Ageless Passions by Karen Putz

Tag: hands and voices

  • Neutral is a Shade of Color, Not an Organization

    Hands & Voices gathering

    Eons and eons ago, Leeanne Seaver, the then Director of Hands & Voices issued me a challenge: start up the Illinois chapter of Hands & Voices.

    I hesitated. I had just completed four years with the team from West Suburban Association of the Deaf, growing it from a tiny deaf club with 44 members into a 501c3 non-profit– one of the few which still exist today.  I had three little kids two years apart in age and I worked part-time at the local community college. Did I really want to take on the challenge of starting another non-profit, this time from scratch?

    I didn’t hesitate for long, and here’s why: because every single day, I believe in the mission and the purpose of Hands & Voices:

    Hands & Voices is dedicated to supporting families with children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing without a bias around communication modes or methodology. We’re a parent-driven, non-profit organization providing families with the resources, networks, and information they need to improve communication access and educational outcomes for their children. Our outreach activities, parent/professional collaboration, and advocacy efforts are focused on enabling Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing children to reach their highest potential.

    Starting up the non-profit organization sure wasn’t easy, but it sure was worth it– and it happened because a team of parents, professionals and deaf and hard of hearing adults believed in the mission as well. Today, Illinois Hands & Voices has expanded under the leadership of two more presidents and includes a state-wide Guide By Your Side program.

    As the years went on, Hands & Voices grew from four chapters and expanded worldwide. There clearly was a need for support without bias for parents of deaf and hard of hearing children on the parenting journey.  Every now and then, I will cross paths with someone who feels Hands & Voices is:

    • Not neutral
    • Not balanced enough
    • Not without bias
    • More “hands” than voices
    • More “voices” than hands

    Before I go any further, I invite you to read Hands & Voices, Supporting Families Without Bias by Leeanne Seaver. This document goes into great detail about the Hands & Voices approach to supporting families.

    In the early days of running the organization, I was often thrown into one camp or another based on someone’s judgment of my communication experience, my personal choices for my children or the communication methods used. To me, that judgement represented everything that Hands & Voices is not. When I look at the families, professionals and deaf/hard of hearing adults involved with Hands & Voices, I see caring individuals who have a heart for children and their futures and I feel really blessed to have crossed paths with so many of them.  At any given time, Hands & Voices is whoever is a part of the organization.  Families and individuals are not the sum of their communication experience and we don’t identify our Hands & Voices organization merely by those choices. We do our best to include everyone who wants to be a part of the movement of providing support without bias to families. Whenever we stumble along the process, we try harder yet again.

    The bottom line is to support families along the journey of raising deaf and hard of hearing children. We all have the same goal in mind: well-adjusted, successful kids.

    As for being “neutral,” to me, that’s a color, not an organization. What I love seeing instead is an organization that is passionate, vibrant and colorful– an organization which is made up of amazing, diverse families, professionals, and individuals who celebrate the many different ways there are of being Deaf/deaf and hard of hearing.

    Now that’s Hands & Voices. And I invite you to be a part of it.

    Hands & Voices who do you stand for

     

  • The 2012 EHDI Conference and Henry Kisor

    Last week, I drove down to St. Louis to join the Hands & Voices gang at the EHDI Conference.  It had been several years since I attended an EHDI conference and because I work in early intervention as a Deaf Mentor, I have a heart for this topic.  I’m one of three mentors in Illinois and one of the first trained groups.  The first child I worked with is now thirteen.

    When I attended my first EHDI conference in it’s infancy, I was only one of a few Deaf and Hard of Hearing participants at that time.  At this conference, wow! Everywhere I went, I met up with old and new friends.  The conference has truly grown from the early days and the grand ballroom held around 1,000 people for Hands & Voices board member Christine Yoshinaga-Itano’s keynote opening presentation.

