The Legacy

Now that the first year of the new millennium has passed, my mind has been concentrating on our country's future. My sentiments are focused on our legacy, which is our children. What message are we, as adults, sending to them?

The environment for education is in shambles. For the hearing impaired or deaf students, it's chaotic enough without all the violence in the classroom. We need to listen to the pleas of our children. We MUST stop all of the disruption and senseless killings now.

The world is moving so rapidly compared to when I was a student. Hearing impaired children aren't being given the attention they need to flourish, before the trauma of the work force is upon them. When they move into the mainstream they aren't properly prepared for the adjustments they must make.

Earlier this week, I visited Leslie Mosley at a quiet get-together dinner. Gary, her husband (who's deaf since birth) works on computers at his job. Leslie works as a translater for the hearing impaired and deaf. Recently she was able to use her sign language to help her husband with a course he's taking to move on to a better position at his job. He'll now become a computer analyst. It's been an upward struggle for Gary but he's a very positive person, and advances quickly.

All of us require reinforcement in our daily lives, so we can continue to feel good about ourselves. Motivation keeps our dreams alive, so we may turn our dreams into our realities. Whether we are hearing impaired or not, it's important for all of us to know the people around us support and nurture our lifestyles.

I was reading an interview with actress Patty Duke. She had suffered for several years with a mental illness. Patty admits during her worse periods of depression she was inspired by Ms. Helen Keller's many accomplishments.

Our children's health care and education are important issues for their future. If they aren't improved how can we expect a better horizon for them? When we work on changing our priorities in this country, we'll not only be doing it for our children, but for their children as well.

I don't understand why we wait until something drastic happens before the laws are changed for the better, to help the disabled and the entire country. We are treated so poorly in a country which brags of our great richness. What happened to all the peoples' rights in the United States?

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