Arturo and Blake have been together for a long time. At least that's how it feels to Arturo when he thinks about it. And he is quite happy that they have been! Arturo is now in his early fifties and has continued to find an outlet for his commitment to civil rights and advocacy although in a slightly different way than when he was younger. He took up directing at a local community-run theater and feel in love with the work. He has been credited with a number of local productions and has developed a reputation as a director whose powerfully acted plays and musicals carry deep messages about the nature of society and the facts of inequality in its many forms. For his "day job," Arturo has been a part of Blake's medical practice, working in the background to support a transition to a 'paperless' office. Arturo designed a new office space that feels a little like something out of the 22nd century upon entering. As he enters his mid-fifties, he has felt better than ever about himself and his life.
Things have not always been so rosy, however. When he was 38, Arturo was coming out of a small bookstore late one night when he was attacked by two men. The men beat him and took his wallet while spouting, according to two witnesses, racial epithets. He had to be hospitalized for two days, and the crime was reported as a hate crime. The assailants were never caught, and Arturo was reminded of how fragile his hold on a good life could be even as he had overcome so much. For Arturo, however, this solidified his resolve to work harder for justice; he did not 'retreat' and cease any of his activities. In fact, it was shortly after the attack that he looked into work at the theater as he healed from his physical and psychological wounds.
1) Are there mental health professionals who work with people who have hearing impairments and may be in need of counseling for post-traumatic stress? Find individuals who are in your local area (wherever that may be) who could do this.
2) Provide statistics on marriage/partnering regarding people who are hearing impaired. How many have a partner who is hearing impaired? How many have a partner who experiences typical audition?
3) Provide statistics regarding the number of hate crimes that take place in the United States each year. What has to occur for something to be considered a hate crime?
1. There are consolers that are specialized in treating post traumatic stress disorder in people who have hearing loss. They work with speech therapists to ease these sessions. Upon much searching, we were unable to find any of these specialists in Virginia, but many were found in Minnesota (of all places). There are many specialists in post traumatic stress disorder in Virginia and would probably be willing to work with a translator to help the individual.
ReplyDelete2. The most recent sample was taken in 1947 of over a thousand deaf people to collect information about their marriages. According to this study, of married males that were deafened under the age of three, 82% had deaf spouses, of married males deafened at the age of 3 to 18, 77% had deaf spouses, of married females deafened under the age of 3, 86% had deaf spouses, and of married females deafened at the age of 3 to 18, 65% had deaf spouses (Schein & Delk, 1974). This sample is old and many things have changed since then, so it would probably differ from this sample due to new technologies.
3. In 2010, there were 7,699 hate crimes in the United States. While in 2009, there were 8,336 and in 2008, the total came to 9,691. The number of hate crimes in the United Sates has been somewhere between 9,000 and 12,000 when looking at the past 15 years. All states have different laws and regulations for hate crimes. These can include, but are not limited to biases of “race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.”
Schein, J & Delk, M. (1974). “The deaf population of the united states”.
(2009). Retrieved from FBI website: http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/hc2009/data/table_01.html
(2012). Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_crime_laws_in_the_United_States