    At Hands & Voices, one of our most requested presentations is Supporting Families Without Bias.  We put together a Part II of this presentation that goes even deeper into the topic.  When I first founded the Illinois Hands & Voices chapter back in 2003, I was often thrown in to “this camp” or “that camp” based on how I communicated or how low the lines were on my audiogram.  Eventually, more and more people embraced the spirit of Hands & Voices and began to understand my passion for our mission, “What works for your child is what makes the choice right.”  What I’m most grateful for during my years with Hands & Voices is that I’ve met so many wonderful families from a variety of backgrounds and experiences.  My kids have grown up with kids who cue/speak/sign/combine/whatever works  and they’ve made some lifelong friends.

    At the EHDI conference, I had the pleasure of sitting down to lunch with Henry Kisor and his wife, Debby.  Henry and I met  several years back when he was working at the Chicago Sun-Times as a book editor.    I first discovered Henry when I read his memoir, What’s That Pig Outdoors  and I enjoyed his frank outlook on life. I interviewed him for the Hands & Voices Communicator:  Henry Kisor, Mystery Author Unveiled.  I like to hang around Henry because he tells me nice stuff like, “You’re a natural writer.”  I would have lunch with him every week if I could.

    During the last night of the conference, Hands & Voices hosted a dinner for everyone involved in state chapters.  When I first joined the board of Hands & Voices, there were just four chapters.  We sat around a table and pondered simply how we could share our mission with others.  Today, we have expanded worldwide and nearly every state has a chapter.

    Back at my first EHDI meeting, we all fit around a single table during our Hands & Voices dinner.  At our dinner last week, we had 75 of  us seated around several tables.  As I worked my way around the room taking pictures and meeting new people, I took a few minutes to talk to a two-and-half year old boy sitting at a table with his father.  The father and I talked about how his family became involved with Hands & Voices.   The little one and I talked about the noodles he was devouring on his plate.

    And that’s what keeps me going year after year– the little ones.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Hands & Voices in Maine

    As I type this, I’m sitting in front of a window overlooking the bay in Portland, Maine.  This is my first visit to this northeastern state.  I know several people who are attending the Hands & Voices conference, and I’m about to meet many more who will become familiar faces in the next few years.  That has been my experience with Hands & Voices over the years:  the wonderful opportunity to meet diverse parents, professionals, D/deaf/hard of hearing folks from all walks of life, all corners of the world.

    How did this journey unfold?  Many years ago, when my three deaf and hard of hearing kids were much younger, I sat down to develop a website for Illinois that would put together resources for parents with deaf and hard of hearing children.  My passion was to connect with other families and share the experience of raising our kids together.  Along the way, I discovered Hands & Voices, an organization whose philosophy mirrored my own: “What works for your child is what makes the choice right.”  I met Leeanne Seaver, (Executive Director) and Janet Des Georges (Executive Director, Colorado Hands & Voices) and I liked them immediately, despite the fact that they were beautiful and fashionably hip.  I was sucked in became a board member and started up the Illinois chapter.

    When I first joined Hands & Voices, we were still relatively unknown– and definitely grassroots, but we all had a vision of connecting and helping families.  It’s amazing to see how much the organization has grown.   Today, we have 26 approved chapters, 11 provisional chapters and 6 start-up chapters.  Our international chapters include British Columbia and Kenya, with provisional and start-ups in the Philippines, Guam/Saipain, Australia, Italy and Nigeria. 

    At the end of the board meeting, I paused for a moment and reflected on the changes over the years.  We started back then with just a handful of chapters, and now we’re connected to families all over the world.  The family in Italy wants the same thing as the family in Arkansas:  a well-adjusted, successful kid.  And the journey is so much easier when we’re connected to one another, sharing resources and support.

    Years ago, at the very first Hands & Voices conference, we all fit around a single table.  At the opening night in Maine, we filled the entire dining room at Southern Maine Community College.   One by one, as we went around the room, we introduced our new best friend sitting next to us.  I had the honor of getting to know and introduce Ann Porter, a parent and CEO of Aussie Deaf Kids.

