In the introductory letter to DeafDC.com habitués, it was mentioned that I’m knowledgeable about Deaf history and captioning issues. Now, I hate to disappoint you, but I don’t consider myself an expert on Deaf history; knowledgeable about it to a degree, yes, but do I have in-depth command (my bookcase notwithstanding!)? Probably not. As a historian of sorts, and a former Ph.D.-in-the-making, I have quite a bit of breadth on a variety of historical subjects, but my depth lies more in the American West. Some of my friends, peers, and colleagues though, are up-and-comers. Two of them are now at Gallaudet: Brian Greenwald and William Ennis. Take a bow, guys. There’s also Joe Murray, who I understand is right now somewhere in Norway with his family.

In the past, Deaf history has largely been the province of hearing authors and historians; only lately has there been an increase in work done by the deaf and Deaf themselves. Most of this is comprised of papers given at various conferences, but authors like Harry Lang are starting to contribute to the discourse. I hope to see an increase in material written and published by the Deaf themselves; perhaps this will happen among Deaf Studies scholars, who are by necessity and training familiar with history as well as culture. There’s been a number of institutional histories done at various schools by alumni and other interested parties, but history is more than just the narrative of any particular school– it’s also the story of people as a whole.

One good place to start is with the older members within our own community. Do you know an older deaf or Deaf person? Interview them, and get their story recorded now, while they’re still around. Oral history is often treated as a stepchild within the academy, but it is useful, and often complements and supplements the written record. In our case, since ASL is a visual rather than written language, oral histories are important. For example, Deaf history buffs point to the Deaf contigent in Akron, working at the factories during World War II. What oral histories have been done among these workers? Do any exist? Has anyone drafted a paper or article based on such recollections?

These memories don’t have to be that old, either. What about those my age or slightly older, who were in the vanguard of the mainstreamed era? It’s been more than a generation since the passage and implementation of PL-94-142; what was it like for these early pioneers? How has mainstreaming changed since 1975? Has mainstreaming changed public perceptions of deafness? Has it disseminated knowledge of sign languages in general, or has it served merely to isolate deaf individuals? Considering the rising numbers of mainstreamed students heading to Gallaudet since the 1980s, those who matriculate must be gaining exposure to the Deaf community somewhere. How did that happen, and where and who were their contacts? All of this is so recent that a number of you (including some fellow columnists) have experienced this directly. It may not seem like history to you, but each person’s story, once collected together as a whole, allow historians to present a wider picture that reveals a snapshot in time for future generations.

As for captioning, I’m not so much an expert as I am an advocate. There’s a difference, and while the two are not mutually exclusive, I can barely follow some of the discussions on the listserv I subscribe to (Captioning, over at Yahoo!); they’re discussions between true captioning experts, CART providers, and other similar individuals. Part of me wishes that group, established by Jamie Berke (About.com’s “Deafness” guide), would split off into two: one for the techies, and one for those of us who truly just want to work towards 100% captioning. When it comes to all the technical specifications, I’m totally lost; get me talking about which companies aren’t doing their fair share of captioning, and I’m all hands! That’s where there really isn’t much between you and I; all it takes to become an advocate is a bit of passion, some time, and a willingness to sit down and write, e-mail, or call the Powers That Be. I certainly have some more thoughts on this, and will check back in later on this topic.

Probably what I am truly an expert in right now is blabbing. I certainly don’t have any problem banging out these entries! But for now, I’ll let someone else at Blog Central take over…