Ageless Passions by Karen Putz

Author: Karen Putz

  • Midwest Deaf Academic Bowl

    David took off for the Indiana School for the Deaf last Thursday to compete in the Midwest Academic Bowl hosted by ISD and Gallaudet. Hinsdale South is shown on the left and Minnesota North Star is on the right in the photo above. Indiana won first place and Hersey took second. Hersey won the National competition last year. For those who are not familiar with the competition, the Academic Bowl consists of four team members and team subs who answer questions covering math, history, geography and literature. The teams compete on an individual as well as team basis.

    Not a peep is heard the entire weekend as everyone communicates using American Sign Language. If anyone ever has doubts that ASL is a full language, one just has to watch this competition to erase all doubts. The kids can argue over complicated math questions, rearrange Shakespeare quotes and describe Roman architecture all without vibrating a single vocal cord.

  • Marlee Matlin on Oprah and Dancing With the Stars

    Ah yes, the rumors are so true, Marlee Matlin is in the line up for the new Dancing with the Stars season. She will be on Oprah today along with the other cast members.

    USA Today published an interview with Marlee: Deaf Matlin Follows in Mills’ Footsteps. Marlee isn’t worried about following the music. “The stairs at the top of the stage–I’m thinking heels, stairs, and I start to sweat,” she says in the USA Today article.

    A deaf gal dancing to music? But how?

    Like me, Marlee has some hearing with her hearing aids. She can follow music and lyrics with practice. We both share a common love of Billy Joel’s music and by memorizing the lyrics, we can follow along.

    Billy Joel’s song, “Just the Way You Are” was my wedding song and I knew that song backwards and forwards. Yet, because we had a band playing the music and singing the song, I had difficulty following it and had to glance at the interpreter to keep up with the words. If I could do my wedding dance over again, I’d definitely play a CD recording instead. The music and lyrics are so ingrained that any deviation from it makes me lose the ability to follow it.

    I haven’t watched “Dancing with the Stars” before, but I’m looking forward to Marlee kicking up her heels!

    Update:
    I’m in the middle of the Oprah show and watching the stars from previous shows dance. Riding a Cowboy–need I say more? ::::Fannning myself::::: I’m hooked already!

    Update #2:

    According to Jamie Berke, Marlee now has a blog on My Space: MySpace.com/marleematlinrealdeal

  • Now Over at Parenting Squad!

    I’m now a Contributing Writer over at Parenting Squad and my first article is up:

    Ten Hearing Aids at My House

  • Mark Drolsbaugh–Author and Counselor

    When I first came across Mark Drolsbaugh’s books,Deaf Again and Anything But Silent I ordered both books right away. I tore through both books, laughing and nodding along. I felt as if Mark had wrote about my life! I had the opportunity to contribute a chapter of my life in his third book, On the Fence. I always recommend those three books to everyone I meet and my copies are always being lent out.

    Mark is a great guy with a wonderful sense of humor and I sure hope he ends up on Oprah some day because he would have Oprah cracking up in the first fifteen minutes with his wry sense of humor.

    I had Mark share a bit about his life:

    Tell me what a typical day is like for you at work.

    As a guidance counselor at the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, I work primarily with the secondary department. Each grade level in high school has one advisory session per week. Advisory sessions last one hour and cover numerous topics with the goal of preparing students for college, vocational training, and/or the work force. In Junior High School, we run a weekly PALS session — Peers and Leadership Skills — with the goal of preparing students for the transition to high school. I also have the thrill of collaborating with the World of Work program at PSD which focuses on job skills and job placement. On top of all that, we’re currently revising our counseling program so that its in accordance with the ASCA (American School Counselors Association) National Model–a lot of exciting changes are in store.

    Usually there are two advisory sessions a day and there are also opportunities to join students in the classroom. On top of that there are individual grade/credit reviews for each student throughout the year and college visits, guest speakers, and community service. No two days are exactly alike so it never gets boring!

    Is this a job, a career or a calling for you?

    All of the above!

    Give me a little history on how your life lead up to this current position at work.

    Well, I was bumbling along as an accounting major at Temple University back in 1988 when there was this little incident at Gallaudet University that caught my attention. I transferred to Gallaudet in 1989 and went through a total metamorphosis. Gina Oliva (author of “Alone in the Mainstream: A Deaf Woman Remembers Public School”) refers to this as the “Met Deaf, Wow!” phenomenon. The opportunity to attend a school with other deaf peers and role models had a profound impact. I switched majors and became a serious writer on the side. I wound up working a newspaper columnist for DeafNation, Silent News, and SIGNews for a while before branching off on my own writing projects.


    What are some of the goals you’ve set for yourself down the road?

    Quite frankly, I’m at a crossroads right now. It’s exciting at PSD what with the counseling program aligning itself with ASCA. At the same time, my wife Melanie and I both run our own business, Handwave Publications, and what started out as a side endeavor has grown into something much bigger than expected. We’ve got three books published, a childrens’ book is waiting in the wings, and I’m about to collaborate on another book with two former Gallaudet classmates.

    Also, Handwave Publications isn’t just for books — we’ve got two websites up and running. They are Deaf Culture Online and Unique Fitness Tips. Deaf Culture Online
    is more like an advocacy/informational website (with the infamous Drolz Uncensored blog included in there) while Unique Fitness Tips is designed for people who love to work out but simply don’t have the time. It’s a tremendous thrill to be able to run a home business that’s based on your passion. I love the Deaf community and I’m a fitness fanatic, so to be able to write about both isn’t a job — it’s a blessing. Somewhere down the road I’d love to see Handwave Publications expand and become a full-time commitment.

