» Yesterday, I vblogged about a quote in a … deafologue

Tayler

11:36:25 am on March 27, 2008 | 1,013 views

Yesterday, I vblogged about a quote in a sports article that read: “He’s had about 75 percent hearing loss since birth but uses implants that allow him to be functional.” In response, I e-mailed the sportswriter.

From: Tayler Mayer
Sent: Wed 3/26/2008 5:42 PM
To: Brian Windhorst
Subject: Your Article “Cavs hoping to get big help”

Brian Windhorst:

My wife and I are self-sufficient citizens, we contribute to society. We pay taxes, we vote. We go grocery shopping, we cook our meals. We drive to the beach, we bike on the sidewalks. We subscribe to Netflix, we watch captioned movies at theaters.

If this isn’t functional, then I don’t know what is.

Both my wife and I are profoundly, or as you put it, “legally”, deaf. I was born deaf; she lost hearing at age 2. We do not speak with our mouths…but with our hands. Most importantly, we do not use Cochlear Implants.

You wrote, “He’s had about 75 percent hearing loss since birth but uses implants that allow him to be functional.”
http://www.ohio.com/sports/cavs/16668881.html

We do not need cochlear implants in order to function. Clearly, we are functioning fine.

Your statement is misleading. It puts forth the message that people need to hear in order to function.

I realize that you may have hastened when writing this - I however ask that you join me in educating other sportwriters to cancel this misconception.

Tayler Mayer

Brian Windhorst, the sportswriter, replied:

On Wed, Mar 26, 2008 at 4:04 PM, Brian Windhorst
<bwindhorst@thebeaconjournal.com> wrote:

Tayler,

Thank you for the e-mail. The implication is he uses the hearing implants be functional on the basketball court. Certainly he and many like him and you are highly successful in society. Playing professional basketball is different and his achievements with his implants should be celebrated in that arena.

Brian

My response was sent as below, and have not heard back. As Mishka Zena put it, Mr. Windhorst may have realized he committed a “faux pas“.
Cochlear implants aren’t needed to function on basketball courts. They may help, but they’re absolutely not required. Most times, in basketball stadiums, it is too loud to communicate using voices. When conversing with the team and coach in meetings, interpreters can be used.

The statement in your article doesn’t clearly make the implication you mean. This in itself will confuse, and potentially mislead, your readers.

If you want to say the implication is for the basketball court, then you’re saying deaf people can’t play basketball in the NBA unless they have cochlear implants. Dummy Hoy was a deaf major league baseball player in 1888. We’ve had a profoundly deaf player playing in the NFL for two seasons from 1991 to 1992, and another in 1973. Cochlear implants are not required to play in the NBA, and it is an outrage that you knowingly subscribe to this notion.

Comments

Ars Gratia Artis 2:23 pm on March 27, 2008 | #

That is a real good letter.

I salute you!
Yankees15 9:23 am on March 28, 2008 | #

Hi Tayler

I would like to permission with you that can I take all basketball player with CI informations to my brother. My brother is Sportswriter I would like to hear what he thinks of this story and I will send you the messages from my brother.

Thank you
Mookie 12:49 pm on March 28, 2008 | #

Who gives damn about it.

He seems like a normal hearie with his hearing loss.

See the pix: http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600143465,00.html
walk a mile in my shoes 11:11 pm on March 28, 2008 | #

Well said, Tayler.
Lipstick 10:17 am on March 31, 2008 | #

Tayler, Love your letter to poor ignorant Brian Windhorst. Would be nice if he had done a little research before publishing such a ridiculous comment. Resonates with that old refrain…”Deaf people are not ready to function in a hearing world.” That song has got to STOP! Thanks to you for calling it to the attention of the Hearing and Dumb.
Tayler 10:21 am on March 31, 2008 | #

Yankee15, sure your brother can contact me at DeafRead@taylerinfomedia.com