For A Deaf Son was produced by Rob Tranchin. The film is about his son Thomas Tranchin and Thomas’s early life. Thomas is deaf child, who is born into a hearing family. When he was born, he was just like every toddle. However, his mother realized something was wrong with him when he turned one year old and a lady told her that Thomas is deaf. She was extremely shock and I think that is just a normal feeling which everyone would have if they are in the same situation. Then, his parents tried to find the best way for him.
His parents get Thomas a cochlear implant and try to teach him some basic words like truck, car, dinosaur, etc. It really works in the words but not in the sentences. Thomas could not tell his feeling or what he wants. Therefore, he is easy to get temper. However, a professional tells his parents that a cochlear implant would not work for him because Thomas had residual hearing in the higher frequencies.
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Two years later, Thomas could recognize some speech sounds and words, but his speech was “gibberish”. After Rob visited many school for deaf people, he tried to convince his wife to take ASL class and accept that no way for Thomas can act as hearing person. At first, she called “a serious drawback” because she was afraid that she does not know who her son is, but later, she has to accept it. They took ASL class and they hire an interpreter to help Thomas. Of course, that works really well and Thomas can express his feeling and they can use sign language to tell him stories. After all, his mom still has mixed feeling for ASL However, at the end of the film, they have not decided the school for him
The directors indicated Matt's deafness through the use of other sensory stimuli. The greatest emphasis was put on the feeling of touch. Matt was able to feel the vibrations of the car, of the waterfall, and the crowd noise. The beginning of the movie began in an arena. The decibel level of the arena was nearly equivalent of a jet engine. The noise, the directors indicated, was not to be heard but felt. The directors also used visual stimulus to indicate the child in the beginning of the movie was deaf. The child was unresponsive to sound. Though I am no producer, I'd imagine it would be incredibly difficult, if not impossible, for a hearing child to have no response to
Although both his parents could sign, he was raised without learning how to because his doctors told his parents and grandparents that they were afraid signing would interfere with his speech and interfere with his learning and education because he would no longer try and use his speech and hearing skills. Mark talks about his struggles faced while attending different schools and just not being able to understand people because all he can do is read lips which was especially difficult when he wasn’t familiar with the movement and pattern of the person’s lips. He also talks about the schools he attended and how they affected him in different ways and how kindergarten at the Henry H. Houston School made him feel out of place because he wasn’t able to sing along or hear any of the music in class. Then, in third grade he switched schools and attended the now Plymouth Meeting Friends School and thought it was going well until another boy kicked a football at him and knocked him to the ground causing him to lose his hearing aid battery. Another school experience he didn’t enjoy was at Germantown Friends School where Mark states 95% of the time he had no clue what was going on and that when the teacher was done lecturing he would scramble around asking for the assignment and had to learn how to do it on his own. He was so ashamed of being deaf considering that’s all his grandparents wanted to believe that
The book, Deaf Again, written by Mark Drolsbaugh, is an autobiography telling his life story which starts with a young boy growing up who goes through the process of losing his hearing and then, as he gets older, he struggles with trying to fit in as a normal child. When Mark was very young, he could hear fairly well, then gradually he went hard of hearing until he eventually went completely deaf. Even though he had two deaf parents, the doctors advised speech therapy and hearing aids because they did not understand Deaf Culture and they thought that Mark would be a lot happier if he could hang on to his hearing persona. Throughout the rest of the book, Mark goes through a lot of stages of trying to fit in with everyone and eventually does find himself and realizes that being Deaf is not a disease, but just a part of who he is. About the time Mark was in kindergarten, he thought he was a normal child just like everyone else, but he started to distort things he heard in class and was wondering why everyone would be laughing and why he would be getting corrected.
Kimmy Bachmann A Journey into the Deaf-World Chapter 1 The narrator begins this chapter by introducing himself as well as his colleagues and co-authors. Ben Bahan, the narrator, is a deaf man from New Jersey whom was raised by deaf parents and a hearing sister. After spending an immense amount of time studying American Sign Language (ASL) he moved on to now become an assistant professor at Gallaudet University in the Deaf studies Department. His colleague Harlan Lane, a hearing man, is a specialist in the psychology of language and having many titles is a key aspect of this book as he believes, as does most of the Deaf-World, that they are a minority language and takes up their point of view to the hearing world.
Through Deaf Eyes is a documentary conveying various aspects of Deaf life, such as school, culture, and deaf history. It was filled with information and provides a great overview. Although my reactions varied throughout the movie, I really enjoyed it. The parts about how segregation impacted the black and white deaf communities interested me; I hadn’t considered how that would affect deaf culture.
Deaf Again is a book written by Mark Drolsbough about his life growing up as a member of the deaf community. He tells stories of the struggles of trying to fit into the hearing world. Drolsbough also details how his hearing family members made him believe as a child that being deaf is bad. He continues on with the story of his life as he finally finds his identity as a Deaf guy, with a capital D. Drolsbough then goes on to fall in love, get married, and help his mother find her proverbial voice in her family.
