Document, Document, Document
As the Deaf Community continues to struggle for equal communication access, we’ve embraced the power of the Internet and have used it to our advantage. This is a terrific thing, but to ensure we win battles in our struggle, we need to document incidents in formal written documents. Many of us, understandably, feel awkward with writing formal letters documenting what took place. For this reason, I am going to share the letter I just sent to the Duncan Wyeth, the director of Michigan Commission on Disability Concerns regarding the DODHH Advisory Council meeting on May 2, 2008.
One thing I need to mention before I put in my letter here – we have great news, which I did not discuss in my letter. Duncan Wyeth announced that the state will begin searching for a replacement to fill the executive director position at DODHH! So all of the hard work by the Deaf Community paid off! As soon it is official and a job posting is available, I will blog it. And if anyone’s interested right now, before it’s official, let me know and I will point you to the right person to talk and keep in contact with.
Regarding this letter I wrote, some people may be wondering why this is important to do. The reason why people need to write letters is because if a person has a problem and the person doesn’t put it in writing, the problem does not exist. Letters like this can be used as evidence in court and so on, whereas it is very difficult to get verbal communication admitted. So it is very important when someone has a problem and gets blown off, like I did at the Advisory Council meeting, to document it. And now, here’s the letter. I hope this will give people an idea how to proceed with situations like this.
******
Dear Mr. Wyeth:
I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with the response I received to my public comment regarding the Quality Assurance program at the Division of Deafness and Hard of Hearing’s [DODHH] Advisory Council meeting on May 2, 2008. As I stated at the meeting, I am Deaf and a student at Grand Valley State University, majoring in Public and Nonprofit Administration. This past winter semester, I was assigned an interpreter for the deaf who holds a QA II. However, I observed the interpreter making numerous errors that a QA II interpreter should not be making. As a member of the Deaf Community here in Michigan, I expect that interpreters rated at QA II will not commit semantic errors such as interpreting the phrase “roll call” so as to render it nonsensical, signing “role summon.” If an interpreter makes such basic errors like this, then she is obviously unable to faithfully interpret at any level. If this basic error had been interpreted to a Deaf persons whose English is weak, in all likelihood they would not have been able to understand what was truly being said.
This by itself would not greatly concern me. However, I have been noticing that this is not an isolated incident and in fact, I am seeing interpreters new to the field holding QA ratings that are not congruent with their skills. These multiple incidents have led me to question the integrity of the QA testing process. I am not alone in questioning the integrity of the QA system as evidenced by other Deaf individuals’ remarks at the meeting. The majority of those who made comments expressed identical concerns and requested an explanation to account for the changes we are recently seeing. One woman in particular, Sheila (last name unknown to me) stated that she was noticing inexperienced interpreters receiving QA IIIs, and experienced interpreters failing or receiving QA Is. She was visibly upset about this, and asked a very legitimate question, “Why is this happening? It should be the other way around.”
DODHH’s response was dismissive to all of us who expressed our concerns about this matter, and this has prompted me to write this letter. I am disturbed in particular by the state interpreter coordinator’s response to our very serious concerns. The only response made was that the QA testing process had not changed, but remains the same as it has always been. There was no acknowledgment that our concerns have any basis, nor were we given any assurances that our concerns would be investigated and appropriate corrections made. Perhaps most disturbing of all was the attitude from DODHH that indicated a clear lack of genuine interest in what to us, the people whom it is DODHH’s mission to serve, is a very serious matter. DODHH’s response is not sufficient, and does not account for the widespread dissatisfaction and concerns about the recent spate of inadequate interpreters now holding credentials unwarranted by their skill levels.
This only reinforces my suspicion that something has changed within the QA testing process, and gives me the impression that DODHH, for some unknown reason, does not want to investigate and correct. This greatly perplexes and disturbs me. Prior to Chris Hunter’s retirement, DODHH had an outstanding reputation of advocacy and ensuring that only properly skilled interpreters received Michigan Quality Assurance ratings. It is disheartening to see that this seems no longer to be the case.
I would like to see the DODHH investigate this matter and provide its constituents with the reason of the cause for this now unreliable credentialing process, with a firm commitment to correct it immediately.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. I look forward to a response soon.
Sincerely,
Jeannette K. Johnson
cc: Andrew Levin
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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The Michigan School of the Deaf Fiasco
There’s been some accusations/attacks over on Fookem and Bug’s blog towards me about the Ryan Commerson/MSD situation. I find it incredulous for people to accuse me and my mother of destroying deaf education in Michigan. Furthermore, I did not email parents/others telling them to not support him. I did nothing during the protests except write a few emails to The Tactile Mind Weekly. Then long after the protests ended, I had brief dust-ups on DeafDC. That is the extent of my involvement.
My mother on the other hand, as an advocate for deaf/hh children here in Michigan was extensively involved with this situation. With her permission, I’ve decided to post portions of my mother’s letter to the state superintendent about the MSD protests.
——-
March 16, 2006
Michael Flanagan
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Michigan Department of Education
608 W. Allegan Street
P.O. Box 30008
Lansing, MI 48909-7508
Dear Mr. Flanagan:
(snip)
I state my point bluntly: I am very distressed that in general, the Department has chosen to legitimize Ryan Commerson’s tactics, and in particular that it has chosen to commit our tax dollars to appeasing this one individual and his cohorts. I therefore wish to know how much of the public’s money will be spent placating these protesters, the leaders of whom are, by their own description, radicals.
This has been one of the most difficult things I have ever undertaken to write. I am torn between knowing how very important it is for parents and educators to listen to the Deaf Community with respect to the education of Deaf and Hard of Hearing [DHH] students, and my very strong conviction that Ryan Commerson and his co-agitators are less interested in the best interests of the students than they are in exploiting them, their parents and members of the Deaf Community, to further their own ends; that they are not always honest; that they are fueled by personal anger and perhaps hatred, rather than by love for DHH students; that they deliberately employ tactics that I consider to be unethical, some of which are purposefully designed to manipulate others.
I am further torn knowing that the Department is well past overdue in terms of listening to what the Deaf Community has to say about the education of DHH students. However, what the Department takes from anyone must be tempered by the knowledge, expertise and motivation of each individual. I remain torn knowing that many DHH persons are legitimately angry and that we should validate their anger, while also knowing that we cannot allow anger to guide policy and practice. While we must improve the educational outcomes for DHH students, we cannot overlook the needs and rights of each unique DHH student, and we cannot sacrifice the rights of the parents of current and future students in perceived compensation for past failures.
Above all else, I hope that the message I convey to you today, essentially a request to rethink the Department’s treatment of Ryan Commerson and his supporting agitators, which would hopefully result in a rejection of him and his cohorts, their methods and demands, will not be construed as a request to dismiss in general, the concerns of the Deaf Community. Toward this end, I make my case.
While Commerson is certainly the central figure in the “protest” of the alleged policies and practices at the Michigan School for the Deaf, he is certainly not the sole leading agent. Commerson has frequently contributed articles to The Tactile Mind Weekly (http://www.thetactilemind.com/), commonly referred to as TTMW, which is an e-zine that was intended to be a literary journal for Deaf writers.
Alison Aubrecht, Deaf and formerly an employee at MSD, is a featured writer, whose column appears in TTMW.
John Lee Clark, who is Deaf Blind, is the publisher of TTMW; his wife Adrean, who is Deaf, is the creative director of TTMW; Christopher Jon Heuer is the marketing director of TTMW.
