Deaf News: American Sign Language Version - Open letter to the AG Bell Association from NTID/RIT facutlty and staff.



ROCHESTER, NY -- National Technical Institute for the Deaf and Rochester Institute of Technology facutlty and staff share the American Sign Language video letter to the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (AG Bell) - Recently, there is an appalling wave of reaction by the Deaf community in regards to AG Bell's response to Washington Post's "The Reliable Source" who accuses Nyle DiMarco dispelling the myths about deafness.

To the President, CEO, Board, and Members of the AG Bell Association,



We have a wealth of knowledge today from both historical scholarship and the collective, lived experiences of Deaf people about AG Bell. We know that AG Bell was a strong supporter of the eugenics movement. He supported language oppression, leading to a legacy of linguicism in Deaf history. Eugenics began and was practiced here in the United States before being adopted in Nazi Germany. Thus, Bell was part of the development of the notion of a “better stock of human beings” which clearly indicated that Deaf people were unacceptable. Bell’s ideology shows repeated pattern of language oppression, systematic destruction of Deaf people’s culture and way of life. Such systematic ways of destroying any culture needs to be stopped right now.



The World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) organization has reported that 70 million Deaf and Deaf Blind people around the globe use sign language. Additionally, WFD has worked closely with the United Nations in developing the Convention of Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The UNCRPD focuses on the rights of Deaf people including recognition of the human right to sign language as a first language. The CRPD, therefore, recognizes and promotes the sign languages of Deaf people worldwide. A related CRPD principle reaffirms the education of Deaf children through sign language followed by reading and writing skills in the language of their home countries. The recent letter from the AG Bell Association mentions sign language as simply one of many “options.” Thus, the AG Bell Association has blatantly denied Deaf children the human right to sign language that has been asserted by WFD/UN CRPD.



I’ve noticed among Deaf students here at NTID that they tend to communicate most successfully through sign. These students are diverse: many from international countries and from various states; their educational backgrounds include experiencing mainstream schools and Deaf schools. When they all come together and need to communicate effectively in the moment, they all use sign. Speech doesn’t work well because many of the international students do not lipread English nor use spoken English. When they come together, they all can sign and smoothly collaborate. This experience is evidence that it is signing which allows diverse students to be successful communicators.



For many years, AG Bell has reinforced the concept that speech is equated with the ability to learn language which is misleading and erroneous. Focusing on developing literacy is different from speech training. Being able to use speech may be a convenient way to communicate with many people, but it does not lead to literacy--that is, skills such as the ability to think, reason, negotiate, read and write. Research has indicated that in America today there are about 30 million people who use speech fluently, but who cannot read and write. When you give your child language, you need to remember that Deaf children always are bilingual or multilingual. Today in 2016, we have a lot of research that AG Bell’s assumptions have been wrong.



In 2008, the President and CEO of AG Bell Association wrote a letter to the Pepsi Company chastising them for having shown a commercial which included Deaf people signing. It was just one short commercial shown on one day out of a whole year’s worth of commercials. Yet, the President and CEO of AG Bell were so upset that they felt they needed to respond. At NTID/RIT, the students, faculty, staff, community members and members of the Orange and Brown Coalition decided that we must confront you about this injustice. We demanded that you rescind your letter to the Pepsi Company and apologize for offending and misrepresenting Deaf people. At the same time, people at NTID/RIT began to question the integrity of having a building named in honor of AG Bell on our campus. Students began to study Bell’s history and notice his pattern of oppressing Deaf people’s language and culture as well as his destructive impact on the individual lives of Deaf people. Because of this history, they felt NTID/RIT should not show honor much less tolerance for people who represent such actions. After much discussion, the name and plaque honoring AG Bell was finally removed from our campus. That was in 2008.



Now, in 2016, you have again written a letter publically insulting Deaf people, Deaf culture, and ASL. You seem resistant to learning. Your pattern of harassment and insults to our culture and our language is unacceptable and must stop. It is harmful to parents, children, and adults. We have had enough.



NTID/RIT Faculty/Staff members from the Department of Cultural and Creative Studies:

Dr. J.Matt Searls,

Mr. Joseph Hamilton,

Dr. Deirdre A. Schlehofer,

Dr. Aaron Kelsone, and

Ms. Patti Durr

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Deaf News: American Sign Language Version - Audism Free America Video Letter to the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf.



WASHINGTON DC -- Audism Free America (AFA) share a video letter to the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf (AG Bell) in American Sign Language with all of you. Recently, there is an appalling wave of reaction by the Deaf community in regards to AG Bell's response to Washington Post's "The Reliable Source" who accuses Nyle DiMarco dispelling the myths about deafness.

