Trudysuggs.com

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If there’s one thing that bugs me, it’s when companies that become successful by selling to the deaf community don’t support the community. By that, I mean when they don’t hire deaf people, sponsor deaf events, donate to deaf organizations, or try to become involved in the community somehow.

Back in high school, there was a local business that specialized in visual alert systems, TTYs, and so on. The owner, a hearing woman, was upset when she learned her son and I “liked” each other. I initially had no idea of the son’s ties to this company; I simply knew he was a guy from my gym class. His mother told him not to date a deaf girl, and she was cold toward me the two times I came to their house.

Anyway, this business was notorious for hiring deaf employees then firing them for whatever convenient reason. Mind you, the employees weren’t “problem employees” - they were high-caliber, extremely qualified folks. The owner just didn’t like them, probably because she couldn’t sign very well, and because the deaf employees had a better standing in the deaf community.

The business quickly gained a reputation for being “anti-deaf.” My stepdad told me of how he stopped by once to pick up a phone signaler. He walked in, and none of the employees could communicate with him. At this point, the employees were all hearing, unless you count the owner’s husband who became deaf later in life. My stepdad never went back; I didn’t, either. The company received hefty recognition from local businesses inspired by how the company “helped deaf people have a chance at life.” Still, area deaf folks knew how hypocritical the company was.

Today the company is a huge success, thanks to a shift in focus from deaf-related products to disability-related products. And the employees? Beats me, but I’d bet none of the employees are deaf or have disabilities.

Companies like this are a dime a dozen. Business opportunists see the millions of deaf and hard of hearing Americans, and think, “Heeeey, easy money!” They come up with all sorts of strategies and schemes to sell things to us. And that’s perfectly fine; this is a capitalist nation, after all.

Yet these companies don’t hire deaf folks. Apparently we’re good enough to sell to, but not good enough to hire.

Whenever I check a vendor out, I see if the owner is deaf or at least has direct ties to the deaf community. If not, then I look at how many deaf employees are at the company. I even call and ask: “How many people do you have working for you who are deaf?” I always get a kick out of their spin-doctored responses: “Well, uh, may I ask who’s calling? I see, well…we don’t have any currently, but we make attempts to reach out to…” Et cetera.

I also check to see if the organization has sponsored events, organizations or services in the community. After all, being socially responsible business owners is a big deal nowadays. If companies work with ethnic groups, they hire ethnic individuals. They want to qualify for specific contracts or to be a ‘feel-good’ company, they hire people with disabilities. If they work with deaf people, they hire hearing people who can barely sign. Waiiiiitamin… what’s wrong with this picture?

All sarcasm aside, to be a company that’s socially responsible within the deaf community, have at least an equal number of deaf and hearing employees, or even a majority of deaf employees.

I don’t care if companies make money off us deaf folks, as long as they hire deaf employees, sponsor community events, and do as much as they can to empower us. Take from us if they must, but they gotta give back to us, too.

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An Alton Telegraph (Illinois) article reads in part:

Springfield, Ill. (AP) - About 100 deaf citizens carried placards and used their hands to talk at a silent rally in the State Capitol aimed at supporting legislation that would affect the deaf.

The demonstrators came from all over the state to…testify before an Illinois House committee and meet with Gov. James R. Thompson.

The Human Resources committee then voted 18 to 1 in favor of a proposal to provide communication devices for the deaf in at least one emergency facility in communities with more than 10,000 residents.

I don’t quite remember my first rally, but I do remember Mom sitting me down and talking with me about how we could make our home safer in the event of a fire or other emergencies. Back then, we were too poor to own a TTY, so we had to rely on alternate methods. The next day, a group of deaf people gathered to make signs and flyers; I colored the fireman’s hat on my sign a bright red. Then we went to the state capitol. I remember meeting with Governor Thompson in his office and being in awe of how tall and friendly he was. I was only three years old; Mom was 25. The rally and governor’s meeting were crucial lessons for me.

Today, nearly 30 years later, I continue to believe in the value of children participating in peaceful rallies and demonstrations. As a result of that early exposure - and many other rallies or demonstrations - I developed a lifelong interest in advocacy. I stay active with both state-level and national-level associations serving deaf people not because it’s a “cool” thing to do, but because it’s the only way we can ensure our rights.

There was recently some discussion recently among bloggers and vloggers about whether children should be involved in demonstrations or protests. This dialogue emerged from an incident during the A.G. Bell conference in Virginia last July. A group of people, including an A.G. Bell member, passed out flyers at the conference site promoting the teaching of sign language to deaf babies. The Marriott hotel manager, Jenny Botero, was captured on video trying to take flyers away from one of the people. Botero also grabbed paper from a frightened deaf eight-year-old daughter of a deaf woman, though this wasn’t captured on video. The girl’s mother was understandably furious. One blogger questioned the mother’s judgment and integrity in having her daughter participate, yet never once questioned Botero’s integrity. Regardless of the circumstances, no adult should ever try to intimidate an eight-year-old - or any child - into doing anything to further a cause.

