AFA Letter to Dr. Hurwitz of Gallaudet: Promoting BELL!

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21 September 2013

Dr. T. Alan Hurwitz, President

Gallaudet University

800 Florida Ave NE

Washington, DC 20002

Dear Dr. Hurwitz,

We are contacting you because it has come to our attention that the National Geographic Society’s play, BELL! has been promoted by Gallaudet University and students have been informed of discounted tickets for this event. Perhaps in celebrating Gallaudet’s sesquicentennial there has been a lapse in institutional memory.

In 1891 during a Congressional committee hearing concerning appropriation for a request to establish a teacher training program at your college, AG Bell said:  “The employment of deaf teachers is absolutely detrimental to oral instruction, and the training school proposed by President Gallaudet should therefore not be supported by the United States….we cannot trust it to train teachers…” 

When AG Bell addressed the Literary Society at the college he said, “…I am sure there is no one among the deaf who desires to have his affliction handed down to his children.”  These words of such an influential person certainly impacted how Deaf college students and organizations viewed their own future and community.

The world of the play BELL! ignores these and other grave injustices that Alexander Graham Bell has fostered upon Deaf people.  It ignores his systematic attempts to deny Deaf children sign language and efforts to “teach” Deaf people “to forget they are Deaf.”  It ignores his work to abolish Deaf publications, organizations, conventions and schools.   It is a tragic legacy of the father of audism which still “shapes the world we live in today” and which many of your students still experience.

It is appalling to imagine that Deaf college students today are expected to passively accept the sanitized version of “AG Bell the genius inventor” (and what of the plagiarism and forgery charges?) celebrated by the play, BELL!  This appears to be a shameless attempt to eradicate the true history of AG Bell and to minimize the detrimental role he has played in the education of Deaf people.

As an educational institution of higher learning, it is your responsibility to educate your students. Promoting the play without first hosting a forum to educate students about AG Bell sends the wrong message—both to your students and people beyond Gallaudet. 

Unfortunately, the deadlock between your venerable President of 50 years, Dr. Edward Miner Gallaudet and AG Bell did not end with their fight over the establishment of a teacher-training program.  It simply went national, and reverberates even today as your students sit and watch BELL! ignorant of how this man impacted their college, their history, and their lives. 

Let freedom roll!

Ruthie Jordan, Patti Durr and Karen Christie for Audism Free America

Cc:

Genie Gertz, PhD, Dean

College of Arts and Sciences

Catherine Murphy

public.relations@gallaudet.edu

Stephanie Johnston

via sbg@gallaudet.edu 

AFA letter to National Geographic Society about BELL

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18 September 2013 

John M. Fahey, Jr.,

President/ CEO

National Geographic Society

1145 17^th Street N.W.

Washington DC 20036-4688

Dear Mr. Fahey,

This letter serves to express serious concerns related to how your organization “reflects the world” through the National Geographic Live: BELL! play. 

The world of the play BELL! ignores the grave injustices that Alexander Graham Bell has fostered upon Deaf people.  It ignores his systematic attempts to deny Deaf children sign language and efforts to “teach” Deaf people “to forget they are Deaf.”  It is acknowledged that AG Bell was the Chief architect and advocate of the oral/aural only method of educating Deaf students in the United States, and

-worked to ban the use of ASL in the classroom

-worked to deny Deaf people the right to be educators

-worked to stop Deaf people from socializing with

and marrying other Deaf people

-worked to abolish Deaf publications, organizations, schools and conventions

Today, we know that pure oralism--the denial of a fully accessible visual language—leads to language and cognitive deprivation as well as lags in social-emotional and identity development.  In practice, many oral/aural only programs have resorted to physical and emotional abuse to stop Deaf children from using sign language or gestures.

 

In his ‘love for the Deaf,” AG Bell consistently refused to work with our organizations when they reached out to him.  As ex-President of the National Association of the Deaf, George Veditz wrote in AG Bell’s obituary (1922):

“ It was not so much the education of the deaf, per se that Dr. Bell was interested in as the oral method…The deaf as a class have had little cause to love him because of the nature of his interference in their affairs… Dr. Bell’s influence upon the American deaf has been negative. They would have welcomed him with open arms and gloried in his interest in them had this interest been expressed in a manner they could approve. He did not choose this last.‘Tis true, ’tis pity; Pity ’tis, ’tis true.”

