Monday, December 31, 2007

Special Announcement from Al Lepre of American Deaf Exposition

Special Announcement from Al Lepre of American Deaf Exposition hosting
United States America Deaf Basketball Organization (USADBO)
on MARCH 26, 27, 28, 29, 2008
at PAL Parsippany Police League
22 Baldwin Road
Parsippany, New Jersey 07054 ( off Route 46)
$40.00 Early Bird Combo on Sale
December 19, 2007 = $45.00
January 19, 2008 = $50.00
February 19, 2008 = $60.00
Full Combo Ticket at Door + Expect 1,100 will be sold out!
Breakdown Listing during March 26, 27, 28, & 29, 2008
REGISTRATION - $10.00 (all must pay one time)
Wednesday, March 26, 2008 - Evening Entertainment = $10.00
Thursday, March 27, 2008 - Preliminary Games for 8 Men
and 4 Women teams = $10.00
Friday evening, March 28, 2008 - Semi-Finals games= $20.00
Saturday afternoon, March 29, 2008 - Championship Games = $10.00
Saturday Award and Entertainment Night = $20.00
Program Book - $10.00
USADBO Hall of Fame Buffet on Friday, March 28, 2008 - 11 am to 2 pm is not
included. Price and Inductee to be announced in 2008.
16 Vendor Booth Exhibit - REFRESHMENT ON SALE
Make check payable to American Deaf Exposition and
mail to: P.O. Box 251, Carle Place, NY 11514
For Hotel and Direction and Free Brochure, please check our web site:
NOTE: 995 TICKETS LEFT ON SALE

Saturday, December 29, 2007

New Year's Resolutions

"Instead of whining and fighting for deaf access, we'll just provide deaf access"
2008 will be a banner year for Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center as the resistance to the evolution of the deaf society is being brought under control by the health care industry. 2008 will probably the first that we can enjoy a peaceful year as our abilities and resources to deal with the difficult parts of deaf society has been realized. We have 4 key goals to acomplish in 2008. The key goals all fit within our mission and vision statements. To meet the needs a rapidly evolving deaf deaf community, our leadership is being redefined and clarified as follows;
1) Leadership direction
a) Increasing the evaluations of irresponsible deaf leadership
b) Promoting responsible deaf leadership
c) Increasing resources for the Deaf WAI (War Against Indiscipline) program
2) Focus on deaf evolution
a) Expanding non-confrontational advocacy
b) Increasing the support of oral-deaf on staff and board census
c) Increasing the use of technology-based social service concept
d) Expanding our fiscal independence concept
e) Feasibility study of an on-site audiological/speech therapy services
3) Office resources
a) Expand to 9 rooms to meet the increased demands for services
4) Outreach
a) Participate in deaf events that promote responsible deaf leadeship
b) Focus on events that need exposure to hearing loss outreach
c) Develop outreach videos and use the video sharing websites
d) Simplify outreach materials for easier transporting, setup, takedown
e) Provide leadership in non-deaf causes (AIDS, Paganism, Medical Innovations, Environmental, etc...)
5) Social services
a) Development of web-based social service automation for global access
In the past 10 years and continuing beyond 2008, the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center will do what they do better than anything else in the world, ENTERTAIN YOU, with our special brand of deaf advocacy.

We wish everyone a safe, healthy, and productive 2008!

Thursday, December 27, 2007

When The Truth Hurts The Deaf, Desperation Takes Over



When I announced that OCDAC's $12,500 sponsorship to SoCal Deaf Disc Golf Tournament that was turned down in response to the video published http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoWvPUo8PmA

The truth must have hurt them bad enough to make them take on a desperate move to try steer people away from the issue by responding with a very inappropriate video published on http://www.deafvideo.tv/watch/4937



This is the very trademark of the old deaf guards.

So with the deaf community, when the truth hurts them, desperation takes over.

Richard

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Silencing Deficit Thinkers?



This is about deficit thinkers.

John Egbert's idea to banish deficit thinkers from deafread blog is the most childish the most sophomoric ideas we see that is consistent with the deaf community, the ASL deaf community.

Well deficit thinkers have the eyes on the future and their feet on the ground meaning they move on and know whats going on and how to respond properly.

Also deficit thinkers spice up and liven up the discussions, open discussions, should include that in deafread too.

Banishing deficit thinkers only shows that deaf community is not inclusive enough.

You really want to show that the ASL deaf community is banishing people out not being open minded people, you want that?

Wow I find that to be insulting to the idea of being open, inclusive, discussion.

John wants a sanitized presentation of the deaf community through deafread.

What's wrong with John? I think John needs to have his head examined to find the bugs in it.

Richard

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Lance Allred - Deaf Professional Basketball Player - Comes To Orange County Feb, 2, 2008


Tonight at the NBADL's Anaheim Arsenals vs Utah Flash game a deaf employee of the Anaheim Arsenals advised me to spread the word of the February 2, 2008 game. The Arsenals will play the Idaho's Stampede at the Anaheim Convention Center. Idaho Stampede has a deaf player, Lance Allred. The deaf worker wants to see a lot of deafies cheering for Lance at this game.

Lance's bio : http://www.nba.com/dleague/playerfile/lance_allred/bio.html

Anaheim Convention Center : http://www.anaheimconventioncenter.com/

Anaheim Arsenals : http://www.nba.com/dleague/anaheim/

Idaho Stampede : http://www.nba.com/dleague/idaho/

Tickets : www.ticketmaster.com

Event tickets : http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/09003F45CB848E4B?artistid=1053345&majorcatid=10004&minorcatid=7

More information about Lance on these sites.

http://www.nba.com/jazz/features/workouts_062205.html

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=3860

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600148031,00.html

Our deaf center volunteers gets to watch the Anaheim Arsenals every once a while, and for me, its a good break from the commotion that spins around the office. We might go there to cheer Lance on February 2, 2008.

Richard Roehm

Dealing With The "Too Soon" Syndrome At The Pharmacy

I'm a busy person. I have to take care of myself too. I pick up my meds from the pharmacy when I have time to waste 20 minutes at the pharmacy. Usually it happens before I run out. When I get there, several times the pharmacist would approach me with a note stating "Too Soon" which means I've come pick up my meds too early to for the insurance company to be able to reimburse them.

I came up with a surefire way to deal with the "Too Soon" syndrome. Yesterday I decided to do a little holiday shopping at the pharmacy store (Rite-Aid). And as expected with the shopping cart half filled I noticed the pharmacist started chasing me. I pushed the cart up to the cash register area and allowed the pharmacist to approach me. Again it was another "Too Soon" note and I responded out loud "In that case its too soon for me to be buying this from your store". The cashier who was also the assistant manager heard what I said and had a talk with the pharmacist and after about 5 minutes the Rx was filled and handed to me.