When I read the blogger’s article and people’s comments agreeing that children shouldn’t be involved in events like this, I was saddened. The deaf community is now beginning to associate the word “protest” - or other forms of activism - as aggressive, dangerous and harmful. And this association has serious consequences.

I certainly don’t support dangerous tactics, regardless of results. Not all activism include dramatic events like what sometimes happened during the Gallaudet protests or even the civil rights movement of the 1960s. I should, however, point out that many of the children who were involved with the Deaf President Now protest are now adults, even parents, who have become even more cognizant of the importance of advocating for issues important to them. Many of them have become outstanding community leaders in individual ways. I was 13 when DPN happened, and the protest certainly left its mark on me. It didn’t teach me that we had to resort to violent methods. The protest taught me that deaf people like me were just like anyone else who deserved equal respect and access, and that we could play smart in order to get what we wanted, or rather, needed. It’s still that simple today.

So, to bring the kids or not? Again, it’s simple: the parent has the responsibility of gauging the safety level of each event, whether a rally, demonstration or a protest. The parent also has a responsibility in developing a safety plan should things go terribly wrong - whether at the hands of the protestors or the police or management. And the parent also has the right to decide if a child should be involved or not. Let’s be real: there’s a degree of risk in everything we do, from carrying signs at an event to riding a car (anyone want to compare the likelihood of dying in a car accident to being hurt during a demonstration?).

Besides, any responsible parent would do what my mother did: sit with the children, talk about the issues at hand in as neutral and factual a manner as possible, and then explain why the event is taking place. Then the parent could ask if the children want to be involved or not. Safety should always be a priority, but so should education and awareness.

Even though my first rally was three decades ago, I find myself advocating for the same issues we did back then, which was pre-Americans with Disabilities Act, pre-captioning, pre-Internet, and pre-everything: equality. And if it takes another 30 years of peaceful demonstrations and rallies to achieve equality, so be it. Our children should not face inequality at any time, so what better way to educate them than to include them?

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Last week, I learned that a friend applied at Lowe’s to earn some extra cash. This guy is one of the most experienced carpenters around who knows every tool on the market, pays incredible attention to detail, and is probably Lowe’s dream customer (and worker, I would think). Yet, when he applied, he was told he didn’t qualify. Was it because he isn’t quite fluent in English? Or was it because he’s deaf? I don’t know.

I doubt it’s because of the English thing, because there are several non-English speakers working at the store. My friend thinks it’s because he’s deaf and doesn’t speak. As much as I hate to admit it, he’s probably right. Mind you, there’s another deaf employee at the store; however, she speaks fluent English and can hear somewhat. In fact, when my husband and I went to Lowe’s last December to order a new shower glass door, an employee told us to hold on, but we didn’t know why. We learned later that the worker ran to the other side of the store and brought the deaf employee over to interpret for us. We really didn’t need an interpreter, so we said hi to the deaf woman (who we knew) and told the hearing worker we preferred to write back and forth. The deaf employee was visibly relieved when we said we preferred to write back and forth.

My friend’s situation made me think back to when I applied at Borders many years ago. Anyone who knows me knows I’m a major, major bookworm. I haven’t ever been without a book since I began reading as a tot. You’d think I was a perfect candidate to work at a bookstore.

Apparently not. I filled out an application, and got an e-mail from the store manager saying my application made me “a perfect employee,” and that she’d love to interview me. When I went in and finally revealed that I was deaf, her face visibly dropped. I knew right there and then I wouldn’t get the job. Should I have requested an interpreter, implying that I needed “help” at a cost to the store? Or should I have said upfront that I was deaf and maybe not even land an interview?

The manager asked how I would deal with customers who didn’t know sign language. I didn’t bother pointing out the inappropriateness of this question, because I wanted the job and didn’t want to rock the boat. I explained that I had retail experience, shared some solutions to this, and all the other right things to say.

Just as I predicted, I didn’t get the job, although I never was given a straight answer about why. No, I didn’t do anything about it. I figured if they wouldn’t hire me based on this simple fact, then I didn’t want to work there. Sure, I could have taken this opportunity to try and educate people, blah, blah, blah, but I didn’t have the time nor energy. Besides, if I had filed a complaint, she could’ve easily said I was overqualified or any number of reasons. But I knew, deep inside, the real reason, even though I hated to admit it. Still, I had to pick my battles, and this wasn’t one of them.

Back to my friend who wasn’t hired at Lowe’s: he didn’t know what resources he had, and asked my husband and me for some input. I did some sleuthing and found that Minnesota has the Deaf2Work program, working closely with Home Depot. I also referred my friend to a couple of state resources/contacts, and hopefully this situation will be taken care of.

There are programs, laws and options in place, and we need to be aware of them. But even with those resources, it’s dreadful to wonder, “Was it because I really wasn’t qualified, or was it because I’m deaf?” Nobody should have to wonder that. Ever.

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It was ten years ago this month that one of the strangest stories I’ve ever worked on began to unravel.

In late 1996, Saturn, the car company, was in the midst of its “Real People, Real Cars” advertising campaign. This ad campaign featured actual car owners who were not actors. One night, my then-boyfriend (now husband) and I were watching a taped show when we saw Holly Daniel in the commercial. As we watched it, my stomach churned. The commercial featured Daniel, wearing a white shirt and blue denim jumper, standing in a picturesque environment with her Saturn car behind her. She signed, with subtitles appearing onscreen:

My name is Holly Daniel
and wherever I go,
people ask me about my Saturn.

