Ageless Passions by Karen Putz

Tag: hard of hearing

  • Fashionable Hearing Aids

    I came across a post this morning, The Shame of Wearing Hearing Aids and it brought back memories.  I was one of those kids who hid a hearing aid under long hair.  It wasn’t until I was in college that I finally wore my hair up and my hearing aid perched for all to see.  Kinda sad, eh?  All those years spent trying to hide something that was basically a part of me– except I didn’t want any part of it.

    I decided to raise my kids with a different attitude about their hearing aids.  From the start, we went with brightly-colored earmolds with swirls and glitter.  I even joined my daughter in getting matching glitter earmolds.  I’m pretty sure I saw my audiologist hold back a gulp when I asked for the blue with glitter when she squeezed the earmold goop into my ear.

    So far, no one has had the guts to tell me that I look foolish sporting glitter at my age.

    Despite my years of preaching about being proud of those two pieces of technology on their ears, my kids had minds of their own– each of them have made decisions about color vs. minimal color.  My 12-year-old recently decided that he had enough of the wild colors and chose clear earmolds at the last fitting.  After years of wearing boring beige hearing aids, the oldest went for a slick black pair with clear earmolds.  It was now my daughter’s turn for new hearing aids and we sat down to go over the colors for a new pair of hearing aids.  Staring at the hearing aid website, I was floored at the color choices.  When I was growing up, it was pretty much beige and black as the choices.

    I was pretty sure she was going to pick out something cool.

    “Look, there’s zebra and giraffe patterns!” I exclaimed.  “And look at this cool blue and whoa– that purple!  Oh and look–they have this cool see-through hearing aid!”

    She picked beige.

    Yes, boring, typical, oh-so-ordinary… beige.

    “Mom, I’m going to be wearing these hearing aids for a couple of years, maybe even into adulthood,” she said.  “Do you really think I want to go to prom with a giraffe pattern or purple– what if it doesn’t match my dress?  Besides, I can change my earmold colors anytime I want.”

    Yeah, she’s got a point there.  Earmolds are $125 a pop.  Hearing aids are nearly five grand.

    “The beige looks nice,” I said.

  • Eddie Runyon, Fraud Investigator

     
    Eddie Runyon works as a Special Investigator for Kentucky Employer’s Mutual Insurance, he investigates potential fraud cases.
    Tell me a bit about yourself.
     
    I grew up in far Eastern Kentucky, attending the Pikeville Independent School system as a mainstreamed student.  I was hard of hearing, had no interpreters or note-takers, or any other accommodations like that (even though IDEA was already a law at the time), no one took the time to share with my parents what accommodations were out there that could have been helpful to me through the educational process.  I’m married to a wonderful wife (Yvette), and we have two children, a daughter (Triniti, age 12) and a son (Brock, age 8) and reside in Pikeville, Ky.,  I’m a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University with 2 degrees, an A.A. in Business and Industrial Security and Loss Prevention, and a B.S. in Loss Prevention Management.  I attended Gallaudet University for one year (1990-91), where I was a member of the university baseball team (teammate of Mark Drolsbaugh).  I currently spend what little free time I have advocating for the deaf and hard of hearing on different issues, am an Executive Board member of the Kentucky Chapter of the National Society of Professional Insurance Investigators (NSPII), a member of the International Association of Special Investigations Units (IASIU), President of the Board of the Pikeville Aquatics Club, previously coached youth sports with the local YMCA, currently a member of the Access to Captioned Movies study group recently formed by the Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and serve on the Kentucky Relay Service Advisory Board.  I like to stay busy, in other words! Also, I lost the rest of my hearing by about the age of 17, so I’ve been deaf for most of my life.
     
     
    Tell me about your job– how did you get into this job/line of work?
     
