Our excursion to Copenhagen!
First, I must say Happy Halloween!!! I know it's a silly American holiday but ... :)
We just returned from Copenhagen... what a busy week! We went to different places every day and learned a lot about the Deaf community in Denmark. A few were particularly interesting to me...
Castberg tour
Redtop, a Deaf leader, gave us a tour in his beautiful sign language about Dr. Castberg, the "father" of Deaf Education in Denmark. It was a fascinating story and touching to learn how events unfolded. Because of this man, Denmark has had sign language in the Deaf Education system since the 1800s rather than being influenced by the neighboring oral Germany.
Deaf TV
Denmark has 40 hours of Deaf TV programming every year. We learned about the history beginning in the 60s and the different programs they provide for different age groups. It was fun for me to learn about Deaf TV because America hasn't had any Deaf programming since the early 90s.
CI meeting
We met with an audiologist who works with Cochlear Implants. She explained about the device and how it works, as well as what has been happening in Denmark. In the past year, 98% of Deaf babies have been implanted and we asked her questions about this happening. She emphasized that CIs can benefit ALL Deaf people- ranging from hearing the birds singing to becoming completely "hearing". She was unable to give straight answers and kept on "blaming" the parents- saying over and over that the parents chose this for their children. They are responsible for researching and making the informed decision to proceed with implantation. She even went so far saying that she is not responsible for the long-term effects and other psychological issues that may happen with the child. Very interesting...
We just returned from Copenhagen... what a busy week! We went to different places every day and learned a lot about the Deaf community in Denmark. A few were particularly interesting to me...
Castberg tour
Redtop, a Deaf leader, gave us a tour in his beautiful sign language about Dr. Castberg, the "father" of Deaf Education in Denmark. It was a fascinating story and touching to learn how events unfolded. Because of this man, Denmark has had sign language in the Deaf Education system since the 1800s rather than being influenced by the neighboring oral Germany.
Deaf TV
Denmark has 40 hours of Deaf TV programming every year. We learned about the history beginning in the 60s and the different programs they provide for different age groups. It was fun for me to learn about Deaf TV because America hasn't had any Deaf programming since the early 90s.
CI meeting
We met with an audiologist who works with Cochlear Implants. She explained about the device and how it works, as well as what has been happening in Denmark. In the past year, 98% of Deaf babies have been implanted and we asked her questions about this happening. She emphasized that CIs can benefit ALL Deaf people- ranging from hearing the birds singing to becoming completely "hearing". She was unable to give straight answers and kept on "blaming" the parents- saying over and over that the parents chose this for their children. They are responsible for researching and making the informed decision to proceed with implantation. She even went so far saying that she is not responsible for the long-term effects and other psychological issues that may happen with the child. Very interesting...
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