As a grassroots Deaf social justice network, Audism Free America (AFA) works to challenge the ideological foundations of audism in America---foundations that were put into place by Alexander Graham Bell.   Audism is attitudes and practices based on the assumption that behaving in the ways of those who speak and hear is desired and best. It produces a system of privilege, thus resulting in stigma, bias, discrimination, and prejudice—in overt or covert ways—against Deaf culture, American Sign Language, and Deaf people of all walks of life.   Sadly, one of the legacies of AG Bell, which still “shapes the world we live in today,” is audism.

Furthermore, it is appalling to learn the Deaf people today are still expected to passively accept the sanitized version of “AG Bell the genius inventor” (and what of the plagiarism and forgery charges?) celebrated by the play, BELL!  The efforts on the part of your organization to promote the play to Gallaudet University students is a shameless attempt to eradicate the true history of AG Bell and to minimize the detrimental role he has played in the education of Deaf people.  Are the students to forget that in 1891 during a congressional committee hearing concerning appropriation for the college, AG Bell criticized the training Deaf teachers as “detrimental?”  Are they to forget he said when addressing Gallaudet students in the past, “…I am sure there is no one among the deaf who desires to have his affliction handed down to his children?”

Your organization professes to “promote the conservation of the world's cultural, historical, and natural resources” and to “care about the planet.”  Does the National Geographic Society today, unlike its second president, care about and appreciate the natural human biodiversity represented by Deaf individuals globally?  We call on you to celebrate your 125 years by making a public statement to Gallaudet students as well as Deaf people worldwide that the National Geographic Society acknowledges the harmful history of AG Bell and today embraces the human, linguistic, economic and civil rights of all peoples—including Deaf people.

Let freedom roll!

Karen Christie, Ruthie Jordan and Patti Durr for Audism Free America

Cc:

Gary E. Knell, next President/CEO

 gknell@ngs.org

Meg Calnan

 mcalnan@ngs.org

Mary Jeanne Jacobsen

 mjacobse@ngs.org

AFA L.A. Rallies Schedule - Tentative

“I hope that we all will love and guard our beautiful sign language as the noblest gift God has given to deaf people.” 

~ George W. Veditz (1913)

Note - schedule is subject to change

July 18, 2013 Thursday 5pm - 9 pm 

AG Bell LSL Symposium

Omni Hotel 251 South Olive street, Los Angeles, CA 

Peaceful protest of the AG Bell LSL (language and spoken communication) which mandates Deaf children be denied visual acuity and American Sign Language

July 19, 2013 Friday 10:00 am to 12 pm 

Advanced Bionics 

28515 Westinghouse Place, Valencia, CA 

Peaceful protest against Advanced Bionics – a cochlear implant company which has been find by the Food & Drug Administration, sued by parents for $7.25 million dollars for shocking their Deaf daughter due to a leak in the seal of the internal part and had numerous recalls of past devices (one of which has a positioner for the internal part near the brain and lead to infections and deaths)

2:30pm to 430pm 

House Research Institute

2100 W. 3rd Street LA, CA Peaceful protest of this institute which advocates for eradicating Deaf people and promotes a “medical cure” over language and cultural opportunities and rights.

530pm to 9pm 

John Tracy Clinic

806 West Adams Blvd Los Angeles, CA 

Vigil in memory of Deaf children who have suffered under the John Tracy Clinic’s method which denies sign language and visual acuity.

July 20, 2013 Saturday 10:30 am to 3 pm 

AG Bell LSL Symposium 

Omni Hotel 251 South Olive street, Los Angeles, CA 

Peaceful protest of the AG Bell LSL (language and spoken communication) which mandates Deaf children be denied visual acuity and American Sign Language

July 20, 2013 Saturday 7pm to 10pm

Deaf Victories Forum 

UCLA, 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095

DODD Building – Room #170 

(http://maps.ucla.edu/campus/) and type "DODD BUILDING" and you will see the building on the map.

Presentations and closing of the L.A. Events

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Audism Free America’s Three Demands:

• AGBell Association, John Tracy Clinic, House Research Institute, and Advance Bionics stop excluding a natural and fully accessible language (American Sign Language - ASL) from Deaf children, and

• Stop misinforming the public and the media about Deaf people, and 

• Stop the incestuous relationship with cochlear implant manufacturers and

LSL programs.