Dear President Meredith K Sugar,



We, Audism Free America, are writing in response to your response to the Washington Post article regarding Mr. Nyle DiMarco, in which you stated; "It is our hope to dispel the myths about deafness.” It has become apparent that by now you have most likely seen the many letters from members of the Deaf community, and as well as from academic researchers who have revealed the truth about your misinformation showing that Deaf children, from both Deaf and Hearing families, have clearly thrived when exposed to American Sign Language early in life.



This is not the first time that the AG Bell Association has imposed misinformation and worked to assert to the general public reinforcing the attitudes of audism and linguicism. In 2009, we presented to your former President Graham, along with other AG Bell representatives, a list of demands at a sit down face to face meeting. These demands were taken to your Board and rejected. The demands stated that:



1. the AG Bell Association and Academy cease and desist from denying Deaf infants, children, and their families the right to a natural and fully accessible language.



2. the AG Bell Association cease and desist from misinforming the public and the media about ASL and Deaf people. The AG Bell Association has not retracted its letter to Pepsi objecting to the commercial featuring ASL in a positive light and continually paints Deaf ASL users as unsuccessful and dependent.



3. the AG Bell Association cease and desist its incestuous relationship with cochlear implant manufacturers and join the AFA in calling for an independent and impartial study of the physical, psychological, and social impact of cochlear implants on infants, children and adolescents.



The second item listed can now be amended to demand that the AG Bell Association, additionally, retract your statements concerning the response to Mr. Nyle DiMarco in the Washington Post.



If you are truly concerned about dispelling myths, you may wish to focus on your founder. A.G. Bell, the man, through publicized reports was an eugenicist, xenophobe, and audist along with recent reports that he was also a thief and plagiarist (see D. Baynton, H. Lane, and S. Shulman, as well as Bell’s own writings).



Your Association should be held accountable for the many Deaf children and their families who have been deprived of an accessible language in their early years which have resulted in negative impacts psychologically, educationally, and economically, (see Humphries, et al., 2012 and Penicaud, et al, 2013).



As a Deaf grassroots organization, we are informing you that your organization, made up of primarily Hearing people, has NO right to misrepresent Deaf people in the media and NO right to actively promote the denial of human and linguistic rights of Deaf children.



We, Deaf community members, our families and allies are proud to have Mr. Nyle DiMarco as a role model and advocate for our future generations of Deaf children. If you need further evidence that there is a thriving Deaf community who will ensure that Deaf children will CONTINUE TO BE DEAF, please see the social media campaigns #whyIsign and #iamdeaf.



Finally, this letter is to inform you that AFA will now host another rally at your annual conference in Denver, Colorado. Please let us know if YOU would like to meet with US prior to the conference in order to retract your letters and issue a formal apology. Please see the attached flyer for more information.



Let Freedom Roll,



Audism Free America

Follow Audism Free America on Social Media:

Subscribe - https://youtube.com/AudismFreeAmerica

Facebook - https://facebook.com/pages/audism-free-america

Twitter - https://twitter.com/endaudism



History of the Deaf Americans - Through Deaf Eyes - Documentary Film



Related AFA:

ASL & Deaf Pride Parade 2015 At Washington DC

ASL & Deaf Pride Parade 2015 In DC

i Deaf News - ASL Deaf Pride Parade By AFA



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VIDEO: Deaf News - Deaf Activist-Teacher-Mom the ASL storytelling of horrific experience with the Alexander Graham Bell Association.





Deaf activist-mother-teacher, Barb Wifi share her blog and vlog about the depicts video review from 2007-2011 showing how Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf (AG Bell) has engaged in bullying actions against the signing Deaf people. Recently, there is an appalling wave of reaction by the Deaf community in regards to AG Bell's response to Washington Post's "The Reliable Source" who accuses Nyle DiMarco dispelling the myths about deafness.



AG Bell Association is the Bully: Part I - This vlog showing a variety of historical segments of Barb Wifi (a.k.a. Barb DiGi) depicting her thoughts and experiences with the AG Bell Association who had disrespected her rights, her job, her Deaf daughter, her immediate family, and her community ties from 2007 to 2011.





Transcript and a copy of the chart is available at http://deafprogressivism.blogspot.com/2016/04/ag-bell-is-bully-part-i.html.





AG Bell Association is the Bully: Part II - This vlog is focused on the perspectives of Nyle DiMarco, AG Bell Association President, Meredith Sugar and multiple researchers.





Transcript and a copy of the chart is available at http://deafprogressivism.blogspot.com/2016/04/ag-bell-association-is-bully-part-ii.html.



