Man upset over abuse, shot by police

Originally appeared in Silent News, May 2001.

“I give my life to free deaf people from hearing slaves” was the message written on James Levier’s white mini-van as he paced the parking lot of a grocery store in Scarborough, Maine, with a hunting rifle in hand.

Last month, yet another incident drew attention to the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf (GBSD) located in Falmouth. Levier, 60, paced with a rifle outside of a Shop ‘N’ Save grocery store. 200 people hid in the back of the store during the incident.

“Should I trust lawmakers?” he wrote on his van.

Governor Baxter has been plagued with proven accusations of sexual and physical abuse dating back to the 1950s. The state, in March, determined that victims of the sexual abuse would not be compensated due to a number of reasons, including a lack of specific definition of what ‘abuse’ consisted of.

Levier attended GBSD from the ages of 7 to 18, said Josie Little, Levier’s niece. “James was the first person to ever testify on the abuse that took place in front of legislature. He had been fighting for years to have things changed and the people punished for what they did.”

However, charges could not be pressed due to a statute of limitations. Levier was part of A Safer Place, a support group for victims of abuse at GBSD that meets monthly.

In an interview with News 8 WMTW (Portland) TV in June 1999, he said, “Deep inside, I feel like a prisoner. I feel like something’s controlling me, keeping me.”

The hopelessness that Levier apparently felt was what drove Levier to that parking lot on March 16, says his family.

Just exactly what happened in that Shop ‘N’ Save parking lot is where the differences in accounts begin to emerge.

The Maine Attorney General’s office released a report that labels Levier’s shooting by the Scarborough police as justifiable. “Several officers from Scarborough, the State Police, and other area departments quickly contained Mr. Levier to a confined area of the parking lot, while other officers evacuated shoppers and employees from the mall stores and other businesses, including a nearby day-care center. Attempts to persuade Mr. Levier to relinquish his rifle were unsuccessful, although it appeared to several officers that Mr. Levier understood the repeated commands to do so. On several occasions during the standoff, Mr. Levier shouted for the officers to shoot him,” the report outlined.

Levier’s niece Little explained, “He knew he had to bring something that would get attention, so he brought his rifle. He never threatened anyone in the parking lot or the stores. He stayed next to his van and passed back and forth, holding his rifle up in the air. He never fired his gun at all. The police came and after about a half hour, they called in the interpreter who was hearing, she knew James for about 12 years.”

The report continued, “The police were successful in getting an interpreter qualified in American Sign Language to the scene, but her attempts at communicating with Mr. Levier were unsuccessful because of the distance that had to be maintained between the two for her own protection. It was while the police were attempting to devise a plan that would safely allow for the interpreter to get closer to Mr. Levier that Levier threatened to shoot at a group of officers and was shot.”

Little disagrees with this. “They would not let [the interpreter] get close enough to talk with James. He did not know she was there. The police kept asking her what is he saying but she could not tell them even with looking through binoculars – she was that far away.”

The report also said, “Approximately one hour after the stand-off began, Mr. Levier advanced to within approximately 60 feet of a group of officers. Seconds later he assumed a shooter’s stance, raised the rifle to his shoulder, and sighted in on the group of officers.”

According to the attorney general’s office, Levier was armed with a .30-.30 caliber rifle that had a ballistic velocity that could easily penetrate vehicles. After the shooting, the state found that his rifle’s hammer had been fully cocked and his rifle was loaded with several live rounds, including one in the chamber.

Police initially claimed that Levier was the first to shoot, but several individuals later disputed this, including the interpreter and witnesses. A Scarborough officer’s single shot was the first, followed in quick succession by three rounds from a second officer, and then a single shot from each of two other officers.

“The police said that his gun was loaded, but the interpreter said he was cocking his rifle while he was marching – which I have been told kicks out the bullets. She says he did this about seven times while she was there, and that one of the officers told her he had done this a few times before she got there…if this is true, he would not have had anything in his rifle. This was also a one-shot rifle, so even if he had shot, they would have known he was done,” said Little.

Indeed, after investigating the matter further, the attorney’s office found that Levier never once fired his weapon. “The impression of several witnesses who told investigators that Mr. Levier discharged his weapon was attributed to the combination of hearing the sound of Trooper Sperrey’s shot, accompanied at the same moment by the observation of Mr. Levier’s gun shoulder recoiling, which was a result of being struck by the shot,” the report said.

With these details in place, it is quite difficult for Levier’s family to understand exactly why things happened the way they did. The family also learned of Levier’s death through secondhand information. Little said, “The family was never notified at all, [even though] the police had James’s daughter’s number on file because she was who they called when they arrested him [previously for an unrelated charge]. The family found out of his death on the news, and they showed him being shot on the 10:00 news.”

Sara Treat is a licensed counselor who works with A Safer Place. “It was well known that he was depressed a lot and felt a lot of pain from his past. We can never know exactly what he was thinking or going through the day he went to Shop ‘N’ Save,” she said in a recent talk at the New England Mental Health and Deafness conference in Maine.

“It seemed clear though that he wanted to get a message out that would wake people up about the Deaf community and the abuses and discrimination that they suffer. That day he apparently thought that by dying, he could to that,” Treat added.

The family of James Levier is still reeling from the chain of events. Little said, “There is no way to justify this in my eyes. We have to make sure this does not happen to another person.”

Perhaps, most fitting to this story is a note that Levier left on his door before he drove to the shopping plaza. In the note, he wrote, “I would rather die than suffer a slave to a hearing world. Please protect my deaf friends, family and children, etc. I go to war with lawmakers fail to protect me my rights. The end. James Levier.”

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TTY software finally available for Mac

Originally appeared in Silent News, April 2001.

Intelligent Products’ newest communication software, SoftTTY, celebrates the first release that provides the ability to use a TTY on a Macintosh, as well as a handful of other new features.

This program has all the features Mac users will need, including an answering machine, which allows for storing of incoming messages on the desktop, the transfer of messages directly to disk or sending messages to a printer.

The program began development in 1995, but only recently was completed. Adam Skwersky, the developer of SoftTTY said, “When I began this project, I was a full-time student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. School was my top priority, so development was very slow. Finding time to work on this project was the main obstacle.”

SoftTTY, currently available for $74.99 through a number of websites and places, came to fruition through frustration. Skwersky, who grew up postlingually deaf, said, ” I was frustrated with an old TTY that could barely function as an answering machine. My desk was cluttered with old TTY printouts from important conversations. I could never remember which letter was for which phone number in my TTY memory. I had other important things to do like finishing up schoolwork!” Skwersky also was frustrated with the high costs of computers and TTYs during these days.

With this seemingly unorganized fashion of communicating, Skwersky realized, “Why spend another $500 on a TTY if you could get your computer to be a TTY? Could software turn a computer into a TTY? Could it be done inexpensively?”

He then reasoned that since PC emulators were being written for Macintoshes and Macintosh emulators were written for the PC, he probably could figure out how to develop a TTY emulator.

“Five years later, I have!” Skwersky, who is currently a software engineer at Rational Software said in an e-mail.

SoftTTY is not designed to replace the TTY, however. “I think for many years to come, TTY’s will be still be in use by a great majority of deaf people. For as long as TTY’s are still in use, SoftTTY can be a player,” the engineer says.

When asked what he says to people who already have both a Mac and a TTY, Skwersky says, “Simply put, your TTY experience will be vastly enhanced. Imagine being able to copy and paste into your conversation. Imagine entering both voice and TTY numbers into your ‘phonebook.’ Then, when you dial voice numbers, the TTY will dial the relay automatically and ask the relay to call your friend and give them the number. Imagine being able to save/search/categorize all your conversations and messages, without ever using a TTY printer again?”

Making reference to the popular iMacs and iBooks, he continues, “If you have an iBook, maybe you should rename it ‘iTTY’? No matter where you go with your iBook, you’ll have a TTY.”

With these features, it’s easy to see how deaf Mac users can maybe finally get a break in the PC-dominated world.

Updates to the SoftTTY program will be available for free of charge through the website at www.softtty.com, and Skwersky welcomes questions or feedback from users.

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Editorial: Gone, but not forgotten

Originally appeared in Silent News, March 2001.

It’s the wee hours of Valentine’s Day (3:05 a.m. to be exact). I’ve just spent the last few hours finishing up the March issue, rearranging the front page story about the Gallaudet murders. Of course, by the time you read this, the murders will be old news, thanks to the Internet. Even so, we should not forget what happened at Gallaudet.

Back in my November 2000 editorial, I wrote about how horrible this must be for Minch’s family – especially since they, too were members of the deaf community. We shouldn’t forget these victims and their families, even years from now when the murders are but a distant memory.

The Gallaudet news came after a powerful weekend I had. This past weekend alone, I found out about three deaths: my friend’s stepmother who had been murdered years ago, another friend’s mother who passed away of cancer just last January, and the wife of a friend whose wedding party I was part of last summer and who just lost her mother to a car accident three nights ago.

Many of you who have followed my writings since my college days know that I lost my father to an overnight and sudden case of pneumonia. I was 16 at the time, and his death continues to affect me every single day of my life. I’ve written often about Dad, and I will probably always write about him. He’s such a mysterious figure to me; we were very close, yet not close at all.

Last year, I took a series of road trips (20,000 miles in all). I left my job, left my life behind in Minnesota, and went to seek fulfillment. I found it. The first destination was Morganton, NC, where the North Carolina School for the Deaf (NCSD) is. It’s also where my dad went to school. My dad spoke about NCSD on a daily basis when I was with him – I lived three hours away from Dad growing up – and with such fondness, that I felt I needed to visit NCSD to truly understand his spirit.

The very first night I was in Morganton — I had been there as a child, and again for the 1994 Homecoming, but didn’t remember too much of either visit — I felt as if I truly was home. I stayed there for a week, in addition to a few visits after that. I met so many individuals who knew my father, my uncle or my other relatives who also attended NCSD. But most of all, my father.

In each of them, I saw a startled look whenever they saw me say, “My name’s Trudy Suggs…” They’d ask, “Lewis or Mike?” and I’d always proudly say, “Lewis.”

So many people still don’t know that Dad is dead. How could he be dead? He’s not even old! One night a group of friends and I were at a local restaurant during my visit in Morganton, and we ran into two teachers from NCSD. One of them recognized my last name, and immediately began to tell me how much she loved my dad’s silliness and sense of humor. She then asked the much-dreaded question: “How is your father doing?”

Dreaded question, not because Dad had died, but because I knew I was about to drop a bomb and affect her spirit.

As soon as I told her that Dad had died at the age of 40, she dropped her fork and tears welled up in her eyes. I could see that she was now suddenly faced with her own mortality, since she was the same age as my father. As they left the restaurant, I saw the woman ask her husband, “How could he be dead? He was so young.”

