Leah Oakes

Deaf students had a path to science careers -- until their federal grants ended For years, the U.S. government tried to encourage deaf people to study science. But the programs were just ended by the Trump Administration, leaving deaf students unsure about their future.

Anti-science, anti-education.

Deaf ed teacher shortage -> "Another program, canceled by the Trump administration, paid for graduate school scholarships to fill the shortage of teachers of the deaf." #AcademicSky

Several weeks ago, four of five STEM programs that make up the NIH-funded Deaf Scientists Pipeline in Rochester, NY were cut (the fifth is expected to be cut too). A PhD student made the below infographic to visualize what these cuts mean as a catastrophic generational loss for #Deaf science

#DeafLGBTQWeek

Happy National Deaf LGBTQ Awareness Week!

Here are 5 of the many ways you can celebrate with us this year!

For a list of additional ideas, check out: bit.ly/deaflgbtqweek

We love you!

#DeafQueerWeek

We spelled research wrong on our research poster lol

I don't know how many more times they have to say it for you to believe us.
(May need to toggle on CC in video.)

Eugenics never stops adjusting to the system. #stopeugenics #deafsky

Queerness and deafness Deaf queer people exist everywhere, across geographical and historical contexts. Yet, research remains limited.

As Dr. Skyer once said in a group chat, "Solidarity makes fascism bleed." He's right. Simple as that. We stand together. Hands up, and speak up.

I'm proud and honored to work with two brilliant minds, @michaelskyer.bsky.social and @leahoakes.bsky.social.

Here's our article.

Queerness and deafness Deaf queer people exist everywhere, across geographical and historical contexts. Yet, research remains limited.

Rising fascism threatens all boats.

Please read this new FREE OPEN ACCESS Practitioner Brief on the intersections of Deafness and Queerness in history and contemporary society.

I'm honored to have led this team with @leahoakes.bsky.social and Matt Andersen.

academic.oup.com/jdsde/advanc...

Exclusive: NIH to terminate hundreds of active research grants Studies that touch on LGBT+ health, gender identity and DEI in the biomedical workforce could be terminated, according to documents obtained by Nature.

NEW: The NIH has begun terminating grants for active projects studying gender identity, DEI, environmental justice, climate change, among other topics.

At least 16 termination letters have already been sent — and hundreds more are coming, people inside NIH tell me.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Even while the world burns, it's important to keep science communication going! Below is a thread of my third major paper from 2018, "Influence of Hearing Loss on Child Behavioral and
Home Experiences" with Dongmei Li and @anthrodad.bsky.social pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

Professional responsibility and relationality in deaf education Published in Deafness & Education International (Ahead of Print, 2025)

Deaf education is connected to and implicated in larger social, political, and economic debates. To claim otherwise is deeply problematic.
OA guest editorial of a new special issue on deaf education edited by Michele Friedner, Kristin Snoddon and Rachel O'Neill.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Dr Deaf Workshop Join the Dr Deaf PhD Deaf workshop for a week-long immersion in doctoral work for deaf students in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities.

Are you working on an academic writing project - your PhD, MA thesis, article/book chapter, grant application, ... ? Do you want to write with other deaf academics? Join us at the #DrDeaf Spring Writing Retreat 25-30 May. Registration deadline 7 April. www.al.fhs.no/en/dr-deaf/?...

Dear universities, scientists, lawyers, farmers, workers, artists, doctors...

Being silent won't protect you.

This event is designed to shed light on the unique challenges faced by Deaf adult immigrants, particularly in literacy education that we are seeing around the province. This is to help you to understand data and how it can support you as a practitioners.

To register: bit.ly/deafglobal

Screenshot of a website reading: An official website of the United States government Here's how you know Seal of the U.S Department of Education U.S. Department of Education Schools should be focused on learning. The U.S. Department of Education is committed to ensuring all students have access to meaningful learning free of divisive ideologies and indoctrination. This submission form is an outlet for students, parents, teachers, and the broader community to report illegal discriminatory practices at institutions of learning. The Department of Education will utilize community submissions to identify potential areas for investigation.

enddei.ed.gov

American Democracy (1776 - 2025).

"Schools should be focused on learning."

Since 1930, we've known categorically that learning is social and cultural in nature. It cannot be extracted from intact sociocultural groups. Guess what? These are plural. Guess what? That's ideological.

ID: The flyer is light blue and has a blue Statue of Liberty figure along the left. Text is situated along the top and right side of the flyer. The text reads, stand up for science 2025. March 7th, 2025 Washington DC and nationwide. Science is for everyone. Find your local rally site and other ways to get involved: standupforscience2025.org

Seeking volunteer ASL interpreters (DC) for an upcoming (relativley large, grassroots) Science rally.

