Transcripts of Chris Driscoll

Can we, could you also talk a little bit about where you're at right now in the present. Because you're here in Columbus Ohio, and you teach ASL, American Sign Language classes here at Ohio State and several other places in the community. And I think you also work with young deaf kids, several camps and deaf-blind kids. I know there's a project you do there. So there's a lot of teaching. 

They're not teens, they're adults actually. They're adults, ok. And I do contact interpreting. A lot of teaching that you do that's related obviously to language and communication.  Sure I teach Sign Language here. I used to work with helping deaf individuals live independently. You know many of them don't have the kind of exposure from parents to let them do that on their own. How to pay bills, how to shop for food and so forth. You know, how to clean. Many of them have not been exposed to that. So I have worked helping individuals live independently. I share my life experience with them. I interpret, I like to carry the message of what other people say to pass that onto someone else. You know, I interpret for other people through tactile interpreting, interpreting with deaf-blind. So yeah, I think it's very interesting. There's a lot of different ways to teach. Well I guess interpreting, tactile interpreting isn't teaching exactly but working with students and working with adults, you know helping them teaching them life skills. You know, what those are. Is there anything else, not just anything else, but since this is a record, a historical record this interview. Is there anything you want to say, how you want to end it, that you'd like to make sure people know about you, or that you want people to know about communication or learning languages or just anything you would like to say for the record.  Well, based on my experience, I would really want any children in the future who are deaf, I would want them to learn to sign. To have access to language. I want their parents to be more involved with them. To help them communicate in ASL. You know, help them in English as well. It's fine. You know my mother was very involved with a lot of things with me. You know, I would like them to be interested in the deaf community, and also to be interested in my life of course. I understand that those parents, my mother for example, does kind of have two lives, she has her involvement in the deaf world, and in the hearing world, and I understand that both of those are very important to her. Many parents today, they want the easy life, you know they just want to do whatever the doctor says, give the kid an implant or whatever, and that can cause a lot of pain. It also hurts the deaf community. And I would really just wish in the future that parents would get more involved. To, to really look at the options that are available. Whether or not cochlear implants really help language and are really best for people. You know, is the deaf community best for their children? 

Instead of just finding out that their child is deaf and being so shocked they don't know what to do, and just choosing a cochlear implant, forcing a cochlear implant on their deaf child just as a reaction. Just as a knee jerk reaction. So here even you know in the university setting, I've seen a lot more people who come to Gallaudet, for example with cochlear implants. You know, and they come into Gallaudet and many times they haven't been exposed to the deaf community. So when they realize it's out there they throw their cochlear implant out, and looking back many of them realize that, they weren't ever given that option, and they're a lot happier without the cochlear implant. And the reason is they've finally found their identity as a person. And so it's really key I think, that people have an identity. You know, whenever that is that we accept them. Whether they're deaf and learn to sign, that's great. If that person decides to get a cochlear implant later in life, that's fine, if that's their identity. You know, but let them make that decision. And the key to that is them finding out their identity. And I really hope parents get more involved in really weighing the options and looking into them, not just taking someone's word and doing it. You know, listen to both sides of the argument, see what somebody has to say, listen to other parents, listen to the deaf community. You have to look at all sides of the situation. Not just doing what some doctor says. So that's something I think is really important, I wish everyone would know. I really hope that people learn what's going on in the deaf community. And, you know, whatever doctors say, whatever audiologists say, you know that's great, I understand that, that's fine, I understand their perspective. But let's get the experience of people who have deaf children. Ask parents who have deaf children, see what has worked for their kid. If the cochlear implant has been successful then... Ask more questions about that though. Don't just take someone's word for it and do it. So I would really hope for more involvement, for more research, that's what my mother did. Thank you, super.