By J. Parrish Lewis Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 For nearly a week, Alice’s intended consequence for her mother, a perpetual cold shoulder, crumbled slowly until she gave in to her reality. No words, no apologies or favors, would get Alice what she wanted. She knew this because…
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Secret Signs: Part Two
PART ONE: In which Alice learns there is a new Deaf student at school Secret Signs: Part Two By J. Parrish Lewis She saw his backpack first, outside the speech therapist’s office where kids who had speech therapy were always directed to drop them. It was worn around the edges, broken zipper and bore the…
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Secret Signs: Part One
Alice. The girl does not move. Her gaze remains fixed on the particularly bright line of green that she has drawn to represent the horizon. A vibrant green, it makes her smile. This is her favorite color and she will use it again, often, and with abandon. This is a color she will throw herself…
Yeah, I know, that’s kind of a weird title for someone who is deaf, since I can neither hear a choir nor an echo chamber. But I’ll use these words because it’s the best I have available to me. I’ve been thinking a lot about what I have been doing with Munky Mind for the…
This is a post for hearing parents of deaf children, who have not learned to sign. I write this knowing that you love your children and that you try very hard to make the best decisions you can for your children. This is not a post to bash you for your choices, but to perhaps…
Deaf people are generally underestimated. When I say “generally” you need to interpret that as “really quite often, unfortunately, even though it shouldn’t happen.” This is true in the general population, and this is true with those who are in the position of hiring new staff for companies. We are underestimated, and as a result…
![[image description: Two toddlers sitting down, back facing camera. The older kid has arm around the younger. Text says, "We can win with words of love." ]](https://www.munkymind.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/love.jpg)
Hate is a poison as much for ourselves as it is for those we would use it against like a weapon of words or actions. It is a poisonous and treacherous waste of our own effort. It lacks the capacity for positive change that a nonviolent approach has. Minds are not usually changed for the…
Sadly, it wasn’t an April Fool’s joke that AG Bell (as we tend to call the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing) decided to diminish the achievements of Nyle DiMarco by essentially saying they needed to “dispel the myths about deafness.” In reading their article, I felt sick. I felt…
![[Image description: Children in a classroom, hunkered over books. Two boys read in front. Behind, at other desks are a girl and another boy. All appear to be persons of color.]](https://www.munkymind.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/soar-1024x768.jpg)
Author’s note: Despite the title, I am fully aware that we have many hearing educators that are allies of the Deaf Community that understand us and support us in ways that honor the message I am trying to share below. I apologize if the title is off-putting for those of you who already have joined…