But it takes too long
to spell out S-A-T-U-R-N,
so I made my own sign
“Saturn!” (shows her made-up sign)

That way I have more time
to drive.
Ha. Ha. Ha. (fingerspells ha-ha-ha)

The Saturn SLI $11,995

I had a gut feeling that Daniel, of St. Francisville, La., was not deaf. Her signing gave her away, although I did wonder if she was maybe deaf and had learned American Sign Language (ASL) later in life. I decided to check my facts before I assumed anything or offended anyone.

I called Saturn the next day and spoke with a representative, who assured me Daniel was deaf, and that she wasn’t an actress. That’s when I learned that the ad campaign featured actual Saturn owners. Fine, okay. The issue, for me, shifted to her invented sign. I was increasingly frustrated by the proliferation of commercials inaccurately portraying ASL, and I didn’t like that she had “invented” a sign without gaining community approval. I decided to send a letter to Saturn.

Next, I sent an e-mail to relatives and friends, encouraging them to write or call Saturn. One of the people I e-mailed was the managing editor of DeafNation Newspaper. He mistakenly thought it was a letter to the editor, and printed it in the next issue. I got a few responses, but nothing could beat the e-mail from a deaf Louisiana man, who insisted that Daniel was actually a hearing (uncertified) interpreter at a school and had been his interpreter in college.

Suddenly, everything changed, and I began one of the most bizarre journeys of my writing career. Until that point, I had read articles here and there about Daniel, who never once said she was hearing. Two weeks later, I had at least six sources, including a pastor, who said Daniel was hearing.

I contacted Daniel, who insisted people were confusing her with a twin sister named Helen. I asked for a picture of them together that I could run with my article, and she said she had lost everything in a fire. I then asked if she could send me a copy of her birth certificate, and she did. Both Helen’s and her certificates were absolutely identical, except for the names. Even the signatures were dotted and crossed in the same spots. A friend who worked at a police department ran the certificates for me and confirmed that there was only a single birth.

Saturn, throughout this entire investigation, kept hanging up on me. What bothered me the most, other than Daniel’s lies, was that she earned thousands of dollars for this ad (one source says $75,000). Had she been an actress, I’d have been less disgruntled. Since the ad campaign featured “real” people, and Daniel was lying, I knew I had to get to the bottom of this mystery.

I talked with Daniel several times on the phone and via Instant Messenger. One day, I got a call from a reporter at the Baton Rouge Advocate. That morning, he had met with Daniel, who said she “had no idea why anyone thought she was deaf.” Never mind all the evidence I had where she said she was deaf, and the many articles printed by other publications about her being deaf. Meanwhile, my conversations with Daniel became more and more bizarre. There was one night where she said she had “talked with God” and would come forward to apologize to the Deaf community the next day.

In late spring, I got news that Saturn finally pulled the ad. The advertising executive called me, eating crow. What was even more odd is that after I did the three articles on this, I learned that Daniel had pretended to be deaf on many occasions as far back as two years prior to being invited to do the Saturn ad. Make what you will of that.

I’ve written a book about this, but it’s not published yet. I’m sharing this story at state conferences, interpreting programs and schools across the nation this year, for a very basic reason: we can’t let this fraud happen ever again. Besides, with all the recent vlogs and blogs, the emergence of the concept of Deafhood, and the Gallaudet protests, it’s a fantastic time for us to re-examine our community values.

And the question everyone asks: whatever happened to Holly Daniel? For the answer, you’ll have to read the book or come to my presentation.

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When I was a day student at the Illinois School for the Deaf in 1985, I usually went to the dorms at lunchtime and after school for extracurricular and dorm activities. Although the socialization was always fun, there was one deciding factor for whether we kids would have a good time or not: whoever was on duty.

Whenever we had Mrs. G as our houseparent, we’d groan. Mrs. G, who was hearing, required that, when we ate meals, we keep our non-dominant hands in our laps at all times, with the other devoted to using utensils. We could use the non-dominant hand only for cutting meat. At any other time during the meal, we were to remain completely silent. If we even as much lifted our non-dominant hands, our meals were taken away. Each meal was always somber, although we - of course! - developed a system of communicating with our eyes and faces.

And let’s not forget Mrs. P, another hearing houseparent who used to sit in the dorm lounge smoking Virginia Slim after Virginia Slim as she watched Days of Our Lives (which was the only captioned soap opera at that time, so we all watched it with her). Neither woman could understand what we signed most of the time.

I don’t remember any of the hearing dorm staff with too much fondness, but I do remember the deaf ones with great respect and admiration - perhaps because they could communicate easily. My favorite was Jean, who was tall, beautiful and kind-hearted. An ISD graduate, she knew exactly what we all wanted and needed as young middle schoolers, and was always up for good girl talk with us.

