The Deaf World As Amy’s Eyes Doesn’t Really See It

Skywalk Closure An Accessibility Issue?

Recent messages in the deaf blogsphere relating to the AG Bell and DBC’s conferences has intensified by 20 fold!

Now The Hyatt hotel there has been convinced to close the skywalk that connects the Hyatt hotel to the Midwest Airlines Center where the AG Bell conference is held at and DBC has their conference at the Hyatt.

Among the comments published include a line that closing the skywalk is an accessibility infraction.

I don’t see the walkway closure an accessibility issue at all and it shouldn’t be an access issue since DBC don’t really include deafs with other disabilities.

I base this on the actions of the likes of DBC such as the former CSDR Superintendent Dr. Rachel Stone. She believed the safest haven for ASL is the purity of the students. She simply wanted to purge out programs that supported deaf people with other disabilities.

That alone probably cost Rachel her job. Good riddance!

We work with and even house deaf people with other disabilities and they are deserving the equal opportunities that’s been met with contempt by the Old Deaf Guards in the past decade.

Richard

Another note :

Rileys post “Gearing UP” today shows a new light at DBC.  It shows that the DBC has a soft underbelly waiting to be punched.

DBC Trying To Put A Pretty Face On Deaf Bullies?

What I see is DBC known as Deaf Bilingual Coalition doing so far is trying to paint a pretty face to an organized group of deaf bullies. They’re working very hard by staging peaceful rallies at places like at A.G. Bell’s state conferences and so forth showing off their pretty yet deceptive mask.

What I see them doing is like showing ASL (American Sign Language) to people like a pretty bouquet of flowers and asking the parents to let deaf babies smell it. And at the same time holding  baseball bats with the other hand behind their backs to beat down on deaf people who either made themselves independent from the deaf community, got the CI implant, dont use ASL 100%, or distanced themselves from the values cherished by deaf culturists.

And they don’t have to be exactly baseball bats.  They can be blogs, video blogs, email groups, chatroom activities, rumormongering, and many different forms of harassment and scourge cast upon deaf and hard of hearing people.

What were seeing everywhere is the DBC’s hand that is showing everyone the flowers. We need to get the word out and tell people what is in the other hand DBC is hiding behind their backs. Don’t be mislead and don’t be fooled by the pretty face and pretty flowers they’re showing everyone these days.

We need to get the truth out and tell the public that DBC is of, by, and for the deaf bullies!

Richard Roehm

Beyond The Cochlear Implants

As society advances, the deaf society advances with it.

Cochlear implants, widely used at this time, is a device with a few dozen electrodes that tries to do the work of thousands of damaged or missing hair cells inside the human cochlea. Children who are implanted with the cochlear implants oftentimes quit using them usually in their teen years due to many reasons not excluding the following possibilities;

1) Maintenance costs and issues
2) Variability in outcomes
3) Limitations on activities, travel, and diagnosis
4) Social or peer pressures

This comes to looking for solutions beyond cochlear implants. One such solution is the use of stem cells.

Ear Hair Cells

The stem cell solution for hearing loss/disabilities is replacing the missing or damaged hair cells inside the human cochlea to restore hearing and improve balance. And doing it early in the child’s years would eliminate the 4 main possibilities and let the child develop naturally. Stem cells has the potential to beat even the best technology available to treat humans.

The risks of stem cell transplantation include the possibility of developing into incorrect cells, stem cells turning into cancer cells, and other risks associated with invasive procedures.

I currently serve on the Patient Advocate Council at the Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center situated in the University of California Irvine.

Richard Roehm