We Want To Be Controlled
It’s time for another The Deaf Edge rant. Now, this isn’t meant to sting or insult people. This is merely my feelings based on what I am observing. I already posted a very similar version of this on Tayler’s DeafRead official blog, but since that thread is winding down, I thought I would re-post and elaborate more on my own blog.
I do not understand why people are still upset over DeafRead’s upcoming changes. Tayler and DeafRead are going to release a version of DeafRead where you can customize the list of v/blogs that you can read/view. In essence, they are empowering us to be more selective in what we want to read and/or view.
Yet we have people saying, “No. This solution isn’t any good. I want the CI v/blogs gone, period. I don’t like them, therefore it shouldn’t exist for anyone and I want DeafRead to do all of the work for me.”
It seems to me that people want to be controlled, instead of being empowered to make decisions for themselves. They want to be told which blogs are good or bad, and what’s Deaf-centric and what’s not and so on. Why else would they want DeafRead to do all of the censoring instead of doing it themselves?
But then, I can kind of understand that. It’s a lot easier to live your life, if someone else’s making the decisions for you. And sadly enough, historically the Deaf Community has had others making the decisions for us. Our parents made all of the decisions for us. Our doctors. Our educators. Everyone, except for ourselves.
And so the self-repression and lack of self-empowerment marches on…
Note – I used repression as defined by www.m-w.com: a mental process by which distressing thoughts, memories, or impulses that may give rise to anxiety are excluded from consciousness and left to operate in the unconscious
DODHH Advisory Council Meeting!
Quick note before I return to studying for finals – As we in Michigan know, the Division of Deafness and Hard of Hearing’s director position has been left vacant since Chris Hunter retired, and the Advisory Council has not met in over a year. There also has been a sharp decline in the quality of interpreters in the past two years.
There is something that the Deaf Community can do now – the Advisory Council will be finally having a meeting on May 2, 2008. It is imperative that we attend this meeting and tell the council members of our concerns!
I will be present at that meeting, and I will be discussing my concerns about the quality of interpreters. Below is the agenda of the DODHH Advisory Council meeting.
DODHH Advisory Council Meeting
Michigan Public Health Institute – Interactive Learning Center
2436 Woodlake Circle, Suite 380, Okemos, MI 48864
Contact: 1-877-499-6232 V/TTY/VP
Friday, May 2, 2008
TENTATIVE Agenda
9:00 Coffee and Rolls
9:30 Business Meeting Begins
- Communications Policy
- Welcome/ Roll Call – George Griffith, Chair
- Approval of Agenda
- Approval of Minutes
- Chairperson’s Report – George Griffith
- Director’s Report – Duncan Wyeth
- Advisory Council Members’ Terms of Office
- Budget and Staffing
- Public Acts 23 and 24
- Day at the State Capitol for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People: May 21, 2008
- Staff Reports (Twyla Niedfeldt, Joy Thomassen, and Janet Jurus)
- Report of the Rules and Regulations Chairpersons (Maureen Wallace and Diana McKittrick)
11:30 Public Comment
12:00 Lunch (Council members, interpreters and staff)
1:00 Meeting Resumes
New Business
- MCDC Update – Duncan Wyeth
- Council Member Reports
- Achieving Full Staffing for DODHH – All Persons Present
- Partnership Reports (5 minutes each)
1. HLA-MI – Carolyn Caughill
2. Deaf-Blind – Jill Gaus
3. Coalition for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People – Nan Asher
4. MRC – Kenya Lowe
5. MIRID – Helen Boucher
6. MRS – To Be Announced
7. Michigan Deaf Association – Diana McKittrick
8. EHDI – Michelle Garcia
Announcements
3:30 Adjournment
Interpreters, CART and assistive listening devices will be provided at the meeting. Please call Christy, toll-free, at 1-877-499-6232 V/TTY/VP if you need any other accommodations. If you bring any handouts to distribute at the meeting, make sure that they are available in alternative format (large print, braille, etc.)
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