    It was almost by accident, to be honest.  For most of my college life, I had bounced around between majors, never seeming to find my “niche”.  One day, I was thumbing through the class schedule as I was preparing for another semester of school at EKU, and the “Loss Prevention” program caught my eye.  My father was a police officer and former Deputy US Marshal, so I had grown up around security most of my life.  I went to talk to an advisor, and he wasn’t very hopeful. He just didn’t think, based on my academic accomplishments at the time, that I had the initiative or drive to do well in that line of work.  I HATE being told I can’t do something, so I signed up anyway.  Needless to say, 2 years later (and 8 consecutive semesters of “Deans List” or better grades), I had my degrees.  While pursuing these degrees, I got a job with a local security company that was looking to hire an investigator to start that branch in their business, focusing on Worker’s Compensation investigations and “general” investigations.  I was fortunate that the owner/President was willing to look past my deafness and hire me based on my desire.  I went on to be a Senior Investigator for him and helped build it into a sustainable branch of their business.  I left there and went into the retail field as a Loss Prevention Manager for Shoe Carnival, and over the course of 5 years with them, rose to the position of Market Loss Prevention Manager, responsible for (at the time) what was their second largest (in terms of sales) market in the company.  I moved on to Lowe’s Home Improvement, starting out as a Loss Prevention Manager for them and went on to be promoted to District Loss Prevention, Safety, and Haz-Mat Manager, responsible for 10 stores, approximately 1500+ employees, and over $450 million in yearly sales, within only 3 years.  I remained in that position for just over 2 years before leaving for my current job so that I would have more family time.  I currently am a Special Investigator for Kentucky Employer’s Mutual Insurance, and I investigate cases in which there may potentially be fraud occurring.
     
    What is the best part of your job?
     
    It is NEVER the same from day to day.  I spend a lot of time in the field, doing video surveillance, but I also spend time on the computer gathering information, doing courthouse research, responding to accident scenes to film and gather information for the company, testifying in depositions, and so on.  It is challenging from day to day, and requires a lot of time-management skills and the ability to multi-task, and wear different “hats” for the company.  One day I may be in court as the face of the company, the next, I’m in anonymity, filming covertly to see if someone is faking or exaggerating an injury, etc.
     
     
    What are some challenges you face on the job?
     
    Definitely, one of the challenges I face, is the fact that I work alone the majority of the time, and in very rural areas.  The lack of sufficient telephonic access for me in times of potential danger is very real.  It is one of the reasons I’m pushing so hard for relay companies to develop and make available to wireless users, a VCO-capable mobile “CAPTEL” (based on the Hamilton Relay Service version that is currently available only for I-Phones with 3G access).  I realize, that as an oral deaf person, that may seem limited in scope on my part, but I always explain to people that the largest majority of the hearing loss community is hard of hearing, and many are oral.  I’m really hoping that becomes available soon, it will be fantastic to have that for my Blackberry!  Also, daily ignorance in the hearing community is still very real.  I can’t tell you how often I have to explain to people what accommodations are needed and required to be provided, etc.  I’ve often been the first, or one of the only deaf people in my field of work everywhere I’ve gone, so I’m used to having to educate people.  But I’m fortunate, the company I work for is FANTASTIC about providing me with whatever I need to succeed.  They understand that the return on investment for accommodations often much more than is paid for by the increased productivity and results I can subsequently bring in as a result of the accommodation(s).
     
    What was it like growing up deaf/hard of hearing?
     
    It was very reclusive for me, really.  I was isolated, I knew no other deaf or hard of hearing people who could serve as a role model for me.  So I didn’t know what I could or could not do in “the real world”, I didn’t even learn sign language until I attended Gallaudet when I was 21!  But, I have FANTASTIC parents who refused to allow me to simply give up on stuff.  I was always being pushed to excel in whatever I did, and it was instilled in me from an early age, that as a hard of hearing/deaf person, I would often have to be twice as good, just to be considered equal.  How true that turned out to be! 
     
    What advice would you give a deaf/hard of hearing person who is looking for a career like yours?
     