As I have gotten older and no longer that smart-mouthed little brat – although some people may disagree – people are now looking at me as my own individual, my own person, rather than somebody’s daughter. With this job, I’ve gotten to meet so many people who have known me since I was a baby or known my parents from when they were kids. I often get letters addressed to me as “Anita’s daughter” that begin with, “I am a friend of your mother’s” (or father’s). This is how intimate the deaf community is, and this is the very reason I am so affected by any friend’s loss of family or beloved ones.

Last Friday, I went to see Compensation, a terrific film that stars Michelle A. Banks, a deaf actress. Upon my arrival at the movie, a friend introduced me to a local school administrator. Her first sentence to me was, “I knew your father.” As we exchanged introductions, she shook her head in amazement and said, “My goodness, you look so much like your father.”

It does make me feel rejuvenated when people share stories about Dad, especially when they say I look and act like him. It’s neat that I can develop characteristics like his when I haven’t seen him in a decade. It shows me how much one simple life can affect so many. My dad wasn’t anything special in terms of “life achievements.” He was simply a state worker who was single with a love of women and beer, and rented a small typical bachelor’s pad in Springfield, Ill. Nothing outstanding about his life at first glance. Right?

Wrong.

During my visit, I met one of the oldest teachers at NCSD who is now retired. As he told me about how he had toured all seven continents of the world, I realized that this was the same printing teacher my father had talked of so fondly. I told him who my father was, and his face lit up. He shared how my father was ornery and a terrific printing student (copies of Dad’s grades say otherwise, though).

I told the teacher to hang on for a second, and I ran out to my truck. I have two huge scrapbooks that I made of my father’s pictures, and one of them has a 8×10 black and white picture of my father standing next to an enormous printing machine. Above the machine is a sign hanging from the ceiling saying, “THINK.”

When I showed this picture to the teacher, his jaws dropped and a stunned look came over his face. “That’s my machine. That’s my sign. That was mine…” he said. He seemed lost in memories, and said he hadn’t seen this machine for 20 or 25 years. He started crying, and told me this was an incredible gift for him, to see a future generation bring back memories to him. It was a powerful moment for me, to see that because of my father’s death, I was able to let another respected man know – through my perseverance of my father’s memories – that he, too, was important to my father.

For years I felt a longing to close the chapter on my dad’s death. But along the journey, I found out that these kinds of chapters aren’t meant to be closed. They’re meant to be savored in the most enlightening ways possible, and they’re meant to be continued. I take great, great pleasure and comfort in the fact that I am a living memorial to my father.

For each friend of mine that lost someone, I felt and feel such an incredible sense of sorrow, empathy. I know that they will eventually realize that death is simply a hard reminder that we must always remember people’s spirits. We must preserve their spirits by living them out in whatever ways possible.

It’s been a long, hard journey for me to understand this, and accept this. I’m just grateful I’ve been able to let other people know that they were important in one man’s life, and now my life.

When my father died, I found a poem in his wallet. My father wasn’t very poetic; far from it. So I’m not sure why he had this poem in his wallet. I like to believe that he left it for me to find. One of the lines say, “Please know that I am always here with you.” And you know what?

He is.

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Deaf Employees File Lawsuit Against UPS

Originally appeared in Silent News, March 2001.

A group of employees have filed a class-action lawsuit against the United Parcel Services (UPS), citing discrimination and failure to provide reasonable accommodations.

The group, represented by two law firms – Disability Rights Advocates, a nonprofit law firm, and Schneider, McCormac and Wallace – filed a nationwide class action suit in 1999 (Eric Bates et al. versus UPS C 99-2216) on behalf of deaf and hard of hearing employees and job applicants.

Alison Aubry, staff attorney with Disability Rights Advocates, said, “The case mainly focuses on UPS’ failure to have policies and procedures in place to ensure that deaf employees and applicants receive the accommodations they need, such as interpreters for interviews, trainings and meetings; captioned training videos… The case also challenges UPS’ exclusion of deaf employees from all driver positions within the company, as well as failure to promote deaf employees to supervisor positions.”

Although there are some known deaf drivers for UPS such as Paul Penner of Illinois, there are restrictions imposed by the federal Department of Transportation.

Aubry said, “The Department of Transportation regulates all vehicles that weigh more than 10,000 pounds, and in order to drive those vehicles, a person must pass a DOT physical which includes a hearing test. Most deaf individuals cannot pass that test. However, DOT does not regulate vehicles that weigh 10,000 pounds and less, and so theoretically deaf individuals could drive those UPS vehicles that weigh 10,000 pounds and less. However, UPS also applies the DOT hearing test to those lighter vehicles, therefore excluding deaf employees.”

The main plantiffs involved are Eric Bates, a current UPS employee, and Bert Enos, a former employee. Both worked at the UPS facility in Sunnyvale, Calif. Both, according to Aubry, have been repeatedly denied accommodations in the workplace, namely provision of interpreters for events such as meetings and trainings.

“The plantiffs are also concerned about the lack of emergency flashing lights in most UPS facilities. Currently, in the event of an emergency, there is no system for alerting deaf employees that they must evacuate,” Aubry explained. “Several employees have been caught in emergencies and did not know what was happening until much later.”

The individuals and their legal representatives involved are seeking simple resolution. “[We] would like to see UPS institute policies and procedures to make sure that the needs of deaf employees and job applicants are addressed and that these individuals are provided with the proper accommodations,” Aubry said.

UPS, however, has challenged the lawsuit vigorously, according to Aubry.

The case is scheduled for trial in early 2002.

Copyrighted material. This article can not be copied, reproduced, or redistributed without the written consent of the author.

