs.
The Second International Congress on the Education of Deaf Children took place in 1880 in Milan, Italy. That Congress voted on two key resolutions. The first stated that the aural/oral method is far superior to sign language and should be used. The second stated that if a person signs and speaks at the same time, the signing degrades the speech skills.
Before 1880 many schools for deaf children were established by deaf people, and many of the teachers and leaders were deaf. After 1880 all the deaf people lost their jobs. I think that decision was an absolutist decision, because it stated that there is one way to educate deaf children. One of the few dissenters was Edward Miner Gallaudet, the President of Gallaudet University - which was then called the Columbia Institute. He thought that using both speech and sign language was the best way. His decision to continue using both methods to teach demonstrated that absolutism is not a good policy.
We've been looking at the numbers of children that will be coming to Gallaudet. Many are now getting cochlear implants, and most kids go to mainstream schools now. It's often much easier for college kids to go to other schools now. A key part of our strategic plan was to recognize and support everyone who is deaf, regardless of how they choose to be deaf. We also recognized that there are many historical traditions at Gallaudet that need to be continued.
The main reason I decided in 2005 that it was a good time to retire was because we had that new strategy in place. In 2006 we accepted the largest and most diverse freshman class in our history.
The debate over the person to succeed me as President became very vocal and angry. Many of the leaders took the position that there is only one way to be deaf, and that is to embrace Deaf culture and ASL.
In January I wrote an op ed for the Washington Post about how to define deafness and the deaf community. I argued that we must define the deaf community broadly and inclusively. I used the term "absolutist" to indicate people who think there is only one way to be deaf.
I think the choices we make about how to be deaf are our choices and should be supported by others. I've been very impressed by how well various people can come together to support each other. One example was the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which took the support of lots of disability organizations; there was wonderful cooperation to get that act passed!
The deaf community has lots of challenges right now, and we need to put aside our differences and work together. Some of the issues we need to address include captioning, hearing aid insurance legislation, and more accessible telephones.
The FCC is currently deliberating on reimbursement rates for the relay service. A few months ago there was a rumor that the FCC would slash rates so much that the relay providers wouldn't have enough money to do research to improve services. Over the last few months representatives from all the organizations have been lobbying the FCC about this issue. And over 30,000 individuals have contacted the FCC, as well.
Relay has changed the way I use the telephone. Now that I have access to Video Relay Service, Linda [his wife] gives me a list of phone calls to make! If you haven't tried VRS, I really recommend it!
It's important for people with different philosophies and beliefs to sit down and talk to each other. Gallaudet used to have an Elderhostel program, which brought senior citizens to Gallaudet to learn about hearing loss. One day a group of seniors was in the cafeteria, and they sat down with a group of Deaf students and started talking. They were able to communicate with a combination of gestures and writing. When they got back to their program, they said that the most important thing about that conversation was the fact that the students were just normal college students, and they weren't concerned with their lack of hearing. The seniors hoped that they could learn to accept their declining hearing as well.
I believe there is a lot more that unites us than divides us. I think we need to keep that in mind as we sit down to talk to each other.
