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shel90 · 02-07-2008, 08:33 PM

NAD President’s Blog » Blog Archive » NAD Responds to AGBell

Karen Youdelman, President
Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
3417 Volta Place, NW
Washington, DC 20007

Dear President Youdelman,

On behalf of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) Board of Directors, staff, members, and supporters, I am responding to the recent letter that you wrote to PepsiCo representing the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (AGBell). Specifically, I want to express our disappointment.

In 1880, the NAD was established by deaf leaders who believed in the right of the American deaf community to use sign language, to congregate on issues important to them, and to have its interests represented at the national level. These beliefs remain true to this day, with American Sign Language (ASL) as a core value. As a consumer-based nonprofit federation, the mission of the NAD is to promote, protect, and preserve the civil, human, and linguistic rights of deaf Americans.

The NAD represents children and adults who are deaf, hard of hearing, late deafened, or deaf-blind. We welcome all people who value ASL, and we promote opportunities for the acquisition and use of ASL in addition to English in its various forms, with or without the use of hearing technologies, to enable successful participation in all aspects of American society, including the deaf community.

We are disappointed with the negative tone of your letter and obvious lack of respect for deaf people who use ASL. We are also sensitive to the fact that many members of the AGBell deaf and hard of hearing section know and use ASL. We find it deplorable that AGBell continues to perpetuate the myth that the use of ASL isolates deaf people from mainstream society, a stereotype that is far from the truth. We know that this is not the first time that AGBell has reacted in this manner to high-profile use of ASL, which AGBell may perceive as detracting from its exclusive focus on speaking and listening. As such, we are not surprised that AGBell continues to close its eyes to successful deaf ASL users as positive role models.

In the view of the NAD, every deaf person has a unique place in American society, with basic human rights with respect to identity, cultural affiliation, and self-expression. This viewpoint, with emphasis on diversity and inclusiveness, forms the foundation for our existence as an organization and as a community.

We expect the same respect from AGBell on behalf of the community we represent.

Sincerely,

Bobbie Beth Scoggins
President

To see NAD response on official letterhead, click here

To see the AGBell letter to PepsiCo, click here

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 7th, 2008 at 1:45 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Berke Outspoken: Break Out the Popcorn. It is NAD vs. AGBell.

On my way home today, I got word that the NAD had sent a "scathing" letter to AGBell in regard to their deplorable letter to Pepsi. And to think it all started with a television commercial....

The NAD letter is professionally written with carefully chosen words, but when you look at specific language you can tell the depth of anger that the writer(s) felt. For example:

"obvious lack of respect for deaf people who use ASL."
"deplorable that AGBell continues to perpetuate the myth that the use of ASL isolates deaf people from mainstream society"
"We expect the same respect from AGBell"
Until AG Bell wrote that letter to Pepsi, I thought that AG Bell was a professional membership organization that respected deaf people who chose to use ASL, while promoting oral communication and education. Well, that letter to Pepsi changed everything for me. For the first time, AG Bell publicly revealed its true colors.

Perhaps this brouhaha will lead to the birth of a new AG Bell, a more tolerant AG Bell (or perhaps this is just wishful thinking). As far as I know, the media has not yet reported on the conflict that has arisen out of the AG Bell letter to Pepsi, but as awareness grows, it is only a matter of time before someone does report on it in the mainstream media. Or maybe one of the deaf columnists whose columns are published in regular papers (Right now, I can't remember the name of one columnist, whose name starts with H).

Does anyone plan to contact the mainstream media if AG Bell does not publicly apologize to the deaf community?

02-07-2008, 08:33 PM	#97 (permalink)
shel90 In a pink and black world Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: In the land of the free Posts: 23,656 Blog Entries: 3	NAD VS. AGBell NAD President’s Blog » Blog Archive » NAD Responds to AGBell Karen Youdelman, President Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing 3417 Volta Place, NW Washington, DC 20007 Dear President Youdelman, On behalf of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) Board of Directors, staff, members, and supporters, I am responding to the recent letter that you wrote to PepsiCo representing the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (AGBell). Specifically, I want to express our disappointment. In 1880, the NAD was established by deaf leaders who believed in the right of the American deaf community to use sign language, to congregate on issues important to them, and to have its interests represented at the national level. These beliefs remain true to this day, with American Sign Language (ASL) as a core value. As a consumer-based nonprofit federation, the mission of the NAD is to promote, protect, and preserve the civil, human, and linguistic rights of deaf Americans. The NAD represents children and adults who are deaf, hard of hearing, late deafened, or deaf-blind. We welcome all people who value ASL, and we promote opportunities for the acquisition and use of ASL in addition to English in its various forms, with or without the use of hearing technologies, to enable successful participation in all aspects of American society, including the deaf community. We are disappointed with the negative tone of your letter and obvious lack of respect for deaf people who use ASL. We are also sensitive to the fact that many members of the AGBell deaf and hard of hearing section know and use ASL. We find it deplorable that AGBell continues to perpetuate the myth that the use of ASL isolates deaf people from mainstream society, a stereotype that is far from the truth. We know that this is not the first time that AGBell has reacted in this manner to high-profile use of ASL, which AGBell may perceive as detracting from its exclusive focus on speaking and listening. As such, we are not surprised that AGBell continues to close its eyes to successful deaf ASL users as positive role models. In the view of the NAD, every deaf person has a unique place in American society, with basic human rights with respect to identity, cultural affiliation, and self-expression. This viewpoint, with emphasis on diversity and inclusiveness, forms the foundation for our existence as an organization and as a community. We expect the same respect from AGBell on behalf of the community we represent. Sincerely, Bobbie Beth Scoggins President To see NAD response on official letterhead, click here To see the AGBell letter to PepsiCo, click here This entry was posted on Thursday, February 7th, 2008 at 1:45 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Berke Outspoken: Break Out the Popcorn. It is NAD vs. AGBell. On my way home today, I got word that the NAD had sent a "scathing" letter to AGBell in regard to their deplorable letter to Pepsi. And to think it all started with a television commercial.... The NAD letter is professionally written with carefully chosen words, but when you look at specific language you can tell the depth of anger that the writer(s) felt. For example: "obvious lack of respect for deaf people who use ASL." "deplorable that AGBell continues to perpetuate the myth that the use of ASL isolates deaf people from mainstream society" "We expect the same respect from AGBell" Until AG Bell wrote that letter to Pepsi, I thought that AG Bell was a professional membership organization that respected deaf people who chose to use ASL, while promoting oral communication and education. Well, that letter to Pepsi changed everything for me. For the first time, AG Bell publicly revealed its true colors. Perhaps this brouhaha will lead to the birth of a new AG Bell, a more tolerant AG Bell (or perhaps this is just wishful thinking). As far as I know, the media has not yet reported on the conflict that has arisen out of the AG Bell letter to Pepsi, but as awareness grows, it is only a matter of time before someone does report on it in the mainstream media. Or maybe one of the deaf columnists whose columns are published in regular papers (Right now, I can't remember the name of one columnist, whose name starts with H). Does anyone plan to contact the mainstream media if AG Bell does not publicly apologize to the deaf community? __________________ Shel~ "A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana