Bitter: I beg your pardon?
Colleen: Since I was about five years old.
Bitter: That's right since she was about five years old. She has been presenting to small groups, large groups,
to help people understand that they're people, not deaf people.
And to help people understand that human dignity is more important than stereotype.
The greatest enemy of truth is frequently not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest,
but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.
Do you agree?
Yes, we think so.
Why don't you begin telling them a little bit about your life?
and oh, why don't you (mouthing) why don't you ask them their names first.
Colleen: Oh my. He asked me to ask you your names.
Her name is Gloria Beacon. What's your name?
Annette: My name is Annette Tull
Colleen: Annette Tall
Annette: Tull
Colleen: Tull. Ok Tull Right?
Colleen: Say it again? Bitter: Keep working on it.
Annette: Annette
Colleen: Annette. Annette Tull. Okay
What's your name?
Tiffany: My name is Tiffany Whitehead.
Colleen: Tiffany. That's a pretty name.
Bitter: Now we want as we move along.
Um, If you don't pick up what they're saying and their lips are moving like that, and you can't understand what's going on
or if you'd like to have them articulate a little more, to help each other, if they don't understand you, what are they supposed to do?
Colleen: Do it again. Repeat it again.
Bitter: Repeat it again. So we kind of have a reciprocal understanding, that what we don't understand we will repeat.
So if you don't understand, Colleen won't start crying.
If you don't understand, she won't throw her microphone and leave the room.
She will work with you on it and help you understand, and you might talk up a little bit, honey
because we have the ambient noise, the sound, the air-conditioning, whatever is going on upstairs, is on, so you might talk a little louder, turn up the volume.
Colleen: Ok. I'll do my best.
Bitter: Do you have your hearing aids on?
Colleen: No
Bitter: Everything is speech reading. Colleen: It hurt my ear.
Bitter: Everything is speech reading tonight. All right, go ahead. Oh, we're going around aren't we?
Colleen: Yeah. Ok, this is Tiffany. What's your name?
Doug: My name is Doug Roberts. Doug Roberts.
Colleen: Doug Roberts.
Doug: uh huh
Colleen: Okay
Shaunette: I'm Shaunette Tamblin
Colleen: Shaunette?
Shaunette: Shaunette.
Colleen: Shaunette. Next person.
Sheena: I'm Sheena Ruby.
Colleen: Say that again
Sheena: Sheena Ruby
Colleen: Sheena, Sheena, I didn't get the
Sheena: Sheena Ruby. Colleen: Sheena
Bitter: She got it.
Collen: Ok Alright next name is Max Nigh
Max: Right.
Colleen: Susan Boise?
Susan: Close
Bitter: Tell her.
Susan: Bjorg
Colleen: Bjorg
Bitter: Yes, put it together. BJorg.
Colleen: Big Yorg.
Bitter: No, Bjorg
Colleen: Be Yore
Bitter: Now let's do some work on that. Put it together. BJorg
Colleen: Big your
Bitter: Not two separate. How many syllables?
Colleen: Like two, three.
Bitter: No Bjorg, one syllable
Colleen: Borg
Bitter: Haha, pretty close, pretty close. Bjorg.
Colleen: Beyo.....Beyore
Bitter: Now that's coming, very good. Now we're going to put it on the board.
Now I would..this is...I'll put it on the board for you and show you what we'll do.
Colleen: Where did you get that name from?
Bitter: Bjorg, okay. Now notice the phonetic spelling. How easy it looks? Bjorg
This is an R...my writing is terrible. Alright
Colleen: I thought it was two, but it was one.
Bitter: That's right, well that's pretty close. Okay did we get everyone?
All right. Doug, ask for her name. Ask her her name.
Doug: Oh, What is your name?
Colleen: My name is Colleen Bitter. Colleen Bitter. This is my father.
Bitter: All right, why don't you tell them a little bit about your background, your life. Let's go that far and see what happens. All right?
Colleen: Okay, fine. I was born with a profound hearing loss.
excuse me for interrupting once more. Now if you don't get what she says, this is very important now.
If you don't get it, tell her. You stop them once in awhile, but if you don't get it, and she moves along, then you ask her.
This is very important in monitoring, because she's -- she isn't hearing you.
