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Posting-date: 09 Oct 1992 15:45:00 -0400 (EDT)
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Date:         Fri, 9 Oct 1992 15:31:00 -0400
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              475-6813 TDD 475-6824 V" <"SCHMITZ KL"@a1.rit.edu>
From:         Undetermined origin c/o Postmaster <POSTMASTER@SIUCVMB.BITNET>
Subject:      RE: Comments :

          Eugene Hsu, one of the more enlightened hearing people I've read
          who also has no apparent family or professional ties with deafness,
          raised some interesting points I'd like to discuss a bit.

          But before I do that, let me introduce myself:

          I'm Katie Schmitz (formally Kathryn L.), and I work at the National
          Technical Institute for the Deaf, which is one of the eight
          colleges of Eugene's dad's (and my) employer, Rochester Institute
          of Technology in Rochester, New York.  The two are inseparable.  I
          work in NTID's division of public affairs as a writer and public
          information specialist, spreading the good and sometimes not so
          good word about NTID.  I love my job; I've had it for 3 years, and
          it gave me the impetus and resources to learn sign language at the
          late age of 27.  I'm the only deaf member of an all-hearing family,
          and I stayed at home and went to local public schools, mainstreamed
          with support services (speech and auditory therapy) like a good
          oral deaf person.  I have a bachelor of arts degree in English, and
          I'm planning to enter a master's program at RIT soon.

          Anyway.

          Eugene mentions that he perceives deaf people as staying too much
          among themselves; he does qualify this by agreeing that members of
          cultural groups tend to congregate and form conclaves of sorts that
          are comfortable havens.  I think this is any person's right.  I
          don't feel that people should have to mainstream 24 hours a day
          just because the mainstream exists.  Yes, the world is primarily
          hearing; yes, deaf people can't avoid that; but no, staying in
          conclaves isn't necessarily a bad thing.

          Which relates to another of Eugene's points, that he thinks deaf
          people should make more of a collective effort to "oralize" in
          recognition of the hearing world.  I agree in theory with his
          fundamental point, but I feel that in reality this isn't always
          possible.  Not everyone can learn to read lips well.  Not everyone
          can learn to speak well.  So, in the face of such endless struggle,
          unavoidable as it may be, I can't blame some of the more insular
          deaf people for preferring to avoid the mainstream whenever they
          can.  More power to them.  The mainstream will remain the same
          regardless of whether deaf people participate or not; it might
          change a little bit with more regular deaf participation, but hey,
          deaf people run out of gas, too.

          My point is that we all have to find our own roads in life; let's
          not prejudge others' paths.  What works for you may not work for
          me.

          Regards to all Deaf-L subscribers.
          Katie Schmitz; KLS4344@ritvax.isc.rit.edu