I came across a new web service called Scribd! that allows you to post unpublished documents and works on their site and sell them for a small price.
So today I posted my 70,000 word biography on about Gary Malkowski on Scribd! Anyone who is interested can now download a 102-page PDF of "Deaf Politician - The Gary Malkowski Story" for $5.
I finished the original manuscript in 1998, 3 years after Gary left office. I did some revisions in 2003. Anyone interested in Deaf Culture, Deaf role models and leaders should have a gander. Gary's story is very inspirational, especially for hearing parents of deaf children like me.
I've put up a few pages that can be previewed before purchasing. Check them out here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/15770705/Deaf-Politician-The-Gary-Malkowski-Story-by-Richard-Medugno#document_metadata
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Book Review of "Deaf Daughter, Hearing Father"
Check out Jamie Berke's review of my book at:http://deafness.about.com/od/families/fr/deafdaughter.htm
Per Jamie's request, below is a reprint of an editorial I wrote for the Cal News (CSD Fremont's newsletter). It appeared in the February 20, 1998 issue.
Learning ASL is a Must!
by CSD parent Richard Medugno
I was asked by Cal News some time ago to write an article explaining to parents of deaf children why they should learn ASL. I have found any attempt tow rite such an article nearly impossible, not because I don't agree with the idea. I have been signing with my 6 1/2 year-old daughter for 5 years no and enjoy a rich, rewarding relationship with her and many of the deaf people I have come in contact with. My problem is how can I write an article about something that is so self-evident? It's like trying to explain why an American child should learn the English alphabet.
So instead of an article, I will offer an analogy:
Trying to parent and teach a deaf child without using sign language would be like trying to drive a car without a steering wheel and a stick shift (no automatics in this arena). You may get somewhere, but not very quickly, and you will surely go in circles and bump into a lot of barriers along the way. That's a scary ride that too many deaf children and their hearing parents have been advised to take int he past.
Cal News staff say there are still many parents with kids at CSDF who don't sign or don't see the need to learn. If there are parents who subscribe to this notion, I respectfully suggest: Give it a try; the benefits will become clear. You have the perfect opportunity to start as CSDF's free, 10-weeks ASL classes for parents and siblings beings again...For two hours on Thursday evenings, parents and siblings learn with their peers. The classes are taught by three of the most dedicated, warm, fun and friendly ASL teachers you could ever find.
I would also respectfully offeer that parents who go to ASL classes should go with the proper attitude and respect for these instructors and the subject they are teaching. Too many times I have witnessed individuals with disrepectful behavior toward ASl, the teachers, and their lesson plans.
Too often I have seen students second-guess a teacher's use of a sign or decline to participate in an activity that would help them learn the language. They ask questions like, "Why is that the sign?" or "Why are we doing this?" or "Why don't they use English structure and word order?" They will also refuse to participate when called upon. If I had questioned one of my college professors like this, I am sure I would have been verbally ripped to pieces and unceremoniously bounced out of the call. Yet, ASL teachers politely respond or smile and shrug, tolerating it. Imagine going to a French class and asking, "Why do the French use all these different words in different word order?" Just accept it! ASL is a different language. Don't try to change or fight it, just learn it.
Every ASL class I have been to, whether at CSDF or at other locales, the teacher always had two requests: 1) that people never use their voices and 2) that people ask the teacher if they have a question. Invariably there are students who just don't "get it" and insist on talking, chatting, voice interpreting (often incorrectly) and asking their neighbhor to "interpret" for them, instead of asking the insturctor for clarification.
This behavior is doubly rude because often the deaf instructor is not aware that chattering is going on. Then the hearing student who is desperately trying to concentrate has to be the "talk police" and "shhh!" the distracters or bring it to the teacher's attention. I promise you, the less you talk, the better you wil learn to sign. And your classmates will, too.
So join us at ASL class, but don't come unless you want to learn and are willing to respect the pursuit, the language, and the instructor. These classes can be good opportunities to socalize, but remember that what you are doing is vitally important, and it will provide your deaf child with an avenue of clear, fluid communication with the people that love him or her most.
Hard to believe I wrote this 11 years ago....and it still needs to be said today...
Per Jamie's request, below is a reprint of an editorial I wrote for the Cal News (CSD Fremont's newsletter). It appeared in the February 20, 1998 issue.
Learning ASL is a Must!
by CSD parent Richard Medugno
I was asked by Cal News some time ago to write an article explaining to parents of deaf children why they should learn ASL. I have found any attempt tow rite such an article nearly impossible, not because I don't agree with the idea. I have been signing with my 6 1/2 year-old daughter for 5 years no and enjoy a rich, rewarding relationship with her and many of the deaf people I have come in contact with. My problem is how can I write an article about something that is so self-evident? It's like trying to explain why an American child should learn the English alphabet.
So instead of an article, I will offer an analogy:
Trying to parent and teach a deaf child without using sign language would be like trying to drive a car without a steering wheel and a stick shift (no automatics in this arena). You may get somewhere, but not very quickly, and you will surely go in circles and bump into a lot of barriers along the way. That's a scary ride that too many deaf children and their hearing parents have been advised to take int he past.
Cal News staff say there are still many parents with kids at CSDF who don't sign or don't see the need to learn. If there are parents who subscribe to this notion, I respectfully suggest: Give it a try; the benefits will become clear. You have the perfect opportunity to start as CSDF's free, 10-weeks ASL classes for parents and siblings beings again...For two hours on Thursday evenings, parents and siblings learn with their peers. The classes are taught by three of the most dedicated, warm, fun and friendly ASL teachers you could ever find.
I would also respectfully offeer that parents who go to ASL classes should go with the proper attitude and respect for these instructors and the subject they are teaching. Too many times I have witnessed individuals with disrepectful behavior toward ASl, the teachers, and their lesson plans.
Too often I have seen students second-guess a teacher's use of a sign or decline to participate in an activity that would help them learn the language. They ask questions like, "Why is that the sign?" or "Why are we doing this?" or "Why don't they use English structure and word order?" They will also refuse to participate when called upon. If I had questioned one of my college professors like this, I am sure I would have been verbally ripped to pieces and unceremoniously bounced out of the call. Yet, ASL teachers politely respond or smile and shrug, tolerating it. Imagine going to a French class and asking, "Why do the French use all these different words in different word order?" Just accept it! ASL is a different language. Don't try to change or fight it, just learn it.
Every ASL class I have been to, whether at CSDF or at other locales, the teacher always had two requests: 1) that people never use their voices and 2) that people ask the teacher if they have a question. Invariably there are students who just don't "get it" and insist on talking, chatting, voice interpreting (often incorrectly) and asking their neighbhor to "interpret" for them, instead of asking the insturctor for clarification.
This behavior is doubly rude because often the deaf instructor is not aware that chattering is going on. Then the hearing student who is desperately trying to concentrate has to be the "talk police" and "shhh!" the distracters or bring it to the teacher's attention. I promise you, the less you talk, the better you wil learn to sign. And your classmates will, too.
So join us at ASL class, but don't come unless you want to learn and are willing to respect the pursuit, the language, and the instructor. These classes can be good opportunities to socalize, but remember that what you are doing is vitally important, and it will provide your deaf child with an avenue of clear, fluid communication with the people that love him or her most.
Hard to believe I wrote this 11 years ago....and it still needs to be said today...
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