With around 70,000 special education students with hearing losses in the US it is no wonder that teaching these students the art of music has become an important opportunity within their education (U.S. Department of Education). According to Darrow and Heller (1985) as well as Solomon (1980) the history of education for students with hearing loss extends over a hundred and fifty years. These students have every right to music education classes and music instructors need to understand their unique learning differences and similarities to those of the average typical (mainstreamed) student to ensure these students have a successful and comprehensive learning experience. Despite this, there are still plenty of roadblocks, one of which may be some music instructor’s lack of effective practices and methods to successfully teach to the student’s more unique needs. Alice Ann-Darrow is a Music Education and Music Therapy Professor at Florida State University. Darrow’s article “Students with Hearing Losses” focuses not only on the importance of music education for these students but it is also a summarized guide of teaching suggestions containing integral information for the unique way these students learn.
Robert DeMayo is a Deaf actor, educator and ASL consultant. He was born in Connecticut but currently lives in Philadelphia. DeMayo grew up in a hearing family. It was hard for him growing up in a hearing family. He often felt like he was being left out by his family, who never bothered to learn ASL so that they could better communicate with him. This being the case DeMayo decided to leave his home since his family seemed like they did not care about how he felt being Deaf when the rest of his family could hear. DeMayo often struggles to make ends meat. Being a Deaf actor makes it even harder to find work while trying to pursue his dream. According to DeMayo there are not many jobs for Deaf actors that have flexible enough hours for him to also be an actor. He often had to take short term jobs like translating for other actors or musicians as they sang and performed. These jobs did not provide enough income and because he could not make enough money to support himself he eventually became homeless until one of his friends let him stay with them until he got back on his feet. These are just a few of the struggles DeMayo faced being a Deaf actor, TL Forsberg also faced many struggles as a hard of hearing singer.
In the autobiography Deaf Again, Mark Drolsbaugh writes about his life being born hearing, growing up hard of hearing, to eventually becoming deaf. By writing this book, he helps many people view from his perspective on what it is like for someone to struggle trying to fit in the hearing society. Through his early years, his eyes were closed to the deaf world, being only taught how to live in a hearing world. Not only does the book cover his personal involvement, but it covers some important moments in deaf history. It really is eye-opening because instead of just learning about deaf culture and deaf history, someone who lived through it is actually explaining their experiences.
The documentary of “Through Deaf Eyes” has open my eyes to the deaf culture. The movie has made it “click” that deaf people are just that people and individuals like me. Deaf community has its struggles just like everyone else. They struggle with growing into who they are as a person, harmful situations, and feeling a sense of belonging. They just speak a different language like Italians and Hispanics. Communicating with a different language does not make them lesser than a hearing person. When able to learn to communicate, the deaf are able to learn and gain knowledge just like a hearing person. The only difference is they have to learn more and work harder to achieve their goals and gain knowledge, which a hearing person learns just by hearing their surroundings.
While the benefits for the hearing are great, there are better benefits for those who are Deaf. Jarashow stated that it was essentially frowned upon if a Deaf child was using sign instead of trying to use what ability they had to hear. This seems counterproductive and if they emphasized more on teaching Deaf children ASL, there would be better outcomes for them in the future. Instead of focusing on trying to make everyone the same, they should focus on giving these children the best opportunity possible despite their
Mark Drolsbaugh’s Deaf Again is a biography about his life between two dimensions of the Deaf world and the Hearing world as well as the implications he faced throughout his journeys’. Mark Drolsbaugh was born from two deaf parents and was basically forced to adapt to the hearing world even though his parents are deaf. When Drolsbaugh was born he was hearing, however, by first grade his parents and teachers discovered he was losing his hearing. As time went on Mark realized the issues he faced from trying to adapt to the hearing world. Mark Drolsbaugh quotes in his biography, “Deafness is bad. I am deaf. I need to be fixed. I must be like them, no matter what, because deaf is bad.” However, no matter what his family believed that he
Have you ever felt like there was nothing that you can do for your child? In this book, Deaf Like Me, by Thomas S. Spradley and James P. Spradley, I can see the journey that Lynn’s parents took to get her help. (Spradley & Spradley, 1978). This book was an excellent read. I really liked the way that they described the ways they tried to help Lynn to understand the world around her. The book, is a great asset for any family that might be unexpectedly put into a situation that they know nothing about such as a deaf child.
From a deafness-as-defect mindset, many well-meaning hearing doctors, audiologists, and teachers work passionately to make deaf children speak; to make these children "un-deaf." They try hearing aids, lip-reading, speech coaches, and surgical implants. In the meantime, many deaf children grow out of the crucial language acquisition phase. They become disabled by people who are anxious to make them "normal." Their lack of language, not of hearing, becomes their most severe handicap. While I support any method that works to give a child a richer life, I think a system which focuses on abilities rather than deficiencies is far more valuable. Deaf people have taught me that a lack of hearing need not be disabling. In fact, it shouldn?t be considered a lack at all. As a h...
So today, I have shared with you my journey in deafness. Being deaf can be hard, but it is not the end of the world. I can do what anyone else can do such as talk, play sports and hang out with friends. Every person’s journey is different. For me the key to success is perseverance.