Teacher for deaf on Millionaire show

Originally appeared in Silent News, March 2001.

Nancy Edwards was lucky enough to get to the “hot seat” on the hugely popular Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? game show. She was even luckier when the $32,000 question was about Thomas Gallaudet, because Edwards is a teacher for the deaf at Thomas Edison Elementary in Michigan.

“I had been trying to get on [the show] for over a year by calling the toll-free number and answering three questions. I did this correctly many, many times, but never got a call back,” Edwards said. Last October, the game show held auditions, including one in Detroit. Edwards decided to try out, and was required to take a 30-question test that had to be completed within twelve minutes.

After the test, contestants were interviewed in groups, and Edwards got a call on Dec. 12 notifying her of her selection. “They gave me a tape date of Jan. 29th. It was a long, long wait, from start to finish.” Edwards said.

Edwards, who brought her sister-in-law Stephanie with her, had expenses paid for by the game show to New York, along with spending money and accommodations.

Even if contestants manage to make it to the game show, their actual playing is not guaranteed. To get to the “hot seat” facing game show host Regis Philbin, contestants must first win the Fastest Finger portion, where a question is given and the winner must answer correctly in the quickest time possible.

“I never thought I would be fast enough to get into the hot seat,” Edwards said. “So I was thrilled when Regis called out my name after the second fastest finger question.”

One of Edwards’ lifelines was at her school, with Becky Kohanov, a fourth-grade teacher, answering the phone.

“I knew that at that very moment, a producer was calling to let [Becky] know that I was in the hot seat, and my principal would be announcing it over the PA. About one-thirds of my brain was focused on what must be happening at my school, one-thirds worried about the way Regis was signing, and one-thirds actually thought about the questions… Knowing that one little mistake can end it all is a little scary,” Edwards remembered.

The show was taped during the day, so the principal of Edison arranged for PTA parents to cover classrooms for teachers and students wanting to help with the lifeline question, which was a geographical question.

“Becky repeated the question for [students and teachers]. Immediately, they pulled down a large wall-map of the United States. Nancy Kreusel, a fifth-grade teacher, found the Grand Coulee dam with six seconds to spare. They were so excited when they got it right, they screamed, jumped up and down and hugged each other,” Edwards said, having seen a videotape of the event.

Then came the $32,000 question: “In 1817 Thomas Gallaudet founded the first public school in the United States for what group?” Edwards was given four choices: farmers, Quakers, immigrants, or deaf children. She, of course, answered correctly.

Edwards got her start in deaf education at Central Michigan University, earning her undergraduate degree in speech therapy and elementary education. She first met deaf children when working in a summer speech clinic, and started learning sign language. Edwards said, “I loved it. I continued on to get my master’s degree in deaf education. Upon graduating, I was offered a job in my hometown of Port Huron, and I have been here ever since.”

The school has two classrooms of deaf and hard of hearing children, totaling ten children. “I have been teaching there for most of my 25 years in education, first as a preschool teacher and now as an upper elementary teacher.”

When asked what she would do with her $32,000, Edwards said, “My husband and I have two sons, Allan and Stephen. Allan is 19 and a freshman at our local community college. Steve is 15 and a freshman in high school. With two children that age, it’s probably obvious that the $32,000 will go to pay college tuition.” She also plans to use a little of it for a vacation with her husband to Mackinac Island.

“My students were thrilled that I was going to be on the show. They often watch it and tell me the next day what answers they knew. After they saw my show, they came in laughing and shaking their heads about how Regis signed ‘final answer’ and ‘win’,” Edwards said.

“They were happy and excited that I won, but I’m still the same old Mrs. Edwards to them.”

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Minnesotans outraged by opinion column in local paper

Originally appeared in Silent News, March 2001.

A recent article in the St. Cloud Times (Minnesota) sparked angry reaction from local deaf people. Columnist Rachel Wolinski wrote an article entitled, “Some Deaf People Limit Their World,” saying, “Imagine a world without sound…Imagine not even knowing that pancakes make a sizzling sound when they cook or that the rain softly drips off the roof of a house.”

She also wrote, “It is unrealistic to believe that one’s communication needs can be completely met by actively refusing to try to learn to speak… One doesn’t see too many people with mobility issues refusing to use wheelchairs or prosthetics or going to physical therapy simply because they believe in an ‘immobile culture’. It is a shame that these extreme activists are not only impeding their own learning experiences and limiting their communication, but they are essentially closing off the world to the wonderful learning experiences and challenges of communication.”

Deann Dirkx, president of the St. Cloud Deaf Club, was outraged by the article. “I am angry about this article because of the negativity Ms. Wolinski gave about the Deaf community, making [us] look bad. The article made me feel insulted and oppressed… I am angry because we are working hard to be recognized in the hearing community, our reputations soaring as we educate others about Deaf culture and American Sign Language. I feel all this hard work deserves better recognition than the negative comments from Ms. Wolinski.”

Amy Bursch, an interpreter in St. Cloud, agreed with Dirkx’s sentiments. ” As someone who is often in a position of viewing the two cultures collide, I see the difference in the service, treatment and respect I receive as opposed to the treatment, service and respect Deaf parents/consumers receive. At times it is equal, but often it is not.”

Bursch, who has worked in the field of deafness for 15 years – ten in vocational rehabilitation – added, “The damage an article such as this can have is far more outreaching than we can imagine. For the hearing people who already have misunderstandings of Deaf culture and Deaf people, this just reaffirms their beliefs. For a person who has yet to form thoughts regarding deafness, it plants the wrong impression. An article of this nature re-enforces oppressing ethnocentric behaviors.”