Houseparents are such an integral part of any residential school, and this is something should be appreciated on a grander scale by many. Let’s face it - living in dorms at deaf schools has gotten a bad rap over the years (and in some cases, deservedly so), and so has the choice to become a dorm staffer. It always makes my heart ache when I see people saying, “S/he works as a houseparent. What a waste of college education!” or make fun of the profession. The truth is that dorm staff hold often-unrecognized major influence upon students’ lives and in the long run, the Deaf community. It doesn’t matter if the dorm staffers are deaf or hearing; they create an impact, and this is something that should be taken seriously.

My husband spent the majority of his school years living in dorms, something he remembers with great pleasure. Even though he had deaf parents and grandparents who were wonderful presences in his life, the dorm parents he grew up with also provided great impact upon his life. Sure, there are incidents in dorms that should never happen - bullying or sexual abuse, for example. But these are incidents that are absolutely preventable, and a good residential program with qualified staff who can prevent that from happening. For me, the key to a good residential program is having staff who can communicate effortlessly with students and understand the immense responsibilities of the work before them.

Being a dorm parent, to me, is a noble job and a daunting assignment to take on - one I would probably not be able to accept. Dorm staffers work in loco parentis - in place of parents - and in many cases, are the only signing adults other than teachers that the children interact with. Many children come from homes where there is minimal, if any, communication, This is the most important job task: teaching language, social skills, life values and world knowledge outside of the classroom to these children. People who work as dorm staff - hearing or deaf - must take every measure necessary to give full communication access to the kids.

Whenever I talk to deaf people who lived in dorms, they often can tell me who the worst and best houseparents were. Typically, the ‘awful’ houseparents were the ones who couldn’t sign worth anything or sat around doing nothing. This is probably true at any boarding program around the nation, actually; it’s not just a “deaf school thing.” But still, within the close-knit Deaf community, this has far-reaching consequences.

In fact, it’s interesting how I can quickly tell who the enthusiastic and involved dorm staff are simply by going to football or basketball games at the deaf school here. The “good houseparents” - who are well-liked and strict but fair - usually attend the games, make sure their students interact and participate in a safe environment, and are fluent signers.

Being a houseparent is no easy task, and I really wish schools would set higher standards for residential staff, especially in the areas of fluency in American Sign Language and providing a productive, caring and educational environment. Raising this bar can only begin with the Deaf community’s heightened respect for people who choose to work as residential staff, increased expectations and an innate understanding of what the profession involves. We have to keep in mind that these residential staffers are helping raise our future community leaders, and do what we can to support their work.

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Ask Matt Daigle what he does, and he immediately answers, “I’m a stay-at-home dad to my one-year-old son Hayden.” He’s also a freelance cartoonist, illustrator and graphic designer, but it’s his role as a father that he’s most proud of.

So it isn’t a surprise that Daigle’s design won a breastfeeding symbol contest for Mothering, a natural family living magazine. The magazine’s website reports, “The purpose of an international symbol for breastfeeding is to increase public awareness of breastfeeding, to provide an alternative to the use of a baby bottle image to designate baby friendly areas in public, and to mark breastfeeding friendly facilities.” Daigle’s entry beat out 500 other entries, and is now the international symbol for breastfeeding. The public domain symbol will be used on signage in various places, such as the airport, to let parents know that they may breastfeed at these locations.

“I submitted an entry in July after a friend told me of the contest. The contest ended in August, then the top 12 finalists were chosen in October,” Daigle, who is deaf, says. Preliminary voting took place during the subsequent weeks, and in early November, Daigle learned he was among the top three. Website voters and breastfeeding organizations from around the world voted on the three logos. “On Nov. 13, I was notified that I had won the contest. It was a tremendous honor,” he says.

“There’s a new culture. Here in America, there often are no provisions for mothers with babies, and we need to provide that accessibility. We’re becoming more modern, more understanding of health issues, families, values and so on. I think it’s a really important icon that Mothering brought up. They’ll be promoting it to airports, and there’s already been a lot of interest from different places. It’s an exciting step for both me professionally, and for families everywhere,” Daigle says. “It’s also cool because if the symbol is indeed adopted worldwide, then you can go places and see a sign with the symbol I designed, and know that a deaf guy did that. It’s such a kick for me.”

Having grown up with a stay-at-home mother, Daigle knew firsthand the impact of a stay-at-home parent upon a child. “About three months after Hayden had been in day care, we realized we wanted to have him spend his first years at home. I wanted to give Hayden personal attention and have that bond with him.” He adds, “Even though I worked at a nonprofit agency, the agency was large enough that it had a corporate feel. That was fine, but I made the bold decision of quitting my job in January to stay home with Hayden, which wasn’t what the company wanted to hear. But it all worked out wonderfully for us.”

Daigle planned to focus solely on taking care of his new child, but people began contacting him to do small projects. Even though he still works part-time as a designer now, he says it’s challenging at times. “You have to be flexible. Like last night, I was going to do a project, but had to postpone it because of Hayden,” Daigle explains. “It’s really nice, because most of the people I work with are very flexible, which is very different from a corporate environment. There are pros and cons to that. I like deadlines, because they help me finish projects rather than putting them off, but at the same time, it’s a challenge with a child around.”

