Pork Chops - Implants worked for Rush, my hero.This "deaf" advocacy business gives me the hives.
Glad to be of service!
Yizuman
JoinedPosts by Yizuman
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16
Cochlear Implants Bacterial Meningitis
by Yizuman in.
for all those who may have a hard of hearing or deaf children or those the readers who are hoh or deaf that is considering a cochlear implant may want to consider the problem that may associate to the side effects and health problems as a result of the implants.. .
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Yizuman
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16
Cochlear Implants Bacterial Meningitis
by Yizuman in.
for all those who may have a hard of hearing or deaf children or those the readers who are hoh or deaf that is considering a cochlear implant may want to consider the problem that may associate to the side effects and health problems as a result of the implants.. .
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Yizuman
Xander - But, that's unrealistic. 95,000 people die in the US every year from what is considered malpractice. People going in for routine surgeries, operations, whatever. 95,000 a year.
My mother was one of them. She's a victim of malpractice as well. She died 67 years too young. 95,000 a year is too many as well. In fact, my best friend and I talked about this subject. His Father-in-Law died from the same kind of malpractice. We did some research on the internet and we discovered that doctors are more dangerous than handguns anywhere in the world. Moreso, doctors are playing god on people's lives (that's what happened to my mom). They view old age to be something a waste of time to practice medicine on.
Never said that. I said if it can be 'cured' it should be.
And why should it be?
Fine, bad example. (Actually, it still does increase the likelyhood of accidental death - all land based animals evolved hearing for a reason, but that's besides the point).
Still - it's similar to opposing the 'instand bone mending' treatment because it destroys the 'crippled culture'. Or opposing a spinal repair treatment because it destroys the 'paraplegic culture'.
Or....a far better analogy...opposing technology to allow bling people to see - as it would destroy the 'blind culture'. You can see, no? What of those who cannot? You can thus measure - would losing the solidarity they have, being a community who cannot see, not be worth the ability TO see?
All? Not entirely my friend. I had a dog that was born deaf and he did fine. In fact, he watches out for his hide using his eyes. In fact, there are some animals that are naturally born deaf. That's a research I need to look into. I know bats are born naturally blind and so are some other animals. Moles don't see well either.
I know of friends who are born blind and in fact, I know of one person at work at Wal-Mart who is blind and deaf. She's a cotten candy maker. Darn good one too. She uses her hands to measure the ingredients in a measuring cup, then feel the cotton being made in the machine. She then stuffs them in a bag, ties the bags and marks the bag with a price gun.
Blind people are better cleaners too. Visit a blind woman's home sometime. Check out how clean her home is and DO check out the toilet bowl. They use their hands in the bowl to feel the grime in the bowl and cleans it all out. I'm telling you, the bowl is white as a sheet.
So, you would accept all those 'fixes', but not one that actually helps you HEAR? Why? Why are those 'fixes' okay, but not the ability to hear?
Sure man, they're my ears. Isn't technology great?
Ummmm....NO. Of course it isn't! That's why it's called a 'disability'. Yes, there may be some ways around some of the limitations. But, could you really comment on the musical quality of Metallica's latest works as compared to their earlier ones? Even on a more serious tone, what a tornado came through? Not hearing the warning sirens would seem to be something of a problem to me. Honking horns from a car about to hit you if you don't move NOW? Kinda miss those?
We can't avoid being hit anymore than a hearing can avoid being hit. BUT, check out the BMV or whatever it is called in your country if you are not from the US. Check out the deaf driver statistics. You will discover that deaf drivers have far more fewer accidents than hearing people. For this reasom, we watch out on the road using our (drum rolls) EYES! Heck, even insurance companies knows the statics (let alone a few idiots that never bother to read the statisics) and they love us. We get much of a lower insurance rates than hearing people do (and they still do measure our driving maturity too like hearing people, but at age 23 and up, the rates drops far lower than a 23 year old hearing person!). Plus we have a rear view mirror habit like a bad habit, we constantly watch our behinds for anything, that includes watching for cops and ambulances.
Now take a look at hearing people from all ages and sex. I see too many hearing idiots on the road yakkin' on the dang cell phone! Hearing kids blasting their stereos (I can feel the dang viberations when they pull up next to me), how the heck can they hear sirens and stuff if they have that going on? I've also seen female drivers (no insult intended ladies) applying make up while driving.
Guess what? A cop walked up to me one day years ago and he handed me a note stating he just came from an accident site recently. Some guy got killed by another driver because he wasn't paying attention to what he was doing. A thought just occurred to him and he realized that in his 25 years of service, he has never seen a deaf person being involved in a accident nor has he heard about it. So he asked me about what I know of deaf drivers and how we do it. I told him to check out the BMV records on deaf drivers and told him about the statistics. He then wrote back thanking the deaf community for being safe drivers. Man, you can't beat that feeling.