The customer power is stronger than the insurance company.

Richard Roehm

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Morton Warnow's Face-To-Face Idea Taken Advantage Of By Deaf Capitalists


Take a look at the picture above.

That's the late Morton Warnow using the Q-90 TTY's as face-to-face communication equipment the moment the Ameriphone company started producing them.

The two Q-90's were readily interfaceable with each other using a single telephone line. They were readily available for use as face-to-face equipment. Morton Warnow beat Interpretype and Ubiduo for creating the face-to-face concept.

I challenge Interpretype and Ubiduo to start giving the late Morton Warnow his due credit for their face-to-face "inventions".

ELSE

I'll introduce a new electronic face-to-face system that costs less than $8 each to show the community they're being suckered into $pending thou$and$ and thou$and$ for face-to-face equipment thats being offered by the deaf capitalists. This new device is incredibly easy to use unlike the dual IR system that we have been offering.

It's time for Interpretype and Ubiduo to start coming out clean for a change and start crediting the late Morton Warnow for the face-to-face communication equipment they're using to fleece the deaf community with.

I challenge these companies to give Morton his due credit!

Richard Roehm

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Our Gifts To The Orange County Deaf Community



Hello! Busy year! Whoah! We have many many gifts to the Orange County Deaf community. Our gifts this year is many things! Whoah!

First, our gifts to the deaf community is we made business accessible to the deaf people. We contacted many businesses through our marketing and outreach programs.

Alright.... we'll start with the first one;

1) Ramada Hotels - We made the hotel accessible to the deaf people.

2) La Pizza Loco - We made them understand the difference between a tty call and a fax call.

3) City of Anaheim - We helped them serve the needs of the deaf people.

4) Olive Garden Restaurants - We made them accessible to the deaf people when they make calls for reservations seating reservations. Before they had problems now solved.

5) Buena Park Police Department - We trained them how to handle deaf people.

6) Golden West College - We consulted them on improving the communications between their staff and deaf students.

7) Eye Doctor - We provided them information on how to get interpreters.

8) Boys and Girls Club of Garden Grove - We've helped them to be more accessible to deaf people, deaf children.

9) Orange County Supervisors - We've helped the council of supervisors understand how to receive comments and messages from deaf people. We set it up for them.

10) EDD South Orange County - We've helped to make them access to deaf people.

11) Orange County Sheriff's Department - We corresponded with them on how to handle deaf people.

12) California Attorney General's Office -We've helped them to work with deaf people especially scams. Many many scams. We worked with them on how to handle deaf complaints regarding scams.

13) City of Fountain Valley - We educated the police on how to communicate with deaf people and to handle deaf people.

14) City of Santa Ana - Helped to put a TTY in the police station of the Santa Ana Police Department.

15) City of Costa Mesa - We've helped their Police Department handle deaf people as weve taught them how to handle deaf people.

16) Doubletree Hotel - In Orange next to the Block. They have many many phones and no TTYs. We put TTY's there.

17) Storage Orange - Small storage company in Orange. We made that business accessible deaf people.

18) City of Cypress - We educated the Police Dept there on how to handle deaf people "too". Big thumbs up!

19) Orange County Court - We consulted them on how to make jury duty accessible to deaf people.

20) Orange County Voter's Registrar - We're involved right now in helping Orange County Voters Registrar to be accessible to deaf people "too".

21) Sutton Hotel - Hotel near John Wayne Airport. They finally got TTY. Their lawyer informed me.

22) Orange County HUD Department - We got equipment to make them accessible "too".

Finally..........

23) Salvation Army - We helped them with communication issues with TTY's.

So! Many things we've accomplished for the deaf community in Orange County.

THAT IS OUR GIFTS TO THE ORANGE COUNTY DEAF COMMUNITY!

BIG THUMBS UP!

--------<>

Some tips;

"we made" means we had to force them do it.

"too" means we were not the only deaf agency involved.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Deaf Non-Profit Food Concession Stand At Your Community Event

We are the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center and we are a 501(c)(3) community based organization that provides education, training, advocacy, counseling, access equipment, and confidence to the deaf, the deaf-blind, and the disabled communities.

We have a food concession trailer. The trailer outside is blue with hot pink band on top and lavender on the bottom and we have an attractive menu sign with flashing lights. Two people can man the trailer kitchen with a third person handling the orders.

We need a minimum of 10 feet by 12 feet space and the frontage space will be 10 feet to be pulled into the spot by our van. We prefer our location to be outside because of our barbecue and grill. We can do it all inside a showroom, however our menu offerings will be reduced thereafter.

We are capable of serving;

Hot Dogs
Hamburgers
Hot Pizza Pockets
Nachos
Bratwurst
Quiches
Veggie Bags With Dressing
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Baked Potato
Chili Bowls
Clam Chowder Bowls
Mixed Green Salad With Dressing
Bagged Cotton Candy
Assorted Bagged Chips
Assorted Cold Sodas
Bottled Water
Energy Drinks
Smoothies

We have been offering food to people at community events without any problems since 2001. All of the products going to our menu is donated to us. The booth fees are subsidized and therefore the participation costs is'nt going to be an issue. We're not limiting our concession foodstand to the Southern California area. We can do it in other locations.

Furthermore our concession trailer provides excellent training for our clients and we've successfully placed people who have been trained at our food stand training program at local restaurants like Carls Jr., Mc Donalds, Subway, and even Dennys Restaurants in California, and Nevada. The funds generated would support our training programs.

Not to mention it increases a tradeshow's rate of return on the exhibitor's investment through many ways.

If you are interested in our participation in your event, please email us an application form or mail it to us at

Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center
Richard Roehm
2960 Main Street
Suite A100
Irvine, California 92614

Our food concession trailer is available for inspection by appointment.

We look forward to working with you to make your event a cheerful experience.

Richard Roehm
CEO

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Scourging ASL Out Of Existence



Hearing folks can turn up their speakers as my voice is included in this great video blog . (As I will be using SimmComm)

This video blog is all about how the scourge, S C O U R G E, the sign of scourge, cast upon the hearing impaired pioneers, P I O N E E R S, the sign of pioneers, be they deaf oralists and hard of hearing, will cause interest in ASL to fade away.

This is a great book made a long time ago. There are a lot of stories of what the ASL centered deafies have done to our pioneers who have learned to be self interfaceable and are not deaf enough to be looked up to as leaders.

Even nowadays like in Carl's video blog yesterday represents the never ending zeal by the ASL centered to pick on the hearing impaired pioneers who have made themselves readily interfaceable to the hearing population without the use of ASL.