Although Daigle works mostly with graphic design, his passion lies in cartoons and illustration. “I grew up in a world of comics. Being an Army brat, I moved a lot as a child, so my parents often bought me comics, and my inspiration comes from that.” In fact, Daigle was so good at drawing that he was chosen as one of the top three cartoonists for high school newspapers in Texas. He continues, “But that kind of faded away when I was in college. I had no role models back then, so I didn’t really think illustration was a big deal until I developed my skills further. Then I thought, ‘Wait a minute, I was meant to be a cartoonist.’ So I’ve continued perfecting my skills in that.” He draws mostly cartoons related to Deaf culture but also draws about a variety of topics.

“It’s my goal to become a professional cartoonist, and I also really want to create a book filled with my cartoons, but it’s tough. I have to find sponsors, I have to find the market, and I have to prioritize,” he adds. “I network with many cartoonists who are hearing, and they have been fantastic resources. There’s also only one newspaper, SIGNews, that publishes deaf-related cartoons such as mine, so the market is very limited. I’m trying to branch out to mainstream publications.”

Daigle has straightforward advice for others wanting to become illustrators or designers. “Network. You have to network. You can’t be isolated, because it’s about who you know. That’s how I got where I am – through word of mouth, and my portfolio. And you have to grab opportunities. If I didn’t network, I wouldn’t have entered the breastfeeding logo contest. The contest is a great way for me to prove that I’m different from other graphic designers in that I have my own niche and experience. So networking is key.” He also adds that staying updated with technology is key for graphic designers, something he admits is difficult sometimes as a stay-at-home parent. “But I do what I can,” he smiles.

“What I like in my career is the creative flow. There are so many different ideas that never stop coming. There are a variety of projects, like the contest, and I do different work every day. That’s what I like, the mental stimulation. I also get to learn fun things while I’m working.”

Daigle’s websites are at www.mattdaigle.com and www.mdaigletoons.com .

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A group of disabled people filed a civil lawsuit, citing the state Constitution and the Americans with Disabilities Act, on Nov. 22 against the Massachusetts House and Senate leaders for failing to provide access to State House events. Among the litigants are three deaf community leaders: John Pirone, Louis Rivas, and David DelPizzo.

Part of the lawsuit asks for increased interpreter availability, closed captioned House and Senate proceedings on a local channel, awareness, and some financial compensation. Although the lawsuit includes problems experienced by individuals with other types of disabilities, I’m more interested in what the deaf plaintiffs dealt with.

In March 2006, Pirone, the executive director of the Massachusetts State Association of the Deaf (MSAD), attended a hearing about the provision of CapTel services. Even though he had been told that an interpreter and CART services would be available, Pirone arrived to find only the captioner there. John could keep up with what was said thanks to CART, but couldn’t voice for himself in spoken English without the interpreter. During the meeting, the legislators asked Pirone to make a few comments, but he couldn’t without the voice interpreters. To add insult to injury, the captions were shown only on a laptop screen, forcing the people there to crowd around the laptop to read the proceedings.

The lawsuit states, “It was important to plaintiff Pirone personally, and in his representative capacity as Executive Director of the Massachusetts State Association for the Deaf, to voice the concerns and interests of the members of his organization and to communicate what transpired at the hearing to his members.” It also stated, “The lack of provision of communication auxiliary aids at the hearing… prevented plaintiff Pirone from fulfilling his goals and responsibilities of testifying before the Committee, responding to questions from the Committee members, and communicating what transpired at the hearing to his constituents…”

Having to stand up and not being able to even say, “I can’t voice for myself because I don’t have an interpreter,” is embarrassing enough. But there’s more.

A Dec. 6 Massachusetts State House News Service article reported that lawmakers “rolled their eyes when asked about the March hearing of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utility and Energy, when John Pirone, the deaf director of the Massachusetts State Association of the Deaf, could not respond to questions or relay to his constituents what happened.”

Rolled their eyes?

The article also said that legislators have been ordered not to speak about this case, noting, “The counsels of both chambers told members and aides in a Nov. 29 email, obtained by the News Service, that they believed the suit was ‘groundless,’ but asked them to check in with the lawyers’ offices before ‘communicating’ with the litigants or their advocates.”

Groundless? Really?

The other deaf plaintiffs, DelPizzo and Rivas, repeatedly requested interpreters for an April 2006 budget hearing for the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (MCDHH), and were under the belief that interpreters would be provided. But when they arrived - does this sound familiar yet? - there were none. The lawsuit lists many other situations where accommodations were not provided, even with advance requests.

Did I also mention that this continued failure to provide interpreters had been going on for 20 months at least? Yes. 20 months.

The deaf litigants met with leaders at the House and Senate to discuss various accessibility solutions, but nothing allegedly was put in action for 20 months. I don’t agree that litigation is always the best step to take, but sometimes a lawsuit is the only way to get a situation resolved.

Currently, there is no formal procedure in the Massachusetts legislative system for communication accessibility. The article, written by Jim O’Sullivan, also reported that Senate President Robert Travaglini was “surprised” by the lawsuit, adding that he said, “We’ve tried to demonstrate that we were serious about recognizing our responsibility to remedy those conditions, and we’re doing the best we can.”

