It's an exciting time in the Deaf community. The
National Association for the Deaf is poised to announce the replacement for outgoing Executive Director Nancy Bloch any day now. Naturally the finalists for the position are a subject of interest and lively discussion in the community. NAD has held a special place in our hearts since
1880, when it was founded to fight for Deaf people's civil rights.
I'll be blunt here in my assessment. I cherish NAD. I cherish its proud history of preserving
ASL and the strong leaders it has helped to foster. I have fond memories of helping plan a Jr. NAD conference at my school when I was in high school.
George Veditz's 1913
speech about preserving ASL in the face of oralism and efforts to eradicate ASL still sends chills down my spine. Yes, it sends chills down my spine because of its beauty.
However...Veditz's speech also sends chills down my spine because it still rings true today. We are
still fighting powerful special interest groups that want to eradicate ASL and Deaf culture today.
And I blame NAD. Yes, you heard me. I believe that NAD bears part of the blame for this state of affairs.
Allow me to be clear. Special interest groups and corporations bear the vast majority of responsibility and blame for creating a state of affairs where they are allowed to promote a one-sided ideology so entrenched in our government and educational system that it is very difficult to wrest control away from them. They have created this monster that allows them to profit off us at every turn. They are more culpable here than anyone else.
BUT we entrusted NAD with the watchdog role. They failed and are failing us. We all bear responsibility for not paying attention earlier. But NAD really dropped the ball here. They stopped focusing on the big picture - the idea that we are perfectly fine the way we are and deserve to exist, and instead started to focus almost solely on communication access and employment. While these are important and NAD has made gains in these areas (most notably the recent committee passage of
HR 3101, the Internet captioning bill), they are only a small part of what NAD's mission originally was and needs to be again.
One excellent example of how NAD has failed us is
EHDI - Early Hearing Detection and Intervention. This is a government
program designed to identify newborn babies as Deaf, excuse me, diagnose babies with hearing loss. It is placed under the jurisdiction of the Center for Disease Control, as if being Deaf were a disease. NAD was part of the coalition that fought to establish this, because we all know that one of the best predictors of success for ANYONE is complete, unfettered access to language. So of course early detection seemed like a no-brainer. But since EHDI was founded, it has fallen under the control of
NCHAM, the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management at Utah State University. Management? That's right. Hearing is something to be managed! It is headed by Karl White of USU and he is VERY anti-ASL, based on what I've been told by people who have met with him directly over the past few years. Add to that the common knowledge in Deaf education circles that Utah is strongly tilted toward oralism. It becomes necessary to ask:
How did NAD allow EHDI to fall under the control of the Center for Disease Control and in the clutches of the National Center for Hearing Assessment and MANAGEMENT?
The answer: NAD was asleep at the wheel. But try talking to NAD employees, supporters, or ex-employees, and they'll point out that NAD has attended every single national EHDI conference. That's the right thing for them to do. They SHOULD be attending those conferences. But their going to every conference makes it even worse.
Why weren't they fighting for control? Why weren't they preventing well-funded corporate forces of oralism from seizing control of such an important government program AND our tax money? Why weren't they presenting at EHDI conferences? Why weren't they lobbying on our behalf at conferences? Why weren't they networking? The list of questions goes on and on.
There are many more examples of how NAD has lost its Deaf center. NAD has decided to try to be for "everyone." Mistake. NAD was for everyone before. The difference was that its mission and center were clear. Now its center is clear as mud. It's limited its focus to subsistence level. In trying to be for everyone, NAD forgot that almost every other organization to do with Deaf people has a clear focus and mission. The
Alexander Graham Bell Association is very clear in its focus, for example. NAD was the only nationwide organization that lobbied for culturally Deaf people who use ASL. Now by diluting itself, NAD has created a vaccuum that has yet to be filled. The
Deaf Bilingual Coalition has made major inroads in EHDI by focusing on the fact that every Deaf child's birthright is ASL/English bilingualism. They have presented at EHDI conferences, they have met with Karl White more than once, and lobbied for Deaf babies. But that's just one part of the big picture. The DBC came into existence because NAD isn't doing its job. Period. NAD needs to re-discover its center - stat! We NEED NAD to go back to where it was.
But every time someone challenges NAD to do what's right for the community, tons of NAD apologists crawl out of the woodworks, criticizing the person who raises valid questions. I've seen people accuse challengers, asking them what they've done for NAD. Today I saw someone exhort someone else to study the history of NAD... and, um, I think the person raised questions *precisely* because he *had* already studied the history of NAD. Other gems include: "NAD has done a lot for you." "Don't be a backseat driver." (to someone who HAS been trying to bring change!) "Why are you attending NAD events?" (Sheesh! If we don't go, we're criticized for not going. If we go, we're asked why we're here. We can't win!), and accusations of trying to divide.
For NAD apologists: I have several questions for you.
Are you satisfied with the status quo? Are you satisfied with the fact that the system is failing Deaf children at every turn? Are you satisfied with the fact that Deaf children are now a multi-billion dollar commodity? Are you satisfied with the fact that ASL is now a dirty word in all professional spheres having to do with Deaf children except for the few that practice ASL/English bilingualism? Are you satisfied that our teacher training programs and the body that establishes standards for such are firmly under the control of oralism? Are you satisfied with the fact that audiologists, who stand to profit off listening and speaking and not off ASL, are the point of contact for parents of newly identified Deaf babies nationwide? Are you satisfied with the fact that we are a divided community because of ill-conceived laws that divide us? Are you satisfied with the fact that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act explictly defines the least restrictive environment as mainstreaming with no support and schools for the Deaf as an absolute last resort after the child has failed everywhere else? Are you satisfied that the organization that is supposed to be our lobbying machine attended every EHDI conference but allowed it to fall in the hands of special interest groups? Are you satisfied that NAD has limited its focus to access and employment when we don't have an organization demanding respect for Deaf people just the way we are?
Well? ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE STATUS QUO???
I would *love* genuine answers to these questions from apologists.
These questions are also especially timely because NAD is going to get a new leader very soon, and the leader is key for steering NAD in the right direction. I, for one, DO NOT want the status quo. Howard Rosenblum was the only one of the three finalists who seemed to understand that NAD needs to re-discover its center, while bringing in needed money to survive and while continuing to fight for employment and access. I'm basing this on what they said during their presentations at the NAD conference
here,
here, and
here, and on DeafNation interviews
here,
here, and
here.
I love NAD. I post this and challenge NAD because I truly believe it has value in our community and our lives. If I didn't care, I wouldn't bother. That said...
Let's take back NAD! Let's make it truly Deaf-centered once again! Let's return NAD to its original mission!