Roberta*, a St. Cloud resident who received a cochlear implant at age 15 and no longer uses it, said, “Why was I angry? Because in one fell swoop, this opinion writer destroyed years of hard work on the part of the deaf community to educate the hearing public. At least, there was the potential for that and it was headed that way – but I think [the deaf community’s] response not only prevented that, we maybe even got ahead a little bit in the end. The response of the general public in response to our outcry was amazing.”

The St. Cloud Deaf Club, along with deaf community members nationally, bombarded the St. Cloud Times with letters and postings on their online message boards.

Wolinski, who did not respond to requests from Silent News, wrote in a posting online, “In all honesty, my intent in writing this article was not to oppress or bring down people who are deaf. In fact, I have a great respect for anyone living with a disability. My own son has mild [cerebral palsy]. My sole purpose was to reach out and share an opinion about how we can close the communication gap between these two groups. There are militant deaf people who simply will not acknowledge that there is any other language than ASL. But there are people in between and there are hearing people, also.”

Dirkx said in a posting online, “When thinking about deaf culture, realize there is a barrier dividing people who are deaf from hearing people, and it is communication. A large portion of deaf culture revolves around this fact of life. Lack of communication inhibits the interaction between people. So, to overcome this, many people who are deaf key in on socialization…we do have a culture, and that’s how we live…and we’re happy with the way we live.”

Roberta said, “I was very upset when I first read the column and the initial responses on the bulletin board, but I had an experience [after that] that put this in perspective for me. We had a houseful of Deafies over and a good friend of mine and I were sitting on the couch discussing this article. He has been deaf since birth while I have not, and he is culturally Deaf (I don’t call myself that just because I didn’t learn ASL until later in life, but I do feel this is my community). He said about the column and Wolinski’s opinion, ‘I am happy with myself, anyway,’ with a big smile on his face. And I said, ‘You know what? I am happy with myself, too.’ We then shook hands and smiled some more.”

“It’s all about acceptance and open minds. We accept each other and are open to diversity, and it makes us happier people,” she added.

Wolinski, who is a nursing student, has a sister who is profoundly deaf, was raised in an oral program. and currently has a cochlear implant. She wrote, “I have met some of the militant deaf people who will not have anything to do with hearing aids, [cochlear implants], or other deaf people who use these things. Although I don’t think this particular group is abundant in the St. Cloud area, I think it is an interesting phenomenon to think about and something that we should be all aware of.”

Roberta said, “I think Wolinski and those of her mindset would be happier people if they could live and let live.”

*Name has been changed.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

Some deaf people limit their world

By Rachel Wolinski
St. Cloud Times
January 25, 2001

Imagine a world without sound, a world that envelops you in complete, isolating silence. Imagine, not even knowing that pancakes make a sizzling sound when they cook or that the rain softly drips off the roof of a house. This is the life that a profoundly deaf person lives in. She doesn’t hear the voices of her family. She cannot even comprehend the whispering of the wind. She laughs in silence, cries in silence and lives in silence. Some deaf people and their families believe that this way of life is meant to be. They use sign language as their only means of communication and refuse to augment their sound with hearing aids or other assistive devices. They believe that getting a cochlear implant (a device surgically implanted behind the ear to stimulate hearing) is denying a deaf culture. They shy away from close friendships with hearing people and deaf people who prefer speech and lip reading as their main form of communication. Some even go so far as to shun a friend who chooses to try to live in a “hearing world.” While this is an idealistic view that deaf people have their own culture, language and identity because of their impairment, it seems unreasonable to deny the fact that one is living in a society that is mainly hearing. It is unrealistic to believe that one’s communication needs can be completely met by actively refusing to try to learn to speak. While it is commendable that the “deaf culture” wants to have their own society of sorts, it leaves a bad taste in the mouths of those who strive for equality in a world that is filled with so many racial, social, cultural and gender barriers. The American Disabilities Act has worked to create equal rights and access for people with many different disabilities. While we still have a long way to go in accommodating the needs of the deaf in terms of installing TTYs (a typing device that allows telephone use) in public places, we are constantly working to create an environment where hearing and deaf people can live and communicate together. When a deaf person refuses to learn to speak and communicate with a hearing person because he or she believes strongly in “deaf culture,” it completely undermines what we as a community and society are trying to accomplish. One doesn’t see too many people with mobility issues refusing to use wheelchairs or prosthetics or going to physical therapy simply because they believe in an “immobile culture.” It is a shame that these extreme activists are not only impeding their own learning experiences and limiting their communication, but they are essentially closing off the world to the wonderful learning experiences and challenges of communication.

Rachel Wolinski, mother of three children, is pursuing a nursing degree. Her column is published the fourth Thursday of each month.

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Hearing mother, deaf father in custody battle

Originally appeared in Silent News, January 2001.

One says it’s because he’s deaf. The other says it’s because of competency issues.

Either way, it’s plain that the battle is far from over.

Jason and Loura Hurdich met online about two years ago. They started dating, and got married. Jason, 26, is deaf, and Loura, 23, is hearing. She knew no American Sign Language (ASL) when they started dating. “He opened me up to a whole new world that I would have never seen. I learned ASL from him, and about Deaf culture. He invited me into the Deaf community, where I met a lot of wonderful people,” Loura said in an e-mail.

They had a son together named Nathan. However, things didn’t work out between them, and they separated.