And it's not really limited to video blogs like Carls, Tar’s, Ridor's, and a handful of other blogs and video blogs out there, they can be other forms of harassment like false restraining orders, cyberbullying, malicious rumormongering, and vandalism. There’s stories written about these picking. They're right in this book! And not only are they in this book, I've seen it with my own eyes and experienced some of them myself.

The cries and howlings by these types hearing impaired pioneers can be easily heard by the hearing folks and they're likely to remember the scourge cast upon these pioneers of the hearing impaired community.
This will then feed disinterest in ASL and be another cause that causes ASL to fade away.

Sorry about the video anomaly.

Richard

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Deaf Ignoring Hearing People At Deaf Events - Why ASL Fading



Richard highlights another reason ASL could be fading is that deaf people are not showing up to meet the hearing people at the deaf chat events. Also they're also ignoring the signing students at the deaf events too like the Block at Orange last night. This could be another theory why ASL is fading.

Richard

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Response To Seek Geo's Fading ASL Vlog



This is a response to Seek Geo's vlog about ASL fading.

I have a good theory why ASL is fading. Last year, the deaf community, mostly deaf people who are involved with ASL specifically, decided to throw out Jane Fernandes from the presidency of Gallaudet University.

That will continue in the minds of the hearing people.



That's one good theory why ASL is fading.

Richard

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Update On Face-To-Face Devices

Recently there was an article in the Associated Press featuring the Interpretype and the UbiDuo among new communication devices used by the deaf.

These bulky devices costs thousands of dollars whereas pocket sized versions costs between $40.00 a pair to $70.00 each of the 'pinkberries'.

Theres even new ones looking like the pink oversized blackberry-like device and it’s completely 'wireless' not IR.

And guess what?

The new version of the iPhone will double as a face-to-face communication device.

Even our own C.A.R.T. system can double as a face-to-face communication device and these are FREE to educational institutions thanks to a nice grant from Uncle Sam last July!

Richard Roehm

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Happy 10th Birthday OCDAC!


Today marks the first day of the 10th year OCDAC had been in operation. We have been through a lot of things. Been through good things and crazy things. Celebration plans are underway.

We thank all of our past and present board members, staff, volunteers, and supporters for all the help they gave us in the past 10 years.

We have just passed the toughest test of our existence and we will continue to serve our communities.

The future of OCDAC looks very bright!

Richard Roehm

Friday, November 02, 2007

As We Reflect Upon Ourselves, Lets Stop And Think Of The Less Fortunate Hearing Impaired And Disabled Folks.


At this time of the year, as we reflect upon our own lives, lets stop and think about the other hearing impaired and disabled around us who are less fortunate. Some of our friends like these cannot afford to feed their families. Some of them live in cars, in parks, or in alleys. For a few, its by choice, for most it's by chance.

This shopping list will be a good holiday basket to a family of 4.

  • 3 cans meat (6.5 oz, tuna, pork, chicken, or beef)
  • 3 cans vegetables (15 oz.)
  • 3 cans fruit (16 oz)
  • 3 cans soup (11 oz.)
  • 3 boxes of macaroni and cheese
  • 2 boxes of dry soup
  • 2 boxes of hot cereal
  • 2 lbs. dry beans
  • 2 lbs rice
  • 2 boxes powdered milk (2 qt.)
  • 2 cans of evaporated milk
  • 2 boxes crackers
  • 1 jar peanut butter (18 oz.)

Optional items: dish detergent, toothpaste, soap bars.
Also add : Information on local food banks, food assistance programs, and local soup kitchens.

Also if you wish, you can add other food items to spice up the holiday basket with items like spices, ethnic foods, and cultural foods. I get messages each year that my shopping list is either boring, flavorless, and short-sighted.

So please, if you can afford it, grab some extra groceries for a hearing impaired and disabled's family. An ideal holiday gift to a needy family like these would be groceries that lasts a few days. Contact your local hearing loss/disability association for information on connecting to a needy family.

Compassionately Yours,


Richard Roehm & Orange County Supervisor Lou Correa

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Tools Of Communication For Deaf-Blind



Beth Koenig explains out the tactile communication system and cards for the deaf-blind.



Beth demonstrates the Braille TTY system that can double as a face-to-face communication system.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

The Terminator's Veto Message of AB 1113

October 13, 2007

To the Members of the California State Assembly:

I am returning Assembly Bill 1113 without my signature.

While I strongly support the California 250 Percent Working Disabled Program and appreciate its role in promoting work among persons who are aged and disabled, I cannot support this bill. This bill contains a drafting error that would result in unequal treatment of similarly situated aged persons, in direct conflict with federal Medicaid law. Given my strong support of services for persons with disabilities to allow them to safely remain at home and lead productive and independent lives, I am directing the Department of Health Care Services to pursue legislation to continue and improve this important program.

For this reason, I am returning AB 1113 without my signature.

Sincerely,
Arnold Schwarzenegger

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Say Goodbye To ASL And Say Hello To Your Sign Language!


This is a response to a recent silly post on alldeaf.com I feel is best responded using sign language.

I'm a proud deaf person. I'm happy with myself and I'm happy with the language I use to communicate with other deaf people. If deaf people scream that my sign language stinks. Let them rant. They mean nothing to me.

What is American Sign Language (ASL) these days? There's plenty of evidence in the news, deaf literacy, the deaf novels, the deaf blogworld, and the deaf vlogworld that ASL has proven itself to be many things, many abominable things, that has nothing to do with communication.

Why should we keep ASL? Whats the worth of keeping ASL these days? What do we do with ASL?

Say goodbye to ASL and use your own signs. The language you sign with is your sign language.

My sign language is a mix of different sign languages and I'm proud of it and I dont care if other people scream about it.Be proud of your sign language and use it to communicate with other people.

Dont be afraid if they dont understand your sign language as they probably will understand.

If he chooses his sign language I'll respect it. If she choose her sign language I'll respect it. If you choose your sign language I'll respect you too.

What makes deaf people happy is not ASL, it's your sign language. So say goodbye to ASL and say hello to your sign language. Quit ASL and use your sign language.

Finally, I can quit ASL but ASL will never make me quit.

Richard

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Possible source of the AIM message scams discovered!

I've found over the past few weeks that a popular deaf forum website has been harboring people who have been trying to extort money from deaf people who have AIM screen names.

Many of you have signed up at a popular deaf forum website and then been receiving suspicious messages through AIM from screennames you never seen before. Thats because you've left your AIM screenname and other personal information there for them to use.

Users there who register at this suspected website leave ther AIM screen, birthdate, and other personal information will get messages from AIM screennames purporting to be connected to the FBI. Stating they have their personal information. I find that it's only limited to their birthdate, AIM screenname, and other personal information typically left at the suspected forum website at registration, nothing more. They then try to extort people using a variety of scenarios.