Some, if not all of these people were undergraduate students together at Gallaudet University. All of these persons are quite literate. They have college degrees. None were educated using the BiBi approach. By her own report (http://www.michdhh.org/profiles/aubrecht_alison.html) Aubrecht uses signed English, rather than ASL.
It has been noted that when Heuer visited MSD at Commerson’s invitation, he communicated simultaneously using spoken English and signed English. Regardless of their own histories and habits, these protesters condemn simultaneous communication [Sim-Com] and the use of any variety of sign other than American Sign Language [ASL].
They began the attack against MSD in unison, following a pre-determined plan. I come to these conclusions based on the words of these people, themselves, as they appear in the TTMW, the “Starving for Access” blog (http://starvingforaccess.blog.com/) [SFA blog] and the MSD Students blog (http://michsd.blog.com).
Well before Commerson’s hunger strike, he was writing personal attacks against Ms. Winkler and Ms. Steenwyk in the TTMW. Some of the things he wrote are blatantly vicious and betray a personal agenda against them. Ms. Winkler is particularly targeted, with Commerson attacking her on a personal as well as a professional level, evincing a campaign to portray her as inept and an oppressor of DHH persons.
Commerson has accused Cecelia Winkler of flatly refusing to consider adopting a Bilingual-Bicultural [BiBi] philosophy of education at MSD, and of stating that Deaf persons are disabled. Commerson’s cohorts, many of the MSD students, and many of the readers of the SFA blog have accepted these accusations as gospel truth, simply because Commerson has said so. Of course, it is relatively easy to twist the truth and make false accusations when one knows one has nothing to lose. Having no money and no assets provides significant protection from civil suits. Even those who are slandered and libeled cannot wring blood from a turnip.
I know Commerson’s claims to be false, because I know Cecelia Winkler, having worked with her over the course of many years. So, approximately two years ago, when these attacks upon Ms. Winkler first surfaced in the TTMW, I directly asked her about Commerson’s accusations. She was naturally distressed by the false accusations and the personal attacks, and she unequivocally denied their veracity.
She informed me that what both she and Ms. Steenwyk conveyed to Commerson was that MSD would not adopt a BiBi philosophy as defined by Ryan Commerson. This is entirely different from a blanket refusal to consider a BiBi philosophy of education for MSD. Ms. Winkler expressed great regard for the BiBi philosophy, but not for many of the demands that Commerson characterized as part and parcel of a BiBi program.
She also was very mindful of the rights of parents and was particularly concerned about employing ASL as the sole through-the-air language with students who enter MSD with little, if any, mastery of American Sign Language [ASL], and in particular for those students who have disabilities in addition to Deafness, for whom use of any form of communication is a challenge. While MSD must and rightly serves all DHH students who need to be in a signing environment, Ms. Winkler is a wise and experienced enough educator to know that one approach cannot serve the needs of all students. There must be sufficient flexibility in MSD’s communication policy, to allow for meeting the diverse language needs of the MSD students. Commerson’s version of BiBi lacks that flexibility, and was properly rejected.
(snip)
Well before Commerson began his protest and hunger strike, MSD officials, led by Ms. Winkler, were already undertaking the task of revising MSD’s communication policy. This was commonly known, as reported by Freida Morrison, president of the MSD Alumni Association [MSDAA] in her letter that was re-printed on the SFA blog at http://starvingforaccess.blog.com/432085/#cmts. In part, she states:
The protest is unnecessary and inappropriate at this time. First of all, Starving for Access supporters never approached or attended general meetings to open up the discussion about ASL or BI/BI issues. We had general meeting recently, November 19, 2005, and shared new information regarding the plan to work on implementing BI/BI philosophy. Starving for Access supporters never made the effort to attend any meetings or contact us. We did not know about the protest beforehand and were surprised to hear about it on the morning of November 21, 2005.
MSDAA has been working with Strategic Plan Committee developing a proposal, specifically using BI/BI (ASL/English) methods. We just started dialogue with the State Board of Education (Beth Steenwyk and Jacque Thompson). The State finally agreed to hear about using BI/BI in MSD. This is a long process and will not happen in few days. Cece Winkler, the Principal of MSD, has been willing to open up and work with us.
(snip)
So why does Commerson and his cohorts persist in promoting these falsehoods? Such accusations are sure to inflame the Deaf Community and turn many against the MSD administration. I believe that at least some of the answers are to be found in the SFA blog. In this blog both Commerson and Heuer reference Saul Alinsky, and his book, Rules for Radicals. It is this book that sets forth the general plan that Commerson and his cohorts follow. While I, personally, refuse to spend money on that book, there are several references on the Web that suffice in providing a good idea of what Alinsky advocates, and what Commerson, et. al., are implementing.
(snip)
That Commerson and his cohorts would use Alinsky’s tactics in order to achieve some nebulous victory (the goals of the protest are ever-changing, as evidenced in the SFA blog) while dismaying, is not shocking. What is shocking is Commerson’s indoctrination of MSD students in Alinsky’s techniques. At http://starvingforaccess.blog.com/2005/12/, Commerson, himself reports in an interview with Aubrecht:
I want it on the record that I have never denied having contact with the students.
I have been in touch with several students over the past few months, students who have expressed they feel frustrated and oppressed at MSD. Many of those students were looking for ideas on how to effect change. I discussed Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals” with those students and encouraged them to think of non-violent, legal ways they could protest without breaking rules.
This is hardly the work that Commerson was hired at MSD to do. It is also inconsistent that if, as Commerson claims, language deprivation is rampant at MSD, the students would be able to express their feelings of oppression and frustration to Commerson, much less understand Alinsky’s teachings or Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” that Aubrecht posted in its entirety on the MSD student blog, for the edification of the students.
(snip)
Since writing to Dr. Hughes, I learned that in furtherance of his agenda, Commerson assisted MSD students in setting up a student blog, (http://michsd.blog.com/) that is open for contribution by anyone, and for all to read. Taurean Burt, one of the student who manages the blog, wrote, “Thank you RC and Kid for participent [sic] this, this is also reason why I am start to set up and let have our MSD student’s rights to set up their own opintion [sic] down here and get us some of idea how to improve MSD.” (http://michsd.blog.com/393643/#cmts ).
In the student blog, MSD students are encouraged to read the Starving for Access blog, “Check out: http://starvingforaccess.blog.com Written by: alison at 2005/11/21 – 13:37:22.”
Commerson, Aubrecht and Heuer also use the student blog to engender anger and rebellion as well as to turn the students against Ms. Winkler and other MSD staff. Given the writings of Commerson, Aubrecht and Heuer, perhaps it is also their goal to turn the students against hearing persons, in general, and hearing parents of DHH students, in particular. When the Department legitimizes Commerson’s efforts, it also legitimizes his indoctrination of minor MSD students. I am horrified.
(snip)
If one reads the SFA blog and TTMW, one finds Commerson, Aubrecht and Heuer filled with deep and abiding anger toward hearing persons. While some of the personal stories told by members of the Deaf Community are filled with anguish that is palpable, Commerson’s and his cohorts’ brim with anger that arguably spills into hatred. Remember that the MSD students have been encouraged to read the SFA blog. This blog is dominated by Heuer. Even knowing that minor students read the blog, Heuer has written there, “Have you thought about organizing? Seriously organizing with every intention of packing an ugly punch?”
(snip)
Commerson has published on the SFA blog all correspondence between himself and/or Aubrecht and John Austin, Jeremy Hughes and Cecelia Winkler. Anyone who cares to read it can witness Commerson’s demands, not just of Ms. Winkler and the community in general, but also to the Department. His arrogance, his insolence, his disrespect and his threats are exhibited for all to read. His insulting questioning of Dr. Jacquelyn Thompson’s judgement, abilities and suitability is counterpoint to his excoriation of Cecelia Winkler as a leader of the referent group.
