Deaf Adventures in Johnson City

2009-03-20T10:54:00.001-05:00

http://ping.fm/rIUTx [http://ping.fm/7ZN77] nice i'm the first google result for tipton pub, they need to get twitter or a web site, someone inform them!

2009-03-10T08:59:00.001-05:00

I need a good baseball book to read to get myself pumped up for the upcoming season, any suggestions?

2009-03-10T08:57:00.003-05:00

my gosh, i love good sports non-fiction

2009-03-10T08:57:00.001-05:00

in the past few days in florida, i've been reading this book, The Blind Side, about football and i'm already stoked for the 2009 football season

2009-03-10T08:47:00.001-05:00

boo, not that there's anything wrong with google but I can only access google's sites on this airport's wifi

Why my hip-hop posse would include geeky people and a great college football coach

2009-01-23T18:38:00.001-05:00

Ah sorry about the geeky answers. The celebrities that I love are more from the internet. I also love sports hence the Tressel answer

Cali Lewis
She's hot and smart, knows her technologies.

Irina Slutsky
She's awesome, seems like a fun person to hang out with

Loic le Meur
so that if i wanted to go into business, I'd have a good person to guide me.

Jim Tressel
he's awesome, the leader of my favorite team

2009-01-21T00:54:00.001-05:00

http://ping.fm/sFimV holy shit, this is awesome photosynth of the inauguration

2008-12-22T15:50:00.000-05:00

wrapping gifts with my mama

New Site

2008-12-16T09:38:00.002-05:00

Alright guys, anyone that still has this blog in their rss feeds, I'm writing on www.lsrccrd.com/HireLouis now. you might as well drop this blog and add the other

2008-12-15T00:13:00.001-05:00

thinking that I definitely should start blogging/vlogging my job search experiences starting tomorrow :)

2008-12-10T11:08:00.001-05:00

spending the day cramming for my Business IT final and working on only 2.5 hours of sleep

2008-12-10T00:37:00.001-05:00

wired, studying for my Business IT final tomorrow night

2008-12-07T22:48:00.001-05:00

I swear, I'm addicted to social networking sites.... I'm wasting time that I should be using on my project... Yay, Procrastination!

Questions

2008-06-01T12:32:00.002-05:00

Hello readers, I apologize for the delay in between posts. I am having a hard time getting motivation to post on my blog more frequently. I thought of a good idea that might help motivate me to post more frequently. I'd love for you readers that are curious about deaf/HoH lifestyles and/or sign language to email me a question or send me a question through the comments on this blog. For each question that is asked, I will post a vlog entry answering the question.

Other future plans are to post at least a weekly vlog entry that teaches a common phrase in sign language so that learners can use that phrase or rehearse it.

I'm accepting all and any suggestion that you have for my site. I'm not really going to be writing any more posts about deaf pagers because I have one and I am satisfied with it. I think deaf tech issues is what I want to focus on and also deaf issues in the north eastern Tennessee area too. Feel free to post any suggestions in the comments below.

My very first customer review, Sprint BlackBerry Pearl 8130

2008-04-14T22:45:00.003-05:00

Here's a vlog post about my new BlackBerry purchased last month, I give it a 8 out of 10. I'm very satisfied with the camera and messaging services. If there's anything I missed, please let me have it in the comments! Thanks!

UPDATE:

well it seems that we have some night owls on my blog.

The difference between the 8130 and the 8330 is that the 8130 has a suretype system meaning that each key has 2 letters assigned to it. So there's a big learning curve in adopting to the Pearl from a qwerty keyboard.

I ordered my BB Pearl from sprintrelaystore.com and am using the data-only plan. It is a steal because I am getting EVDO high speed internet access. And it allows for tethering to laptops at no extra charge.

One of my favorite things about the pearl is that it's so small and can easily fit in my pocket. It felt so weird transitioning from a sidekick to this because there was no bulky device in my pocket. it's very nice and very powerful for such a small device.

asking the Deaf community what smartphone is the best?

2008-03-16T21:15:00.002-05:00

Vlog post asking for suggestions for a good smartphone because my sidekick 3 broke a few weeks ago. Considering iPhones and blackberries. I'd like to get a forum started in the comments if possible.

BlackBerries with Wifi and 3G

2008-03-12T11:03:00.002-05:00

come on! make it happen!

Driving myself crazy looking up a BlackBerry Curve with both wifi and 3G. I guess it's not happening. Any suggestions?

recruiting deafies for Seesmic

2008-03-11T09:56:00.002-05:00

hello! If you're interested in being part of the seesmic community, please contact me and ask for an invitation code. You can also get more information by going to "Deaf Seesmic" on facebook groups. I encourage you to come join and participate!

here's a signer's response to my video.

data only phone plans cont'd

2008-03-10T17:08:00.001-05:00

The rentless pursuit for a data-only phone plan continues. I'm not
seeing any phone plans available from verizon that is data-only.

So far there are three wireless companies that provide data-only plans
that I'm aware of.