    Find a good school (such as EKU, John Jay, etc.) with programs in security, loss prevention, asset protection, etc. and GO FOR IT.  Be willing to work the “scut” jobs when starting out, no one ever starts out at the top, you have to work your way up.  Too often, I meet people who are happy to work part-time because they don’t want to give up SSI, etc.  Often it is because they don’t see the big picture.  I know that is controversial, but it is true.  I make a very nice living now, and yes, I had to sacrifice some in the beginning so that I could work my way into a salary position that actually paid a living wage.  So my advice would be for people to take a big picture view when they start out in this field (or any other field), and set the goal of the position they want to be in in 2, 3 or 4 years, and WORK to make it happen.  Success in any field is not an overnight journey, it requires hard work and sacrifice in the beginning, and it requires willingness to dream big to achieve big.  My favorite saying is “Go hard or go home”.

  • Howard Rosenblum, Attorney

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    Howard Rosenblum was just twelve years old when he attended an event that changed his life and determined his career path.  At the event, he met Lowell Myers, a deaf attorney who had argued a famous case which was made into a movie, Dummy.

    Howard recalls the event:  “When he came to speak about his experiences as a lawyer at an event in 1978, a twelve-year-old deaf boy saw the same opportunity that Mr. Myers saw for himself. That boy was me, and thanks to Mr. Myers, I became a lawyer 14 years later.”

    Today, Howard is a Senior Attorney at Equip for Equality located in Chicago– a non-profit organization that advances the human and civil rights of people with disabilities.   He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Arizona and a J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law.  He is the founder and director of the Midwest Center for Law and the Deaf which provides attorney referrals for deaf and hard of hearing people.  In 2002, he received the Edward J. Lewis II Pro Bono Service Award for providing many years of pro bono work during his tenure at the law firm of Monahan and Cohen.

    Howard credits his parents for encouraging him to pursue his dream and to ignore the naysayers.  Just as Myers inspired Howard, Howard is now inspiring other deaf and hard of hearing individuals with his path.  The number of deaf and hard of hearing attorneys continues to grow, and together, they’re breaking down barriers.

  • Lions Camp for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Kids

    My kids are still talking about this year’s week at Camp Lions.  Every year, they look forward to that one, magical week with all their friends.  The conversations last all year–via sleepovers, Facebook sharing, texts that fly back and forth and videophone calls.

    My kids spend all day in the mainstream going to classes with students who can hear so they cherish their time with deaf and hard of hearing friends.  Those friendships are deeply important, because communication isn’t an issue and being different isn’t an issue.

    At a deaf picnic this summer, a young mother came up to me and signed, “Do you remember me?”  I looked at her–she looked vaguely familiar but I couldn’t place the moment in time where we knew each other.

    “You were my camp counselor at Camp Lions!” she said.

    Back in the mid-80s, I did one summer as a camp counselor for the Lions Camp.  I also did one summer as a waterski instructor at Camp Endeavor in Florida.  It’s easy for the kids to remember the counselors, much harder for counselors to remember the many kids!  But I did remember the young girl at camp and it was amazing to see her as a mother to her own kiddos years later.

    I have several friends who attended the Lions Camps as young kids and thirty-plus years later, they can recall the fun they had and the connections that were made.  It’s no surprise that Camp Lions continues to fill up year after year.  They are now in their 51st year of providing camps to deaf and hard of hearing kids in Illinois.

    So I’m writing this to publicly thank the Camp Lions of Illinois and the Lions of Illinois Foundation because if not for the tireless efforts of every Lion group in Illinois who fundraise each year– the deaf and hard of hearing kids in Illinois would have no magical week to remember.

    Thank you.

    Camp is Over, It’s Back to the Real World


  • Are You in the Deaf/Hard of Hearing Closet?

    For many years, I hid in the deaf/hard of hearing closet. I wasn’t comfortable dealing with the lone hearing aid that was given to me in fourth grade. During the school day, I hid the hearing aid under my thick hair and pulled off some impressive bluffing maneuvers. I would smile and nod along to conversations during lunch time and at recess.  I did so well that the teachers often told my Mom that I was getting along “just fine in the classroom despite my hearing loss.”

    When I look back at my early years in elementary education, I know that I had hearing loss long before it was diagnosed. I remember looking around after getting off the monkey bars, only to find all the kids lined up against the wall, ready to go back inside. I was the last kid left on the playground and I learned to calculate the time left at recess so I wouldn’t be the last kid in. I remember the kindergarten teacher coming over to tap me whenever nap time had ended. I quickly learned to watch the kid next to me and when they got up, I got up.

