What is the alexander graham bell company?

[Etoile]

Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf = AGBAD.

People just appropriate the spelling for their own needs.

 

[Etoile]

No, really....

Like the sign for "CI" that looks like the sign for "devil"?
Both "puns" are insulting !

btw... isn't Deaf community biased?? Isn't it all a matter of perspective?

I never saw one that looks like devil. I've seen one that looks like vampire made at the implant position on the head. It was the FIRST sign ever used for CI though. The one with an "H" came after that from people who wanted to take away the vampire connotation.

(question removed so I could post it in your swimming with CI thread )

Okay, this was totally off topic. Sorry folks. :topic:

 

[jillio]

No, really....

Like the sign for "CI" that looks like the sign for "devil"?
Both "puns" are insulting !

btw... isn't Deaf community biased?? Isn't it all a matter of perspective?

Nope. Like an acronym. A.G. Bell Association for the Deaf. Guess the oralists didn't think that on all th eway through, either.

 

[shel90]

Nope. Like an acronym. A.G. Bell Association for the Deaf. Guess the oralists didn't think that on all th eway through, either.

LOL!

Many deaf people figured the initials out and now it is a great joke among the Deaf community.

The reason for this is cuz AGBad hurted so many deaf people so we dont have respect for this organization or the man this organization is named after.

Sorry, oralists but that's life. If something hurted u for life even damaging u, I am sure u would hate whatever hurted u for life. Do not put down deaf people for how we feel. We have every right to feel that way cuz of the crap many of us went thru thanks to this organization.

 

[deafbajagal]

There are folks who say that Adolf Hitler made some great contributions, especially in his earlier years, to society which was overshadowed and overlooked due the awful things he had inflicted upon the world.

A.G. Bell made some great contributions for the deaf population, really and truly. There are some things that he has done for which we are indebted. However, he is seen as by some of us as our own Hitler. Perhaps it was a reflection of his times and era. Perhaps he had the best intentions at heart. His organization lives on. I am a product of that organization, which is branded on me forever. They promote the "our way or the highway" philosophy of oral education. They blame any failures on the parents or the students themselves but take full credit for the little successes they do have. I've read their literature, watched their CDs/DVDs, and attended their conferences. I've observed the schools that used the organization as a backbone. I found time again and again that their resources were biased and more than half of the time the information was incomplete. For example, they used a girl for one of their promotions of using CI and having wonderful speech. She was one of the success stories. I actually knew her personally. She became deaf after the age of 7, AFTER she had acquired speech. After she had already been exposed to hearing sounds. No wonder she was a success! Whooohoooo! But they NEVER mention this fact, not even once. I've lost count of how many times I as a child was told that I didn't speak good enough because I didn't try hard enough. My parents kneeled down to this organization and took every advice to heart. When I finally learned how to use speech, they used me as some sort of trophy and I had to go around the country reciting the pledge of allegiance. I had to smile when people cried with joy over this "miracle." To this day I cannot bring myself to say or sign the pledge. The price that I paid in order to have good speech today was not worth it. If we could only turn back the clock.

But don't take my word for it. Ask my parents. They, too, will tell you that I learned how to speak really well. And they regret it. Recently my father got ahold of the Volta Review (I subscribe to this magazine (not considered as a journal in my opinion) because like in war, it's best to know what the enemy is saying on the other side) and thumbed through it. Then he looked at me with the saddest eyes. "It's all lies. If we had only known." I didn't know how to respond.

I have a few friends who are oral. They are really happy with what the organization has done for them. I'm sincerely happy for them. My "beef" with the organization is that they are not willing to accept that the oral method is not the best for every child and family. And when a family decides not to use the methods of their philosophy, a door is slammed in their faces.

 

[jillio]

There are folks who say that Adolf Hitler made some great contributions, especially in his earlier years, to society which was overshadowed and overlooked due the awful things he had inflicted upon the world.