I don't understand why you'd oppose a way to fix that?
I got a few good reason. One is being about the beauty of our deaf culture.
Can you scuba dive? How about watching a group of deaf scuba divers signing underwater?
Visit a deaf church where the entire congregation is deaf. Watch the choir sign songs of praises to God. Check this out, last Christmas we had a huge christmas special from the choir and the choir was wall to wall that day. They were all dressed in black and had worn white gloves. Here's the kicker, as the lights goes out, the gloves are actually glow in the dark gloves. Now imagine it in your mind seeing a choir full of hands signing in the dark!! BLEW ME AWAY!!!!
How about deaf politics? Well, check out this link here and see what we did at the Gallaudet University back in 1988...
Jesse Jackson made a comment in regards to the Deaf President Now movement that we did in 1988, he was so right on this one despite on many political views he had expressed that I totally disagree with, he said, "The problem is not that the students do not hear. The problem is that the hearing world does not listen!"
Here's another great quote, "God made the world in seven days and we have changed it in seven days." Charles A. Giansanti, Chemistry Professor Gallaudet University
We the deaf world can make a difference for the world in which we all live in. We can do anything we want, except hear.
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Cochlear Implants Bacterial Meningitis
by Yizuman in.
for all those who may have a hard of hearing or deaf children or those the readers who are hoh or deaf that is considering a cochlear implant may want to consider the problem that may associate to the side effects and health problems as a result of the implants.. .
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Yizuman
Xander - NINE deaths?
Out of SIXTY THOUSANDS implants?
My gods, those are better odds than taking an aspirin gives you. Are you mad?
(Well, alright, not so much, but those are still damn good odds)
1 Death, 4 deaths, 9 deaths. All too many. They died unneccessarly. A loss of life should never happen in this case except for old age.
I'm sure this will come of as rude and/or insensitive....
WHY would you want to allow a disability to continue when it could be stopped? It would be more like scientists discovering a way to instantly mend broken bones, but you oppose it because it would 'destroy the culture of people with crutches'. Or opposing a cure for cancer because it would destroy the 'culture of victims of cancer'.
Being deaf is not a normal difference between humans (as skin color is). It's a defect or disability. If it CAN be fixed, it SHOULD be.
So you're saying that once a person becomes deaf, it's the end of the world?
And what's wrong with being deaf? I don't see anything wrong with it.
A person can live a normal life without hearing just fine. We eat, sleep, work just like everyone else and we live until the day we die.
Being deaf is not a life threatening situation as apposed to having cancer. Neither is being black a life threatening situation.
So being deaf isn't normal? Since when is anyone "normal" for that matter?
It's been fixed, we have sign language and we can read and write. We have computers and TDDs to communicate. We have bed shakers or flashers to wake up in the morning. We have a dog that helps deaf people answer the door or respond to a crying baby or a smoke alarm going off above the stove. (ladies, what's for dinner? Aren't you going to invite me? )
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Cochlear Implants Bacterial Meningitis
by Yizuman in.
for all those who may have a hard of hearing or deaf children or those the readers who are hoh or deaf that is considering a cochlear implant may want to consider the problem that may associate to the side effects and health problems as a result of the implants.. .
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Yizuman
On a side note, I'm totally against Cochlear Implants as a manitory need for children who are born deaf or hard of hearing. Basically what this means is that this can lead to a total eradication of the Deaf Culture as a whole.
The Deaf Culture has been around with mankind since from the beginning with the first deaf individual person born. We've spent centuries getting to where we are today. The deaf world is unique in a class by itself. If doctors push for this kind of implant to the parents of the newborn deaf child, it will deprive the child the right to be part of the Deaf Heritage as I am so proud to be part of.
The deaf society can function well just as much as a hearing society can. I may be speaking from the perspective of Deaf Pride, but that's who I am and I see nothing wrong with being deaf.
If a scientist discovered a serium that can change a black person's skin to a white skin and then it becomes manitory for every black child to take this serium, is the black child being deprived from being part of the Black Culture as a whole? My arguement does sound silly and in no way, shape or form that could ever happen. But just for the sake of the arguement, would anyone agree to this idea at all? Of course not, this would be an insult to the entire black community to have this kind of thing being enforced upon them.
This is how I view this type of implant if made manitory for every deaf child around the world.
In any rate, this implant does have a bad side effect and has resulted in some deaths. In my opinion, one death is too many.
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16
Cochlear Implants Bacterial Meningitis
by Yizuman in.
for all those who may have a hard of hearing or deaf children or those the readers who are hoh or deaf that is considering a cochlear implant may want to consider the problem that may associate to the side effects and health problems as a result of the implants.. .
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Yizuman
For all those who may have a hard of hearing or deaf children or those the readers who are HoH or deaf that is considering a Cochlear Implant may want to consider the problem that may associate to the side effects and health problems as a result of the implants.