    In second grade, the teacher had a reading session and introduced the book, “Curious George.” I couldn’t get the word “curious.”

    “Erius George,” I repeated after her.

    No, she said. She repeated the word and then went on reading. I stared at the book, seeing the man with the yellow hat and the brown monkey. I had no idea what the book was about or the interactions between the man and the monkey. It wasn’t until I had my first kid and obtained a copy of “Curious George,” that I finally learned what the story was about.

    There are a lot of chunks of my life like that.

    I’m sure to my teachers, I appeared to be doing pretty good in school. In seventh grade, we had a class where we each took turns reading a paragraph out loud. I would calculate the number of students ahead of me, count the paragraphs in the book and figure out where I needed to start reading. Sometimes I would get lucky and see someone close to me reading with their finger on each word and if I listened, I could follow along with the words. Then when it was my turn, I’d start in on the correct paragraph.

    But inside of me, I know my stomach was churning and I was tense in trying to keep up. There were thousands of situations all through the school day, in after-school activities or on the playground where I was hyper-alert in trying to follow it all.

    I’m sure today, there are kids still going through this routine– this coping skill that gets them through the day as “normal” as possible.

    I can remember the day I came out of the deaf/hard of hearing closet. It was actually in college. I rode the bus with my hair pulled back in a pony tail and my hearing aid perched on my ear.

    And I didn’t care.

    For the first time in my life, I didn’t care who saw my hearing aid in public.

    That was a turning point for me.

    Over the years, I’ve met some people walking around with that closet around them.  Any talk about being deaf or hard of hearing is a painful thing. They know that elephant in the room is there and they step aside so they can talk around it.

    One only has to type in “deaf mom” on Google and they’ll quickly learn that Karen Putz and DeafMom go hand in hand. There would be no hiding the fact from a potential employer nor would I even try. Lately, I’ve been receiving emails from other bloggers, who share that they’re hard of hearing or deaf, but they don’t want to highlight that in their blogs for various reasons. Some feel that their hearing status has no bearing on their life. Others feel it’s a sign of weakness and they don’t want to share that.

    “I don’t hide it in person,” says Holly Kolman. “It’s just that the internet is forever.”

    After chatting with Holly, I learned that she had never published anything online about being hard of hearing. She was willing to discuss it for the first time online on this blog.

    “Life with a hearing loss means everything is harder,” she explained. “Almost everyone takes it for granted that people can hear…it’s like expecting someone with normal breathing to understand what asthma feels like–it’s impossible. It is very socially isolating. People think that you’re ignoring them when you don’t answer and they take it personally.”

    Holly recalled that some of her teachers did not understand what she was going through in the classroom. Over the years, they told her, “You hear what you want to hear.”

    I’ve been told that too. 

    In sixth grade music class, we had a test where everyone had to listen to a recording on tape and then write down the beat times.  The teacher noticed that I wasn’t writing anything down.  She tried to explain what I needed to do.  Again, I tried to listen along.  Again, there was nothing for me to write down. 

    The teacher was upset.  To this day, I still remember her words:  “Karen, you need to turn your hearing aid up and listen!” 

    I told my Mom about this incident and she marched to the principal’s office the next day and explained why I couldn’t follow the music.  The principal called in the music teacher and for some reason, he made me issue an apology to her.  I didn’t understand why, but there I was, saying I was sorry.  To substitute for the missed test, I had to write two 500-word essays on the piano and the guitar–over Christmas vacation.  While my friends were enjoying a break, I was writing reports.

    I think we’ve come a long way in terms of awareness, but I think we still have a ways to go to break down those closets that are still walking around out there.

  • John Denver Song Makes Me Think of Deaf/Hard of Hearing Children

    I spent the afternoon playing around over at Overstream, learning how to add captions to a video.  I figured that it was time to learn, especially since Stephen Hopson and Glenda Watson Hyatt will be joining me to present at SOBCon’09 and we’ll be talking about web accessibility.