All who read the blog are similarly witness to the Department’s acquiescence to this uncredentialed, petulant agitator, as it legitimizes and honors not only his demands, but also his tactics and methods. This is a strong lesson not only for MSD students, but for all students in Michigan’s public schools. It is of great interest to parents and advocates.
Will the Department so honor every person’s demands? Will the Department commit similar funds to all those who take their grievances to the street or who otherwise rebel against an LEA, ISD or the Department, in spectacular fashion? Will the Department accept responsibility for the health and welfare of every person who is disgruntled with any public education agency in Michigan, who takes potentially harmful action in order to force submission to his or her demands? Will it similarly appease groups of parents who take public and sensational action to secure, for example, ABA programs for their autistic children, or Orton-Gillingham programs for their learning disabled children? Will the Department be as accommodating to all others who insult and demand, as it has been to Ryan Commerson? Or will the Department discriminate against all others?
The SFA blog is a peek into the souls of the chief actors in the MSD protest: Commerson, Aubrecht and Heuer. One would have to read the entire blog in order to fully appreciate what MSD is really facing, and what the Department is legitimizing. I can only list just a few of the things that are revealed there:
- Commerson and his cohorts have purposefully introduced “Outside Agitators” into the protest. Posted by the “moderator,” OA [Outside Agitator] #3 explains:
Thus begins the group: Outside Agitators. The primary goal of this group is to teach different tactics for self-advocacy, group advocacy, and for challenging the system of Haves. The goal of this group is to offer ideas and feedback, ranging from the expected “move up the political ladder” to more radical tactics that may be employed should they be deemed necessary.
- The SFA blog, though dominated by Heuer, is rife with postings from anonymous persons, including those who use the pseudonyms OA#3, OA#14, OA#6, among others. These anonymous messages include those from the Outside Agitators, who pursue their stated purpose, employing the tactics prescribed in Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals. Heuer tries to justify the anonymity, claiming that it protects them from retaliation. Their anonymity protects them, too from being held accountable for their words, and from being sued for libel.
- The SFA blog in general, and the messages of Heuer, in particular, are filled with misinformation not only about the staff and administration of MSD, but also about the achievement levels of Deaf students who have Deaf parents, the MEAP, and the provisions of NCLBA, among other things. Neither Commerson nor his Agitators have the honesty to correct the references by others to Commerson being a teacher. Commerson, in fact, taught at MSD on a substitute’s certificate. He is not a certified teacher endorsed to teach HI students; he does not have an education degree; he does have a BFA degree in film making.
- Initially, Commerson and his cohorts attempted to assure parents that they respect their rights, and that it is not their intention to tell hearing parents how to raise their children or to dictate what kind of communication mode to use. The authors of Letter to parents, http://starvingforaccess.blog.com/2005/11/, are apparently ignorant of how condescending their letter is. The placating tenor of the letter, however, soon gives way to deep-rooted resentment and disrespect, if not outright hatred, toward hearing parents of DHH students. Unwittingly, their words will drive parents of young DHH children to oralism, rather than to American Sign Language.
- Heuer preaches that unless changes are made now, the window of opportunity for learning to read will close before the students can achieve literacy. Heuer consistently claims that the “neural pathways” shut down at about age 12, or perhaps sooner. He makes claims about learning to read that the literature actually documents relative to language acquisition, based on neuro-biological studies of neuronal plasticity. Heuer uses his inaccurate claims to engender fear in parents, and inspire them to act quickly as he instructs. He predicts dire consequences if parents do not follow his instructions, not only because it will soon be to late for their children to learn to read, but also predicting, “Your school is going to be a dumping ground for 13 year old illiterates every other school can’t handle AFTER they’ve sucked him dry for all the propoganda [sic] energy he has to offer their programs.”
- Disclosing his ignorance of placement procedures and truancy laws, Heuer instructs the bloggers, particularly parents of MSD students, that the way to break the union’s refusal to terminate poor quality teaching staff is for the parents to withdraw their children from MSD en masse. He writes:
…the one thing that would send these institutions into a state of widespread panic, the one thing that would open them up 100% to new ideas and make them a thousand times more willing to pursue new options…is if we all withdrew our children from that institution AT THE SAME TIME.
A few more issues bear in-depth consideration. A great deal is discussed about the poor record of academic achievement record of DHH students. Many writers to the blog point out that these are national statistics and no one seems to have any data that is specific to MSD students. Even Heuer admits that the issues of teachers who have poor sign skills and the dismal literacy level of the average deaf student are national problems, not unique to MSD or even to Michigan.
Yet, Heuer expresses outrage at the suggestion that the referent group promised to Commerson by Jeremy Hughes, focus on the education of all DHH students in Michigan, rather than exclusively on MSD. Given the acknowledgment that the education of DHH students is a national issue, and Heuer’s claim that it is a crisis situation, why would anyone oppose making the focus of the referent group education for all Michigan DHH students?
(snip)
In sum, Commerson and his agitators would not be able to control such a referent group. That such control is sought was voiced by Heuer, when he wrote to the SFA blog:
I would think that Dr. Hughes or any MSD administrator would infinitely prefer to talk to a rep for all of you than all of you together. It will help facilitate things, especially if you start moving outside of the area of just Bi-Bi-related concerns. Some of you seem to have listed other concerns as well, and you don’t sound like you’re just going to discuss these things in your meetings and not eventually approach MSD admin on them. So when you eventually do make that approach, a rep could be helpful. . . Plus this would put us all a step ahead of whatever Referent Group that gets formed. [Emphasis added.]
There is no escaping the fact that education for DHH students in this country is dismal. Michigan must improve its efforts in the delivery of education to all DHH students in this state, not just to those attending MSD. MSD, as an institution whose constituency is the entire State, has unique problems and characteristics.
Nonetheless, I believe that it is wrong and wholly unwise to establish a referent group to scrutinize MSD, alone. I am utterly aghast that the Department has kowtowed to Ryan Commerson and his demands and threats. I am horrified that much of our scarce public money will be dedicated to appeasing the Agitators. I want to know exactly how much money that will be.
I do not want the children of Michigan to learn the lessons that Commerson and his ilk wish to teach them. I do not believe that anyone other than Ryan Commerson, himself, bears any responsibility for what Commerson may do to his health if his demands are not met.
(snip)
The Department should never reward methods and tactics such as those Commerson and his cohorts employ. If Ryan Commerson chooses to resume his hunger strike, that is his personal choice, made as an autonomous adult; he, and he alone, must accept the consequences of his behavior. He should not be allowed to hold the taxpayers of Michigan hostage to his demands and threats.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Celeste D. Johnson, M.A.
Table of Contents
“Mom’s Gone Fighting The Deaf Wars” – Epilogue
Please read the final chapter before reading this.
I went to Gallaudet and RIT, but due to various reasons, mainly because of physical health reasons, I had to drop out. I studied psychology extensively, searching for answers that would bring me true closure. While I gained a deeper and clearer insight in the psyche, I was never able to get complete answers to why Ms. Marr and the other staff behaved the way they did.
I also read a ton of self-help books, searching for answers about myself. I was told constantly that most interpreters didn’t want to work with me, because I was horrible to them, and all kinds of crap. I didn’t have a good self-concept, but I knew that I wasn’t a horrible person. So I read nearly any psychology books I could get my hands on. And I wrote. Writing was the balm for my wounds.
