HB 1367...Please Read!

  Audism:  The notion that one is superior based on one’s ability to hear or behave in the manner of one who hears.

--Tom Humphries

  This is a post that I've been wanting to talk about for the past few weeks.  Recently, word has spread that the state of Indiana is getting closer to shut down the Indiana School of the Deaf.  The Bill HB 1367 were passed, it would mean less money focused on an education, environment and language that Deaf children thrive from and more money poured into cochlear implants.  This is once again reverting from the dreams of the Deaf community: to be equal to the world around them yet preserve their beautiful language and culture.  Deaf people are often "molded like hearing people to function" but from what I have learned through my four years of involvement in the Deaf community, most Deaf people are proud of their Deafhood.



Every month 15 babies in Indiana are born with hearing losses. 
A cochlear implant surgery costs between $40,000.00 and $100,000.00 per baby.
The estimation of MONTHLY revenue is $1,000,000.00. 
15 babies x $70,000.00 per cochlear implant surgery = $1,050,000.00 per month!

If HB 1367 were passed, the budget would enable the cochlear implant industries and Hear Indiana Chapter of AGBAD to multiply their profits. 

The state budget would be paying between $1,000,000.00 and $2,000,000.00 annually for AGBAD’s eugenics curricula especially the auditory verbal therapy (AVT), facilities, and tuition fees to for-profit schools like St. Joseph. 

The AGBAD’s curricula ban deaf babies’ human rights to use sign language, and this leads to low literacy among the majority of deaf children.

The AGBAD owns the EHDI system, and has a tight relationship with the cochlear implant industries. 

A cochlear implant industry has offered a reward of $150,000.00 to an organization for implanting the most babies per year.

-Indiana Deaf Education Coalition

   Why would we pour so much money into something that the Deaf community themselves don't want?  I'm really sad for them right now...  I am sad for the times that Deaf friends tell me they don't receive fair treatment because they're Deaf, I am sad when I see hearing people view Deaf people like they are "dumb" or "mute" and am I also sad that hearing people are trying to take away one of the most cherished parts of their community: their Deaf school.  A Deaf school provides a home; a place they feel they can be with other kids that have the same struggles through life or just the same experiences.  A Deaf school provides an education that is focused on their apt to learn visually.  A Deaf school also provides a central base for the Deaf community to gather and develop.

   I know that it must be scary for parents to have a child that is Deaf but I think that it happens far to often that these parents are not offered all of the options.  They automatically assume that their child needs to be "fixed" and to "fit" with the rest of the hearing world.  If they only knew!  The Deaf community is such a beautiful place to thrive, especially with the use of ASL.

   As an advocate of the Deaf community I ask, all that have read through this...please take two minutes of your time to fill out your name, email address and number.  There isn't any other step to take to sign the petition unless you would like to take a step further!

Click below to sign the petition! 
Just so you know...you don't have to live in Indiana to sign!  Also, this site gives more information about the Bill and the petition.

http://www.change.org/petitions/oppose-hb-1367?utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&utm_term=friends_wall

"When digging deeper, I find that the deaf community sees themselves as a linguistic minority, not disabled" -Robert Silva on Audism and Deaf culture

Read more about ISD's resistance against "Hear Indiana"

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/jun/07/no-headline---deafprotest/