Now Loura is suing for full custody rights, with minimal visitation rights given to Jason. Currently, Jason has joint custody with visitation privileges two weekends a month along with alternate holidays.

“The court has questions whether a Deaf person is capable of caring for a baby overnight or extended visitations,” Jason, who lives in Boston, wrote in an e-mail. “When [Loura] left me, she questioned my ability of waking up at night with baby criers and strobe light flashers.”

Loura, however, insists this isn’t the issue. “The upcoming court date is about personal and private issues, not about deaf issues.” She declined to comment further on this case.

In a petition to the court dated Nov. 7, Loura said that “when Jason Hurdich visited with my child earlier this month, he told me he did not know how to take care of the baby. He also said he did not think he was going to have to take care of him by himself.” In this petition, Loura, who lives four hours away in Fort Edward, N.Y., asked that Jason’s visitation rights be reduced to unsupervised visitation for up to three hours at a time or supervised day visitation “in order to keep the child safe. The child should be at least 18 months old before he stays overnight with the father. In addition, the father should not leave the child with a babysitter at any time.” The petition also asked that Jason provide 72-hour advance notification if he wishes to exercise visitation, and have a TTY with him when visiting with Nate.

Jason said, “I told the court back in September that [Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing] had bought me a vibrator, strobe lights. That’s two sets of equipment. That did not satisfy her.” MCDHH then provided Jason with two more sets of equipment, including a vibrator and pager. Jason said almost unbelievably, “It’s too ridiculous. I’m sure the room will be fired up.”

The babysitting issue seems to be another area of concern for Loura. According to her petition, Jason stated that he would leave Nate with a babysitter if Loura was unable to let him bring Nate back a day early. Jason said, “The babysitter was a suggestion that we both agreed upon. I had to leave early one day, and she thinks I would hire someone from online. I told her I wasn’t that stupid. I would never leave my son with a stranger – no way!”

A licensed social worker with the Freedom Trail Clinic in Boston wrote in a letter to the court, “Mr. Hurdich has been under my care…There is no evidence of psychosis nor does he have impaired judgment that would demonstrate an inability to care for his son. In fact, Mr. Hurdich has reported that he loves his son and understands the tremendous amount of responsibility involved as a father in being there physically and emotionally in his son’s life. In my clinical opinion, there is no evidence that would concern me in Mr. Hurdich’s ability to provide and care for his son.”

Jason has collected over 15 testimonies from different individuals commenting on deaf parents raising hearing children. Many of them are from children of deaf adults, or deaf parents. All testify to the capabilities of a deaf adult taking care of a hearing child.

The social worker also wrote, “It would be truly a loss for Nathan to not have the privilege of continuing his relationship and bonding with his father in a normal and healthy way.” The next trial date is set for Jan. 8.

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Deaf and hearing prisoners learn about ASL poetry

Originally appeared in Silent News, January 2001.

Napanoch, NY – He stood in front of his peers, and created a poem out of the “S” handshape. He began with the birth of his daughter, and ended with being behind bars and becoming free.

A powerful message, especially coming from a deaf inmate incarcerated at the maximum security Eastern Correctional Facility in the scenic Catskills Mountains.

Peter Cook, nationally renowned American Sign Language (ASL) poet, along with his Flying Words Project partner Kenny Lerner, were invited to the Eastern Correctional Facility to give a three-day workshop to approximately 20 deaf prisoners on Nov. 28-30. The workshop, which focused on ASL poetry, culminated with a performance given by both deaf and hearing inmates to a diverse audience on Nov. 30, including Eastern Superintendent David Miller and Silent News.

This workshop, one of the first of its kind, came from an idea that Janine Pommy Vega had. Vega, one of the infamous Beat poets who has been associated with Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac of the 1960s, had been working with hearing prisoners at the facility for several years, hosting poetry writing groups and even releasing a book, Voices Under The Harvest Moon. Vega learned from two inmates that there was a large deaf population at the facility. She began wondering if they couldn’t, too, benefit from a similar program. “I thought of their situation [of being deaf inside a prison], like being a ghetto inside of a ghetto. Any communication that bridged the gap between them and others would be a positive thing,” Vega said.

After some investigation and two years of trying to obtain a grant, Vega came to invite Cook and Lerner, who had already done some work with hearing prisoners at other facilities in the country.

Cook and Lerner arrived with very basic goals. “My main goal was to give the Deaf prisoners an opportunity to have a good time by playing with ASL. Also I had a hidden agenda that whatever they created and the other inmates, especially hearing inmates, would witness [the ASL] work and the interactions involved in the workshop would bring a new level of respect,” Cook said.

Lerner added, “Our goals were to teach the tools of techniques and literary devices that can be used in ASL poetry, and to build some bridges between deaf inmates and hearing inmates.”

Deaf prisoners learned how to use handshapes, humor, emotions, and life experiences in the workshop. They also worked together in groups to give both individual and group ASL poetry, both deaf and hearing. A common thread seen in many of the poems at the performance was quite personal themes. Lerner said, “A large number of the pieces they came up with seemed to center on freedom and children. Freedom is an obvious goal, but it was still striking to see it. Also, many of them had poems about children – themselves as children, parents whose children are behind bars, parents behind bars whose children are out there in the world – the people left behind.”

The performance opened with a welcome speech by Vega, who described a dream she had the night before about the performance. “When we witness someone communicate, really express something they’ve created or remembered, we are touched in the same way. In a way you could say every time we are touched, we are transformed.”