T-mobile (coverage sucks in the southeast, especially in the Johnson
City, TN area and carolinas)

Sprint (must verify deafness, to get unlimited data. However rumors of
the company going under are rampant due to lack of business and poor
customer service)

AT&T (comparable data-only plan but with a messaging limit of 5000 per
month. must verify deafness too. but has gotten me upset because plan
does not include iPhones or blackberries)

UPDATE: my mistake, I thought Sprint Relay had to verify deafness but they don't.

Social Networking is getting big

2008-03-10T09:21:00.004-05:00

The definition of social networking according to wikipedia is

A social network service uses software to build online social networks for communities of people who share interests and activities or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others.

Here's one example of one of the more popular social networking sites. I have been using this the longest and it remains my favorite site to keep in touch with family, friends and co-workers.

Facebook

My favorite thing to do when I'm not at a computer is to send messages to twitter. I can look up other users by interests and track certain keywords. One example of a keyword I've been tracking is "key west." I'm anxious to see how it does and how much I can learn about key west by the time i get there on the 19th. Of course, my explanation does not do twitter justice. Just play with it!

twitter

some new social networking sites that I'm playing with right now and liking

tumblr

similar to twitter but has the potential to be much more because you're able to post any kind of content including text, pictures, and video from your mobile phone as well as your computer. I'm looking forward to utilizing this site when I get a new video-capable phone. I can't wait.

seesmic

I've heard this explanation of seesmic as "twitter with video" You're able to have conversations and post videos of any sort. I'm looking forward to seeing how I can utilize seesmic as a tool for communication in the deaf community. it'd be so easy for deaf users to post videos and communicate with each other and carry on conversations. Currently in alpha development stage so you have to sign up and wait to get an invitation code before you can start using this wonderful site.

I plan to get a flickr pro account and hopefully utilize the social networking capabilities with this great photo sharing site. Again, I'm limited because my camera phone is nonexistent and my digital camera sucks plus inability to pony up 20 bucks. Plus my account is kinda sad right now.

Don't get me started on Myspace. I have a myspace account but I barely use it.

Playing with seesmic

2008-02-26T15:50:00.003-05:00

Alright, I'm wondering how this will work...I think this is going to be fantastic for the deaf community to communicate back and forth. I'm happy and excited to be a part of the alpha community.

seesmic does have its limitations. There are no subtitles or captioning options for deaf viewers to watch people using voice. I think that seesmic could embrace the potential of being a huge part of the online deaf community.

One way to do this is putting up an language option for "American Sign Language" in order for signers to be able to find each other more easily once seesmic goes final. I'm not sure if I'm the only one using seesmic that can sign but I'd welcome the opportunity to try to communicate with another deaf friend through seesmic.

Anyways Here's my first seesmic video. I'm just introducing myself as Louis Ricciardi, living here in Johnson City and explaining that I'm curious how this site will benefit the deaf community. I tried to voice for myself a little bit. Sorry if you can't understand my voice or I'm not loud enough. Anyway let me know what you think of the concept!

update: wow i just posted my video 30 minutes ago and I already have 9 replies. I haven't had a chance to see them all but I appreciate the positive response!

Musings on Christmas Eve

2007-12-24T14:29:00.001-05:00

So here's a comprehensive list of what I'm getting for Christmas:

50 inch High Definition Plasma Television
17 inch MacBook Pro fully pimped out
Sony HD Camcorder
5.2 mp slim digital camera
1 year's paid cable and internet service with High Definition programming thrown in from Comcast
unlocked iPhone
wireless broadband card for my macbook from Sprint so i can get internet from anywhere
a slingbox so I can watch tv on my laptop from anywhere
$500 dollar gift certificate to Oasis Coffee in Johnson city http://www.oasiscoffeehousejc.com/
a Job at Google waiting for me after I graduate from ETSU
a tech-savvy girlfriend that knows sign language and loves football (Cleveland browns fan is a must). think iJustine crossed with Erin Andrews and Marlee Matalin minus the Pittsburgh roots and any connection to Michigan whatsoever. (if you don't know any of these names, just Google em)

Alright, that's not a real list of what I'm getting for Christmas but it'd be nice if I did. I came up with this list while sitting here at Panera, trying to get over a little cold and sipping on a hot and delightful coffee. I'm just pondering about all of this stuff going on this time of year. It's Christmastime and a lot of things are going on. Most people are off for the holidays, they're doing their last minute shopping, visiting family and friends and trying to stay warm.

I've somewhat done all of the above, but I've also done some reminiscing on the past semester. Fall 2007 was a very difficult time for me. I was overwhelmed with schoolwork while trying to balance a social life and taking care of myself and "my" dog at the same time.

This past semester was my first semester in graduate school. I'm working toward a master's degree in computer science, IT concentration. It was a successful semester for me because I was able to pass all my classes, ensuring that I had just survived the toughest course load of the computer science curriculum. This meant that the next 3 semesters will be less difficult.