Resources:

-the ASL petition to the White House officially recognize ASL as a community language and language of instruction in schools (see https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/officially-recognize-american-sign-language- community-language-and-language-instruction-schools/CRPw2JLk)

-the movement toward ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities which would ensure justice and equality for Deaf infants, youth and adults in areas of expression, access, education, and employment (see: http://audismfreeamerica.blogspot.com/2012/07/urge-ur-us-senators-to-ratify-un- crpd.html).

-the 2010 International Congress on the Education of the Deaf’s historical announcement rejecting an 1880 resolution banning sign language in the education of the Deaf people. In addition, the Congress expressed regrets concerning the 130 years of detrimental effects of this resolution and called upon all nations to ensure a new era of respecting all languages and promoting collaboration with Deaf citizens (see: http://deafbc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/ICED-Document.pdf)

The linguistic, cultural and human rights of Deaf children have been asserted by a number of International bodies including the United Nations (UN), the World Health Organization/World Bank (WHO), the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), and the International Convention on the Education of the Deaf (ICED). (see http://audismfreeamerica.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-12-30T17:45:00- 05:00&max-results=5&start=5&by-date=false

AFA's Letter to Indiana Legislators Opposing HB 1367

23 January 2012

Indiana State Legislators

200 West Washington Street

Indianapolis, IN 46204-2731

Dear Legislator,

This letter serves to express Audism Free America’s staunch opposition to Indiana House Bill #1367.  House Bill #1367 is dressed-up as a bill which will ensure Deaf and Hard of Hearing children achievement of “optimal communication and academic abilities” after being placed in the hands of “an appropriate agency” (determined by the Office of Management and Budget) at a cost which is undeterminable.  It fails to explain how the Outreach Services at the Indiana School for the Deaf (staffed by professionals in the field) will be improved upon by these vague actions.  It is completely incomprehensible except when considering the big picture.

In May 2011, Governor Mitch Daniels appointed to the Board of Directors at the Indiana School for the Deaf individuals who had vested interest in the HEAR INDIANA organization. HEAR INDIANA is one of the biggest supporters of House Bill # 1367.  This organization, which professes to be all about “options, choices and unbiased information” is a chapter of the AG Bell Association.  The AG Bell Association promotes the Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) method which specifically excludes American Sign Language as well as other “visual language systems.” These organizations are behind the recent legislative actions in the states of Delaware and Utah as well as Indiana.  Their unwritten agenda is clear---to influence states to close traditional schools for Deaf children in the United States and increase the number of so-called Option schools (which are exclusively oral/aural).  While these programs proclaim they are new and dealing with recent technological advancements that impact education, this oral/aural only methodology is actually antiquated, as well as exclusionary and oppressive.  These programs deny Deaf children access to a natural signed language which has been documented via decades of research to be acquired with the same ease and manner as individuals acquiring spoken language.

It is clear that the recent House Bill 1367 is part of an overt and systematic effort to ensure the education of Deaf children in your state is moving toward forced assimilation promoted by oral-aural only approaches such as LSL/Option Schools.  Such an effort results in denying Deaf and Hard of Hearing children a fully accessible, natural language, cultural identity and education of the whole child for a world in which the languages and cultures of both Deaf and Hearing people are respected.

As a national grassroots network, Audism Free America is  committed to combating audism.  Audism is attitudes and practices based on the assumption that behaving in the ways of those who speak and hear is desired and best. It produces a system of privilege, thus resulting in stigma, bias, discrimination, and prejudice—in overt or covert ways—against Deaf culture, American Sign Language, and Deaf people of all walks of life.   For bilingual/bicultural Deaf Americans, clearly, House Bill #1367 is threatening their way of life and that of future generations.

We strongly urge you to do the just and right thing by voting against the House Bill #1367 and encouraging your fellow legislators to do so as well.

Let Freedom Roll!

