AFA's letter to Senator Richter demanding apology

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Letter Audism Free America sent to Florida Senator Richter and CCed Chairman Arron Bean demanding an apology for offensive, false, and unjust remarks he shared during the open Health Policy Committee meeting.  The letter was also sent to the Democrat minority leader, Senator Sach, and the Tallahassee newspaper.

March 30, 2013

Dear Senator Richter

The remarks you read and made in your closing statement to the Health Policy Committee on May March 20, 2013 in favor of SB 1240 are offensive, highly prejudicial and unjust.  [See below]  We call upon you to issue a public apology.  You clearly judge people based on their ability to hear and speak and not on the content of their character.  Your reading of an unjust and inaccurate email and your added commentary portraying Deaf people who do not speak as limited, helpless, isolated and impotent is wrong and has no place on the Senate floor or records.  This blatant mischaracterization of Deaf ASL people is not acceptable, especially by an elected official.

Deaf ASL people are not LIMITED, sir.  In fact it is you who exhibits a significant limitation in your thinking and awareness.  Deaf ASL people are multilingual and multicultural - they can and do save people from drowning, tell their parents "I love you," ask for directions and GIVE directions, and not only order and deliver pizza but they actually own restaurants and MAKE dough.

So if you are truly worried about the ability for Deaf people to function in a Hearing world - you will work to remove bias, ignorance, and prejudice such as the type you just submitted for legislative consideration.

Speech and audition are already a part of services offered to Deaf infants and children.  Oral / Aural programs deny Deaf children the right to a fully natural and accessible language.  Systematic Oralism has been condemned by the International Congress on the Education of the Deaf (ICED) 2010 New Era agreement and accord for the future as well as the UN Convention on the Rights of Person's with Disabilities, the World Federation of the Deaf Education Rights for Deaf Children, the World Report on Disability by the World Bank & the World Health Organization, the Babbidge congressional report, the Commission on the Education of the Deaf (COED) congressional report and a recent GAO report on Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children.

We request that you issue a public apology for your disrespectful, unjust, and inaccurate statements immediately.  We also invite you to read and endorse this letter at the next Senate hearing on this subject.

Let Freedom Roll,

Ruthie Jordan, Patti Durr, and Karen Christie on behalf of Audism Free America

cc: Arron Bean, Chairman
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Senator Richter’s closing statement to the Health Policy Committee on May 20^, 2013:

Time 102:30 http://www.flsenate.gov/media/videoplayer.cfm?EventID=2443575804_2013031241

“Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. You notice

when people waived and support, they said, ‘We need this information.’

Members, that’s purely what this bill does. It gets information to them. It doesn’t

direct, it doesn’t force, it puts the information in the parent’s hands.

And, relative, I think there is a challenge in front of the bill, with the funding.

And, I’m open, will be very open to understanding that because I want to see that

these parents get it.

Today, the parents have to “opt in” to get that information, otherwise they don’t get

it.

And in my quick close, I’m just going to read an email that came in, its brief and it got my attention. 

Richter reading from email:

‘Parents always tell me that they wanted their child to hear or say, I love you,

benefit from the wisdom and love of grandparents, ask for directions if lost or in

need of a restroom, order a pizza and be able to simply shout out for help when

needed. Imagine how hard it would be to find someone who understood sign

language when you were frantic because a sibling is drowning. When someone can

only communicate with less than 1 in 5000 people.’

Richter adding commentary “like those that are talented, like these wonderful people here. They’re fluent in sign.”

Richter returns to reading the email ‘The world becomes a much smaller place.  It’s understandably hard to find a job, so you might end up lonely and marginalized.

Bucking a trend,

Richter’s commentary “as Senator Joiner pointed out,”

Richter returns to reading the email ‘is difficult under any circumstance,

and in this instance, it is terribly hard.

If a deaf person never had a choice, his or her best chance for happiness might

be…restricted to the signing deaf culture. But a choice is possible today, and over

time, it will be less expensive.’

Richter’s commentary “And I ask for your support of this bill that we’ll keep

moving through and working on.”

AFA letter to New York Times Editors re: biased series

Tue, Aug 16, 20

Dear NY Times Editors:

Audism Free America (AFA) is a grassroots Deaf activist network in the US, which advocates for Deaf American rights, cultural resurgence, and seeks primarily to challenge the ideological foundations of audism in America. 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.

We want to express our discontent over the series of op-ed pieces the NY Times ran concerning Deaf education. The “debate” is not boiled down to Deaf Schools = manualism (sign language) and Mainstreaming = oral / aural only. Nope, life is much more complex than that. Some Deaf schools are oral / aural only, some are signed English, some are simultaneous-communication (Speaking with some signing), and a few are bilingual-bicultural (ASL + English). Programs offer clinical services in audition and articulation as deemed appropriate via the child’s IEP etc.