    I selected a John Denver video, Children of the Universe, since I know that song by heart.  But there was another reason for me to choose that song:  it always makes me think of deaf and hard of hearing children.  How different we all are, yet we are all brothers and sisters.  As different as we are, we make up one universe. 

    “To understand that life is more than always choosing sides.”

    It’s captioned. Enjoy!

  • Kathy Buckley, Comedian & Humanitarian

    The first time that I saw Kathy Buckley on Comedy Central, I was blown away.  There, standing on stage, was a hard of hearing gal firing off jokes and one-liners.  Every now and then, I would see her throw in a sign or two, perhaps out of habit or perhaps to connect with the many deaf and hard of hearing people who enjoy her comedy routines.

    Kathy is still involved with comedy and currently working on a routine called “Puberty at 50.”  She is a speaker who is in high demand and every time that I talk with her, I find that she’s flying off to one place or another.   I once saw Kathy speak to group of parents and professionals, and I watched how she connected to everyone in the room with her stories and slices of inspiration.  She is indeed, a master at public speaking.   Kathy is also on the Anthony Robbins Life Mastery Classes.

    Take a look at the awards she has won throughout the years:

  • Achievement Award for the Year 2002:
    Reynolds Society
  • American Hero Award: City of Hope
  • Empowering Women Around the World: CARE Communication and Leadership Award: Toastmaster International
  • Media Awareness Award; The Dole Foundation
  • Hero Award: Challenge Center
  • Woman of the year: Oralingua School
  • Valley of the Hearts Award: Parents Helping Parents
  • Lois Tarkanian Award: Lois Tarkanian Founding Administrator
  • Better Hearing Achievement Award: Better Hearing Institute
  • Help America Hear Humanitarian Award: Hear Now Foundation
  • Individual Achievement Award: National Council on Communicative Disorders
  • Award of Excellence: New York State Theatre Education Association
  • Walter Knott Service Award: Goodwill Industries
  • President Awards: PATH
    Ovation Award: Best Writing
  • Drama-Logue Award: Best Writing, Best
  • Performance Media Access Award: Best Play
  • Cine Golden eagle Award: Outstanding
  • Video Production PBS Special: No Labels, No Limits
  • Media Access Award: 2002 Outstanding
  • Television Special: No Labels, No Limits, Executive Producer

    • My daughter picked up her book, If You Could Hear What I See and read through it three times. She was so inspired by Kathy’s life, that she selected her book for an autobiographical book report for school.

    Check out a recent article about Kathy at Disaboom:  Comedian Kathy Buckley Continues to Draw Laughs

  • Meeting Bloggers at the ALDACon

    At the CSDVRS booth at the ALDACon, I noticed two gals moving toward me and I instantly knew who they were.  I recognized Abbie from her blog, Chronicles of a Bionic Woman and Jennifer from Surround Sound. I’m pretty sure one of us squealed as we gathered in a hug.
    Jennifer, Karen and Abbie

    Then a short time later, I recognized another blogger who came up to the booth, LaRonda from The Ear of My Heart.

    Karen and LaRonda
    Karen and LaRonda

    It was wonderful to meet all three of them and get to spend a little time together.  Jennifer, Abbie and I went out to dinner but I couldn’t find LaRonda to join us and I didn’t have her pager addy.  (Note to self, next time, gather that contact info before any conferences!).  I would love to sit down and have lunch with LaRonda someday– I guess a trip out west is in order!

    Tina Childress joined us at dinner and we went to a Japanese restaurant and filled up on sushi.  Two other guys joined us, (I’ve forgotten their names already!) and I was the only one there without a cochlear implant.  Not a problem, as I relied on good ‘ole lipreading and Tina jumped in to interpret whenever I got lost in the train of the conversation.

    Abbie and Tina
    Abbie and Tina

    Jennifer cracked me up when she turned to me and said, “You know, I’ve just got to tell you this.  You’re so much prettier than in your pictures on the blog!”

    That does it, I’ve gotta learn how to use those airbrushing tools in Photoshop.