Patti Durr, Karen Christie and Ruthie Jordan 

on behalf of AFA

AFA's Letter to Indiana Gov. Opposing HB 1367

23 January 2012

Governor Mitch Daniels

200 West Washington Street, #206

Indianapolis, IN 46204-2731

Dear Governor Daniels,

In May 2011, Audism Free America (AFA)* wrote to you to express our grave concerns related to the individuals you appointed to the Board of Directors at the Indiana School for the Deaf which lacked transparency and ignored the interests of stakeholders in the Indiana School for the Deaf school and community.

We stated in our letter of May 2011:  ”Your appointments reek of a new strategy aimed at closing Deaf schools which are motivated primarily by budgetary concerns and secondarily by language oppression.”

It is clear that the recent House Bill 1367 that this is a further step in such a strategy and is an overt and systematic effort to ensure the education of Deaf children in your state is moving toward forced assimilation promoted by oral-aural only approaches.  This results in denial of a fully accessible, natural language, cultural identity and education of the whole child for a world in which the languages and cultures of both Deaf and Hearing people are respected.

It is not by chance that recent appointees to the ISD Board and those supporting the House Bill 1367 are both from HEAR INDIANA organization. This organization proudly endorses an exclusionary, oppressive and antiquated method of education for Deaf children dressed up as technologically advanced.  The methodology promoted by HEAR INDIANA/AG BELL Association deny Deaf children access to a natural signed language which has been documented via decades of research to be acquired with the same ease and manner as individuals acquiring spoken language.

“Leaders who do not act dialogically, but insist on imposing their decisions, do not organize the people--they manipulate them. They do not liberate, nor are they liberated: they oppress.”

---Paulo Freire

We join with those who oppose House Bill  #1367 and see it as assurance that  “optimal communication and academic abilities” will be denied to Deaf and Hard of Hearing children in Indiana as the office of management and budget becomes enriched.  Outreach services for Deaf and Hard of Hearing children and their families needs to be left in the hands of professionals such as those at the Indiana School for the Deaf.  We remain gravely concerned that the Governor of Indiana is one of those leaders who work with select groups to impose unjust actions, and thus will remain vigilant in our efforts that justice be served for Deaf children and their families.

Let Freedom Roll!

Ruthie Jordan, Patti Durr, and Karen Christie

on behalf of AFA

AFA: AG Bell 3 Demands Revisited

Audism Free America would like to remind the AG Bell Association of our past demands and request that they revisit them in light of recent events.

In a July 29, 2009 letter to AFA from the AG Bell Association President Wyant and CEO Graham they stated:
"The AG Bell Board of Directors reviewed AFA's demands and voted unanimously to not meet the demands."

AFA's Three Demands and AG Bell's actions and inactions:
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.

While AG Bell's board unanimously voted to not meet this demands they did mention the AG Bell Association's Position Statement on American Sign Language which acknowledges that some Deaf people do use ASL.

Notice that this position statement was ratified by their board 2 weeks before the Deaf Bilingual Coalition conference and demonstration in Wisconsin in 2008.

2. the AG Bell Association cease and desist from misinforming the public and the media about ASL 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 ASL Deaf people as unsuccessful and dependent.

AG Bell has NEVER apologized for this offensive letter to Pepsi. AG Bell must refrain from misrepresenting Deaf folks who use ASL as being dependent, isolated and unsuccessful.

3. the AG Bell Association cease and desist its incestuous relationship with cochlear implant manufacturers and join 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 AG Bell Association continues to have very close ties with numerous cochlear implant companies including companies that have been sued for faulty and harmful products or for unethical actions. AG Bell has had Advanced Bionics and Cochlear Americas as their Circle Alliance partners for the past several years. Both companies have had to pay heavy penalties for unethical wrongdoings in the manufacturing and/or marketing of their cochlear implants.

A judge in Idaho has ruled that parents must make their Deaf daughter wear her bilateral implants all her waking hours regardless of whether or not they might be malfunctioning or causing her discomfort. Yet there has been no statement of opposition from the AG Bell association to this order.

AG Bell association has yet to sign the AFA petition calling for an independent and impartial investigating of the physical, psychological, and social impact of cochlear implants on infants, children and adolescents.

In addition to these three demands, we'd also like to know what your thought of the film Audism Unveiled, which we donated to you. Secondly, when will we be getting a copy of the CART transcript of the meeting we had with you and thirdly we'd like to to see you participate in the International Day of Sign Language this September since you now have a position statement on ASL.

We look forward to seeing you soon.