Along the way, I had to manage some rocky patches because my classes required a lot of group work. Scheduling interpreters for impromptu group meetings are no easy task. 5 days notice is usually required in order to schedule an interpreter. This was more stressful than most of my class assignments. However it was a lesson learned in how to manage group work and this is critical in gaining experience for future endeavors both educationally and professionally.

Also, my job at the College of Nursing is awesome. I'm having a great time working with the people there and putting my skills to use.

This is an experience that I will talk more about later down the line. There were a lot of other things that I experienced. I've started going to a new church called Highlands Fellowship in Johnson City. It's been a great experience in improving my relationship with Christ. I've gotten sidetracked in the past couple of years from following God but now I'm working on getting myself back on track and it's been awesome to be part of this community these past few months. The best part? It's interpreted so come down every Sunday at 11:00 a.m. if you're deaf or if you're just around then come down and worship the Lord with us. I don't usually preach my faith on anybody and I probably won't do so that much but it's been a great experience for me so I want everyone to feel the way I do about going to church.

This is not my typical blog entry, usually writing about my struggles as a Deaf person, because it's a time to be happy, to feel joy and just try to celebrate the reason for the season. I know it's cliche but there's a reason why i didn't seriously ask for any of the items on the wish list above to my loved ones. It's not the time for asking or getting. it's a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. I don't call it Xmas, i call it "Christmas."

I don't fully understand everything about Christianity nor do I think i ever will. But, I believe that it's going to be a lifelong journey in trying to practice my faith and trying to figure out our roles in this world. I question my faith occasionally but it's that time of the year where we deserve peace of mind and surround ourselves with love and happiness. I hope that whoever reads this takes my advice and just celebrate what you've got and the reason for the season.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Information about communicating with deaf and

2007-10-26T10:59:00.000-05:00

This blog entry gives out info that anyone that is curious about that relates to hearing loss and deafness might find helpful

http://www.ke5ter.com/archives/2007/10/25/webpage-with-good-info-about-deaf-people

New Blog for Johnson City Deaf Activities

2007-10-24T10:21:00.000-05:00

Hi, I've started a new blog for Johnson City deaf events and potential events that the deaf and friends around the NE TN area can organize a trip to. We have an event this friday. Check the link out for more info!

http://jcdeafies.blogspot.com/

British Sign Language basic Questions!

2007-08-06T10:53:00.001-05:00

For anyone familiar with ASL, this shows a very different style of sign language especially from a country that shares the same spoken and written language as the USA. Some of the British Signs are recognizable but other signs are very dramatically different, its an interesting study in how signed languages contrast in different countries.

read more | digg story

Deaf community creates its own language

2007-07-10T13:26:00.001-05:00

In this isolated traditional community a form of inherited deafness has been passed down from one generation to the next for the last 70 years. As a result, an indigenous signed language has sprung up, evolving among the deaf villagers as a means of communication. But what is so striking is that many hearing villagers can also speak it.

read more | digg story

Amazon Unbox Videos Have No Captions or Subtitles

2007-07-10T13:21:00.001-05:00

As a Deaf technology geek, i love my tivo, unfortunately its disappointing to find out that closed captioning isn't provided on the Amazon Unbox service. Please bring attention to the lack of consideration by the large corporations for the deaf and hard of hearing population! Not just for Amazon but for movie theaters nationwide....

read more | digg story

gym class heroes, rolling rock and facebook

2007-03-16T21:33:00.000-05:00

I've been living in Johnson City for about 8 months now. I'm beginning to come to the realization that there isn't anything for me here in this town besides earning my master's degree. The closest friends i've made here are from my interpreters and although I'm starting to talk to more people from my classes and i'm beginning to network as well. In spite of all this, I'm still lacking a social life that is independent of my sister's.

There's been a lot happening since the last time I posted an actual blog entry. I made it through the fall semester and am now trying to survive the spring semester. There are some courses that I'm enjoying but they're not any easier though. I like the teachers that i have though. Believe it or not i do like sanderson in my database class but i'm not too fond of his lectures. Tarnoff continues to be my favorite teacher even though I bombed my first project in his class this semester.

I'm also taking my first graduate class this semester. Its challenging which is nice. The thing about having this workload is that it'll effectively prepare me for taking graduate classes full time next semester and prepare myself for the work that I will have coming. I'm not used to writing papers, especially those that are related to technology and businesses but it will be a good tune up.

I've also started using transliteration in my graduate classes. For those of you that don't know what transliteration is, it involves the use of a transcriber typing almost all of what is being said to the best of the transcriber's typing and receptive abilities. I am happy with my services so far this semester. Not only do I get to read what is going on in classes, i also get a transcript of my transcriber's typed notes emailed to me later that week.

Its a very dramatic change compared to having sign language interpreters in my class. With interpreters my eyes tend to get tired after long periods of time especially with lectures. When I consider the situation that I'm in, i think that i've chosen the right services because i take a class before my graduate class with the transcriber and sometimes there would be a lecture before my 3 hour graduate class so therefore it offers up a change of pace in terms of reception of the course material.