    What I love most about Hands & Voices is that over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to meet such a diverse group of parents, professionals and deaf/hard of hearing adults from all over.  I always marvel at the stories they share, the paths they’ve taken on the journey and the wisdom that they share which helps guide me as I raise my own kids.  And every time I cross paths with someone, I’m reminded of a quote by Tim McGraw:

    “We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere.”


    For more pictures featuring the Maine Leadership Conference, visit the Hands & Voices Facebook page.  Follow us on Twitter:  @HandsandVoices.

  • Come and Join Me at Mom’s Night Inn

    It’s that time of the year again, the weekend where moms of deaf and hard of hearing kids kick back together!  Registration is already half full, so act quickly to join in on this special weekend!

    Illinois Hands & Voices presents:

    Mom’s Night Inn

    Saturday, February 20th and Sunday, February 21st
    (an overnight retreat!)

    Holiday Inn Select Naperville
    1801 Naper Boulevard
    Naperville, Il 60563
    (630) 505-4900

    Event begins at 1 p.m. on Saturday, February 20th
    and ends at Noon, Sunday, February 21st

    “Making Connections”

    • Educational
    • Technology
    • Family
    • Community

    Dinner provided: Snacks, crafts, massage and so much more!
    Sunday, February 21st; Will include a breakfast buffet and panel of deaf and hard of hearing adults sharing their life and work experience.

    Remarks from last year’s participants at Mom’s Night Inn:

    “It was great having time to relax and getting to know the Mom’s”

    “I liked the small group activity; it was a good way to meet new people.”

    “Meeting other parents, having an idea of what to expect and look forward to was my favorite part.”

    “Now I know what to fight for.”

    “Loved meeting the deaf and hard of hearing panel, their stories were inspiring.”

    We hope you can join us, space is limited so register soon!

    To register: www.ilhandsandvoices.org

    Photos from past Mom’s Night Inn:

  • We Are Indeed, Hands & Voices

    Every year, it gets better.

    Beth Donofrio and I headed out to Breckenridge last Thursday for the annual Hands & Voices Leadership Workshop.  Beth is a close friend of mine as well as an Illinois Hands & Voices board member.  She’s a mom of five kids, with lots of experience in assisting parents of deaf and hard of hearing kids throughout the years. 

    Each year, the workshop has grown, and this year, we had folks from as far away as Saipan joining us.  On the left, you can see the states that are involved with Hands & Voices.  We are spreading wordwide as well.  It has been amazing to see the growth– from a few chapters a few years ago to nearly every state with a chapter or a start-up.  There are a lot of us out there who believe “What works for your child is what makes the choice right.”

    On Friday night, I teamed up with Erin, a mom from the Pennsylvania chapter to host an icebreaker.  You’ve heard of “speed dating?”  We did “Speed Greeting.”   Everyone left with a new best friend that night.

    There were several of us there raising three deaf/hard of hearing kids and it was nice to bond with those families.  Everywhere I went, moms would share bits and pieces from their lives, wisdom was exchanged and ideas explored.  I wanted more time– there’s never enough time!  The weekend went by way too quickly.

    In the photo on the left, is our team from Illinois.  Left to right:  Leeanne Seaver, Executive Director of Hands & Voices, Beth Donofrio, myelf and Ginger Mullen, the EHDI Coordinator for newborn hearing screening.  We are working together to set up a parent-to-parent program in Illinois that will provide parent support after a diagnosis.

    Someone asked me once, why does Hands & Voices appeal to me so much?  From the time I first set eyes on their mission and their stance on communication modes, I knew I had found my “home.”  I wanted a safe place to explore answers for my kids, a place where I could learn advocacy skills and a place that was going to roll up the sleeves and help me make changes in the way that families receive information upon diagnosis.  I love the variety– I’ve had a wonderful opportunity to meet families using all kinds of communication modes. 

    I came across a quote over the weekend that I thought was really profound:

    “A community that excludes even one of its members is not a community at all.”  –Dan Wilkins