I'm seeking the public assistance if they registered a membership to a deaf forum website and received suspicious messages through their AIM windows afterwards. I've been picking the pattern up in the past few weeks and need additional evidence from other users to back this theory up.

What I need from you is;

1) The name of the forum website you registered with
2) The screenname of the person trying to extort money from you

That's all, I need no additional information about you at this time. Anonymous postings welcome.

I only need just a few of these to start closing the book on this suspected website.

Richard

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Beth Koenig's Deaf-Blind Program at OCDAC



People with hearing and vision impairments benefit from OCDAC's deafblind program directed by Beth Koenig.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

MSSD Finally Gets The Spotlight!

I’m very excited that this news is breaking out.

I see MSSD as a breeding ground of hate like a boot camp. Thats where future soldiers of American Sign Language (ASL) learn their tricks. Once they pass the ‘crucible’, through the Kappa Gamma fraternity, they learn how to export scourge and oppression upon deaf groups and people who do not use or embrace ASL.

Getting the spotlight on the recent MSSD incident is a very positive step toward eliminating this particular breeding ground that has farmed, sponsored, and encouraged hate toward people and groups who don't use or support ASL.

Richard Roehm

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Response To Carl's Vlog - ASL Hurts People



I've seen ASL hurt people. I've seen deaf people use ASL to hurt other deaf people. I've experienced hurt from ASL too. Other people have experienced hurt from ASL too. So Carl, what the hell was the vlog you made last night about?

Richard

Monday, October 01, 2007

Helping Deaf-Blind Navigate Using Sonar/Echolocation





And........ We had a picnic for the Southern California Association of the Deaf Blind.


Saturday, September 29, 2007

Achieving Equal Access Through Community Education



Achieving Equal Access Through Community Education

Don't forget to check out Achieving Equal Access Through Technology

as the curse of the Deaf Scourge has caused deafread.com to be blind to this one.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

The 2008 Sign Language Calendars Have Arrived!



Yes! They have arrived! We're the first deaf agency to receive them this year and we have plenty plenty of them!

The theme for 2008 is Community Helpers. Signs of community helpers like interpreters, soldiers, doctors, and teachers and their related signs are on the calendars! The calendars are a social worker's goldmine!

Its the perfect gift for social workers!

Get a 2008 Sign Language Calendar from us

Celebrate the International Day of Sign Language with us by getting the 2008 Calendars and fingerspelling placemats from us this coming weekend!

Richard Roehm

Thursday, September 20, 2007

FREE Support Service Providers (SSP) Class

Deaf-blind need Support Service Providers (SSP) to be able to navigate through stores, supermarkets, malls, events as these people will use tactile sign language to tell deaf-blind what's going on around him/her and what items are around as well.

We received a grant that will allow us to have a free SSP class at the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center. Training SSP to assist our southland deaf-blind community members is one of our priorities. Beth Koenig will be the instructor. This will be held in our classroom. We will have refreshments.

Date : Saturday , October 13, 2007 1pm - 6pm

Maximum number of people : 15

RSVP : Yes at 949-955-0054(V/FAX) 949-955-0050 (TDD)

Location :
Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center
2960 Main Street, #102
Irvine, California 92614

Http://www.deafadvocacy.org

Parking at the Burger King restaurant parking lot over the bridge is ok.

Please pass this information around.

Richard Roehm

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Debunking One Of Ridorlive's Favorite Rumors



Yesterday at the Los Angeles Deafestival 2007, I was approached by several people from our great blogworld. They asked me about our office. It seems our great rumorblogger Ridorlive website had been feeding them some interesting stuff about our office. So after a day at the office on Monday the 17th, I decided to make a small video of our agency for our great deaf blogworld.

After seeing the video, you be the judge whether your valuable brain cells have been wasted carrying garbage from this great rumorblogger.

Richard

Friday, September 14, 2007

The Deaf Community Goes To Boot Camp!

This is Sgt. Nesmuth your boot camp Drill Instructor! Welcome to boot camp to the future of deaf society! Take your ego hats off now! If you follow the facts and listen, you won't be getting hollered at! Keep your mouth shut and listen to the FIVE THINGS I HAVE TO SAY!

1) DEAF COMMUNITY IS EVOLVING!

Cochlear Devices & the Deaf Community: Hearing Within
http://goinside.com/02/1/cochlear.html

The changing deaf culture
http://www.earsurgery.org/Lhgen232.htm

2) ORALISM IS HERE TO GROW!

Oral Deaf Education: Teaching deaf children to speak
http://www.entcolumbia.org/ode.htm

Today, even children with profound hearing loss can learn to listen and talk through oral deaf education.
http://www.oraldeafed.org/index.html

3) DEAF COMMUNITY IS BECOMING WELL KNOWN FOR EATING UP THEIR ROLE MODELS AND LEADERS!

Is Deaf University President Not 'Deaf Enough'?
http://www.abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=1947073

Crab Theory Rears Its Ugly Head Again
http://deaf-tea-time.blogspot.com/2007/08/crab-theory-rears-its-ugly-head-again.html

4) PARENTS ARE REALLY NOT GOING TO LISTEN TO THE DEAF COMMUNITY ON HOW TO RAISE DEAF BABIES!

Cochlear implants take children out of the silent world
http://www.4hearingloss.com/archives/2005/02/cochlear_implan_1.html

Deaf Children’s Rights
http://www.deafhoustonpost.com/deafchildsright.html

5) MUCH RESEARCH FUNDING IS GOING TO BE SPENT ON FINDING A CURE FOR DEAFNESS!

Genetic 'cure' found for deaf mice
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/102450.stm

An end to deafness? New professor's research looks to ear drops, stem cells
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/november16/med-heller-111605.html

THESE ARE THE FACTS!

THEY ARE HAPPENING WHETHER THE DEAF COMMUNITY LIKES IT OR NOT!

Have a nice trip through boot camp.

Richard Roehm

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Beneath the Planet of the Deaf



Only because of American Sign Language, the deaf community is becoming well known for chewing down their leaders. People need to realize that deaf people can be taught to communicate in other ways. People need to realize that ASL is not everything to deaf people these days.

Http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxalR_KpATQ

Let's celebrate International Day of the Deaf by recognizing the deaf community's desire to be liberated from the ugly knives of ASL.

It's becoming known that ASL has been used as a weapon, measuring device, and as harassment tools on deaf people especially their leaders in the past decade.

Unless the deaf militants, ASL extremists, and the old deaf guards, start growing up for a change, their sacred language is getting on the fast track toward extinction.

Richard Roehm

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Time To Cool Down!