Follow Barb Wifi on Social Media:

YouTube - https://youtube.com/avbria

Twitter - https://twitter.com/barbwifi

Instagram - https://instagram.com/barbwifi

Google Plus - https://plus.google.com/+barbwifi

Official Blog - http://deafprogressivism.blogspot.com



Related: #AG Bell

Deaf Student Bullied at the AG Bell School

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Deaf Teachers: Open Letter To AG Bell Association

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VIDEO [CC] - Deaf News: Alexander Graham Bell of history's most famous inventor, but shockingly his most famous invention was stolen.



WASHINGTON DC -- If you answered Alexander Graham Bell, then you, along with millions of people around the world have been misinformed. In 2002, even the US Congress succumbed to the nagging truth and “changed its mind” on the issue, according credit to the real inventor and declaring that the original telephone was in fact invented by Antonio Meucci, a penniless Italian who did not speak a word of English and could not afford to patent his discovery.



Alexander Graham Bell? He was just a successful patent applicant and some would say, THIEF.



According to the US Congress, Bell was a cunning opportunist who took all the credit for a more brilliant scientist’s work. The House of Representatives voted to recognise mechanical genius Antonio Meucci as the father of modern communications, following a protracted battle by historians and Italian Americans.



From Monopoly to the lightbulb, AllTime10s brings you 10 famous inventions stolen from other people.



The real invented of the telephone, Meucci, born April 13, 1808, had been working in Cuba in the 1830s, developing methods for treating illnesses using electric shocks, when he discovered the ability of sound to travel through electrical impulses. He later moved to Staten Island to follow up on his discovery. In 1860 which was 16 years before Bell claimed to have invented the telephone Meucci demonstrated his teletrofono in New York, but could not afford the $250 required to register a patent.



Bell, who took an interest in Meucci’s invention, convinced him to share his research material. They shared a lab together and Bell had full access to Meucci’s materials. Bell made good and clever use of Meucci before coming up with his own “invention” and applying for a patent in his own name. Meucci duly protested, but lacking connections, was unable to convince anyone that Alexander Graham Bell had stolen his ideas. Under general patent laws, then and today, Bell should have credited Meucci and agreed to share royalties with him.



Beset with debt, Meucci could not afford the $10 fee for maintaining the patent caveat and temporarily gave up pursuit of Bell in 1874. Two years later, Bell, uncontested by Meucci, was granted ownership of the patent. Interestingly, another contender, Elisha Gray, had also submitted a patent for the telephone some hours before Bell, but due to a technicality, Bell was the registrant whose application won.



Meucci finally decided to sue Bell, charging him with fraud in the Supreme Court. The case looked rather promising for Meucci, but unfortunately, before any proceedings could begin, Meucci died on October 18, 1889.



In 2001, the United States Congress took the extraordinary decision of doing justice to Meucci, passing a resolution officially according recognition to Meucci as the real inventor of the telephone, stating that “if Meucci had been able to pay the caveat after 1874, no patent could have been issued to Bell.” The US Congress further stated that given all the facts of the patent disputes between Gray and Bell, under no terms should Alexander Graham Bell have been awarded the patent for the telephone by the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 1876. Alexander Graham Bell was posthumously stripped of his dubious honor as the inventor of the telephone.



“Justice” was finally served - well, sort of.



In effect, the Congressional resolution served only as a declaration and did not technically annul or modify the patent which Bell received in 1876. The resolution was also subsequently followed by another legislative declaration upholding Bell’s priority and his status as the inventor (patent holder) of the telephone.



Credit where credit is due:



Both Antonio Meucci and Elisha Gray should be credited with successfully inventing telephones in the United States before Alexander Graham Bell did so in 1876. Others who performed pioneering experimental work with electrical voice transmissions over wires included Thomas Edison, Innocenzo Manzetti, Charles Bourseul and Johann Philipp Reis. The telephone as we know it today, is largely based on improvements made by Thomas Edison on the original design which was not Bell’s but Meucci’s. SOURCE



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VIDEO [CC] - Canadian Hearing Society: Modern fire safety for people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.



TORONTO -- Bellman & Symfon “Visit” Package The Visit smoke alarm/transmitter and alarm clock with bedshaker. This alarm detects smoke and smoldering fire immediately and the transmitter sends the signal to the alarm clock receiver to alert you. Smoke alarms are essential to help you feel safe and protected in your home.





For more information, contact us at Phone: 1.800.465.4327 TTY: 1.877.215.9530 or visit our website www.chs.ca/bellman.



Note: None of Deaf Talent to hire for advertising for the Deaf Canadians community? Canadian Hearing Society is focusing on oral and hear without sign language nor Deaf culture. Canadian Hearing Society is NOT recommended to the Deaf association, organization and community in Canada.