When I began my second year at a community college after Gallaudet and RIT, I had a meeting with my advisor. As she searched through a desk for paper, she suddenly stopped and looked up at me. Through the interpreter, she said to me, “You know JJ, you’re not like the other deaf students here at CC. I have had not one complaint about you from the interpreters.”
My interpreter, who was also my friend, interjected (with my permission), “Yeah! I was just telling JJ that! I was telling her that all of the interpreters practically fight to interpret for her!”
I smiled then after a pause, I said, “Tell that to Northview for me, will you?”
Anne, my advisor fell silent for a moment then said, “Yeah. I heard about your situation with Northview. I never understood that.”
The interpreter said, “Well I dunno. Maybe it was because you, JJ were a smart aleck. I mean, in Ethics class she’s always jumping in and tearing apart other students’ arguments. It’s sooooo fun to interpret for! Voicing for her a mile per minute! So maybe the high school staff felt they had to ‘calm down’ you?”
I shook my head with a smirk. My interpreter knew bits and pieces of the story, but she really did not have any clue of what happened. Still smirking, I looked up and said, “That’s right. I’m horrible! I’m a smart ass! After all, I’m the Deaf Community Hitman! Yeaaaaaah!”
They burst out in body-convulsing laughter. With a smile, I retrieved the paper and walked away with the interpreter in tow.
Several feet away, the interpreter paused, then looked over her shoulder. She looked at me with a slight smile, “I can still hear Anne laughing.”
I smiled back at her and thought to myself, “Good… Leave them smiling at the very least.” As I looked away, I suddenly realized that I hadn’t had the nightmares about math since I began at the community college. My smile grew wider then I said, “Come on. We’re gonna be late for class.”
I graduated from the community college with a general A.A. degree and now am attending an university to complete my Bachelor of Science in Public and Nonprofit Administration. The nightmares never returned.
Deb Mills, to the best of my knowledge, remains teaching preschool at Northview. I saw her a few times over the years, and she never was able to look directly at me.
Sherri Ermatinger remains at Northview, interpreting. She now holds a QA rating. Mom ran into her once and Sherri told her, “I just wanted to say that you were right. I was not qualified to interpret for your daughter back then. But now I realize that I was not. Anita had told us that you hated all of us interpreters and all kinds of things, and I believed her. I’m sorry about what happened.”
Joan Esch left Northview several years later after my graduation to raise her children. She, like Deb, was never able to look at me in the face.
Ms. Kalsbeek still teaches at Northview, and I see her once in a while – always a pleasant encounter.
Ms. Marr went back to Maine to be with her family and is still interpreting to this day. Through a mutual friend, she asked for permission to email me. I declined and haven’t heard from her again.
Duane Kiley packed up his office on the last day of the school year and left. He told Mom when she wrote that last letter of complaint, that she was right and that he could not sleep at night. I hope he can sleep at night now.
Anita Siciliano retired from Northview several years ago, and has never been seen in the Deaf Community since.
John LaSotta, the superintendent who lost his job over the hearing and appeal, committed suicide during my senior year in high school. There was a suicide note, but it was never disclosed to the public.
Doreen Mangrum was demoted and works in another school district. Like the other two, she was never able to look directly at me. Years later, Mom would receive an envelope from her. She and Mom had an argument once about Mom giving her my social security number, and Mom refused.
In that envelope from Doreen, was a cut out newspaper article about a scandal that hit the public schools somewhere in Michigan. A school employee was caught stealing other employee and students’ social security numbers. Along with that cut out article was a post-it note, which simply read: You were right. – Doreen
Northview now has a deaf supervisor running the Total Communications program. The majority of teachers now sign far better, and all of the interpreters, to the best of my knowledge, have a QA rating.
As for Mom, she’s still fighting the Deaf Wars.
After the settlement, Kary hired Mom to work for him. He told her that she had wrote the best complaints he ever saw in his legal career. When she doesn’t work for Kary, she still advocates on behalf of deaf and hard of hearing children, and refuses payment from the parents.
Mom’s now a member of the Division of Deafness and Hard of Hearing Advisory Council, and has successfully advocated for over a hundred deaf/hoh children, including transferring over forty students to Michigan School of the Deaf.
She also won the Advocate of the Year award in Dearborn a few years ago, and she wrote a paper for Gallaudet about IDEA, which can be found on the American Society for Deaf Children’s website.
She was also instrumental in the formulation of the interpreter bill which I blogged about a while ago, and she is part of the core referent group to revise and reform the special education rules regarding deaf and hard of hearing children.
As the years go by, Mom’s caseload grows lighter and lighter, but I don’t anticipate her stopping her advocacy completely anytime soon. When she’s not advocating, she keeps busy by teaching American Sign Language at the local colleges, and being just a mom to me and my siblings because after all, like she said to me once during an argument, “I don’t care if you’re an adult now. You’re still my baby, and I will always be your mother!“
The End
“Mom’s Gone Fighting The Deaf Wars” – Chpt. 26
This is a blog serial – so please read the preceding chapter if you haven’t done so yet. To see the list of characters, please refer to the Preface post.
The settlement agreement was finalized in April 1995. I was standing in this very room where I’m writing this blog, when Mom came up to me and said, “It’s over. We got the settlement, and got what we wanted.”
The only response I had was a nod of my head. I could scarcely believe it was over. This had gone on from the end of sixth grade to near the end of tenth grade, which was an eternity for me.
In the settlement agreement, Mom had numerous things agreed upon. One was the procedure of how to complain when we had issues. There was the financial component, which is confidential. And the major part of the agreement was that Northview had to hire Dennis Cokeley, an internationally renown expert on ASL and interpreting, to evaluate all of the interpreters at Northview, to determine which ones could interpret for me.
Cokeley was a research assistant under William Stokoe at Gallaudet, a co-founder of Sign Media, Inc, and a former RID president. This was a huge deal – Cokeley was truly an expert and extremely well known in the interpreting field. Mom had told her interpreter friends that Dennis Cokeley was coming to town, and that he would be having dinner with us that evening after evaluating all of the Northview interpreters.
One of her friends didn’t believe Mom, because who the heck that famous would show up to a mere peon’s house? So Mom invited the friend to stop by briefly and see for herself.
Cokeley and I were sitting around the dining table, waiting for Mom to finish cooking, when the doorbell rang. Mom said, “Oh, Dennis, would you please get the door?”
So Cokeley stood up and went to answer the door. He came back a moment later, looking confused. “That was odd. There was a lady at the door and when she saw me, she looked shocked and fled. What was that all about?”
Looking back, I’m impressed that Mom got Dennis Cokeley to do this. As a teenager, I had no idea who he was – just that he was supposed to be famous. But as a child, I had met famous people before, and none really impressed me because they were normal people. Nothing remarkable about them stood out to me. The only exception to that was Betty Colonomos but that wasn’t because of her fame. It was because she signed so gracefully, and I was so entranced watching her sign. I could watch her sign forever – I had never seen someone sign that beautifully before, and I knew that she genuinely cared about people.
Anyway, when Cokeley had finished his evaluation, nobody was really happy with his decision. He determined that the only interpreter that who could truly meet my needs was Ms. Marr. Both Northview and I objected – we didn’t want to be stuck with each other all day. So Cokeley relented and agreed to another interpreter who had just been hired that year, for a limited number of my classes. I now had two interpreters for all of my classes, and a majority of them was going to be interpreted by Ms. Marr.
The constant humiliation and harassment from Ms. Marr continued. It wasn’t until the following year in eleventh grade that Mom finally put a stop to the harassment for once and all.