I should explain how transcribing works in the classroom. there is a transcriber that types nearly everything that is being said in the classroom. It works between two laptops wirelessly, I read what is being said on a laptop provided by disability services. There is a software program called typewell and it allows two laptops to communicate wirelessly between each other and read what the other laptop is typing.

This is not intended to be anti-sign language interpreters because I still wouldn't want to take all my classes with a transcriber. I love how I am able to interact with my classes through my interpreters as opposed to through the transcriber. It seems more natural to sign and communicate with the teacher and class through the interpreters as opposed to having to type what I want to say to my teacher in my graduate class. This particular awkward situation happens almost every week when the professor calls on me to answer one of his questions.

In that situation i am aware that there is some lag time with what is said verbally and then typed. The teacher calls on me and asks me a question. By the time he has asked me the question, the first word is just then being typed on my laptop computer. I can detect the awkward silence while the class waits for me to answer the question through the computer and wait for my transcriber to voice what my answer is. It feels so unnatural and weird that I am restricted in how I interact with the classroom and even small groups.

Yet for a 3 hour night class I wouldn't have it any other way because this is a lecture intensive course that relies on notes from the lectures in the classroom. Because of this I'm doing fine in my first graduate course ever and should get through it just fine.

As for my other experiences in Johnson City, my job at Salsarita's is going alright. Serving toppings on burritos and tacos has never been more exciting. No one really gives me a hard time even if i have to ask them to repeat themselves, whether it be my manager, co-workers or customers. I try to give the best service I can give them and they usually respond understandingly and start working with me.

I have no complaints about Salsarita's. The food is good, its laid back, but of course anything after Giant Eagle would be laid back. I can put the tvs on any sports that I wanna see usually. For example today at work i just switched the tvs to the NCAA tournament and there was no fuss. Yep its nice.

In spite of all this, i remain lonely. I will admit I'm hungry for some socialization that will spawn itself and start branching out into more options for me. This is the case for a deaf man in a town where deaf events are very very limited and deaf peers or signing peers are few and far between especially those that are at my age. If i could travel to knoxville or atlanta I would but money is an issue at this point in my life that it restricts my traveling expenses.

I was in ohio last week for a few days on spring break. I was talking to my mom about the girls i've been with. Its starting to get weird because now she's criticizing me for the girls i've either dumped or just "lost." I'm not in my 30's or anything, i don't think i'm old enough to have my own mother start criticizing the relationship decisions that I make. It's insane but there are several factors that go into the decisions i've made about relationships or the girls i've dated. I'm pretty picky, to say the least. I've only dated one girl since i've been in town and I don't anticipate there'll be much more girls that I date while i'm here. In order to be "Louis Material" a girl needs several traits; intelligence, personality, willingness to learn sign or knows sign language, is open-minded, and is aware of the need intimacy in a relationship with me.

Yeah it also helps if that girl lives within a 25 mile radius, and I doubt I'll meet a girl like that by the time I'm done at ETSU. This shows why I'm so anxious to move to a large city where there will be a large and deaf-friendly population, unlike the one in Johnson City. There are three dream spots that I hope to go to after my time at ETSU, they are Washington D.C., Columbus, OH and anywhere in the Bay area of California.

But my priorities will go to wherever i get a job offer from. I need to get a job first and I hope it's going to be in a large city. This is where i'm commiting the rest of my future to. My time in Johnson City is going to be short and sweet, regardless of the outcome.

Reintroducing Deaf Adventures

2007-02-22T11:24:00.000-05:00

It's time for me to resurrect my blog, sometime within the next few weeks I'll have some actual posts about my experiences with my classes this semester, my spring break trip to Las Vegas, and life in general as a deaf person of course. so stay tuned....

Deaf culture vs. the general deaf population?

2006-10-11T19:58:00.000-05:00

As you read this I want you to be aware of the definition of Deaf and how it differs from the definiton of deaf. Deaf refers to a culture of deaf individuals that identify themselves as an actual culture much similar to foreign nation's cultures because they have distinct types of behavior and traits that are picked up from being around each other in a community. deaf refers to all deaf people in general including those involved with Deaf culture and those not involved in the culture.

this is my take on the whole gallaudet university protest. i have had a chance to follow this for the past 2 weeks. I got an email from the ohio deaf times newsletter notifying me of Dr. Jane Fernandes' nomination for the president of Gallaudet University beginning when I King Jordan steps down at the end of this year. There are a lot of relevant sources of information and opinions about this event. They can be found at these websites

www.deafdc.com
google deaf news
www.deaftoday.com

now when i recieved this news, i reacted in a ho-hum way, but not dismissive of this news. I simply pointed it out to another deaf colleague of mine and for the moment was glad that Gallaudent had picked their next president.