The true debate, which your series did not even touch upon, is really about whether or not oral / aural only is alright– ie whether or not the banishing of a natural and fully accessible language and the denial of a Deaf child’s natural visual acuity is acceptable in the 21st century. Four major international organizations have said – it is NOT o.k. to deny Deaf children access to a fully natural and accessible signed language (See the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD), the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), and the International Congress on the Education of the Deaf (ICED) New Era and Accord for the Future 2010 Agreement).

The NY Times displayed blatant bias in their selection of writers for your five op-ed pieces. Of the five only one is Deaf. None of them appear to have had any experiences at Deaf schools – either as a student, teacher or administrator. All of them are well versed and experienced with the majority culture and highly and clearly value it.

The old “communication war” was set up to be a binary thing – Oralism Vs. Manualism but in actuality it was always Oralism vs. Bilingualism. Modality vs. multilingualism. To see the NY Times reinforce errors of the past while promoting some unhealthy and unacceptable myths about the “miracles” of future technology and the burden of “the Deaf” on taxpayers skates dangerously close to some of the rhetoric used to push for eugenics (positive and/or negative eugenics).

We request that in the future the NY Times commit to getting the full story and involve the actual byproducts of Deaf education and experts and scholars within the field of multilingualism-multiculturalism, Deaf culture, American Sign Language, and Deaf education, and Deaf rights.

As things presently stand though – instead of journalistic integrity examining Deaf Rights, the NY Times has on the record, many wrongs. We hope and trust you will correct such errors in the future.

Also, you should know that the op-ed piece by Perry Zirkel “What the Law Requires” you feature a photograph that is incorrectly captioned by the NYTimes to read “Members of the National Association of the Deaf demonstrated in Washington in July, calling for specific education for the deaf involving sign language and separate school facilities.” The fact is that the photo was taken at an Audism Free Rally in Washington, DC outside of the Omni Shoreham Hotel where the Alexander Graham Bell Association was hosting it’s Listening and Spoken Language Symposium. It was not an NAD event and we were not calling for separate school facilities at this rally.

If you would care to learn more about who we are and what we were protesting, rallying and hosting a vigil for, please feel free to contact us.

Patti Durr, Ruthie Jordan, and Karen Christie on Behalf of Audism Free America (AFA)

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LET FREEDOM ROLL!!
AFA

AFA's Immediate Release re: ICED's Historic Announcement

http://audismfreeamerica.blogspot.com/ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AudismFreeAmerica@gmail.com

Historic Announcement Rejecting the Exclusion of Sign Language in Deaf Education

On July 19, 2010, the International Congress on the Education of the Deaf (ICED) made important history by rejecting their resolutions from 1880 that banned the use of Sign Language in education for Deaf children and promoted the exclusive use of speech and residual hearing called Oralism. ICED also apologized for the detrimental effects that Oralism has had on the Deaf population for 130 years.

The infamous resolutions from 1880 have been described by many scholars and historians as an attempt at linguistic and cultural genocide as as well as a systematic effort to institutionalize audism, the belief that to hear and speak is superior to being Deaf.

The Congress organizers in conjunction with the British Columbia Deaf Community released at the opening ceremony, their “A New Era: Deaf Participation and Collaboration” which:

• Rejected all ICED Milan 1880 Congress resolutions passed that denied the inclusion of Sign Language in educational programs for Deaf students
• acknowledged and sincerely regretted the detrimental effects of the ICED Milan Congress,
• and called upon all Nations to ensure that educational programs for the Deaf accept and respect all languages.


According to the ICED 2010 press release, “The audience, both Deaf and hearing, spontaneously responded with an outpouring of emotion and a standing ovation.”

Audism Free America (AFA) joins with the Deaf community world-wide in the celebration of this historic event and will remain vigilant of the rights of Deaf citizens. AFA is grassroots Deaf activist organization which advocates for Deaf American rights, cultural resurgence, and seeks primarily to challenge the ideological foundations of audism in America.


Additionally, in a letter to Audism Free America (AFA), Claire Anderson, ICED 2010 Chair wrote, “The impact and decision of the Milan (1880) Congress to ban Sign Language from schools for the Deaf has clearly had a marked affect on the education and indeed the lives of Deaf students. We can all agree that this decision was, quite simply, wrong. it polarized the field of Deaf Education, introduced a contra-productive dogma and limited free choices of individuals and organizations. More importantly from a human and social/emotional aspect, it has been devastating for many Deaf people, their families and the Deaf Community.”