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Home Schooling
by hippikon inwhat are your thoughts on home schooling?
we had a few in one congregation i was in that practiced home schooling for their kids.
i kina think home schooling is isolationists and for loons.
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Yizuman
Larc - I have heard that a higher percent of home schooled children do well on achievement tests than children in public schools. I doubt that that would be the case among the JWs, since the parents, as a rule, are not well educated themselves and do not value education. I asked my JW sister about this once, and she said that it was a controversial subject among the Witnesses. I agree with LB, that home schooling could cause significant problems in the social-interpersonal area.
It is much higher than the average public educated school kids. My sister is home schooling her 2 daughters and they do extremely well, moreso since they are not being distracted by bad enfluence by other kids. It keeps them focused more on their school work that way.
Several home schooled kids have won championships at the international spelling bee contest since the early 1990s. The media was irked when they discovered that the champion was home schooled. They didn't know what to make of it.
I'm sorry to say that here in the United States of America, we are the worse public school education system in the world. Japan rates the highest than any other country of the world.
Our public education system which is federally funded by the Federal Government has been nothing by a complete failure. A Mayor in LA said the same thing and he got flamed for it by the media as well as some people in the general public.
The education system needs a complete overhaul which will cost billions to fix and put the nation under a much deeper deficit as a result. I for one think that the education reform will not work since the damage is too exensive. Here's why....( and I know I am going to get flamed for this, but I don't care.)
The education system has been dumbed down since the 1950s as more and more liberals have taken control of the public school system. Next, with all the "politically correct" education reform had already been established, kids are learning really ridiculous stuff in schools that shouldn't be there in the first place. The education system since the 1950s have gotten worse at each passing year and look at what we got today. It's pathetic.
Take one good example, my mother once told me that when she was in high school back in the 1940s, girls who would get pregnant would be laughed at, teased and ridiculed. Most teenagers had no idea how one can really get pregnant and learned only from "street wise education" which most of the information they learned from other teenagers were wrong. Since they had no idea how they could get pregnant, it kept sexual relationships down to a minimum and there was FAR less unwanted pregnancies at that time.
Then come 1973, when the sex education bill was passed by Congress making it manitory for sex education to be taught to ALL students in the public schools. As a result, pregnancies shot up in all time high. Kids no longer feared sex. Not only that, venerial diseases from having multiple partners over time had risen as well.
Today, kids walking around pregnant is just as normal as wearing today's fashion statements.
IMO, sex education should belong between the parents and their kids. Let them be scared of having sex, this will help keep the unwanted and costly pregnancy from occuring.
I've already heard the arguments on both sides and quite frankly I am already convinced by seeing the evidence and judging the history of the school system that we now have just plain sucks.
Oh, speaking of dumbing down, it gets worse as each generation of kids who graduate from HS are becoming teachers themselves and it gets worse and worse as each generation goes by. It's downright scary. Just read the newspapers, they speak for themselves.
Home school is the best and parents who do it right are giving them the best materials that kids should learn and more. It also helps keeps the rotten junk out of the kids mind.
As for social skills, my sister allows the kids to play with the neighborhood children. But she monitors their friends to make sure they are not being a bad enfluience to her kids. Especially when it comes to the drug culture is concerned in our society.
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Population of Deaf JWs
by Yizuman inanyone have any idea what the exact numbers there are with deaf jws?
just curious how many there worldwide?.
anyone still on the inside able to get that information?.
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Yizuman
Larc - Yizuman, I was curious about something. You pointed out that one poster here was using a writing syle derived from ASL. Is this typical of deaf people? You write very well. Are you and exception or can many deaf people wrote in both syles?
First of all, thank you for telling me how well I write.
Unfortunantly by large majority of the deaf population, they are somewhat "handicapped" as far as reading/writing is concerned.
It basically depends on the type of education program that deaf schools offer as well as the Teachers being involved in teaching the deaf students how to read and write as well as teaching them proper grammer, puncuations and so forth.
My school here in Indiana has the lousiest program. Anywhere between 50% to 75% of the deaf students (depending on the school year) can read and write well enough to survive in the hearing world. About 1% of the students can read and write as well as I do. The rest can't read and write at all.
The deaf school in Illinois have a much better program and the percentage is much higher than here in Indiana. in Illinois, they discourage ASL altogether while the students is on campus (of course, they don't generally obey the rules and try not to get caught doing ASL by the school staffs), instead they enforce SSE (or SSL to some people) which means Signed Straight English. Which means the students are supposed to sign in FULL english sentences rather than using "short cuts" in ASL. This helps alot in teaching the students learn english and improve their reading/writing skills. My school at Center on Deafness (a private school) had the same rule.
Like I said before, it all depends on the school's program, the teachers involvement with the students AND the student's willingness to learn, big important part on the student.