The next day i started reading news about some protest and controversy over Fernandes' selection to be the next president. I was apprenhesive about this protest and still regarded Fernandes with a open mind. I thought it'd blow over in a few days.

However as the days went by. I started recieving a ton of emails from my deaf newsletters about this controversy surrounding Fernandes. I don't know the backgrounds of the presidential candidates but i was surprised that there was such a huge commotion over the selection of the new President.

There was a reason the board of trustees was formed and I know that they would go on to do a good job in finding the best candidates that is the most qualified for Gallaudet University and the best person to lead the new generation of Deaf/deaf students. They wanted to avoid what happened with the Deaf President Now movement and pick the best person to lead the only deaf university in the country.

Based on what i've heard, I King Jordan was a great leader for Gallaudet University. He will be missed on the campus and outside in the Deaf community.

I started writing the above after finding out about the Gallaudent President protest in May. My initial feelings were that the Gallaudet students were trying to establish another successful legacy like in the DPN protest and get their footprints set in the History of Deaf Culture.

Now that the protests have escalated to their boiling point including a shut down of the Gallaudet University campus, I reflect back to what the initial argument is all about. I keep hearing a lot of conflicting views about deafness and how Deaf culture applies into this protest of the incoming president. As I've said, there was the possibility of JKF(the incoming president-elect) not being "Deaf" enough. Or there was the possiblity of not saying "hi" to the powerful students on campus and having that strike a nerve.

I know that I am not in the right to make a judgement here. I am trying to make sense of all the issues in this protest. I don't fully understand why Jane Fernades isn't qualified enough to at least warrant a chance to lead the University. I have no "politicial" power in or around Deaf culture or deaf communities, I am just one person that is deaf and is trying to make his mark in today's world.

From the other perspectives i've read about this protest, the students involved are very passionate enough about it that they started a shutdown of some of the important buildings on campus so that they could lock down the campus and not get anyone involved on campus into a "conflict of Interest." They really feel that they're benefiting the future good of Gallaudet University and Deaf culture itself.

I considered going to Gallaudet University for graduate school. I went to visit last november and it was a great experience getting involved and meeting some new people. I made the decision later on not to attend Gallaudent University because it wasn't the right time for me to do so. However I look back at what if i had decided to attend Gallaudent University, where would I be on this topic? I don't honestly know, i'm not there but sometimes I wish I could be so I could see how this ends up and If it benefits the good of deaf not Deaf people everywhere.

I truly am not against the Deaf culture because this is a great community that has helped me figure out what I am in today's world but I don't feel like i belong just yet. I probably won't ever belong because I am my own culture, an hybrid of cultures. I see myself as a deaf person, i don't see myself wanting to improve only the Deaf culture but I want to improve the lives of deaf people in general.

The Deaf culture has helped establish many of the things that benefit our everyday lives, there are organizations that are focused on Deaf culture to fight for the everyday rights of deaf people. I want to help with that and improve the everyday rights.

What this has to do with the presidential protest? I want the outcome to be positive for all deaf people, not just the Deaf culture. We don't need a setback to bring negative attention for deaf people all over the world.

Everything that the Deaf culture does out in the spotlight affects how deaf people are perceived. I can remember an example of negative attention from something that occured because of something from Deaf culture. It was Gallaudet's homecoming of last year and a group of deaf people were causing mischief and causing a ruckus in a hotel despite repeated attempts of hotel staff to cease their actions, they were disturbing the peace and it was chronicled in the washington dc newspapers. I was geniunely embarrased when i found out about this incident.

I realize that this isn't a situation involving mischief but a very serious situation with deaf students and alumni as well as staff fighting passionately for something they believe in. I just don't want the outcome to have negative repercussions for deaf people the world over. I wish both the board of trustees and the protestors the best of luck in reaching a compromise so that it benefits the good of deaf people in general.

Deaf adventures at ETSU - The Scene

2006-10-01T23:04:00.001-05:00

This is an article I wrote for the East Tennesseean, school paper about deaf life at ETSU. It was edited for length, A lot of the things I write about on this blog are really detailed.

Deaf adventures at ETSU - The Scene

60 minutes of pure crap on TV(grey's anatomy ;) ), laundry and an unused videophone

2006-09-21T20:39:00.000-05:00

As I was loading my laundry into the communal washing machines here at my apartment building, I flashed back to the most humbling moment of my life. It didn't have anything to do with football as may be expected from competing against superior athletes and always getting knocked down by 300 pound behemoths. My most humbling moment was a lot more personal than football. It rocked me down to my core, caused me to lose a lot of my confidence and shook up everything that I perceived about myself.

Now growing up I always thought there was one sign language, not American Sign Language, not Signing Exact English not even foreign countries' sign language. I just thought the sign language that I used was my own language and everyone that knew sign used it. That perception became more stronger as I crossed back into my own school district and started school in an all-hearing school where I continued to think that there was still only one type of sign language, mine.

going into high school that perception changed when I tried to take French as a foreign language for my foreign language requirement to graduate high school. I dropped it after the first day of classes cuz the interpreter and I couldn't keep up with everything that was going on. So a decision was made. My interpreter would teach me American Sign Language as a foreign language for my graduation requirement.

