The lights dimmed and Dimitri Kanevsky took the stage at HLAA’s Convention 2022. He was there to accept the HLAA Innovation award on Google’s behalf. There was momentary confusion in the audience as the CART captioning disappeared. But it was quickly replaced by a screen share of the small phone in Dimitri’s hand. Dimitri, who has heavily Continue reading
Deafness
My Kids Aren’t CODAs, They’re COHLAs
Until recently, most people probably thought a CODA was the concluding passage in a musical score. But since CODA‘s three wins at the Oscars, Child of Deaf Adult has become part of the mainstream lexicon—an exciting boost of awareness for the Deaf community. But when discussing the film with my children, they were confused. “We’re Continue reading
Refuting Common Hearing Loss Myths
Do all people with hearing loss know sign language? Are they all senior citizens? Can people with hearing loss safely drive a car? Enjoy a movie or the theater? Speak “normally?” Hear perfectly with hearing aids? Despite how common hearing loss is—over 1.5 billion people globally live with hearing loss according to the WHO—many aspects Continue reading
Opinion: My Hearing Loss IS a Loss
Someone recently asked me why I use the term hearing loss in my advocacy work. I can’t remember if they preferred deaf or hard-of-hearing or some other term, but they took offense at my use of the word “loss.” It’s a fair question, and a very personal one since we all experience hearing difficulties in Continue reading
I Inherited My Hearing Loss Stigma from My Father
What causes hearing loss stigma? Does it come from within — our own insecurities about whether we are now as whole as we once were before we lost our hearing? Or from external factors like societal pressures that demand perfection and youth. For me, it started in my childhood, watching my father struggle with his Continue reading