Blah blah this..... blah blah that..... Time to cool down. Enjoy a snow cone!

Richard

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Comment On California Association of the Deaf Conference



I want to make a short comment about my recent experience with the recent California Association of the Deaf (CAD) conference. Very very friendly atmosphere. People approached me and shook hands with me. That's good and I find that surprising given the past history of my experience with the CAD organization. I found a lot of booths there. Deafhood presentations were flocked and hot and had 3 sometimes 4 cams recording the deafhood presentations and the presenters Ella and Genie. It was fun, enjoyable yet I found it very annoying that no one offered to pull the knives off my back. Anyways, the overall CAD experience was very positive and congratulations Richard Ray for his election to 2nd term as CAD President.

Richard

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Choking on a $1.83 Credit Card Bill

Yes its 183 pennies.

Today I have to make a money order for $1.83 today for a credit card bill.

I usually pay my credit card bills in money order denominations of $20, $40, $60 and last month I slightly underpaid one of the cards by one dollar and eighty three cents. I usually over pay the credit card bills so to pay them off as quickly as possible.

I called the credit card company. They said I owe them $1.83 and I can skip the payment if I choose to. They also reminded me that according to the terms of service they will tack on a $29.00 late fee and jack up my interest rate from 11% to 24%. I ask them if they can waive it because the amount owed is so small. They were like 'sorry' that when I signed for the credit card, I agreed to their terms of service.

That's how bad they are and yeah I'm choking on a $1.83 credit card bill.

I'm sure many of you have oddities with credit card companies.

Richard

Monday, September 03, 2007

Labor Day Message To Deaf Workers, Our Heroes!

Happy Labor Day Deaf Workers!

You all set a very fine example for other Deaf people to follow. You are role models in the Deaf community.

It don't matter what you do,
YOU ARE OUR HEROES!

America needs more Deaf workers. America can acquire more Deaf workers by being more vigilant in their enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which was signed in 1990. Once the Deaf community sees that ADA is being vigorously enforced, they will feel more secure and confident and become workers.

The past 15 years, the entire disability community has seen their employers find ways to get around ADA. We're also seeing federal judges become increasingly restrictive in dealing with ADA lawsuits. We're even seeing one of our supposedly trusty guardians, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), behave amnesic when we try to explain our cases to them. The same thing goes on for employers who hire vicious lawyers to defend themselves against ADA lawsuits by twisting the facts around and manipulating the law itself beyond recognizance. Finally there is no safety net for disability plaintiffs who lose their ADA cases. When they lose, they lose a lot more than just their cases. They're losing cars, homes, credit rating...EVERYTHING... for just trying to enforce ADA. Scary, isn't it?

Basically, the long road to fairness at the workplace remains unpaved and peppered with hazards. Each victory on our behalf amounts to a tiny slice of this road being paved. Then there's the possibility of our victories being nullified or overturned in future cases. We will step back a little however getting this strip back will be easier in the future because it has been paved.

Deaf workers all share a common victory which is being role models for the Deaf community. They are also our pioneers. We must support our Deaf workers and Deaf pioneers REGARDLESS of their economic status. They all reinforce the statement "Deaf People Can Do Anything Except Hear" made by I. King Jordan, Former President of Gallaudet University. Deaf workers and pioneers all set examples for us to follow.

To the Deaf workers of America, this is your day and THANK YOU!

Richard Roehm

Sunday, September 02, 2007

The Deaf Lottery Association Scam


This morning, I had the opportunity to become a victim of the Deaf Lottery Association scam. This person really didn't do his homework with my screen name before engaging in a conversation like what we had. This happened in the AIM system.

(09:10:00 AM)
Deafagent06:
Hello
(09:10:29 AM) Nesmuth827: hi who am i speaking with?
(09:10:30 AM) deafagent06 is now known as Deafagent06.

(09:10:56 AM) Nesmuth827: a clone bot?
(09:11:09 AM) Deafagent06: No
(09:11:19 AM) Deafagent06: This is Walter Morgan
(09:11:24 AM) Nesmuth827: then good am
(09:11:30 AM) Nesmuth827: walter
(09:11:34 AM) Deafagent06: From the Deaf Lottery Association
(09:11:49 AM) Nesmuth827: oh tell me about it
(09:11:52 AM) Deafagent06: We are pleased to let you know that you have won $150,000
(09:12:27 AM) Nesmuth827: oh really i can use 150 grand
(09:12:40 AM) Deafagent06: yes Really
(09:12:49 AM) Deafagent06: You are a Winner!
(09:13:02 AM) Nesmuth827: oh yeah im jumping excited
(09:13:24 AM) Deafagent06: Congratulations!
(09:13:29 AM) Nesmuth827: thank you
(09:13:31 AM) Deafagent06: We are so happy for you
(09:13:41 AM) Deafagent06: No thanks necessary
(09:13:47 AM) Deafagent06: ...smile..
(09:13:48 AM) Nesmuth827: im happy about it my hands are shaking
(09:13:57 AM) Deafagent06: Oh Relax
(09:14:28 AM) Deafagent06: Am sure you will be surprised
(09:14:44 AM) Deafagent06: and happy when you recieve your winning prize money
(09:15:23 AM) Deafagent06: ...Smile..
(09:15:33 AM) Nesmuth827: how do i get it?
(09:15:47 AM) Deafagent06: You need to Claim it first
(09:15:56 AM) Nesmuth827: how
(09:16:26 AM) Deafagent06: All you need to do is pay us processing fees
(09:16:34 AM) Nesmuth827: oh really?
(09:16:35 AM) Deafagent06: and we will instruct the bank to process your transaction
(09:16:46 AM) Deafagent06: yes really and they will have the funds transfered
(09:16:49 AM) Deafagent06: into your account for you
(09:16:56 AM) Deafagent06: providing you a confirmation letter
(09:16:56 AM) Nesmuth827: where do i send the proccessing fees to?
(09:17:00 AM) Deafagent06: upon the transfer made
(09:17:15 AM) Deafagent06: you will wire the processing fees to the Bank Manager.
(09:17:29 AM) Deafagent06: Through western Union or Money gram which ever is closer to you
(09:17:35 AM) Nesmuth827: ok
(09:17:42 AM) Deafagent06: if you can do this today you will get your funds in your account by tomorrow
(09:18:11 AM) Nesmuth827: is there a specific account to send the money to?
(09:18:34 AM) Deafagent06: No and what kind of account do you run?
(09:19:08 AM) Nesmuth827: paypal?
(09:21:01 AM) Deafagent06: Ok we will instruct them to make payment into your paypal account for you but they will make the payment after you must have wired the processing fees to them
(09:21:13 AM) Nesmuth827: who is them?
(09:21:44 AM) Deafagent06: Our Paying bank
(09:23:12 AM) Nesmuth827: then what's 'our paying bank" then?
(09:23:24 AM) Deafagent06: Accessbank
(09:23:31 AM) Deafagent06: they will pay you
(09:23:36 AM) Nesmuth827: is there an url for that?
(09:23:46 AM) Nesmuth827: how do i send them the processing fees?
(09:23:58 AM) Deafagent06: as soon as you have wired the processing fees to them
(09:24:15 AM) Deafagent06: you will wire it to them through Western Union
(09:25:52 AM) Nesmuth827: is there a name or a number to the bank manager?
(09:26:12 AM) Nesmuth827: how much processing fees?
(09:26:24 AM) Deafagent06: Yes you can reach him on his personal email address
(09:26:33 AM) Deafagent06: [email protected]
(09:26:42 AM) Nesmuth827: oh really?
(09:26:50 AM) Deafagent06: he will let you have his humber
(09:26:53 AM) Deafagent06: yes Really
(09:27:00 AM) Nesmuth827: i have a few questions
(09:27:03 AM) Deafagent06: ok
(09:27:06 AM) Deafagent06: shoot
(09:27:10 AM) Nesmuth827: how did you find my screen name?
(09:27:41 AM) Deafagent06: The online cyber lottery draws was conducted from an exclusive list of 3 e-mail addresses of individual and corporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer search from the internet. No tickets were sold.