It wasn't that hard of a step for me, I was able to understand what was being signed but the most difficult part was signing everything correctly and in their proper syntax. Just like a foreign language only you need to sign everything in their right order. I was just 15 or so at the time but little did I know that ASL was making me the person I am now. So with what I learned with those classes, I came away from high school with a unfounded confidence that I knew ASL and that would only build.

Shortly after high school, I began college. I had the opportunity to meet several deaf students that went there. It wasn't a tight-knit deaf community at the university of Findlay but I got by ok because I was used to the hearing world. I had a chance to get to know several students at findlay through another person that I met during the first weekend that knew sign language. So I sorta had a little circle of friends through that person. Everyone was sorta learning some sign language. It wasn't any different from what I went through during junior high and high school. Everyone was sorta learning sign language but not fully. I could appreciate the fact they made the effort.

As the years went by, I took an ASL class my freshman year, stayed involved with the ASL club which had basically dwindled to nothing because it became stagnant but I stayed involved because it gave me something to belong to socially. I thought I was the shit when I was involved in this group but I didn't like any of the responsibilities that came from being involved. I was at some point the vice president or the treasurer over my years with the club and I wasn't much of either in my responsibilities. But regardless it built up my skills in ASL.

During my senior year at Findlay, I took and "audited" a class because I didn't want to worry about any homework responsibilities. But that class was a 1 or 2 credit hour class and it involved going to several different elementary schools in the town of findlay and teaching several choice classes of kids sign language. It was a lot of fun and one of my most rewarding experiences of my life. I have never been comfortable around children that I didn't know especially large groups of them. However they seemed very interested in me and learning "to talk with their hands."

I took all of these experiences back with me when I moved back home after I graduated from the university of findlay. I had a lot to build on. Yet I was unable to find a decent jobs or get any interviews. I felt extremely unqualified. This went on for over a year. Until I finally got a job that I thought would catapult me into the professional life, I was sadly mistaken. This job gave me a chance to be a case manager at a deaf resource center in a slightly small city. It wasn't what I expected. I drove a hour and 15 minutes to get to this job two times a week. However In my dealings at my job I had the chance to meet several disadvantaged deaf people and learned a lot from them. Then through this job I learned of the Ohio Association for the Deaf conference that happened biennially.

It is a very educative workshop that informed us of plenty of resources that are available to the deaf population. But also it was the site of "Miss Deaf Ohio 2005." I had a chance to get to know several of these girls. Well actually I got to talk to all of the contestants since there were only 3 of them. I spent most of the weekend getting to know the people involved with OAD's conference and not only the contestants but the people behind the pageant. We got to hang out socially in between activities and also I got to hang out with some of these people late at night both nights that I was there.

The night I'll remember the most is my last night at the conference. It had basically wrapped up and I was just spending the night there before heading home. I was glad I did even though there was nothing to stay for the next day. I got to stay up late chatting with several of the people that attended the conference and some of them were the pageant contestants and former contestants. We had stayed up chatting about everything. I had a chance to show that I really enjoyed my time there and I really did.

As I was talking about a various topic, most likely deaf culture or sign language I cannot remember but the reaction to me was this, someone told me to "turn my voice switch off." Its a deaf thing where you gesture to turning a switch on your tongue to mimic turning off your voice because I was really signing and using my voice at the same time, which I'm sure was annoying some of these people who are heavily involved with the deaf culture. It caught me off guard and I was speechless. She had said it was ok but it wasn't necessary for me to use my voice since everyone there was deaf. It was an habit, I explained but I realized it wasn't necessary for me to really use my voice though.

So as I stammered in trying to explain myself, an older member of the group we were conversing in stepped in and explained that it was ok. But she did notice some things about me as the weekend went on. She understood that I hadn't really been involved much with any aspect of the deaf community except when I was in elementary school with other deaf students. It was more an issue of how I was behaving around these girls. I admit I was kind of lingering around them a lot over the weekend. I didn't know that it was that noticeable. My explanation for this was that I was so excited to be hanging out around peers of my age and also that they were very pretty girls so there was some flirting involved so naturally I as a guy with no communication barriers couldn't resist.

But her exact quotes were "you're trying too hard."

That really surprised me still. Someone had the audacity to be that blunt and tell me something undesirable about myself. But she was honest with me, and I appreciated that. I might have not been able to see that about myself if not for that experience but when I got involved with the deaf community I have to be respectful of the language and culture and not try to get involved every which way that I can. No matter what a group or culture does, it isn't necessary for it to sway as I sway, nor should it happen at all.

Looking back on this experience, I took the chance and really improved myself and tried to surround myself with the deaf culture as much as I could possibly do. The difference was I was the student and not the expert. I got involved with the Kent state ASL club and the Deaf/ASL culture there and I'm glad I did. This was the basis of the honing of my ASL experience. I was able to meet with several of these people for various activities at least once a week and I had never been happier socially.