How interesting. The right to be part of a democracy is at the very crux of the U.S. Constitution. To roll their eyes when someone asks for this right is not “doing the best” they can, nor is denying people, deaf or hearing, full access to participation in the political process.

The legal complaint may be viewed by visiting www.dpcma.org, clicking on Accessibility/Civil Rights Compliance, then clicking on Download Accessibility/Civil Rights Compliance Documents.

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“Where people go, I go the other way,” Jay Blumenfeld says with a playful smile.

Blumenfeld, 52, is the owner of Smart Alex, a Chicago-based manufacturer and wholesale distributor of greeting cards and party items. Smart Alex - which bills itself as having “smart humor with attitude,” has sold over 16 million cards that are usually sold at small, quirky family-owned shops.

“At first glance, you’d think we were a company that produced greeting cards, party coasters, bachelorette gifts, party hats and gift tags. When you look a little closer, though, you see what we really do,” Blumenfeld says. “We make people smile. Quite often I’ll be in a store and see people pick up one of our products, read it, and then chuckle to themselves.”

A Humble Start
Blumenfeld and his late brother Richard, both deaf, were born and raised in St. Paul, Minn. Mainstreamed for most of his school years until his 1972 high school graduation, Blumenfeld attended the Rochester Institute of Technology. He graduated with honors and an associate’s degree in photography, in addition to winning several awards for his photography.

It was during his childhood that Blumenfeld discovered photography. “My father was a commercial photographer of some note. I grew up in and around his studio, and often accompanied him to outside photo shoots as well.” After college, Blumenfeld began dabbling in freelance photography and became fascinated with photographing female impersonators, taking hundreds of photographs in various cities. He returned to Minnesota to put his work together in book form, and eventually moved to New York City with the intention of finding a publisher.

“I saw art director after art director, publisher after publisher, and I always heard the same two things: ‘Great book, just not the right time,’ and ‘You should really think about incorporating your work into a fun, alternative line of greeting card. It’s the hottest thing in the market,” Blumenfeld remembers. “I did a little investigating and found out they were right. It was pretty much an untapped market and the possibilities to be creative, clever and fun seemed unlimited. That was 1980, and I jumped in feet first and have never looked back.”

However, 1980 was long before e-mail, fax machines and relay services were on the scene. Unable to pick up the phone and make calls to operate his nationwide business, then known as Innovisions, Blumenfeld traveled constantly to meet with potential representatives, in addition to handling designing, printing, packaging and mailing. “Customer service was another big challenge for me. All orders and communications with customers had to be done via mail,” Blumenfeld explains. “This put me at a four-day disadvantage compared to my competitors, something that bothered me a great deal.” Even so, one good thing came out of this experience. “I developed the habit of answering all of my mail and filling all of my orders immediately, something that I still do to this day and something that has served me very well.”

Lessons Learned
Maintaining this work schedule for the first three years of his business is something that amazes Blumenfeld today. “I honestly couldn’t tell you how I managed to keep it up, but I’m glad I did. One of the most important things I learned was the value of a relationship that is formed face-to-face. Once I had established myself and was able to hire employees, I started to take the standard route of engaging representatives, suppliers, customers, and so on. Those relationships never seemed to develop quite as fully, and after a few years, I went back to my practice of meeting people in person,” he says. “I’ve found that people genuinely appreciate the effort that it takes to travel to them, look them in the eye and shake their hand. No telephone call or e-mail can ever replace that.”

By 1988, Blumenfeld found himself in a quandary. The greeting card industry was changing, especially with Hallmark entering the alternative scene with its Shoebox line and driving many small companies out of business. Blumenfeld, who was friends with many small company owners, believed he was next in line. “I attended a party and I met a gentleman who worked in the field of marketing. We hit it off, and it wasn’t long before we became good friends. One day I was telling him about my plight, how I was pretty sure this was the end. He looked right at me and said, ‘Jay, you’ve got a great head on your shoulders, use it. Think of something new, something different. At this point, you really have nowhere to go but up.’”

With this piece of advice that Blumenfeld calls a “wake-up call” and a renewed belief in himself, he began to re-examine what worked and what didn’t. “Once I did that, I could clearly see what it was we had been doing, and it was easy to go in a new direction. The ideas flowed, and the turnaround was quite dramatic,” he says.

Within a short span of time, the business made a comeback, and was more successful than ever. “I learned just how important it is to be honest, brutally honest, when assessing what it is you and your company are doing. If it seems stale, it is. If it seems tired, it is. If you wouldn’t buy it yourself, why in the world would someone else? Figure this out before your customers and respond accordingly. Subsequently, growth is almost automatic.”

Smart Alex and Grandma Ruth
In 1997, Blumenfeld made the decision to narrow the focus of Innovisions and to revitalize the company’s image. Searching for a name to communicate the company’s newer and fresher image, Blumenfeld spoke with a friend and local greeting card/toy store retailer, Ted Frankel. “I explained my dilemma to Ted and he commented that he had always liked the name ‘Smart Alex,’ a play on the words, ‘smart aleck.’ It was one of those lightbulb-over-the-head moments. I fell in love with the name on the spot, and even got the paperwork started to facilitate our name change that very day,” Blumenfeld says. “Truthfully, I can say it’s one of the single best business decisions that I’ve ever made.”