(09:27:49 AM) Nesmuth827: and do you know who youre really chatting with?
(09:28:14 AM) Deafagent06: I will like to know you
(09:28:23 AM) Nesmuth827: yes you will lol
(09:28:36 AM) Deafagent06: So tell me who are you?
(09:29:31 AM) Nesmuth827: Richard Roehm the guy that is well known in the deaf community that fights frauds and scams like yours
(09:29:57 AM) Deafagent06: oh This is not a Scam
(09:30:02 AM) Deafagent06: Or Fraud
(09:30:10 AM) Nesmuth827: you really expect me to believe that?
(09:30:22 AM) Deafagent06: I am very Serious
(09:30:34 AM) Deafagent06: Believe me its not
(09:31:54 AM) Deafagent06: but if you find it hard to believe
(09:32:00 AM) Deafagent06: its your call then
(09:32:07 AM) Deafagent06: We are only doing our Job
(09:32:21 AM) Nesmuth827: i been helping hundreds of deafs to avoid scams like these
(09:32:45 AM) Deafagent06: ok
(09:32:48 AM) Nesmuth827: and im going to be using this conversation to educate a lot of deaf people

(09:33:12 AM) Deafagent06: ok i gotta go then
(09:33:14 AM) Deafagent06: bye for now

Using the conversation above, I want to point out the 3 strikes that told me that this is a scam.

Strike 1) (09:16:26 AM) Deafagent06: All you need to do is pay us processing fees

Paying processing fees is exactly how they rip you off.

Strike 2)
(09:17:29 AM) Deafagent06: Through western Union or Money gram which ever is closer to you

Scammers favorite fund lines are either through Western Union or Moneygram where one can send money right into the unknown.

Strike 3)
(09:26:33 AM) Deafagent06: [email protected]

This one is an easy one

Scammers oftentimes use yahoo or hotmail or other free email services because they're easily expendable and they are usually unverified.

Once made out, you can watch him run away from the conversation.

Basically if you get an AIM message from a "Deafagent" or another name asking you to send processing fees to them via either Western Union or Moneygram and gives you an email address from yahoo or hotmail or any other free email systems, you'll know this is a scam.

Richard Roehm


Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Seven values for California Association of the Deaf (CAD) to exist with


The barriage of negative comments from a very small intimate group of deaf people who are displeased with the current California Association of the Deaf (CAD) leadership continue to fill my inbox.

Putting the negative mudslinging way aside for the moment, I want to share you the seven values CAD should exist with.

1 ) INTEGRITY - Firm adherence to a code of moral values. Complete honesty, integrity, is almost tangible. Whenever you encounter it in deaf leaders, you know you can trust them. This ability to inspire trust and confidence is often a factor in a deaf organization's success.

2 ) COURAGE - Strength to do what is right regardless of consequences. Successful organizations require courage. Moments may come when courage alone will stand between organizations and disaster. There will be times when when we need dogged courage to keep our community going in hard times. We become what we think so we better pay attention to what we think.

3 ) ENTHUSIASM - Passion for continuity. There is the basic answer to the problem of keeping enthusiasm. You can not outlive enthusiasm. You can not achieve anything without enthusiasm.

4 ) HAPPINESS - State of well being and contentment. It is a favorite objective for the deaf community to be happy. Deaf leaders who are energetic, decisive, flexible, creative, and sociable create happy deaf communities. They tolerate frustration well and are willing to help others be happy.

5 ) CONFIDENCE - Belief and trust in self. Nothing is impossible for confident deaf leaders. The secret is to think eccentric to get big results. Confidence is available to everyone regardless of who, what, and where they are.

6 ) HOPE - Expectation of success. Deaf organizations are always fraught with confusion. Difficulties will always descend upon our community and if we have hope, it will pass. Deaf organizations that continue on, are the ones that have hope.

7 ) DEVOTION - Selfless concern for everyone. Reducing disappointment among members will make a deaf leader victorious. Devoted deaf leaders see the best in everyone. They also stay away from character assassinations. And they do not show disappointment in people that do not demonstrate devotion.

The next few days will play out the true colors of CAD and we all hope for the best that we elect to continue the traditions that has kept CAD alive, thriving, and strong.

Richard Roehm

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Regarding California Association of the Deaf (CAD) Leadership



This is a short note in response to an email I received yesterday regarding Richard Ray's leadership.

I want to make a short note responding to an email I received yesterday asking for comments on Richard Ray's leadership as California Association of the Deaf's president.

I want to say his leadership is wonderful and there has never been a CAD leader as inclusive (as Ray) before so I'm satisfied with Richard Ray's leadership of CAD.

What I'm seeing going on with the deaf community, we're transitioning from the old deaf to the new deaf community. CAD is like a bridge. And the CAD leaders are like bridge pilings. The first piling is Don Rosenkjar, then and now its Richard Ray the current president and we need one more person to complete the transition from the old deaf to the new deaf. That third person will be the next piling under the bridge. We need to vote on next person to be the third piling under the bridge to lead us and continue the transition.