This experience I had at the deaf conference led to me being a better rounded person and gave me the humbling experience I needed to become better at ASL. From this was a springboard to being able to Teach the beautiful language at the University of Akron, from which I am grateful for.

In my honest opinion, I don't think you can truly know American Sign Language until you understand the culture behind it. This language isn't just a word for every sign. The language involves signing concepts and actions, it is painting a picture and turning it into a movie. That is exactly what you do with your body when you are fluent in American Sign Language, you're able to describe the most emotional moments with every heartbreaking detail or the most exciting action movie ever created can be just as exciting when described in American sign language. It truly is a language of its own which I hope everyone around me and the world over can start to appreciate.

It wasn't until my humbling experience that I started to see ASL for what it really was. Even as I type this, I know that I have more to learn about this language and more to learn about the deaf culture. I hope that in my future adventures that I can make this a reality for myself and many others.

a cold bottle of water, a used napkin and a pillow on the floor

2006-09-19T22:14:00.000-05:00

Thought I'd get some questions started with some that I usually get from the random people i meet as i go about my life.

"Were you born deaf?" "How long have you been deaf?" "How did you become deaf?"

I've been deaf all my life, I was born deaf. The reason for my deafness is really unknown but if i had to guess i'd venture to think that it'd be some nerve problems or undeveloped ear crap.

"How did you learn sign language?" "How old were you when you learned sign language?"

I started going to a special day care for deaf and "hearing impaired" children where the staff taught me sign language. I don't remember how i learned but thats what i'm told by my mom. I was 18 months old when i started going to the day care.

"Did your family learn sign language?"

yes, my parents upon finding out that I was deaf enrolled in some sign language classes. I believe they were SEE(signing exact english). That was the basis of the signs that I knew as i grew up into a ugly teenager. Awkward signs as i signed every single word in the english dictionary except for the words that i didn't know and if i didn't know the word i'd just fingerspell it.

"Did you have to go to a special school?"

Yes up to the 6th grade I was placed in a school where it was a half hour to a hour's bus ride from my house depending on all the 'special needs' kids that were on the route. we'd go through so many towns that i wouldn't get home for so long and it was absolutely exhausting and i hated those bus rides. Coming home with my mom or dad was more exciting than a freaking bus ride. Anyway the school had classes for deaf students my age at the time. The teacher knew sign language and come to think of it, 4th grade or 5th grade was the time of one of the most awkward moments of my elementary school education when our teacher used her own experiences in teaching us sex education. and then in 6th grade i was moved to a hearing class full time after being mainstreamed in hearing classes for my reading and english classes. I was more advanced than most of my deaf peers so I was learning at a quicker rate and was able to get into hearing classes full time in 6th grade with peers that were my age. I always felt that i could've made it if i was one grade level higher in my hearing classes than what I was and still do to this day. so anyway in 7th grade i was moved to the school in my own school district so not only was i with hearing students my own age, I was with students that lived near me and was able to hang out with after school. I got to play football, basketball and track and field. It was at this point i really separated myself from the "deaf culture" that i was in during elementary school with my fellow deaf students at Paul C Bunn. So i was deaf in a hearing world from that point on.

"Did you have an interpreter in school?"

yes starting with my classes that I mainstreamed in during my elementary school years, i would have an interpreter accompany me to my classes with the hearing students. In 7th grade through 12th I had a full time interpreter for all of my classes. When I attended the University of findlay i would have about 3 or 4 different interpreters throughout my 4 years there but towards the end i had only one interpreter at the end of the fall semester of my senior year and then a different interpreter for all of the last semester of college. Here at East Tennessee State University, I have as many as two interpreters during my classes depending on how detailed the lectures go. If my class isn't a lab then i'll usually get two interpreters for a two hour class. Its pretty posh here haha its strange having an interpreter switch with each other during the middle of the lectures but i can understand that they get tired after prolonged periods of signing straight up.

Well I can't think of any more questions but i don't want this to be the end of question time! I want to answer as many as your questions as possible and yes they're flooding in ;) maybe. Surely this can't satisfy your curiousity about deafness and sign language. I'm really enjoying this opportunity to tell more about myself and the feedback I have recieved has been really positive so many thanks for all the support.

employment, finally....

2006-09-19T16:01:00.000-05:00

I just wrapped up an interview with the owner of salsarita's on franklin
in johnson city. If you haven't heard of that or don't know where that
is, its a new restaurant that hasn't opened yet and they serve cuisine
similar to chipotle( for all my northern friends). I had a opportunity
to eat a burrito for the first time from there at their other location
near the mall and it was delicious, let me tell ya.