It was near Christmas, and we had an annual Total Communication program potluck and performance by the students. A bunch of the staff and students were in the self-contained classroom, and we all were just chatting. Ms. Kalsbeek, who now was a teacher there at the high school asked me, “Jeannette, what do you think of having the ASL students participate in the performance?”
Ms. Marr lost it and she screamed at us, “Jeannette is only a student! How dare you give her that power or ask her for her opinion?! You are the teacher and you are in control, not her!“
Her face was contorted in rage. She was genuinely livid that a teacher had the nerve to ask me for my opinion. We all just stood there, stunned. I think that’s when Ms. Kalsbeek and most of the staff there finally admitted to themselves that my complaints about Ms. Marr was legitimate.
When I went home, I was furious. I was fed up with the constant outbursts by Ms. Marr. It was like she lived to crush me into a little obedient girl. I sat there and cried tears of rage, and I didn’t bother to quieten my sobs, like I used to. It was supposed to be over, and it wasn’t.
When Mom found out what had happened, she first called Kiley and they discussed what happened. Mom demanded that Kiley make Ms. Marr apologize and he said that after Ms. Marr’s apology in ninth grade, she swore she would never do another apology.
So Mom wrote a letter to Kiley. A very, very long letter confirming the conversation she had with Kiley and what had transpired that day in class with me and Ms. Marr. She wrote, “If a student had behaved like Ms. Marr had, that student would have been suspended for insubordination. Why is it that we hold students to a higher level of standards than we hold for adults? They are children, and they are learning how to behave appropriately. Ms. Marr is supposed to be an adult and she has zero excuse for her conduct.“
Then the next page was turned sideways, with the biggest font that could fit on that paper, and it read, “NEVER AGAIN!“
Mom said that if she heard me complaining about Ms. Marr ever again, she would ensure that Ms. Marr’s RID certification was removed permanently.
Ms. Marr apologized and that’s when the harassment and constant humiliation finally ended.
My senior year was the best year in high school. Ms. Marr behaved herself, and I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. No complaints were filed that year.
During graduation, when I walked across the stage to receive my high school diploma, the person who shook my hand wasn’t the principal for most of the other students. It instead was Dr. Oldt, the superintendent, who shook my hand. I couldn’t help but think as Dr. Oldt shook my hand on the stage, “Damn. They must be really happy to see me go.”
As my friends and I posed for pictures, the other interpreter I had, approached Mom. She and Ms. Kalsbeek had been invited to my open house party, since they were the only two that complaints weren’t filed against and whom I liked as well.
The intepreter said to Mom, “Celeste, I realize Jeannette and Ms. Marr did not always get along. But can’t Ms. Marr be invited to the open house like Ms. Kalsbeek and I were? Ms. Marr loves your daughter and she wants to be part of this celebration.”
Mom gave her a stony gaze and said, “No. Ms. Marr is not going to be part of this celebration. Ms. Marr makes my daughter sad, and I cannot have that at the celebration. Jeannette needs to celebrate and be fully happy. I cannot do that to my daughter. I cannot have her celebrating, then see a person there, who tortured her. No… Ms. Marr is not invited.“
The interpreter gaped at Mom in disbelief. She couldn’t believe that Mom said that with Ms. Marr within earshot distance. Mom told me later that as we walked away, Ms. Marr just stood there, looking stricken.
I never saw her again.
“Mom’s Gone Fighting The Deaf Wars” – Chpt. 25
This is a blog serial – so please read the preceding chapter if you haven’t done so yet. To see the list of characters, please refer to the Preface post.
Ms. Marr never went that far again in the mainstream classes again, after being forced to apologize. Nevertheless, she took extreme pleasure at seeing me yelled at by the teacher or being in a frustrating situation.
She would also regale me with stories of her childhood. Long, boring stories about how dependent her deaf parents were on her, and how about she had to take care of her deaf and mentally retarded sister. Ms. Marr would also preach to me how wonderful religion was and took it upon herself to try to instill morals in me. I swore to myself that if I ever had hearing children, I would not be dependent on them like Ms. Marr’s parents were. I didn’t want my children to turn out like her.
I would also become extremely attuned to people’s body language. By observing Ms. Marr’s body language, and others as well, I would know whether today would be a good day or not. As an indirect result of that, I also became a very good actor because I would steel myself for what I knew would be a bad day coming, and I would act like it didn’t affect me. The next day, after something horrible happened, I would carry on perfectly normal conversations with her and with whoever else harassed me. Needless to say, it wasn’t good for my psyche. I clearly remember that year, at least once a week, I would cry myself to sleep over what happened to me that day.
Most of the time, I did report to Mom about what happened – Ms. Marr and the others didn’t terrify me like Joan did. I can’t pinpoint exactly why, but I think it’s because Joan was far more cold than anyone else, and even as a teenager I could see that Ms. Marr was just a pathetic creature. But anyway, there were a lot of complaints filed that year.
It also was during that year that LaSotta, the Northview superintendent, found out that his contract would not be renewed. It was never really acknowledged, but we all knew it was because of our lawsuit and appeal.
Near the end of ninth grade, we held another meeting. We were still stuck with the stay-put, but we needed to meet anyway, to discuss my progress and so on. It was during that meeting that Doreen told Mom that it was obvious that I had a learning disability in mathematics. Mom denied it and thought Doreen was full of it. She told Doreen, ‘Fine. Let’s find out. I’m going to take Jeannette to be evaluated by Dr. Greg Long and prove you wrong!’
So that summer, Mom drove me all the way down to Northern Illinois University, where Dr. Long was at. I was nervous, because I knew that I was definitely struggling with math, and that was unusual. Everything else wasn’t that difficult for me, so I suspected that Doreen could be right. It would explain why I was struggling so hard.
Dr. Long gave me a battery of psychological tests, and I’ll never forget this part. We were in a room with an one-way mirror, so grad students could watch Dr. Long administer the test to me. Up to this point, I had basically aced all of the tests. But when Dr. Long pulled out the puzzles, I knew I was in trouble. I was never good at puzzles, and I wanted to pass the tests, but I knew I couldn’t pass this one.
The puzzle pieces were spread out on the table, and this was just an example one – I should have been able to easily put together that puzzle. And I couldn’t. Dr. Long raised his eyebrows and put it together for me, and it was an apple.
A child’s puzzle, and I couldn’t put it together. I did have a learning disability in math.
When summer ended, Northview had a new superintendent, Dr. Pat Oldt. We also were finished with the state appeal and appealing to the federal courts. It was also arranged that I would have tutoring pretty much everyday after school in math. And of course, Ms. Marr was interpreting the tutoring sessions.
The tutoring sessions for the most part, were okay. It was one on one with the mainstream math teacher, so Ms. Marr couldn’t really get out of hand. But one day, Ms. Marr didn’t show up to the session, and both the teacher and I were puzzled. It was always understood that I would come by for tutoring, and I would inform them only if I didn’t want it that afternoon.
So I went home and told Mom about the no-show. She called Kiley and asked what was going on. Kiley told her he would call back after talking with Ms. Marr about it. A few hours later, Kiley called back and of course, laid all of the blame at my feet. He claimed that I didn’t tell Ms. Marr about the tutoring session, therefore she didn’t show. But unknown to Kiley, my brother who attended high school with me, had told Mom that Sherri E. collapsed that day, with chest pains.
So Mom put two and two together, and she told Kiley, “I don’t think so. I think this is what really happened. It’s understood by everyone that Jeannette will be there, unless she says she won’t be. I think that Ms. Marr was so worried about her co-worker, that she forgot all about the tutoring session.”
A long silence ensued. Then he softly said, “Yeah. You’re right. You’re not going to file a complaint about this, are you?”