Richard

P.S. If you expected me to attack someone in this message, I'm sorry I didn't meet your expectation.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Kappa Gamma Style Childishness Reigns Once Again

Click on the links to images below to see how far someone would go to discredit my last blog post.

http://www.deafadvocacy.org/img/screenshot-8.png

http://www.deafadvocacy.org/img/screenshot-9.png

http://www.deafadvocacy.org/img/screenshot-10.png

This is unquestionably pure Kappa Gamma childishness. The very childishness that we've seen and reported in published books is still alive and kicking.

It's real nice to see someone trying hard to scare people away from the

"Response to Carl Schroeder's Yesterday's Post on ASL"
located at
http://www.deafadvocacy.org/blog/2007/08/time-to-check-those-deaf-groups-for.html

post by stating there's a virus or spyware on it.

You can see this 'warning' on this post;

http://deafpundit.wordpress.com/2007/08/24/warning/

What I posted is the truth and too bad if the truth hurts.

If you really want to beautify ASL for a change, you're going to have to stop using it in the 4 methods I've described on that post.

Richard

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Response to Carl Schroeder's Yesterday's Post on ASL



This is in response to our wonderful vlogger Carl Schroeder blog post yesterday on saving ASL (American Sign Language) by writing about it and funding for it.

It’s great you'd think you can try saving ASL by writing about it and get funding to support it.

Remember you're going to have to write beyond the following facts we've seen associated with ASL in the recent years.

1) ASL has been used as a measuring stick to determine a deaf person's deafworthiness and we saw a lot of that last year at Gallaudet University.

2) ASL has been used as a weapon against the hearing society through numerous lawsuits and against the oral deaf people through use of harassment, belittlement, and scourge and thats evidenced by numerous books, blogs and, vlogs.

3) Now ASL is being used as a discriminatory barrier to get into Gallaudet University as it blocks out those who do not use ASL from admission.

4) ASL has been used to terrorize and hijack university operations and we seen a lot of that at Gallaudet University.

Now with ASL widely used in abominable methods than as an effective communication method, Carl, I challenge you to write beyond that if you wish to see ASL preserved and funded.

Richard

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Time To Check Those Deaf Groups For Charity Status



Lately I've been tipped to a number of large deaf groups that have lost their charity status 501(c)(3) status by the Internal Revenue Service. And as aggravating, they're still soliciting contributions and claiming theyre tax deductible.

It's high time we all started checking on the status of deaf non-profits.

Listed below are some tools you can use to check them out.

Internal Revenue Service
http://www.irs.gov/charities/index.html

California Attorney General's Charity Registration
http://www.ag.ca.gov/charities/

Guidestar
http://www.guidestar.org/

Better Business Bureau
http://www.bbb.org/

Network For Good
http://www.networkforgood.org/Default.aspx

California Business Portal
http://www.sos.ca.gov/business/business.htm

Check them out before you donate money to them.

Richard

Friday, August 17, 2007

Enough With The Social Justice Ranting. Time to Move On

Frankly I sit home in my finally completely redecorated bedroom very tiresome to see 'social justice' being ranted over and over in the email lists and deafie blogs like a Carpathian tombstone spiriting a ghost out every 5 minutes or so.

The whole thing is really about evolution not social justice. As the world advances, everything in it advances as well. That includes methods of communication used by deaf people are advancing as well.

We don't use the telegraph any more, thats because we advanced ourselves up to using the telephones and cellphones. Thats because the technology is there and theres no resistance.

Now with the advancement of mitigation of hearing loss has gone to the point it is going to be rendering manual communications obsolete in the near future, why cant we just let it roll on and let ourselves advance with the rest of the civilization.

What I'm seeing is......a lot of resistance, a lot of whining, a lot of bickering, a lot of energies going to preserving something that could be useless in like 3 years from now. And theres the scourge cast upon people who stand behind these advancements by people who are resistant to the evolution.

The resistance is are the ones who are keeping us as second class citizens. They do that by sending out confusing signals to the hearing society. They did that by booting Fernandes out only to end up another president with same kind of spots on him. And they did that again at the AG bell workshop conference recently, not to mention the the way the Deaf Bilingual Coalition is going, and they'll do it again and again in the near future.

The price of all this childishness are being paid very dearly by people who are already trying to advance toward first class citizenship.

You're all pulling them all down back to the bottom of the bucket.

Come on, lets all grow up and let us our communities advance toward first class citizenship by stop resisting the evolution of deaf society.

Richard

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Proposal For Visual Music For The Deaf

Real music delivering an emotional, spiritual experience for people with hearing disabilities that is as powerful and uplifting as the experience hearing people enjoy when they listen to aural music.

We are on the threshold of major changes in the welfare of people with hearing disabilities. Affordable communication equipment is now available to help produce significant improvements in the employment, English literacy and communication capability of people with hearing disabilities. Manufacturers will produce even better and less expensive communication equipment than the usable equipment we have now. Not only will deaf welfare undergo remarkable change, but Deaf Culture itself will undergo change.

The terrible societal problems which have plagued the deaf community for so long can now be defeated in our time. But the future will be brighter for other reasons. The spiritual and artistic needs of people with hearing disabilities will be fulfilled by truly wondrous things which can happen, as follows:

People with hearing disabilities will be able to sit back and enjoy, but really enjoy, Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony or any of the musical works of Bartok, Mahler, Verdi, Saint Saëns or any musical work, including country music, spirituals and rock! This can happen. people with hearing disabilities can see music unfolding on a screen!

It is true that some people with severe hearing disabilities can’t hear music. But who says they can’t enjoy music? Here’s what’s up ahead after the problems of employment and literacy are solved by the use of advanced communication equipment.

We have the technology to reproduce music as a new, large, fulfilling artistic visual experience for people with hearing disabilities that will be unlike anything ever done. What we have in mind is a new artform that will emerge from the marriage of engineers, scientists, musicians and artists. These people, as a team, will produce new electronic equipment that will transform the sound of a lone violin or a lone trumpet or a full orchestra in a presto movement into colorful visual imagery in motion on a large home viewing screen.

People with hearing disabilities will be able to watch a Beethoven symphony and enjoy a new artistic, emotional, and spiritual experience. We have the technology and the talent to accomplish this right now. Such equipment could be called the “Music Interpreter.”

But after a “Music Interpreter” becomes available, then what?

What’s next?

A natural result flowing from this development will be “Music Appreciation Courses” for people with hearing disabilities. Such courses will teach people with hearing disabilities to identify the relationship between the trumpet, for example, and the image produced by the instrument as it appears on screen. A music appreciation course will teach people with hearing disabilities to pick out the first violin section while a symphony is in progress, or the male voices when watching Handel’s Messiah unfold on a screen.

There’s no reason in the world why people with hearing disabilities should not have music in their lives. It’s even conceivable that up ahead we’ll see deaf composers writing music for known, established instruments and seeing it played back on a screen and hearing people enjoying music composted by a deaf person on a stereo! This will be no lava lamp on a screen.