I guess having the experience I have from panera is finally kicking in
and I have orientation on saturday morning. I don't know what I'll be
doing just yet but it sounds like 25-30 hours a week and that's pretty
good so far and I guess that's good enough to get the rent paid
hopefully.

it makes me wonder how well I can work doing that "assembly line" at
Salasrita's because its exactly like chipotle or similar to subway in
how they have the options set up for what you want on your sandwich, so
hopefully I'll be able to work that assembly line without infuriating
any customers. that's the question I'll be stuck with until I start
working at salsaritas in a week or two.

Well that's my good news of the month, after reading several of your
comments and private messages, you seemed worried about my wellness but
I don't intend to indicate that I'm bitter about my life here because
that's not the case at all.

I'm happy..... for now ;)

while waiting for my class to start....

2006-09-19T13:15:00.000-05:00

I came across this idea, I've met a lot of people that are geniunely interested about deafness and sign language. I'd like to start a little something on this blog which will be an Q & A situation. If you've got a question about deafness( i.e. were you born deaf?) or sign language (i.e. how do you sign "learn and teach" ) I'll be glad to put that question in my blog and answer it for all to see and know. please email me questions at lsrccrd@aol.com I'd be glad to answer as many of your questions as possible

super bass headphones, empty sonic cups and a sleeping dog

2006-09-16T23:07:00.000-05:00

Well I'm sitting here reminiscing on my night. Just got myself a strawberry limeade from sonic and listening to some music on iTunes through my headphones. I'm sitting next to the dog which is sleeping so that explains the title of my blog. It was a "OK" night for me. I got out of the apt for a while.

Being new in Johnson City isn't an easy process for me, especially as a deaf person. My motivation for coming to JC was to start over somewhere else since I wasn't making it back in Youngstown(the area where I'm from). I've been given a great opportunity to go back to school to earn my master's degree and I am not taking that for granted. But with all these opportunities come a price. There's more communication barriers that I need to over come. In Youngstown, I had 24 years of breaking communication barriers around my community and I still had to compromise most of what other hearing people take for granted. No matter how much pride I had in being able to "speak" and lipread in terms that I'm able to communicate as well as a regular hearing person in certain situations, I had to push that pride aside when a person didn't understand my voice and bring out a paper and pen which is my last resort of communicating. I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with communicating through pen and paper though, it's better than not being able to communicate at all so I'll take it.

tonight, I went out with my sister to some of her track friend's apt to watch a football game. There were a bunch of people from the track team that I wasn't familiar at all with and they had never met me before this semester. Its great to meet people that are genuinely interested in learning more about deafness and sign language as was the case tonight. I got to tell a little about myself with the help of my sister to this group. I am happy to educate anyone about deafness and sign language, people tend to think that they're being stupid by asking me these questions like "were you born deaf?" or "how much can you hear?" These kinds of things are things I'm glad to tell about. So we talked for a few minutes about sign language. I was asked if I could sign in Spanish, and I replied with a prompt "no." The conversation continued for a little while and then it changed to another subject so I quickly became a wallflower again. I'm not bitter about it, I'm just used to it. 24 years of being deaf in the hearing culture will do that to you. There are hundreds and hundreds, perhaps thousands of identical situations that I've experienced.

Standing back and letting the other people talk while you just sit patiently trying to keep yourself entertained isn't hard to do. Today I had the UT and Florida game to keep myself entertained while the conversation continued so I was fine with that. But in other situations where there's nothing else going on beyond the conversation I usually have to use my sidekick or laptop if I have it to keep myself busy. But then the game ended so it was time for me to go home. I had met a few new people that are pretty cool and as a result I'm going to church with some of them tomorrow morning.

My goal for tonight's blog was not to tell you about my night but to tell you what I experience socially and have always experienced socially when I go out with my hearing friends. Don't consider this as an injustice but consider it as part of my life that I've come to accept. I'm not the only one that goes through this, there are plenty of deaf people out there that experience this, they might be more outgoing so they probably get themselves involved more into the conversation or less outgoing and stay home and avoid the situation. Me? As I've told you I get involved when the conversation involves me.

In a perfect world, everyone would be able to understand each other and adapt to each other's differences. Sure it'd be nice if everyone knew sign language so that I would be more involved with the hearing culture and have it be less of a disadvantage for me. Jobs would be so much easier to come by for me. My struggles in finding employment in Johnson City will probably continue for a few more weeks accentuated by the fact that managers usually hate being in a situation where they have to deal with potential deaf employees no matter how talented they are. Stereotyping is limiting me professionally and that is a fact.

When I've come to the end of my life, one thing I'd like to accomplish by that time is changing that stereotype as much as possible so that everyone gets a chance no matter what their communication disadvantage is or their physical limitations. One thing is for sure, I'm trying my best here in Johnson City and I hope that I'll make a difference here before I leave this city.

Here's my new blog!

2006-01-27T15:29:00.000-05:00

Alrighty just introducing this blog, I've always wanted to start a weblog without it turning into a journal. I want to be able to post links and pictures and just share my experiences with the world about what life is like as a Deaf person, without dwelling on complaining about life. I've gotta work on formatting how i want this to look so bear with me whoever is out there reading this.

Louis