Today, browsing through the Smart Alex catalog offering “smart humor with attitude,” customers can choose from mischievous cards, coasters laced with insults, and other tongue-in-cheek products. Most notable are the cards featuring Grandma Ruth, a sweet-looking white-haired woman in various poses.

“My grandmother, Ruth Blumenfeld, started modeling for me at the age of 91 and continued to do so until the age of 96. This business is very much about tapping into the mood and tenor of society. A design that sold gangbusters last year may be a dud this year,” Blumenfeld smiles.

“Not so with Grandma Ruth. She seems to be impervious to the changing times and trends. In the last 23 years she has appeared on millions of greeting cards, and her cards have never fallen off my bestsellers list,” Blumenfeld says. “I don’t know how many times people have told me that she simply looks the way most people think a grandmother should look.”

Ruth, who passed away at the age of 101 in 1992, had an unbeatable sense of humor, Blumenfeld adds. “My family swears I inherited her humor gene. A perfect example is from when I was about 10. My dad bought an expensive sweater and showed it to my family. I said to my mom that it was a beautiful sweater, and she said ‘Ohh, it cost fifty bucks!’ That was back in 1964. I went up to Dad and said, ‘I don’t like your sweater…take it back!’ My family laughed, and this is how my Grandma Ruth would talk, also.”

The combination of humor, strong work ethics, and a willing market has proven successful for Smart Alex. The company has won six Louie Awards, greeting card awards that are the equivalent of Academy Awards. Smart Alex also received “Card of the Year” honors for three of its cards in 1991, one in 1995, and two in 1996, beating out thousands of companies.

Balancing Business with Pleasure
Even with his hectic work schedule, Blumenfeld makes sure to balance business with pleasure. Featured in Chicago Magazine for his cookie jar collection, Blumenfeld also collects Funko Wacky Wobblers, a line of bobbing head toys. But more important to him are the people he surrounds himself with.

Thomasina Seah, Blumenfeld’s best friend, knows this all too well. “Jay is a wonderful friend and an astute businessman. Jay has owned the business for 26 years, but he still possesses the same zeal and enthusiasm for his work as he did on Day One,” she says. “Despite his hectic and often stressful professional life, he never neglects to nurture his personal life.”

“Jay is a very gentle person who is not only creative but has a clever business mind,” Howard Rosenblum, an attorney in Chicago who is deaf, says. “Part of his success also comes from his intense loyalty to friends as well as colleagues and employees. A person who has Jay as a close friend knows that he can always be relied upon and trusted.”

Blumenfeld is quick to say, “Not only are friends important to me in my professional life, but they’re invaluable to me personally.” Equally important to him are his employees. Blumenfeld, who currently has five employees (all hearing, although he has often had deaf employees in the past), says his co-workers are like family, especially Austin Jones, a certified public accountant who has worked with him for 26 years.

Another co-worker who is prominent in Blumenfeld’s life is Mark Taylor, who has worked with him since 1992 as a commercial designer/illustrator. Taylor is also Blumenfeld’s partner of 18 years. “It’d be impossible for me to overstate the role that he has played in my success,” Blumenfeld says. “He’s someone whose opinion I trust completely. His perspective is often quite different than mine, and he provides me with a second set of eyes, allowing me to see things in a way that I probably wouldn’t have on my own.”

Looking to the Future
Smart Alex has no plans to close anytime soon. Blumenfeld is constantly working on new ideas and products for his company, saying, “Growth is the key to keeping it fresh and exciting, and that’s the key to maintaining your enthusiasm!”

“Jay’s greeting card business is essentially hip in that he and his network of employees and contractors have a cheerful irreverence for the norm,” Rosenblum says. “They continually reinvent their cards so that the business is always on the leading edge of the market. This is an excellent example of how a deaf person can be a successful businessperson without needing to focus on a deaf identity, but instead, marketing to the world at large.”

“The day I stop looking to the future is the day that I will give it up and look to do something else,” Blumenfeld says. “This is what I do for a living, and honestly, I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do.”

The Smart Alex website is at www.smartalexinc.com.

Copyrighted material. This article can not be copied, reproduced, or redistributed without the written consent of the author.

January 2, 2009: This organization is apparently inactive. Donations to the organization have not been returned nor acknowledged; complaints have been filed with the state of Florida and the Better Business Bureau. Even so, do consider adopting a deaf dog today.

This article originally appeared at i711.com.

I avoid www.deafdogs.org like the plague.

Otherwise, I end up having a broken heart because I can’t adopt all of the dogs on this site.

Page after page shows pictures of gorgeous, photogenic, lovable dogs – all deaf and needing homes. Every year, thousands of dogs are killed because they’re deaf, and this pulls at my heart. Maybe it’s because I’m Deaf, or maybe it’s because I have a weak spot for all furry creatures, or maybe it’s just the basic idea that someone (or an animal) would be discarded simply because of the inability to hear.