  • Working with Your IEP Team

    With three kids on Individual Education Plans (IEPs), we’ve killed a couple of trees throughout the years with the paperwork that gets generated by the schools when developing each kid’s IEP plan.  Once  a year (and sometimes more if we have something to change), I meet with each child’s team to go over the goals and communication access plans.

    I learned right away that having  a perfect IEP is a myth– there will always be things that go awry or teachers who are unaware of what’s on the IEP.  Janet DesGeorges and I teamed up and wrote The Myth of the Perfect IEP: After the Paperwork is Finished.”  One of the most crucial pieces of advice in that article is to find someone who can act as the MVP of your team:

    Among the team that is assembled to deliver the services and supports for your child throughout the year, there is often an MVP -that professional who goes the extra mile, who supports you when you are advocating for your child, who you tend to call on when there is a problem. Whether that person is your child’s general ed. Teacher, sign language interpreter, Teacher of the deaf/hh or a speech language pathologist, you can create and sustain a positive relationship throughout the year by communicating regularly, contacting them when there are things to be celebrated, and not just complaints to be delivered etc. and to be able to create strategies for effective communication access.

    If you can’t think of one person on your child’s IEP that you would consider an MVP, start thinking about who you could begin a positive relationship with in order to be able to collaborate with throughout the year, and be able to call upon for help when something falls through the cracks.

    When my oldest son first attended the school down the street from us, I made it a point to go and meet the principal and tell her about David.  She became an ally and an important part of the team.  I also volunteered in the school for parties and at the library, getting to know the staff and the teachers.   I spoke with each kid’s class during the early days, reading books and introducing signs.

    When I work with families, I tell the parents that they are the case managers for their kids.  The idea of parents acting as case managers on the IEP team may strike some parents as strange, because aren’t schools supposed to be doing that job?   But here’s something to think about– the parents, are the ones living daily with their child from the time they enter the family to the rest of their life.  The parents are the one steady part of the IEP team that is always there.  

    There are two books that I regularly recommend to parents:
    Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy: The Special Education Survival Guide

    The Complete IEP Guide: How to Advocate for Your Special Ed Child

    Another neat tip that I learned from a parent long ago, is to put together a binder to keep all of your information together. Unfortunately, I was never organized enough to accomplish that. Some of the parents I’ve worked with have created booklets to give to each team member when transitioning from early intervention into a school. In the booklets, they include pictures of their child at home and at play with a paragraph or two (sometimes more) describing their child, including helpful tidbits about communication or assistive equipment.

    You may find yourself in challenging situations where the IEP team does not agree or you may be presented with questions or statements that are difficult to answer.  Hands & Voices created questions with answers that parents can use at an IEP meeting:  Pop-Up IEP.    You’ll also find the IEP Checklist helpful for figuring out what your deaf/hard of hearing child might need in their IEP.

    If you have IEP tips, lessons or experiences to share, I would love to hear them in the comments below.  Have you had an IEP situation that was challenging or that went well–share it with us!

  • Dr. Carolyn Stern, Family Practice Physician

    I can clearly remember the first time I met Dr. Carolyn Stern– I was filled with a million questions.  “How do you listen through the stethoscope?” was one of the questions that I asked. 

    “I have an amplified stethoscope,” she explained.  “I can also sometimes feel for blood pressure.”

    Dr. Stern was the first doctor that I had ever met who was deaf.  After chatting with her, I learned that there were many more deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the medical field.  At one time, I wanted to go into nursing, but I was pretty discouraged by a well-meaning counselor who pointed out all the difficulties I would encounter in the medical field because I was deaf.  This is why I feel it is so important to show deaf and hard of hearing youth today that they can indeed, do many things in many fields.

    Today, Dr. Stern is the Medical Director at the Rochester School for the Deaf and she works in Urgent Care at St. Mary’s Walk-In Care Center.  Dr. Stern is also the creator and founder of DeafDoc.org, a website that covers many different health care issues presented in American Sign Language and captions.  I love the quote on her site: “The difficult is easy, the impossible just takes a little longer!”

    To learn more about Dr. Stern: The Deaf Doc is In!