I'm amazed that they can live that kind of life. Then you meet deaf people who have set up their own businesses or have climbed the career ladder in large companies and in the professions. The sky's the limit. It's so small, but they're afraid to give it up. Really, I think if SSI and SSDI were cut back, deaf people would start to wake up and start thinking about their careers.
Education is the key.
Deaf children need both sign language and oral communication. They need to have sign language to understand the courses and develop vocabulary, and speech training to learn to talk. If they can't learn to talk, they can still learn how to read with understanding and express themselves in writing while getting a good education. I was chairman of the 1979 National Association of the Deaf leadership training program here in Phoenix. I'd like to have more leadership training when I have the time.