  • Featured Articles on Disaboom

    I have been contributing articles to Disaboom since late last year and I thought I would share those articles here:

    Peace Corps Years Inspire The Unheard

    Moms with Disabilities–Connecting With One Another

    For Better or Worse, and Kids with Disabilities

    Spunky Mom Takes on School District

    Marlee Matlin: What My Parents Understood (reprint)

  • Shooting at Northern Illinois University

    Four students died (now updated to six) and thirteen were wounded today when a gunman unleashed a hail of bullets in Cole Hall at Northern Illinois University. News reports say that the gunman jumped on the stage and began shooting the students from there. He turned the gun on himself a few minutes later.

    This hits especially close to home because I have many friends and professors from NIU. I graduated from Northern Illinois University in 1987 and 1989. Every year, I return to campus to speak to a class taught by Dr. Ouellette. In December of last year, just a week after I was there, the campus was closed due to a threat found in a washroom.

    My heart goes out to the families of the students who died and the students and professor who were wounded.

    BlogHer Post on NIU

  • Business and Blogging Examines Steak ‘n Shake Incident

    On Wednesday, January 28, 2008, I experienced discrimination at a local Steak ‘n Shake restaurant when a manager slammed the window in my face and refused to fill an order for two milkshakes.

    After briefly debating whether to sit in the drive thru in protest and allow the manager to fulfill his threat to call the cops, I decided to blog about it instead. Thanks to the power of the internet, customers no longer have to walk away grumbling about poor businesses practices or in my case, outright discrimination. Companies today are seeing the power of Web 2.0 and the lasting effects that search engines can have on their reputations.

    Liz Fuller at Business and Blogging tackled the Steak ‘n Shake incident and examined how Steak ‘n Shake is handling this public relations crisis that resulted. As she explained how the incident unfolded, she noted an interesting fact that should have Steak ‘n Shake executives concerned:

    The next day, she itemized over 80 blogs that had picked up her story. The story was also picked up that night by ABC News and Fox News. Today, approximately three weeks after it happened there are almost 1000 hits on Google when typing in the search words, “Steak and Shake” and “Deaf Mom”.

    More than that, this story appears in positions #3 through #9 on the front page of Google when searching on the terms “Steak and Shake”. Currently, the Steak and Shake site itself holds positions #1 and #2, but if this continues – how long will that last?

    Liz notes that companies today need to implement a crisis management policy to handle any negative publicity that can occur. News via the internet travels faster than the speed of light nowadays. As Liz states:

    This incident underscores what we have been saying – the traditional rules of “managing the message” don’t apply any more. Consumers have much more opportunity to take the message into their own hands with minimal cost and maximum effect.

     

    To read the full post on Business and Blogging: Crisis Case Study: Steak ‘n Shake Denies Service to Deaf Mom

    and a follow up interview:

    Business and Blogging: Interview with Karen Putz

    Several people have asked me for an update on the Steak ‘n Shake situation. Howard Rosenblum, a deaf attorney from Equip for Equality, is working with me on this. Steak ‘n Shake has hired an attorney with a disability rights background to assist them. We are currently waiting to hear from them.

  • MTV True Life Chooses Deaf Student

    MTV is coming to town.

    MTV is producing a documentary, True Life, I’m Deaf and has chosen Aubrey Millar from my hometown. You may remember Aubrey from a previous post:

    The Oldest Goes off to High School.

    David and Aubrey have been friends since they were babies. I’m so excited for Aubrey and I look forward to watching this documentary unfold!

    Update:
    MTV came and shot footage for two days. Now it’s a matter of going back to the producer and determining if they’ll select Aubrey for the documentary or search for others.

    Update II: The producers said they’re going to pass–“Aubrey is really well-adjusted and there’s not enough of a story here to film.”

  • Deaf Bookclub Meets Via Video!

    On Saturday night, after sending my oldest kid off to the Turnabout dance, I headed over to my BookHands meeting. Two of our members couldn’t make it and one had to leave early. Two of our other members moved out of state but they continued to read the books along with the rest of us. We discussed the book, They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky, about three boys who lived in Sudan and later came to America.

    We had hoped to connect via Oovoo.com with Karen from Georgia and Kathy from Texas, but Kathy wasn’t able to get her webcam up and running. So we had Karen on Oovoo and Kathy on the videophone and we were able to do a video chat. We will be connecting via Oovoo for our next meeting, which will allow Karen and Kathy to see each other and partcipate fully.

    The only drawback is that Karen and Kathy will have to provide their own chocolate!

    I love technology!

  • Join Me on Oovoo!


    The great folks over at Oovoo, are hosting My Oovoo Day, an event where bloggers from all over are hosting a chat day to interact with their readers using webcams and text and voice chat. This chat is in honor of Susan Reynolds, a blogger who was diagnosed with breast cancer and has been sharing her journey in her blog, Boobs on Ice. You may have heard about the Frozen Peas Fund which is collecting money for breast cancer research in Susan’s honor. I also have a friend, Jill, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and I’m doing this with her in mind as well.

    I’m hosting an Oovoo chat day on February 21, 2008 from noon until 2p.m. Central time. Participation is limited to five chatters at one time. You can sign up to join the chat here:

    A Deaf Mom Shares Her World–Open House!

    All that is required is a webcam and the Oovoo software which can be downloaded for free here:

    Oovoo Software

    We’ll be chatting about anything and everything– kids, life, blogging, and heck, even boobs!

    Oovoo is generously donating funds to the Frozen Pea Fund and Hands & Voices for the chat.