Mom didn’t file a complaint over this one. There were already so many complaints that it was practically a bloodbath. But I was tired of getting the blame when something went wrong. Why was it always my fault?
When the appeal reached the federal courts, the magistrate was shocked. Mom told me that he wrote roughly along those lines, “I do not understand why this is here. This case should not be here. I see a long list of valid, legitimate concerns on the parents’ side, but all I see from the schools is a litany of personal, vicious criticisms leveled at the mother.
I see no substantial defense on the schools’ part, and I am looking at the schools with an extremely jaundiced eye. I am ordering the two parties to attempt to settle, or otherwise I am very inclined to rule in the parents’ favor.”
So in the winter in my tenth grade year, Mary Polonawski with two other regional directors sat down with Mom and attempted to write out a settlement agreement.
Mom would recount to me years later that they were sitting in a meeting room, and Mom had a box of complaints behind her. She at this point, was exhausted and enraged over what happened to me and her. At one point during the meeting one of the directors was dismissive of what Mom was saying. So she pulled up the box and pulled out a complaint and slapped it down on the table. “This complaint is about Deb Mills’ forgery. What do you think that is worth to a jury?”
Another complaint was slapped down on the table. “This complaint is about Ms. Marr’s pervasive harassment of my daughter. What do you think this is worth to a jury?”
Yet another complaint, complaint and complaint were slapped down on the table. “This complaint.. this complaint.. this complaint.. What do you think this is worth to a jury? What do you think this is worth to a jury? What do you think this is worth to a jury? I have a basement full of those boxes!”
They stared at her in stunned silence, then one of them said, “You’re going to bankrupt us! What do you think is going to happen? People are going to be upset with you for bankrupting us! Northview won’t be able to provide services to the students anymore if we go to a jury!”
Mom leaned over the table and snarled, “Me bankrupt you?! I did not do those things and nor did my daughter. Your school personnel did those things! And by God, someone is going to pay for this. There are going to be consequences for what you did. You were the ones who committed those crimes! CRIMES!“
I can only imagine that Mom’s raw words echoed through that room.
After a long silence, with tears on her face, Mary then said, “Okay…”
Mom stared at her, waiting.
After taking a deep breath, Mary then said, “What do you want in the agreement?”
Mom sat back in her chair with a small sigh. The long ordeal was finally about to end…
“Mom’s Gone Fighting The Deaf Wars” – Chpt. 24
This is a blog serial – so please read the preceding chapter if you haven’t done so yet. To see the list of characters, please refer to the Preface post.
Ms. LaPointe’s reasoning for deciding against us was basically because nobody agreed on what ASL was. She gave equal weight to all of the testimony. Mom was furious over this ruling, and when we would talk about what happened over the years, she would remark , “Of course nobody agreed on what ASL was. Betty Colonomos was the only expert on ASL! Do you think a person who has a high school diploma would agree with someone who has a Ph.D. in English, on what English is?”
We appealed to the State, and Mom had warned me that we all expected to lose the appeal to the State. And sure enough, we lost that appeal. We were now going to take it all the way to the federal level.
Mom would recount to me years later that when Flaggert called Kary about losing the state appeal, the conversation roughly went like this.
The first thing Flaggert said was, “So. You ready to give up now?”
Kary replied, “No. We’re not giving up, James.”
“What? You’re not giving up?” asked a shocked Flaggert.
Kary replied, “We’re going to appeal to the federal courts now.”
“What? Are you serious? Federal court?”
“Do I sound like I’m joking?”
Kary was left with the dial tone buzzing in his ear.
Nobody thought a parent had the money, resources and energy to do this. Most parents just folded after the local hearing, if it even got that far. But Mom and Dad were fully committed to taking this as far as they could.
But I ought to go back and describe some of what happened during the appeal to the state, since that took a while to complete.
I was now in the ninth grade, and after the forgery incident with Deb Mills, I returned to school and was surprised to discover that we had a new TC supervisor, Duane Kiley. He was a school psychologist before he took the supervisor position, and he didn’t know any sign.
As for Deb Mills, apparently she was demoted to preschool teacher. If this had happened outside of the school system, Deb would’ve been hauled in front of a judge and probably at the very least, gotten probation and a hefty fine. But as I already knew at that point, there are different standards when it comes to employees of public schools. So I guess in a sense, Deb was punished, by the standards of the school system.
I wasn’t looking forward to going back to school, even though entering high school was a milestone for me. I had lost most of my hearing friends the previous year. I had a best friend who signed extremely well, but when her mother decided to run for the school board, our friendship ended. And since she was popular, our friends followed my now ex-best friend’s lead.
And it didn’t help that Mom got a phone call from Northview about interpreters which she shared with me. Apparently, because of the stay-put IEP, Ms. Marr was now assigned to me, but she had told Northview that she did not want to interpret for me. Mom’s response was that I didn’t want to work with Ms. Marr either.
So, when I returned to school, it was obvious that everyone was furious that Mom had the nerve to appeal, especially Ms. Marr. I guess being on the stand was a traumatic experience for her or something. But I’ve spent years studying psychology trying to understand people like her and the other school staff, and I don’t think I will ever truly understand them.
But anyway, there was one class in particular, English class, where Ms. Marr would take the opportunity to confront me. The teacher never had any control over the class, so kids were yelling at each other, playing around, and even playing the guitar loudly. The teacher sucked, needless to say. None of us had respect for the teacher.
One day, I had submitted a book report for that class. It was a report on one of John Grisham’s books, and I remember lying to Mom about when it was due, because I didn’t want her to look it over for grammar errors. I wanted to do it all by myself.
We got the reports back, and I got an A on it. So I’m sitting there, pleased with myself. I knew I could write something on my own, without anyone’s help, that was worthy of an A!
Ms. Marr saw me looking down and smiling at my report. So she grabbed it out of my hands, walked to the side of the classroom and announced in voice but made pains to mouth it clearly (she knew I could lipread), “Jeannette did not write this report! Her mother did it for her!”
The class just fell silent in shock. Even the teacher was shocked. I just stared at her, and Ms. Marr returned it. It felt like the staring down lasted forever, but it really was only for a minute. Ms. Marr was watching me for a reaction, and I didn’t give her any, except for a shocked and an attempt at a blank stare, which only enraged her further. She stalked back to me, handed me back the report and sat down. She was obviously fuming.
A few minutes later, a classmate who happened to be one of my few friends left, passed me a note which read, “Are you okay?! I can’t believe that happened!”
The only thing I could do was nod then shakily write back, “Yeah. I’m fine.” I wasn’t about to throw a tantrum or cry in front of Ms. Marr. I had immediately clamped down on my feelings, and making sure I was not going to show any kind of reaction other than shock. I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of seeing me “act out”. Don’t ask me how, but I just instinctively knew she wanted me to do something so I could get sent to the principal, and I wasn’t going to give her that satisfaction. It’s not like the principal would believe that an interpreter stood up and said that in front of the entire class, and all of the staff covered for each other. I would have zero corroboration for my story. So I just sat there and stayed silent.
English was the last class of the day, so when the bell rang/flashed, I immediately bolted for home. I lived only a few blocks away, so I didn’t have to ride the short bus home, fortunately. I think that was one of the few times that I actually ran most of the way home. When I got home, I slammed the door as hard as I could and threw my backpack to the floor. Mom was in the kitchen and she was like, “Whoa, Jeannette! What’s the matter? What happened?”
So I told her what happened. Mom said, “Ah. So that’s where my Grisham book went.”