This leads me to another question. On newer tvs, there is a button you can push and the words for the dialogue shows up on the screen. Does this feature help the deaf improve their writing ability?
Yes it can help alot. As a matter of fact, it's very useful for hearing children as well for it is a great teaching tool for them to learn how to read as they watch any close captioned program on television.
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Population of Deaf JWs
by Yizuman inanyone have any idea what the exact numbers there are with deaf jws?
just curious how many there worldwide?.
anyone still on the inside able to get that information?.
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Yizuman
Lady Lee - Yizuman I know when I was learning sign I thought in sign. When I interpret I used SEE but talking with deaf I used ASL or a poor version of it) I think that is why I had to sign it or at least see the signs in my head to understand fully because in sign the imagery is so much more expressive. I loved signing. It was a whole body experience for me - especially the facial expression. I used to be painfully shy and never looked anyone in the eye. Signing forced me to look at people and to learn to be comfortable with direct eye contact. I was good and I loved it - maybe that is why I was good. I was usually asked to do the more important talks at meetings and DC and CA.
Alot of the interpretors had the same experience as you have had. It's nice to know that the learning experience has had a positive change for them.
I remember one time I was signing one of the dramas with a brother signer. We sort of forgot we were interpreting and started signing the drama to each other - almost acting it out. For a moment it was sheer magic. Then the brother stopped the connection we had and went back to straight signing. The deaf came to us after and said that for those moments it was so alive for them. I was sad when he stopped acting it out with me. It was really special feeling.
I guess some folks don't feel comfortable acting out unless it's the singing part, which is the most expressive part of the whole area of signing and neccessary.
Another time I was asked to sign for a play by Moliere. I had no idea who he was or what I would be signing. it was a very funny comedy live play. I love Moliere now. Sad but there were no deaf there Another time I went with my deaf friends to see "Children of a Lesser God" There was supposed to be an interpreter on the stage but there was non. So I sat on the floor in the row of seats so all deaf with me could see me sign the parts of the play that were not signed. That was fun but I missed most of the play. We got to go back stage after and meet some of the actors. The group really liked that part
I saw the stage version years before the movie version in which Marlee Matlin played in and I happen to know her well. She and I went to the same school at Center on Deafness which used to reside in Des Plaines, IL, but now has moved to Northbrook, IL.
Have you ever heard the concept, "Shadow Signing"? It's the interpreter who is dressed in all black except for the hands and face exposed. No jewelry is allowed to be worn nor is make up allowed for it is distracting for the deaf viewers. They "shadow" behind the actors as the actors plays their part of the stage play. They follow them around and stay at some length to give the actors room to do what they want so they avoid bumping into each other. Usually the "shadows" already have rehearsted the parts to know when to avoid being bumped. LOL.
Anyway the stage play I saw back in Chicago when I was attending Center on Deafness was about some voyage on a boat back in the midevil(s?) days. Forget the name of the play, but it was good and humorous. I've seen alot of "shadow" type plays like "The Miracle Worker", classic plays like "Wizard of Oz", "Sleeping Beauty" and there was this play I really enjoyed and dang it I can't remember the name of it, it was about a Scottish Village that appears every one hundred years and to the people, they slept one day, in other words, every time they go to sleep, the Village disappears and when they wake up, it's 100 years later. If memory serves me correctly, some witch cursed the people of the village to live out their lives for enternity as each time they go to sleep.
Anyway, two hunters discovered the Village and one of the hunter fell in love with a village girl. As soon as he discovered about the true demise of the people and the curse, he had a choice of staying with them and live with their curse forever or leave only to lose the girl he loved. I'm not going to spoil the rest of this story as many may not have seen it, but it was a wonderful love story.
I haven't been back to see any of those plays since most of it happens in large cities such as Chicago. I've been too busy trying to live out my life and struggles and it's not been easy. I really wish I was finacially stable to be able to enjoy seeing some stage plays again.
Edited by - Yizuman on 20 December 2002 0:23:0
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Spreading the Christmas Cheer! (Graphic Exensive)
by Yizuman in.
too bad i can't change the background color to black, but i'll make do what i can to spread the good cheer of christmas...... .
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Yizuman
Bah I had everything CENTERED and it won't do it. Oh well, I tried.
Don't have a very good HTML editor on my new computer and don't have the money to buy Dreamweaver which is what I would love to have for Christmas.
Otherwise I would have built a page for it and linked it to there on this forum for everyone to enjoy.
Edited by - Yizuman on 19 December 2002 23:43:50
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Spreading the Christmas Cheer! (Graphic Exensive)
by Yizuman in.
too bad i can't change the background color to black, but i'll make do what i can to spread the good cheer of christmas...... .
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Yizuman
Too bad I can't change the background color to black, but I'll make do what I can to spread the good cheer of Christmas.....