Thank you, Amy, for an excellent post. You have said it right on the nail. I say, “Shame on NAD!” As usual, NAD is ‘telfonin” pressing issues that need their immediate support and attention. Their convention is coming up soon. This is a good PR opportunity for them, but ahem…we’ll do our own NAD’s PR. And, it ain’t gonna be pretty!

Amy-

I suggest you to contact NAD and RID to see if they hheard from Kia Makarechi or not. Did the front desk relay message to the right person? if so, who said no and why they were not willing to talk to her about the video that was posted on You Tube. I think you jumped into conclusion too fast. Get information from NAD and RID and then write a conculsion about it. Hope this helps!

I watched the video. It’s another country’s sign language, not Amreican’s sign language. It’s a simple misunderstanding, that’s all. I’m so glad Huffpost has included the DEAF WORLD in its’ news media/website. I was born deaf and can hear with hearing aid. I LOVE music! The music sounds good. Good sign language performance in the video, guys!!! Thanks, Huffpost! 🙂

Maybe it would be a good idea to ask NAD and RID for their side of the story?

wandaLgarner: Actually, that video clip is not from another country’s sign language. They were misleading people by claiming that their music video is ASL. Deaf people including myself told Mark Nakhla directly that it is not ASL. He flipped out and caused a ruckus that resulted in a conflict between Deaf Americans and Mark Nakhla. Then HuffPost realized they messed it up.

R-

Joseph: I tried the same thing, and I couldn’t get that far, because there was too much unintelligibility.

Sorry I didn’t add “th” to your username. Ridor9th, thanks for the information. Appreciate it! 🙂

Amy, did you ask RID, NAD and the specific deaf schools that Kia says she contacted to confirm Kia contacted them and that they’ve indeed refused to speak on the record?
I am also a bit confused at all this anger towards an artistic creation. Granted the inappropriate description of artistic gestures being an approximitation of American Sign Language is shameful but nothing new. Why is Kia determined to find “experts” to speak on the record on behalf of American Sign Language? And why is RID, NAD and the deaf schools refusing to go on the record? What exactly did Kia ask them?
She mentions she had an off-the-record conversation with representatives of RID, NAD and the deaf schools (which one’s I’d like to know).
I think that these questions need to be answered to appropriately gauge what is happening here.
And to answer the question of who is an expert on American Sign Language – well that is a broad question and would depend on the context in which Kia’s article/documentary is geared towards. I ama second language user who prefers to use ASL as my primary communication.
I just think that there need to be questions answered before we become upset. Just saying.

So you all just know, HuffPost just published their follow-up article on this debacle, and Howard Rosenblum, the NAD CEO is prominently featured in the article. Kudos to Howard for his comments! I for one, appreciate his statements. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/27/no-church-in-the-wild-video-asl-community_n_1459409.html

Jules, you stated that you are bit confused towards the artistic creation — actually, I think the problem is Mark Nakhla. When we (I was one of first ones who escalated this, FYI) politely told Mark that I could not understand his music clip — many of signs were simply unrecognizable. I stated that I watched his video clip twice and feels that his message was not being delivered mainly it is not ASL. Mark immediately criticized me and others saying that ASL is not OURS to use, it is for EVERYONE ELSE. He quickly deleted many comments by Deaf people incessantly. Needless to say, his approach was the catalyst for us to go after him.

R-

SheenaJune 19, 2012You are right that sometimes it truly dpeneds on the individual and its desires to be a part of a certain community/world. I know many Deaf people who ended up using their voices in the workplace ONLY because it might (its never guaranteed) bring in more opportunities. Even though they speak, they still feel lonely or feel they can show more through their natural language. That is sign language. Of course, we (more of me) cannot expect our co-workers to pick up sign language on the fly. BUT if a Deaf coworker chooses to speak, a compromise from the co-workers would be super appreciated. To speak does not mean they can hear every single thing that goes on not only in a meeting, but a conversation between a small group or an inside joke. This is what makes us move forward, climb a step higher, and gain more connections. We are at a huge disadvantage here regardless of how well or poor we speak. I am not quite sure if it’ll make the company’s life EASIER if they can speak because most hearing people assume if a deaf person CAN speak, they can hear. That itself can generate problems down the road. Or if a Deaf person decides to request a service, the company will be thrown off by that, You know how to speak. Do you really need an interpreter? Different set of problems can surface at one point or another. Regarding your example The gentleman came to America and its number one language is what? English all the way. It is to be expected for him to speak English. On the other hand, Deaf people know plus speak/sign in English. Plus, it’s much harder for them to learn how to pronounce some words without hearing the sounds or only get parts of it if they can hear better. Once again, we are at disadvantage here. Some just don’t purposely sign to a hearing person, but are comfortable when they sign. At the end of the day, it is the individual’s decision to speak or not to speak to sign or not to sign. Of course, when I brought this whole topic up I was referring to my own family more than anything else. Because I invested into my personal relationships and they will always be around. As for the rest, I am still unsure as we all know this. Thanks for sharing your side.