She's picking everything up by speech reading, by your syllable,
you know the consonant vowel relationships, and by pitch and by just reading the environment.
And so it's very very important that she knows whether you get it or not,
and this helps her monitor her communication skills. All right?
Colleen: Okay, thank you. I forgot, I forgot to explain that.
I was born with a profound hearing loss.
I have about 95 decibel loss, but my parents did not find out until I was about three years old.
But we think it was
Bitter: What was wrong with your parents? Were they asleep?
Colleen: (laughing) No, half of the problem was the doctor.
Bitter: Oh the doctor.
Colleen: But whatever.
Bitter: But we can always blame.
Colleen: But don't ask me, I don't remember anything because I was a baby.
Bitter: Why, Why can't you remember?
Colleen: Kidding me?
Bitter: Well
Colleen: I can't remember because I was a baby.
Bitter: Oh when I was a baby?
Colleen: You were the father, so you should remember that.
Bitter: Okay, I guess you're right. alright.
Colleen: Whatever
Bitter: You caught me on that one. I put my foot in my mouth.
Colleen: Thank you. Figurative, figurative.
Bitter: We do that all the time.
Colleen: Figurative of speech
Bitter: Figure of speech Colleen: Right, whatever.
Bitter: An idiomatic expression
Colleen: Oh
Bitter: An Idiomatic
Colleen: (unintelligible speech)
Bitter: Idiomatic
Colleen: Idiomatic
Bitter: Expression
Colleen: Expression.
Bitter: I put my foot in my mouth. It's gone in one ear and out the other.
Colleen: All right. Okay, we think it was Rubella. But we don't know for sure. But we think it was Rubella.
Bitter: What's Rubella?
Colleen: Well, it was, something like German Measles, German Measles.
You know, I have a prosthesis had it for 4 months so sometimes it is difficult for me to say "S", "S's".
(unintelligible speech) It is a big challenge for me, but of course, I won't give up. Ok
Bitter: You try putting elastic between all your teeth and talking.
Colleen: Right. So, anyway. When I was about five years old I had to go to a private school.
It was Hearing and Speech Foundation.
Bitter: Hearing and Speech Foundation. Yeah it's... Uh Ok
Colleen: I can't feel that, it's weird. Anyway then I went through the Extension Division.
Bitter: Extension Division
Colleen: In Salt Lake City. Back then class was in Salt Lake City within classes in regular school
But with some "deaf" classes. I don't like to say deaf, but
deaf classes and some "hearing" classes to be with children with normal hearing.
Bitter: Is that what you call integration?
Colleen: In... Bitter: Is that what you call Integration?
Colleen: Integration. That's what I call it. I had to think about that word.
Bitter: Today they, some people call it mainstreaming.
Colleen: Mainstreaming.
Bitter: You know, we use Maximum Cultural Involvement.
the Church, the school, the family, the home, you know the whole bit together.
You've heard of that, haven't you? That's our philosophy.
Colleen: Yeah.
Bitter: (Mouths: Oh I'm sorry we'll) We'll let you see the video.
Woman: Thank you. I'll be back next week. I'm sorry I have to go teach my class now.
Bitter: Thanks for coming Annette, and we'll get in con -- give me a call if there's any questions and we'll see you next week. Alright.
Colleen: Okay, when I, I remember, I remember when I was little, one of my favorite classes was reading class.
Bitter: Did you get that?
Colleen: Reading, reading, reading class.
Reading a book with the other children. There were four of us in class. I still remember it from third grade.
Bitter: Yes, and wasn't it one of the governor's daughters that asked you
Asked your mother one day if you could read?
She was already at Brighton High School and one of the former Governor's daughters lived next to us
and had known Colleen all these many years; and one day, one day asked her mother if Colleen had learned how to read.
and this was when she was a junior in high school. Remember that?
Colleen: Yeah, I could not believe it. But I guess some people have.....weren't kind about people with a hearing problem
or a visual problem or something like that.
It's all (unintelligible speech) say that sometimes. I have a fine, fine mind. That goodness. But...
Bitter: I have a fine mind.
Colleen: Anyway, but I love to read though. Then we moved to Detroit, Michigan.
Bitter: Where did we move?
Audience: Detroit, Michigan
Colleen: Detroit, Michigan and we lived there for three years. Then we moved back
and I went back to the program for one year.