After more welcoming remarks from Superintendent Miller and Deputy Superintendent Sheryl Butler, Cook and Lerner performed several segments. The deaf and hearing inmates then performed individual and group poetry. There also was an impromptu reading by Alejo, a hearing inmate fluent in ASL. He had written the poem the night before after being inspired by the workshop. He was accompanied by Cook, who provided an improvised ASL version.

After the performance, a question and answer session was held for the audience. Many of the inmates in the audience were visibly affected by the experience and performance, as were the administrators and visitors present. One of the inmates asked Cook if he attended Gallaudet University. Cook answered that he had attended the National Technical Institute of the Deaf instead, but pointed out a Gallaudet alumna in the audience. The hearing inmate mentioned that he had played football against Gallaudet, and explained to the others about how the Bison drum would always throw the hearing players off-kilt during games.

One of the night’s highlights for Cook was a revival of a classic poem. “I was touched by a Deaf Afro-American inmate retelling Martin Luther King’s famous speech at the end of the performance. This was completely impromptu.” After Cook and Lerner performed “Old Wise Com,” a poem focusing on America’s naiveness during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, Cook noticed this inmate furiously waving his hands to gain Cook’s attention during a segment where Cook showed images of blacks being attacked by cops during riots. “After I finished my poem, the inmate continued to wave his hand, and I looked into his eyes. I knew he wanted to come on stage and recite the I Have a Dream speech. He was very emotional even though he was struggling with voicing and signing the speech. His face showed everything,” Cook remembered. “Imagine a Deaf Black man incarcerated in a maximum security prison telling us about that speech.”

“Any hearing person in the audience would have, it seems to me, been struck with the range and liveliness of signing as a language. The deaf were presented with more options for expression. This can only serve the community as a whole,” Vega said. “Communication is the glue that holds society together.”

Voices Under The Harvest Moon can be purchased through Small Press Distributors in Berkeley, CA. People outside the Bay Area may call 800-869-7553, or fax orders to (510) 524-0852, or e-mail orders@spdbooks.org.

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Editorial: Things aren’t always what they seem

Originally appeared in Silent News, January 2001.

On Nov. 30, I had the opportunity to take a scenic drive up to the Catskills Mountains to the Eastern Correctional Facility in Napanoch, N.Y. Eastern is a maximum security prison located inside of a beautiful castle-like building.

Peter Cook and his Flying Words project partner, Kenny Lerner, had been hired to do work with deaf inmates at the prison — about 20 of them — along with hearing inmates. Peter and I had discussed the possibility of my going with him and observing the workshop proceedings. However, two days before I was scheduled to go, I found out I hadn’t received the security clearance necessary to attend the workshops,  but I could attend the performance that night.

I arrived a little early, so I stopped at some diner off Route 209. After having my usual diner grub, I decided to go ahead and arrive at the prison even though I was 45 minutes early. I sat in the lobby and waited. It was just like any state facility: old, standard linoleum floors, painted brick walls, and drab fluorescent lights.

Finally, Peter and everyone else arrived. We all got checked over by the guards, then walked down to the big auditorium that the performance was being held at. Peter and I discussed about how impressed we were with the size of the auditorium, and how we had mistakenly assumed we’d be in some stanky, small cafeteria room for the performance.

I came in that evening knowing that these inmates were rapists, robbers, murderers — all the people we love to hate in everyday society. These are the people who we read about in the newspapers or see on TV. I had also done some work with inmates in the past as a deaf interpreter. I expected the deaf inmates to be cliquish, rough, and hardened. I was actually a bit intimidated walking down to the auditorium, even though I was with a large group of people.

After a while, the deaf prisoners arrived. And this is where my preconceived notions crumbled away.

The inmates were so nice, so respectful. I was blown away by their desire to make me feel comfortable around them. Peter had filled me in on the three-day workshop, and I was anxious to see it all come together at the performance. There were some inmates that struck me with their individual characteristics.

Alejo, a hearing inmate who signed extremely well, struck me with his serene spirit. He was very friendly, very charming and looked very young. I gasped when he told me he had been in jail for 15 years and had about 3 years to go — and I thought to myself, how old could he possibly be?! This man looked so young, though the peaceful look in his eyes almost gave away his age. I also wondered to myself what crime he had committed, but didn’t dare ask (I wanted them to know that they could be viewed as the people they were, rather than as criminals). I later found out from doing a search on the web that he had committed murder in the second degree along with robbery, and that he was 38. This meant he had been in jail since the age of 23.

Robert, a 6’4″ deaf inmate jailed for robbery, anxiously told me about how he was being released on Valentine’s Day. One of the most outspoken and energetic members of the group, he appeared very intelligent and knowledgeable. He also mentioned a letter he and another inmate had written to Dear Stella a while ago.

David, a hearing inmate, kept running around making sure everyone had drinks and food during the intermission. He was bashful about his signing skills, and giggled when I complimented him on his efforts. David was so concerned about making sure everyone had gotten a large piece of the cake given out, and about keeping the floor and seats clean.

There were also Frank and Joseph who gave me copies of songs they had written, in hopes of finding deaf rap singers who could help them bring these songs to life.

I genuinely liked these inmates. I laughed and joked with them. At the same time, I kept thinking, “These people are supposed to be bad people, horrible people. They’re not supposed to have families and friends.” I also kept reminding myself that they broke the law, and some even caused others to lose their lives.

After the performance, a group of us went out to eat. Peter and I kept talking about how amazing this whole experience was — even more so for him having worked with them over three days. One thing we kept saying was, “They were so normal!” I told Peter I felt as if I had been at any deaf event, just chatting with them about everyday events. One of the prisoners even asked me, “Is it true some guy got killed at Gallaudet? That’s so sad!” and began an animated discussion with two other inmates about the terrible nature of the Plunkett murder.