Related Post: #Canadian Hearing Society

VIDEO [CC] - Deaf News: Starkey Hearing Foundation's exploitation becomes boycott from the Deaf community around the globe.





SAN FRANCISCO -- Thousand of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing people around the world concerns with Starkey Hearing Foundation issues over exploitation from celebrates and NFL players who does not knowledge in Deaf Culture nor Sign Language, but just "Hears" which a lead under fire in the Deaf community. Here's the story covers about the Starkey Hearing Foundation's exploitation.



The Daily Moth is the most popular Deaf News in the United States, sharing the extremely important message to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community about the Starkey Hearing Foundation issues.



California Association of the Deaf's concerns with Starkey Hearing Foundation - During a pre-Super Bowl 50 event hosted by Starkey Hearing Foundation, over seventy people received free hearing aids. While it was hailed by the media as a good deed, parents of Deaf children felt it was exploitation. In this interview, Alex discusses why they felt that way and how Starkey could better frame Deaf people.





To view California Association of the Deaf's letters. To learn more about ASL and early language acquisition, go to http://www.asl4deafkids.org. Warning: California Association of the Deaf's website may be hacked, claimed by Google. The Deaf community believe it comes from the Starkey Hearing Foundation. What a shame.



There's more about the Starkey Hearing Foundation issues from the United Kingdom "Deaf Culture and the Starkey Hearing Foundation."





A Deaf vlogger Genki Steph from the United Kingdom sharing the video in British Sign Language discussion topic regarding the Starkey Hearing Foundation and the open letter sent by Stefanie Ellis-Gonzales.



Nice to see the patriachy alive and thriving! Open letter from the United Kingdom: Letter Here.



Related Post: #Starkey Hearing Foundation

VIDEO [ASL] - Gary Malkowski from Canada on UN CRPD and oralist agenda.



To contact US Senators to have them join the other nations of the world in ratifying the CRPD go to: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm





For a sample letter go to Audism Free America blog and scroll down http://audismfreeamerica.blogspot.com/2012/07/urge-ur-us-senators-to-ratify-un-crpd.html



National Association of the Deaf blog and scroll down http://www.nad.org/news/2012/7/crpd-passes-committee-vote-next-stop-senate-floor

Deaf News: Deaf student bullied at the Alexander Graham Bell school.



CHICAGO, IL -- CBS News: A young Deaf boy says first he was bullied by some classmates and then a teacher allegedly joined in. The third-grader attends Alexander Graham Bell Elementary School in Chicago, where he says he’s been repeatedly hit and verbally abused by students.



One even allegedly threatened him using sign language. Earlier this year while at recess, Padilla says a boy hit him and tore his cochlear implant from his ear and head.



His mother, Christina Maldonado Padilla, says it was an act of both physical and emotional aggression.



“I think he’s fed up with it,” she says.



Christina says the alleged bully threw her son’s $45,000 cochlear implant somewhere on the playground and then the school sent Jason Padilla home without it. In fact, he didn’t get it back until the next day. His mother says it was broken from sitting in the rain.



“When we put it back together it was wet, so it was not working,” she says. “Jason was Deaf for three days.”



Christina says school officials never called to tell her about the incident and she didn’t find out about it until he got off the school bus without his implant.



She says the alleged bully was only suspended from recess for a few days. Meanwhile, Jason Padilla no longer wants to go to school.



His mother called their alderman, and that’s when she believes her son’s third-grade teacher retaliated, allegedly flicking her finger at his implant, causing swelling to his ear and head.



“He’s very afraid. It’s an everyday thing that we had to tell him, ‘Tomorrow no school, OK, OK,’ so he wouldn’t cry and then in the morning, deal with the reality that he has to go,” Christina says.



She also is concerned about the school’s solution to all of his alleged problems.



A Chicago Public School spokesperson says he was moved him from his third-grade class to a multi-age, self-contained class of two fifth-graders and nine fourth-graders, making him the only third-grader in the bunch.



A CPS spokesperson says: “While this matter is still being investigated to determine exactly what happened, we have been and continue to work closely with the student and his family to ensure that all of the services and resources that he needs are provided.”



SOURCE



Related: #AG Bell

Deaf Student Bullied at the AG Bell School

Deaf People Bullied By The AG Bell Association

AG Bell's Letter About Nyle DiMarco Controversy

Audism Free America Video Letter To AG Bell

NTID/RIT Facutlty & Staff Open Letter To AG Bell

Deaf Teachers: Open Letter To AG Bell Association

Cochlear Implant Failures Lawsuits & AG Bell

AG Bell & CI Companies

How AG Bell Association Destroy Deaf Culture

Alexander Graham Bell - Theft Of The Century

#LiesAGBellToldMyParents - Indiana HB 1367