Shortly after, I told my dad and mom that I wanted to go to public school.
They said okay. So I went to ________ Public School, on my own.
Bitter: What uh, what district was that?
Colleen: Jordan.
Bitter: Jordan District, okay.
Colleen: And I went to Butler Junior High
Bitter: Butler Junior High School.
Colleen: And I graduated from Brighton High School, in 1973.
Bitter: Okay.
Colleen: Fortunately, after my graduation, I start to working for Utah Power and Light.
Did you get that? Okay. Fine.
Bitter: You helped turn the lights on.
Colleen: Yeah
Bitter: Okay
Bitter: You helped keep the world lighted. Okay.
Then what happened?
Colleen: I still working for Utah Power and Light.
Bitter: Are you in a rut?
Colleen: No, I feel fine.
Bitter: Okay
Colleen: I like working at Utah Power and Light.
Bitter: Alright, let's invite them now to ask you questions.
and this will give the chance for speech reading skills to come about.
So go ahead, ask her some questions if you would like.
Not if you would like. It's part of your examination.
(audience laughing)
Bitter: I told them, I said ask her some questions if they would like. and I said that's a lot of nonsense.
That's a part of their examination, so they better ask you some questions.
Woman: Colleen, What do you expect from an Oral Interpreter? What do you want them to do for you?
Colleen: Well, I expect them to tell me what's going on because that's when I don't hear anything.
I expect them to tell me what the speaker says.
and umm not to be on that side or the other side. But just speak what the speaker says.
That's it. Everything to myself, and....
Bitter: Are you talking about impartiality? To be impartial?
Not to take one position or another in terms of Philosophy or Methodology?
Colleen: Right
Bitter: that's what we call impartiality, isn't it?
Colleen: Impar--impartiality
Bitter: Impartiality, to be impartial. To not be partial
Yes. Come in, Debbie. (mouthing: Come in and join us.)
Debbie: Sorry
Bitter: In fact, why don't you sit there.
Debbie: Diane Powers is out there.
Colleen: She should come in.
Debbie: She said she will in a minute.
Bitter: Let's adjust the seat.
Man: Can I mic you?
Debbie: Oh. (laughing)
Bitter: Now Watch the interaction between Debbie and Colleen along the way too. That'll be very interesting.
(Colleen and Debbie Laughing)
Colleen: Good to see you again.
Debbie: Yeah
Bitter: It's so much fun to have you with us again, Debbie. It's been a long time.
Debbie: Yeah it has. It's been a long time.
Bitter: Yes, been a long time.
Alright, Colleen is just giving a little background of her life, you know.
and they were asking her questions.
Debbie: Okay
Bitter: But let's stop with Colleen now, and would you give some background of uh
Debbie: Ok, to talk about me?
(Colleen and Debbie laughing)
Colleen: Go ahead. I talked about me then you tell them
Debbie: Oh I see. Where do you want me to start?
Talk about when I was born.
Alright, I was born deaf.
First of all, my name is Deborah H(unintelligible speech).
I was born deaf. My parents found out I had a hearing loss when I was 18 months.
But they don't know for sure what caused it. We think I was born deaf
or either I would say hard of hearing before I was 18 months.
But we don't know for sure because I was pretty young at that age.
And then I went to private school when I was three and a half years old to learn how to lip read
and speech and foundation at the University of Utah for about three years.
And then I went to regular school but it was not the school for the Deaf in Ogden.
But it was a school in Salt Lake.
And there was a class, that was the first class when I was about 5 years old.
and it was all classrooms in Salt Lake.
So I was the first one to start the class with six people
And so my parents would take me to go to school in Ogden because it's too far away from my home in Ogden.
So we had half the parents work with the child, this was hard work.
So we rotated between the parents and the child.
So, I started school when I was about seven.
I started going to school with hearing people and deaf people together.
Yes?
Bitter: Debbie, did you and Colleen go to the same school?
Debbie: Yes, maybe for the first five years.
Colleen: First five years.
Debbie: or something like that. We kind of spread it out.
And then uh I started going to South High School and I graduated in 1971.
Then I went to the University of Utah for about a year.
And then I went to Long Beach for college.
And then I started fashion design major.