For details or if interested please comment/DM here or email me at Joseph.palagano@gallaudet.edu

Info. about the cause/org.: Standupforscience2025.org

www.scientificamerican.com/article/stan...

Did you know there are over 20 Black deaf scholars with PhDs in the U.S.? Want to know who they are? Check them out at blackdeafphd.com!

Thank you! Your support and mentorship has been invaluable.

Image of a journal article titled "Deaf queers in the healthcare system." For full text, see: https://academic.oup.com/jdsde/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jdsade/enaf001/7964437?

The inestimable, irreplaceable, Leah Oakes, one doctoral student I oversee, published this groundbreaking Brief today in the Journal of Deaf Education and Deaf Studies.

Leah, I am proud of you beyond measure.

Follow this:
bsky.app/profile/leah...

Read this:
academic.oup.com/jdsde/advanc...

Two panels of a trifold brochure titled: DEAF AND QUEER MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES.

"At the Intersections: Queering Deaf Spaces with ASL Education and Deaf Education" officially launched today at #ACEDHH2025.

We had strong interest and engagement with the community.

Very proud of my Co-Investigators, Leah Oakes and Matt Andersen.

If you are here and interested, we have handouts!

Deaf leftists--we're seeking contributors to our new blog, DEAF LEFT.

The brief:
500, 1,000 or 1,500 word articles.
Clear analyses, strong writing.
Unapologetically left political bent.

If you are interested in writing with us, send me a DM including your pitch.

Topics:
Praxis, ethics, tactics.

It was so good to see you, always enjoy chatting with you!

Deaf queers in the healthcare system Deaf queer individuals face significant barriers in healthcare due to communication gaps, societal biases, and limited accessibility to sign language inter

The end of January was a busy time, publication-wise! Below, we are sharing our most recent advance articles-we hope you'll check them out.

First, a Family & Practitioner Brief on the experience of Deaf queers in the healthcare system by Farovitch & Oakes: academic.oup.com/jdsde/advanc... (1/4)

list of banned keywords

🚨BREAKING. From a program officer at the National Science Foundation, a list of keywords that can cause a grant to be pulled. I will be sharing screenshots of these keywords along with a decision tree. Please share widely. This is a crisis for academic freedom & science.

Deaf college students —how’s your first few weeks back at school going?

Are you using any specific accommodations in your classes?

What about campus career services—are they working with you?

Tell us all about it!

deafleft.com If you’re not yet engaged in mutual aid communities in which you are gaining something as you also help other deaf people and other disabled people now is the time. In our diverse groups, we often think that commonalities override differences. Our deafness is more important than our racial diversity. This is only partly true. It is important to move beyond our commonalities and to value the differences within and across our communities. Valuing how we are the same and how we are different is an important mechanism that leads to solidarity. Solidarity is the idea that we are a coherent group because of our similarities and our differences. We are deaf and disabled people who are multiracial, multicultural, multilingual, multimodal.

Do not on this day bend your knee.

The time is now to realize your own power as a self-directed force that can be used for your gain and the gain of others.

Learn more here:
deafleft.com

If you’re not yet engaged in mutual aid communities in which you are gaining something as you also help other deaf people and other disabled people now is the time. In our diverse groups, we often think that commonalities override differences. Our deafness is more important than our racial diversity. This is only partly true. It is important to move beyond our commonalities and to value the differences within and across our communities. Valuing how we are the same and how we are different is an important mechanism that leads to solidarity. Solidarity is the idea that we are a coherent group because of our similarities and our differences. We are deaf and disabled people who are multiracial, multicultural, multilingual, multimodal.

Mutual aid has a transformative potentiality for deaf and disabled communities amid fascism.

Leah Oakes @leahoakes.bsky.social and I are announcing today that launch of our new blog:

DEAFLEFT.

We launched today because today has special significance for our communities. Read more:

deafleft.com

Would love to be added, thanks!

Cochlear implants make a useful addition to sign language | Letters Letters: Parents of a deaf child should not feel pressured to choose between implants and signing, writes Dr Wyatte Hall, while Simon Gair agonised over implants for three of his children. Plus letter...

Thanks to @theguardian.com for publishing my reply to a recent article "The cochlear question: as the parent of a deaf baby, should I give her an implant to help her hear?". You can find it here! www.theguardian.com/society/2024...

As I read each post, I was able to connect it to a person I know. Yikes