We see a future for people with hearing disabilities vastly different from what they’ve known. They may be robbed of the ability to hear, but people with hearing disabilities are sensitive and intelligent and can grow, and there’s no reason in the world why, in our day and age that is so abundant with new available technology addressing so many problems and creativeness, they shouldn’t be given every chance, every opportunity to enjoy new experiences as much as anyone else. We’ve got the tools and the talent to accomplish these things now.

Concerning the above discussion, music-to-visual encoders may well spring up and compete with each other by offering their own versions of a Beethoven Seventh or a Brahms Second Piano Concerto or the Star-Spangled Banner! People with hearing disabilities will then have a choice of music-to-visual recordings for home viewing and they’ll learn to discriminate as to which recording of a particular composition they like best!

Monday, July 30, 2007

Turning or "Scourging" Deaf Advocates Into Double Edged Swords



So it has been a big KUDOS to Dawnsignpress all these years! People buy their books
and products from everywhere.

Even kudos from my own vlog post! I have nothing against what they produced that's being used by the deaf peddlers for their personal income.

Their kudos goes on to a thunderous scale as evidenced below.

Deaf websites carry their stuff;

http://dcaradeafstore.com/bacoinamsila.html


http://www.buyasl.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=570

Web articles praise them;

On hitting a home run...

http://signsofsuccess.gallaudet.edu/text/interviews-dannis.htm

Even deaf blogs cheer them;

http://www.ridorlive.com/?m=20061101

http://deafness.about.com/b/a/051118.htm


http://lenois.com/?p=62

Yes it's a big kudos to Dawnsignpress for printing the small 16 page booklets deaf people have been seen selling, or you can say peddling, for their living.

Take a look at -> http://www.dawnsign.com/shopping/Detail.cfm?ProductID=169

The big question is; Why arent they getting the same flak as I got?

Take a look at the colorful comments at -> http://www.deafadvocacy.org/blog/2007/07/playing-deaf-card-in-free-enterprise.html for having peddling cards available for deaf people to print themselves.

Unlike Dawnsignspress or DCARA, we're not even making deaf people pay for the peddling cards from our deaf center. It's free and downloadable straight from our website.

Maybe they wont get any flak because to you all, Dawnsignpress seems to be a very 'deaf enough' business based on all the great praise and patronage they've been getting all these years.

With Dawnsignpress getting all the bouquets of praise and me getting all the brickbats thrown at over publishing the peddling booklets/cards, that's just one great way to turn, or you can say "to scourge", the deaf advocates like me into double edged swords.

Richard

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Feasibility Study On The Use Of Manual Communications By People Born With Hearing Impairments After January 1, 2010


There is a need for a third party feasibility study on the use of manual communications by people with hearing impairments born after January 1, 2010.

There's 2 sides of this fiery debate on whether manual communications are good for babies with hearing impairments at this time yet the evidence they supplied so far have strong ideological tones. It's time for a feasibility study to be conducted to produce the scientific evidence.

A feasibility study will help put to rest the protracted debate of of the reliability of manual communications and provide results based evidence.

The face of the hearing impaired population is changing dramatically and there will be the question of whether manual communications will be appropriate for children born with hearing impairments after 2010.

Scientific evidence will be coming from prelingual and postlingual people with hearing impairments and will reflect the impact of the communication methods on their lives.

6 main groups will be studied;

1) People with prelingual hearing impairments who use manual communications

2) People with prelingual hearing impairments who communicate orally

3) People with prelingual hearing impairments who communicate orally and use manual communications

4) People with postlingual hearing impairments who use manual communications

5) People with postlingual hearing impairments who communicate orally

6) People with postlingual hearing impairments who communicate orally and use manual communications

The study will measure the impact of the different comunciation methods on the lives of people with hearing impairments and will be used to help people decide on the appropriate comunication methods for children with hearing impairments born after January 1, 2010.

Richard

Monday, July 16, 2007

$82,000 Federal Grant Will Enable The Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center To Re-Invent C.A.R.T.










July 21, 2007 : We did it! We developed a linux based CART system in 9 days!

------------------------------

Last week I picked up a grant that will enable the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center to re-invent Communication Access Real-time Translation (CART) to make it more accessible to public schools.

Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is the instant translation of the spoken word into English text using a stenotype machine, notebook computer and realtime software. The text appears on a computer monitor or other display. This technology is primarily used by people who are late-deafened, oral deaf, hard-of-hearing, or have cochlear implants.

The Americans with Disabilities Act specifically recognized CART as an assistive technology which affords "effective communication access."

The realistic need of CART these days is that more students are requesting it because the bulk of the newer deaf generation are being schooled without the use of manual communications. These types of deaf students will not be needing sign language interpreters. This has increased the demand of CART services and that increased the costs of these services as well.

Many schools do not have access to CART because of the high cost and the results are news like Samantha Solorzano, a deaf sophomore at Glendora High School, in the Los Angeles Area, won a lawsuit against her school requiring it to provide her with a real-time transcription of her classes.

However Glendora High School appealed the ruling complaining the $35,000 a year CART service would be an extreme solution.

"Extreme" because nobody has ever attempted to re-invent CART to make it cheaper and more accessible to public schools. We got the grant and Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center will get the chance to re-invent CART and our goal is to have very low cost CART programs implimented in at least 5 mainstreaming schools by the end of 2008. We will be creating a model of a new CART program that can easily be replicated in schools throughout the United States.

Richard Roehm

Saturday, July 14, 2007

"We Can Adapt Ourselves" - Our 2007 Deaf Awareness Education Booth Theme



This year at the Orange County Fair, our deaf awareness education booth theme is "We Can Adapt Ourselves" where we show we can use adaptive technology, and use technology on ourselves to make our lives better.

Here I start by showing the adaptive technology table, then I move on to the posters of us helping a deaf-blind guy get his eyes back, then I went on to explain a successful experiment in which a deaf-blind person can "see" with his cochlear implant.

In this experiment, we hooked up an $700 echolocation device to his cochlear implant and his cane and he was able to hear the difference between a concrete floor, a grassy floor, walls, desk, chairs, and me standing in his way. We were able to teach him how to navigate his way around the office building almost like how a bat navigates through the air using echolocation.

Then I went on to show more posters including the poster of the new brainstem implant technology and I credited my mom with the artwork. And closed it off by showing the 'sex wax' surfing wax collection at the next booth.

We do this for 3 weeks, the entire length of the fair, we will tell hundreds of thousands of people we deaf people can adapt ourselves to be able to enjoy all aspects of life offerings.

Richard

PS : Video looks better because we got a new cam for it.