And these are hard-core criminals we’re talking about.

It really confuses me that I could have compassion for these kind of criminals, because they were so…well, ordinary. They have victims who suffered from their crimes. And they’re paying their debt to society. But I actually walked away from this night rejuvenated, with hope. This was the first time I believed in the idea of programs like this actually affecting criminals. I’ve long scoffed at programs like this — thinking that our taxpayers’ money could be used better. But here I was: an everyday citizen, having been renewed by a group of criminals’ expressions.

I’ll end with a poem written by Alejo that appears in Voices Under The Harvest Moon, a collection of Eastern inmates’ poetry. This poem now hangs on the wall in my office.

Sing Sing Sits Up The River

How alive,

the rhythm that waves move at,

it’s as though they’re breathing,

in and out,

like seasons change, nature

itself inhales and exhales a spirit

that air too breathes

almost human and kind,

how the wind comes to visit me,

blowing past curls of razor wire.

Rows & rows of it – razors

wrapped around the top of

electronically juiced fences

intended to shock

until they kill.

Yet the wind still has not abandoned our visits,

even after having been cut a million times,

the wind bleeds, we become blood brothers

How humane and touching

That the bars feel the openness,

the freedom outside, the space beyond

the other side of where I stand – Upstate New York.

Where underground railroads once ran & ran

cold, tired & hungry in the night

but can’t stop

gotta keep movin’

gotta get to a Black freedom

where now prisons are built in the hills,

how thoughtful.

How sparrows still remind me there’s a spirit

free. And that it breathes.

Even where winters are the coldest
& holidays are just a thing from

another life.

Even in this cold that burns,

the sun still kisses my forehead

as if I were as pure

as a day breastfeeding in my mother’s arms.

How unimaginable,

how freedom comes alive

Touching the sun

between bars.

Alejo Dao’ud Rodriguez

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Editorial: Old friends, new friends

Originally appeared in Silent News, December 2000.

Well, it’s about an hour before deadline and I’m hastily trying to write an editorial and fill up this space. I’ve just come from Long Beach, Calif., where I attended the Deaf Expo. I’ve had a total of about 16 hours of sleep over the past five days. Let’s not forget jet lag and the deadline crunch of getting this paper to the printer.

I had heard about Deaf Expo, but never had I attended before. It was a great weekend for me, and my very first public appearance as editor. The support I got was overwhelming, especially at the reception Silent News held on Saturday night. After the reception, I rushed off to the World Recreation Association of the Deaf’s (WRAD) 15th anniversary banquet to accept a certification of appreciation on Silent News’ behalf.  It was inspiring to see how much of an effect WRAD has had internationally (ask Bruce Gross about where the WRAD banner has been!).

Regardless of the incredible lack of sleep and exhausting schedule, I am struck by one common thread that I’ve experienced at each and every deaf event. This thread is so simple and so basic, but it’s powerful: the common thread of seeing old friends and making new friends.

At Deaf Expo, I was able to visit with friends I hadn’t seen in years – as long as ten years. I ran into people I grew up with in Illinois. I ran into people who I had never met, but had communicated with via e-mail or phone. I ran into people who I had been in awe of all my life but just now am getting to meet. I even got to play with one of the performers’ kids as the performer was on stage (that Ethan is a darling!).

On  Saturday, at the Expo, I stood quietly to the side as I waited for a friend to page me and tell me where he was. I stood next to the main performance area, and I could see everything from where I was standing: the booths, the people coming in and out of the area, the performers on stage, and the kids running around.

And it hit me.

This was all happening simply because we were all deaf.

I stood there and started thinking about how many times I had been to events like this – National Association of the Deaf conventions, local events, sporting events, even simple gatherings at friends’ houses – and marveled at how we all repeat the greeting, the chatting, the catching up, and the good-bye processes. I do get weary of having to go through that. But I will never, ever get tired of these events. How could I? The people are the ones I work with to make a living, the ones I socialize with, and the ones who experience similar frustrations in our daily lives.

As I stood there mulling all this over, I got paged by my friend. “Where are you? I’m by the Wyndtell booth!”  Technology’s great, isn’t it?

We announced at our reception that we were launching a new 04-01-01 plan. But we can’t tell you just yet what the 04-01-01 plan is. And no, this isn’t an April’s Fool joke.

We are really excited about all the changes and surprises we have in store for you. I hope you’ve noticed that our sports coverage has expanded considerably this month. Thanks to both Barry Strassler and Randy Shank, we’re working on making the sports section even more informative and interesting even for non-sports lovers.

Our subscription rates have exploded lately, and I’m excited about that. I’m also excited about the fact that we have so many good writers joining our team, along with increased submissions by community agencies and readers.

Many of you have been asking who did our current logo. The person that worked with us on designing the logo is Maureen Klusza.  Many of you may know her work as an illustrator from several publications, including Silent News, especially her “Deaf Side” cartoons.

Finally, many of you have also asked where you can e-mail me feedback or ideas for future stories or events. You can now e-mail us at silentnewsideas@aol.com. Feel free to share your comments, feedback, or ideas. There is a list of e-mail addresses on page 11 that you may find helpful.

Have a happy season – and many, many thanks to all of you who have been so incredibly supportive during my first few (and busy!) months at this job.

Now, if only I can get over this incredible jet lag before I eat that turkey this Thursday…

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