I stared at her in disbelief, then that’s when I started to throw a tantrum. Mom said, “Calm down. I was kidding!”
I could only huff at her then stormed off to my bedroom and slammed the door. Slamming the door would become a common theme for me during high school. As I threw a tantrum in my room, Mom got in her car and drove over to the special education offices where Kiley was at.
She marched up to Kiley and told him what happened and demanded that Ms. Marr apologize the next day in class. Kiley told Mom that he couldn’t make Ms. Marr apologize. Mom looked straight into Kiley’s eyes and said, “If Ms. Marr does not apologize, I am going to march in that classroom and tell the entire class that Ms. Marr is jealous of my daughter, because Jeannette is more intelligent than that damned woman!”
Kiley said, “You can’t do that! I’m going to call the police if you do!”
Mom said, “Fine with me. Go right ahead, Duane and do that. You cannot stop me, because I am going in there and you don’t know when. It may be two days from now, two weeks from now, or two months later. You cannot stop me, and that is what is going to happen if Ms. Marr does not apologize to my daughter in class tomorrow!“
Kiley could only stand there, stunned.
The next day, I went to school, unwillingly. All day, I would watch the clock tick by. I couldn’t concentrate in my other classes because I was dreading English class. What else would happen in that class?
But when I walked in English, Ms. Marr was looking quite ashen. That was a marked difference – I had never seen her like that. When class began, she stood up and stuttered, “I — I apologize for what happened yesterday. I — I don’t know what came over me yesterday.”
I was amazed! This was a complete turnaround! So when school ended, I scurried back home. I burst into the house and found Mom. I said to her excitedly, “Guess what?! Ms. Marr apologized! She said she didn’t know what came over her. Wow… what made her apologize like that? I didn’t think Ms. Marr would ever apologize for something like that!”
Mom just smiled at me.
“Mom’s Gone Fighting The Deaf Wars” – Chpt. 23
This is a blog serial – so please read the preceding chapter if you haven’t done so yet. To see the list of characters, please refer to the Preface post.
Northview called numerous witnesses to the stand but none of them were experts on ASL linguistics. Some of their own witnesses ended up helping our case by stating that teachers and interpreters were in fact, language role models for the students, giving credence to Mom’s statement on that. One person who worked at another school would also testify that she would never leave a student in an academic tracked class without an interpreter.
Most of what was said, was already said during the hostile examinations by Kary. So I don’t see a need to rehash that.
Northview rested their case relatively quickly, then Kary had me and Mom take the stand again in a rebuttal.
When Mom was called up for her rebuttal testimony, she wreaked some havoc on Northview’s case, which was no surprise. Ms. Marr had testified that she had babysat for me when I was a small child, and Mom refuted that – Ms. Marr never babysat for me. So Ms. Marr did not come out looking very good at that hearing.
It was also revealed during her testimony that during her observation of me, she had seen a sign in the self-contained classroom, that all students had to use voice with their signing. So of course, I would use PSE with the teachers because I had to use my voice, and then because I was so used to having voice with sign, I also would use it with the interpreters outside of the self-contained classrooms. It was a blow to Northview, needless to say.
When I took the stand in my rebuttal testimony, during the process of my testimony, it was discovered that my grade that year in math class with Joan Esch, was a B minus in November, but had suddenly dropped to a C minus in January. This was confounding to Kary and Mom, because Mom was receiving progress reports every week, and there was nothing on the progress report showing why my grade in math had dropped so precipitously.
There wasn’t much Kary and Mom could do during the hearing to discover why this had happened. And so, since we were done anyway, we rested our case. Ms. LaPointe had to give a decision within 30 days after the transcripts were given to both sides.
When we went home, Mom questioned me on the math grade situation, and asked me if I had taken any major tests or quizzes other than the final exam at the end of the semester, and I said no. Mom decided to investigate and asked for a copy of Joan’s grade records on me. She and Dad sat down and calculated it, and it just didn’t work.
Joan then would claim that she forgot something that was worth something like 60 points. So that would explain the decrease in the grade. Mom filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights, alleging my math grade was changed in retaliation over the hearing.
We lost that complaint with OCR.
After that complaint, things got even worse with Joan. Before the complaint, Joan was pretty bad, but it was on the same level as the interpreters. Everytime I was greeted by them, it never quite came off as sincere. And they were quick to take the opportunity to criticize me.
But after that complaint, things with Joan was like riding an airplane straight down to the ground. Joan would scream at me, and give me assignments that were supposed to be extra credit, then turn around and say they weren’t extra credit.
Everyday, I would be told that my handwriting was sloppy. My locker was a mess. My signing was sloppy. My homework was terrible. I wasn’t being respectful to the staff. I needed to be quiet and obey the staff. I wasn’t a team player. On and on, ad infinitum.
Joan also would treat me with particular viciousness on the day after Northview would find out that another complaint had been filed by Mom over interpreters. Mom filed a lot of complaints about interpreters, even during the hearing.
I clearly remember thinking to myself during that time, “Screw this. Why do I have to work on this, if the teacher’s gonna change my grade to something that she wants, and she’s going to go off at me over everything?”
I never really told Mom the extent of what Joan did to me until well past me graduating from high school, because I was truly terrified of Joan, and I was afraid of what she would do if I complained about her. It was bad enough when Mom filed the OCR complaint against her over the math grade change.
It was also during that time that I started to have nightmares that I would be held back in school due to math. When I graduated from high school, the nightmares would change to me being notified that I didn’t actually graduate from high school – that there was a mistake in the records and I had flunked math. So I had to go back to high school to finish math, so I could then actually graduate.
Those nightmares went on for a long time.
- – -
And so, we waited for Ms. La Pointe’s decision. Everything seemed to be suspended in mid-air, and everyone holding their breath for the decision. We knew, regardless of the decision, people wouldn’t be happy. Thirty days came and went. Nothing. Sixty days came and went. No decision. Ninety days came and went. Still nothing.
While we were waiting for the decision to come in, we also were stuck with the stay-put IEP, which was good for us, and not so good for Northview, since it contained the QA 2 language that was such a bone of contention.
The eighth grade year was nearing its end, and we had to meet to discuss my progress and transition to high school. I was there for that meeting, since it was akin to half of an IEP. Kary was there as well, and I remember it being extremely tense. Mom had her tape recorder out on the table, and so did Northview.
It got even more tense when it was found that I had actually regressed in mathematics. At that point, Mom basically said that I was going back to the mainstream classes for math, period. She was furious that I now ended up being behind in math instead of at grade level.
But when Northview presented the audiological reports, the tension torqued into chaos.
On one of those forms that are used regularly in IEPs with deaf children, the audiologists has to declare whether the deafness had an adverse impact on the child’s education or not. In other words, was the deafness enough that the deaf child couldn’t hear the teacher talking, etc. For deaf students, that is the primary way of how they receive special education services.
When it came to me, since I was and still am profoundly deaf, that box was always checked yes and signed by the audiologists, so I then would be eligible to get special education services.
This time around, when it was presented, the box was checked off as no. Mom took a look at the paper and said, “What the hell? No?”
Kary started to talk about how ridiculous this was and how could Northview do this, and everyone just started to talk over each other. Then Mom just snapped, “Shut up!”
Everyone sat back in shock, including Kary. Nobody could believe Mom had told everyone, including her own attorney to shut up. But then Mom leaned forward slightly and said, “This signature is not the audiologist’s. I see here it’s the audiologist’s name and I am familiar with his signature, and it is not his. I also see next to it, is the initials of D.M… Doreen, you forged this signature?!”
Doreen hastily said, “No! No! Not me! Deb Mills did!”
Deb Mills said, “Yeah, that’s right. I signed the audiologist’s name on there, but I had permission from him to do that.”
Being the brilliant woman Deb was, she said that twice on tape. Mom went home and filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights, alleging retaliation. OCR investigated, and it was discovered that Deb Mills did not have the audiologist’s permission. So it was, in fact, a forged signature.
As a result, Northview sent us a letter apologizing for the inconvenience. But what surprised us about OCR’s decision was that they also ruled that Ms. LaPointe had to submit a ruling, so that we could hold a full IEP. It was well past the deadline for Ms. LaPointe to submit a decision, as well.
So Ms. LaPointe finally submitted her decision and much to our horror, it was in Northview’s favor.
“Mom’s Gone Fighting The Deaf Wars” – Chpt. 22
This is a blog serial – so please read the preceding chapter if you haven’t done so yet. To see the list of characters, please refer to the Preface post.
Flaggert’s opening statement:
Madam Hearing Officer, Mr. Love (Kary), I am the attorney for Northview Public Schools who is in charge of providing a education for Jeannette Johnson who currently attends the TC program as a hearing-impaired student at the NPS. Dr. and Mrs. Johnson as the parents of Jeannette have appealed the April 1, 1992 IEP which was held in connection with Jeannette.
The parents have taken the position that the IEP is inappropriate and the changes from an earlier — I believe, it was the May 23, 1991 IEP — which removes certain wording, including the particular language relating to the use of an interpreter who has quality assurance levels of QA-2 or better.
Two, the requirements of an interpreter who is versed in ASL and has ASL skills. Three, the right of the student to reject a substitute interpreter. Four, the situations in which interpreters are to be provided, which would i mean, I assume and I believe I am right, school-sponsored extracurricular matters. And finally, whether or not interpreters are to be provided in the special education classrooms as opposed to just the mainstream classrooms.
In your letter of June 1, 1992, you indicated that this matter would proceed to hearing on several matters, issues really. One the procedural issue relating to notice. Two, the level of the interpreter’s fluency which is needed to provide faith for Jeannette. (Don’t ask me what the heck that means, because I don’t know either.) And finally, when the interpreter and services are to be provided.
We believe that as far as items one and three are concerned, that is the procedural situation and when the interpreter services are to be provided, can and will be dealt with very quickly and will be done so in the school’s favor. As far as the level of interpreter fluency is concerned, we believe that also will be decided in the school district’s favor.
The NPS had a procedure which they have used for a number of years to determine which particular interpreter should be working with a particular hearing-impaired student. Various witnesses will testify relating to that procedure and why what has been done is appropriate for all students generally and for Jeannette in particular. We believe that our proofs, excuse me, we believe that whenever proofs are completed, it will be evident that the April 1, 1992 IEP is appropriate in all aspects and it truly does provide a free public education for Jeannette.
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Northview’s first witness was one of my mainstream teachers to the stand, and I’m going to summarize his testimony since there weren’t many passages that were interesting. He testified that I didn’t turn in my homework, and that often I wouldn’t finish my assignments.
It also was his opinion, a non-signer’s opinion, that the interpreters and I got along fine and we were able to understand each other. He went on to mention that he considered me as a typical student who was just deaf, and that I could excel in anything that I applied myself to. Nothing too shocking or deviant from anything that had been said previously.
Northview then called Ms. Marr to the stand, and as an adult today, looking back to that time, I can say with confidence that moment is when things turned for the worse between me and the interpreters.
Ms. Marr only had a high school diploma and attended two years of college. She did not have a college degree, and she was also a CODA. She held a RID certification, and was basically considered to be one of the best interpreters in West Michigan at that time. Ms. Marr had been interpreting for Northview for approximately seven years when she testified. She had interpreted quite several classes for me at that time, so she was familiar with me.
Again, I’m going to summarize the majority of her testimony to save us time. She had testified under questioning from Flaggert, the school attorney, that I consistently used PSE, not ASL and that I understood PSE better than ASL.
A quote from her testimony, “When I am voicing for her, she has made it very easy for me to interpret for her. It is very English ordered and she will also use her voice to add the articles in between the signs that she gives.”
“She still prefers to use the Pidgin. She does, as I indicated, use some of the ASL concepts some signs of that, but again, they are English word order.”
She went on to describe my behavior in class.
“From your observations, does she participate in classroom discussions?
Yes. It depends on the class, but she is not afraid to participate. She not only participates in her communication with the teacher in the classroom, but she also badgers back and forth with other students.”
Then about the prompting part that was such an issue:
“She appeared very uncomfortable in asking questions during class. Whether that was because of feeling she didn’t want to look inferior to the rest of the class members or whatever her reasoning was, that was something in that particular class (math) that was difficult for her.”
The interesting part of her testimony was when Kary began his cross-examination. Mom recounted to me, since I was not present for it, that Kary asked his questions through gritted teeth, and when Ms. Marr was finished testifying, she was in tears.
Kary: What is the first sentence that is handwritten there?
Ms. Marr: Jeannette tends to use ASL the majority of the time.
Kary: Was that true when you wrote it?
Ms. Marr: I believed it to be so at that time.
(snip)
Kary: What is your background in linguistics?
Ms. Marr: I don’t have professional classes that I have taken or anything.
In fact, none of the interpreters had any courses in ASL linguistics. Only two or three at the most, out of approximately ten interpreters had college degrees.
When Ms. Marr was questioned by Ms. LaPointe, she was asked, “When you talked to Jeannette yesterday and you asked her how her weekend was, what mode did you use in signing to her to make that inquiry?
ASL was her answer to that question.
Northview then called Doreen and Anita to the stand, and they testified to the procedural parts. A majority of the testimony relates to that, so I’m not going to share that part here.
Doreen claimed during testimony that they screened their staff for signing skills and all were able to communicate with the students.
It was revealed during cross-examination with Kary that the bond millage election that supposedly caused Doreen to be forced to agree with the IEP, would take place nine months later. So Kary questioned her on the timing, and how could Mom disrupt the bond election if it was going to take place nine months later from the time of the IEP. Doreen ended up saying that she didn’t remember anything in terms of the timing. No surprise there.
When Anita testified, she stated that she wasn’t sure that I really understood what was PSE and what was ASL. She griped about the difficulties of getting substitute interpreters and that the QA 2 language in the IEP was far too restrictive for her. When Kary questioned her about in terms of me, Anita said she thought it was restrictive for me as well.
She claimed that my preferred language was PSE, not ASL, because again, I signed ASL concepts and signs in English word order. Everyone on the school side would testify to that effect, but none of them ever took courses in ASL linguistics, or even formally studied the language.
One thing that struck me the most was Anita’s testimony in terms of how often ASL was used. “ASL is not a language that is — pure ASL is not really a language that’s used that often. Everything is tending to be more PSE with ASL concepts, signs used. But it’s leaning more towards the English word order. More and more deaf people are starting to use that.
Pure ASL is really becoming a thing of the past. The trend is try to pull it back now and bring our language back around to a more pure ASL. In the last probably — I don’t want to even speculate how many years — ASL has been infiltrated by English. With the use of interpreters and deaf education improving, people are using more English in their signing. So, to say that someone uses pure ASL is very rare, unless they’re older. Older adults who did not have a lot of exposure to people who used more English.”
They would use this idea to as part of the reason why I didn’t need ASL interpreters.
When Kary questioned her, she admitted that she was not a linguist or conducted any studies and research on this. It was never clearly ascertained on how she formulated her opinion on this.
Next: Northview wraps up its case.