The timing of the New Era document is particularly auspicious, as scholars and activists have noted the beginnings of another wave of Oralism severely impacting Deaf babies and children. Excessive marketing and mandating of assistive listening devices are often integral components of educational programs serving Deaf students today. The claims of reliability and effectiveness of devices such as cochlear implants are highly questionable. Cochlear implants and digital hearing technologies are often coupled with Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT), which effectively prohibits Sign Language. Governments at various levels have begun to utilize developments in genetic engineering and genetic study to implement the diagnosing, documenting, and tracking of Deaf infants genes and family genealogy in a push to deny Deaf people true equality of condition.

The New Era manifesto from ICED 2010 includes an Accord for the Future, which is signed by representatives of ICED, BC Deaf Community, Canadian Association of the Deaf (CAD) and World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), calls upon the Nations of the world to right past wrongs, guarantee all Deaf infants and children a right to natural and fully accessible language, and recognize the full human, cultural and linguistic rights of Deaf people. By actively partnering with Deaf people on this document, ICED reaffirmed its new commitment to ensuring equal involvement of Deaf people in their education and issues affecting future generations of Deaf people.

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If you would like more information about Audism Free America please contact AudismFreeAmerica@gmail.com

ICED's Reply to AFA re: Apology and Our Follow Up Response

AFA had requested that ICED formally apologize for the ICED 1880 Milan Congress resolutions proclaiming the pure oral method to be superior and the law of the land in Deaf education. ICED's response is below as is AFA's follow up reply.


July 6, 2010

To Claire Anderson and the 2010 ICED Planning Committee,



Thank you for your letter in acknowledging the concerns expressed by Audism Free America (AFA) regarding the lack of apology that appears to be forthcoming from ICED for the 1880 Milan Conference resolutions.



While we appreciate the uniqueness of the organizational structure of ICED, there is clearly a continuous history of the Congress as your website traces the lineage of the current Congress back to 1878. In addition, those of you who take on the organizing of the conference do so under the banner of ICED. The explanation of the ICED organizational structure dangerously veers toward an attempt to deny accountability.



Nevertheless, we hope that you can look positively at other cases in which governments/organizations/individuals have made public apologies. For example in 2008, the Australian Prime Minister formally apologized to the indigenous Aboriginal peoples. This acknowledgement of the pain and suffering was caused by laws and policies enacted centuries ago. This apology is a first step toward healing. There are countless other precedents of apologies made in recent years:


Jewish People:

In 1994 the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America apologized for the strong anti-Jewish statements made by Martin Luther and the lasting effects his words had on the church and future generations

In 1998 the Roman Catholic Church apologized for its inaction during the Nazi Holocaust.


Native People:


In 1998 the United Church of Canada issued an apology to former students of United Church Indian Residential Schools in regards to cultural assimilation and child abuse.


African-American People:


In 2008 the American Medical Association issued a formal apology for discriminating against black physicians, which did not end until the 1960s

In 2008 and 2009 the US House of Representatives and the US Senate apologized for slavery and Jim Crow injustices.



Deaf People:



None.





Your awareness of some of the devastating effects of the 1880 ICED Resolutions as “wrong” lends support for a formal apology. Scholars have noted that the concept of regret contains no right or wrong associated with the action. In addition, “regret” communicates that the consequences of the resolutions were unintended or something ICED had little control over.



We believe your intentions in working with the BC Deaf Community are good, but you should do the right thing. Be accountable. We are owed an apology.



Let Freedom Roll,



AFA

AFA's vlog and letter to ICED re: APOLOGY

Vlog explains AFA's position on the importance of an "apology"
letter to ICED:
Audism Free America (AFA) announces our grave discontent that the International Congress on the Education of the Deaf (ICED) refuses to apologize for the ICED resolutions of 1880 at their Milan Congress. This infamous resolution erroneously and unjustly declared "the incontestable superiority of speech" to be the rule of the day in Deaf education resulting in decades of abuse (physical, emotional, social, spiritual, educational, and linguistic) and the removal of Deaf people from the classrooms and boardrooms of Deaf schools across the globe,

In declaring our discontent with ICED's refusal to acknowledge and apologize for their role in the ICED Milan 1880 resolutions we heed ML King Jr's words of "We must have the spiritual audacity to assert our somebodyness."

The resolutions were unjust and have never formally been rescinded or apologized for by ICED. We understand that ICED has been in negotiations with the British Columbia ICED Apology Committee and have reached an agreement for a "new beginning" document which does not include an apology. While we were always puzzled as to why the concept of an apology should have ever been a negotiable matter, we were assured numerous times that an apology was in order and would be forth coming. The latest information we have is that no apology will be granted.

In the spirit of asserting our somebodyness, AFA asserts that the apology is owed to us and those who came before us and will come after us. Now is the time for standing - not for yielding.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu stated "I am not interested in picking up crumbs of compassion thrown from the table of someone who considers himself my master. I want the full menu of rights."

We are only requesting that which is right, just, and good - and long overdue - an apology for your ICED MIlan 1880 resolutions.

Let Freedom Roll,
AFA