A.G. Bell made some great contributions for the deaf population, really and truly. There are some things that he has done for which we are indebted. However, he is seen as by some of us as our own Hitler. Perhaps it was a reflection of his times and era. Perhaps he had the best intentions at heart. His organization lives on. I am a product of that organization, which is branded on me forever. They promote the "our way or the highway" philosophy of oral education. They blame any failures on the parents or the students themselves but take full credit for the little successes they do have. I've read their literature, watched their CDs/DVDs, and attended their conferences. I've observed the schools that used the organization as a backbone. I found time again and again that their resources were biased and more than half of the time the information was incomplete. For example, they used a girl for one of their promotions of using CI and having wonderful speech. She was one of the success stories. I actually knew her personally. She became deaf after the age of 7, AFTER she had acquired speech. After she had already been exposed to hearing sounds. No wonder she was a success! Whooohoooo! But they NEVER mention this fact, not even once. I've lost count of how many times I as a child was told that I didn't speak good enough because I didn't try hard enough. My parents kneeled down to this organization and took every advice to heart. When I finally learned how to use speech, they used me as some sort of trophy and I had to go around the country reciting the pledge of allegiance. I had to smile when people cried with joy over this "miracle." To this day I cannot bring myself to say or sign the pledge. The price that I paid in order to have good speech today was not worth it. If we could only turn back the clock.

But don't take my word for it. Ask my parents. They, too, will tell you that I learned how to speak really well. And they regret it. Recently my father got ahold of the Volta Review (I subscribe to this magazine (not considered as a journal in my opinion) because like in war, it's best to know what the enemy is saying on the other side) and thumbed through it. Then he looked at me with the saddest eyes. "It's all lies. If we had only known." I didn't know how to respond.

 

[Bebonang]

That is the sad truth of trying to tell parents and doctors along with audiologists. While we are not aware of AGBaD in the old days, the doctors and audiologists want us to hear and to speak with out ASL. It really was and still is a punishment for all of us Deafies and HOH to suffer while we are mainstream or in Deaf school. They have been fighting to have us fix all those years, but it is not working that way and never get us to hear clearly like the hearing do. When we have a broken hearing loss, it just stay that way and never get better. That is why we need to wake the parents and the doctors up and realize that having us fix is really not worth it and still have us being deaf for the rest of our lives. What we need to tell them is to move on and not fix us up anymore.

Thank heaven that just now that deafbajagal release how she had been going through with AGBad and she suffers all those years with trying to please hearies. That is punishment and the only solution is to make sure your child is happy with it or not. If you see the child not happy then stop and try to pick up ASL or sign language to communicate with the child. There is no quick fix and never will. I hope what I am saying make any sense to you about why all of us Deafies and HOH have gone through being suffering. Did we asked that we thanked the AGBaD for helping us to speak oral and lipread? No, we did not want to thank them for putting us through HELL.

 

[deafdyke]

Cloggy, sorry but AG Bad is extremely biased. It assumes that oral-first and oral only is the best thing in the world. It assumes that ALL families are lucky enough to be able to benifit from things like access to excellent medical care, access to good schools (most oral sucesses are the result of the ORAL schools, which are PRIVATE...not everyone can afford to move, not everyone can afford school fees etc) It pushes the myth that oral skills give complete and total access to the hearing world.
I bet you anything the number of AG Bell members who aren't extremely high acheiver types is very small. (what I mean by high achiver types are the type of families where every single moment is enrichred and programmed, and where its to be expected that kids go off to Harvard or some other very high achiever prestigious Ivy School)
Oh and Cloggy, MANY people in the Deaf community aren't ASL only seperatists...........you're just letting the extremity of a small number of extremists color your attitude. MANY of us here who ID as Deaf, are PERFECTLY ok with oral skills. We just don't think that dhh kids should be LIMITED to oral skills.
Bajadeafgirl...................AMEN! My parents also said that they should have given me a full toolbox.......Yes, we can hear and talk, but why the fuck should that be our ONLY tool?

 

[Cloggy]

......Yes, we can hear and talk, but why the fuck should that be our ONLY tool?

Watch out DD.... !!!

........ And clean up your language, please. Resorting to vulgarities is the technique of those that are unable to engage in productive discussion due to lack of knowledge.

 

[jillio]

Watch out DD.... !!!

On topic, please, cloggy.

And when you cut and paste a quote from me that appeared in another thread, please reference as such.

