Social Bluffing–Revisited

Back in February of last year, I posted a question on a listserv about “social bluffing” a term that I came up with to describe the practice of pretending to understand conversation. I had googled the term and found nothing on it in reference to deaf and hard of hearing people so I came up with a definition.

“Social bluffing,” as I said in my article, ” is pretending to hear or understand something that is being said, and behaving in a way that shows you understand, even when you have little or no clue as to what is being said.”

As a result of the discussion that I initiated, someone mentioned that they were going to write an article about it. I was already in the midst of my own article on social bluffing which was printed in the Hands & Voices Communicator (Summer, 2006):

Calling Our Bluff: Using Communication Strategies in Social Situations.

Kathy Allen’s Communication Strategies Sidebar

I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery because the article “Bluffing…The (Not So) Social Truth” by Jay Wyant appeared in the January/February issue of Voices, a publication by the Alexander Graham Bell organization. They also included a sidebar of “Tips and Strategies.”

But hey, a little credit would have been appreciated.

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Chicago Parent Magazine–Wanting to be Heard


This month’s issue of Chicago Parent magazine has several articles on parenting deaf and hard of hearing children:

Wanting To Be Heard.

I would have liked to see Illinois Hands & Voices included as a resource in this article. Looks like we’ll need more publicity so that every parent in Illinois can know about us.

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Magazines and more Magazines– for Parents

I love magazines. Correction, the hubby and I love magazines. We have piles and piles of magazines in our house and I’ve actually cut back on the subscriptions that we used to get.

It just dawned on me that I no longer read parenting magazines anymore. When my first child was born, I subscribed to Parents and American Baby. By the time the third child came along (born at home), I was digging into Mothering magazine instead.

Last week, while waiting for my teenager to get his hair trimmed, I thumbed through a couple of different parenting magazines. I remembered the days of trying to get some sleep throughout the night, the huge diaper bag filled with everything under the sun and the countless days of playing “Hunt for the Binky.” I can remember turning to my parenting magazines to help me get through the ups and downs of motherhood.

I find myself on “the other side” as I guide some of my friends through their mothering days with their first babies. These are the gals who have finally become mothers late in life. And just as I did years ago, I see the same parenting magazines lying on their coffee tables.

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