The website is run by Deaf Dog Education Action Fund (DDEAF), a nonprofit, educational organization based in California, incorporated in 1997. DDEAF is “dedicated to provide support and information to deaf dog owners around the world who, thanks in part to the Internet, were discovering that they were not alone,” the DDEAF website says.

As someone who shares a house with a deaf dog, I first learned about deaf dogs years ago when I was surfing the Internet. When I saw the DDEAF website, I immediately wanted to adopt a deaf dog, but I already had a 75-pound dog and was living in an apartment that only allowed dogs up to 40 pounds. I promised myself that when I moved to a house, I’d get another dog, a deaf dog. Meanwhile, I checked the site every week, bemoaning all the adorable dogs staring at me from my computer screen.

Then fate smiled upon me. I got an e-mail from a woman in Atlanta who had seen my name on some deaf dog list. She asked if I’d be interested in adopting seven-month-old Malcolm, who was hours away from being euthanized because he was deaf. I immediately said yes, especially after seeing pictures. My mother agreed to take Malcolm in until I could take him; Malcolm was brought to Chicago via a dog run – when people drive dogs from one point to another, and then transfer the dogs to another person who then drives the dogs another distance, until each of the dog is transported to the final destination. It’s a remarkable service. Malcolm came into my life in August 2002. As I write this more than four years later, Malcolm is happily chewing on rawhide next to his best friend, Isre.

This article originally appeared at i711.com.

If a deaf person runs for political office, should deaf people automatically support that candidate simply because she or he is deaf?

That was the question I posed to several friends recently. In Minnesota, we have the fine Rev. Emory Dively (R) running for District 64B (St. Paul) in the Minnesota House of Representatives. He’s up against incumbent Michael Paymar (DFL) in a heavily Democratic district.

Emory and I serve on the Minnesota Association of Deaf Citizens (MADC) board together; he’s long been involved with the Deaf community, including through his church and as a past president of MADC. As a registered Democrat, I initially wasn’t sure about supporting a Republican. I have deep respect for Emory and decided to support him out of loyalty and his dedication to social justice, but I did wonder at first about the consequences of supporting someone whose political affiliation wasn’t something I cared for. So I asked friends what they thought. (In the spirit of disclosure, I should mention that I contributed financially to Dively’s campaign.)

A Democrat friend quickly responded to my question, saying that deaf people should always support a deaf candidate, regardless of party affiliation. “When you support a deaf candidate, you’re assured that the candidate’s primary focus will be equality in all aspects of life,” he said. “And if he’s deaf, he’s going to automatically support deaf people’s issues and rights.” Hmm, good point.

Another Democrat friend disagreed, saying that it’s about belief systems for him. He said he couldn’t imagine voting for a candidate who supported the death penalty or other fundamental issues. I asked, for discussion’s sake: “But if we support a hearing candidate who might not care about deaf people’s equal access and prefers to focus on other issues, instead of the deaf candidate - then won’t that increase the risk of our rights as deaf people being taken away? Shouldn’t we support a deaf candidate for that very reason alone?”

He replied, “What’s the likelihood that a rookie representative changes the system and eliminates oppression and discrimination during his/her term? There are other issues she or he will have to focus on, too.” Good point, too.

A Republican friend - I do have Republican friends, believe it or not - said, “I would go for the candidate’s agenda and platform, rather than party affiliation or being deaf. For instance, if a CODA runs for political office, but is a great supporter of American Sign Language and Deaf culture, then I would support for this person over a candidate who doesn’t support these things, even if the other candidate is deaf or hard of hearing.” Me, too, although I would also look at other moral issues.

Yet, on the flip side, it’s a major asset to have a Deaf representative involved in the political process, because this does wonders in changing hearing people’s - legislators, especially - perceptions of deaf and hard of hearing people. Even though there are many ways of doing this without being directly involved in the legislative process, it’s important to have someone actually involved in the day-to-day business of creating laws.

In the case of Emory, my doubts continued until I interviewed him for SIGNews. After a fascinating chat, I realized that he actually supported many issues that I was in favor of, and even the issues we disagreed on weren’t major issues. But the selling point for me was that if he got elected - I can’t vote for him, since I don’t live in his district -I could easily meet with him at any time if he is elected. I know he’d make time for me and for any other Deaf Minnesotan on whatever topic we wanted to talk about, because we are his people and community.

That, for me, is of paramount importance: accessibility to politicians. With accessibility, I can take full advantage of our country’s democratic process and express my views and opinions. With other legislators that I meet with for various organizations such as MADC, I sometimes have to explain how to use interpreters, ASL, and so on. Generally, legislators allot very limited time for these meetings with their constituents, and these explanations eat up valuable time; I’d much prefer to spend that time on the issues I’m there to talk about. With a deaf candidate like Emory, all these hindrances would be removed, and we’d be able to focus on the issues at hand, deaf-related or not.

For me, it boils down to learning all I can about candidates, and having access to these politicians. And if they’re deaf - even better! That enables me to talk with them directly to see what issues they support, so I can make an informed decision about who to vote for.

Don’t forget to vote on November 7.

Copyrighted material. This article can not be copied, reproduced, or redistributed without the written consent of the author.