 

[undecisivegurl]

This is interesting that you guys brought up Alexander Graham Bell. He is not positively known at RIT/NTID because recently one of our dorm halls was called Alexander Graham Bell was changed to Robert Davhilia (sp) Hall. A lot of the deaf students complained that AGB did not represent the deaf community accordingly so they had to remove the name of the hall into something else.

I thought this was just wow... i mean, the guy did help provide many different things for the deaf however, I did not like his perspective about trying to 'fix' deaf people. I still don't think it's a big deal enough to remove the name from the hall. That's just my opinion anyway.

 

[shel90]

This is interesting that you guys brought up Alexander Graham Bell. He is not positively known at RIT/NTID because recently one of our dorm halls was called Alexander Graham Bell was changed to Robert Davhilia (sp) Hall. A lot of the deaf students complained that AGB did not represent the deaf community accordingly so they had to remove the name of the hall into something else.

I thought this was just wow... i mean, the guy did help provide many different things for the deaf however, I did not like his perspective about trying to 'fix' deaf people. I still don't think it's a big deal enough to remove the name from the hall. That's just my opinion anyway.

Curious..how is that helping deaf people by proposing them to get sterilized or the banishment of two deaf people getting married? Instead of respecting deaf people's communication needs, he thought of his own hearing needs. That is someone I could never ever respect. I feel so bad for the deaf people in those days under his regime. Yes, I may sound harsh but that's how I feel.

 

[Etoile]

Oh they changed it?! I know there was controversy about the dorm name, I didn't know they finally changed it.

Interesting that they named it after Davila, current president of Gallaudet...I thought mostly buildings are named after dead people!

 

[Boult]

Oh they changed it?! I know there was controversy about the dorm name, I didn't know they finally changed it.

Interesting that they named it after Davila, current president of Gallaudet...I thought mostly buildings are named after dead people!

They haven't changed yet... There is no change pending... nothing just that there will be a panel formed in May

 

[Miss-Delectable]

Sound like AGBAD's not above exploiting deaf children to futher their propaganda.

Wow, I can imagine so many parents regretting the decision to follow AGBAD's dictations only to find out their child has paid a huge cost.

I wonder if there'll be a class action suit against AGBAD someday? I'll be there sitting on the sideline and use the deaf cheer for the good guys.

 

[jillio]

Sound like AGBAD's not above exploiting deaf children to futher their propaganda.

Wow, I can imagine so many parents regretting the decision to follow AGBAD's dictations only to find out their child has paid a huge cost.

I wonder if there'll be a class action suit against AGBAD someday? I'll be there sitting on the sideline and use the deaf cheer for the good guys.

I actually never considered a class action lawsuit for damages caused by their philosophies. That would be an interesting proposition.

 

[deafbajagal]

Putting two pennies (2 cents) on the table. One thing I need to add...I think (this is my personal opinion here) that AGBell Association is a wonderful asset for people who have mild to moderate hearing loss. They have abundant resources that really are appropriate for people of this population, and I even use some of their ideas and methods when teaching children who are between being hearing and deaf - they don't hear enough to be hearing, but aren't deaf enough to be considered deaf. These are the children, in my professional and personal opinion, that often falls in the cracks of the education system. When it comes to severe to profound hearing loss, however, AG Bell cannot quite hit the nail with its hammer. (or I can use the ASL phrase, "Train Gone Sorry! Choo Choo!" because it misses the entire point.)

 

[deafbajagal]

By the way with my above posting...I feel like I just made some kind of confession to a priest of doing a dirty deed (e.g., using AG Bell's methods). *melodramatic voice* Forgive me, for I have done the wrong deed! Yes, I did. *putting head down for dramatic effect* Whispering: I used AG Bell methods in my classroom.

 

[shel90]

I actually never considered a class action lawsuit for damages caused by their philosophies. That would be an interesting proposition.

It would take some hard proof which will be very difficult.

 

[Chase]

The names Bell and Einstein are synonymous with twentieth century advances, beneficial to us all. Still, in my opinion, their ideas produced two monsters which got out of hand and may yet destroy us all: The telephone and the atom bomb.