My Choice of Gallaudet University
I was born deaf to deaf parents. I attended a deaf school from the beginning of kindergarten through high school senior graduation. I grew up using ASL (American Sign Language) as my primary language, and English as my secondary. ASL is the visual-gestural language that best fits my communicative needs as it does for most deaf people. I grew up within the deaf culture and the deaf world. Everybody knows that I am very involved with the deaf community and am always encouraged by several people, especially my parents and my Vocational Rehabilitation counselor to attend Gallaudet University. Gallaudet is a university for the education of the deaf and hard-of-hearing. It is located in northeast Washington D.C. It is the first school which was started for the advanced education of the deaf and hard-of-hearing people in the world. It is still the world’s only university where the students are taught primarily through ASL. There are a lot of deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing people (ASL learners) coming to Gallaudet from other states and countries. I have wanted to go to Gallaudet University since I was young. There are a great number of reasons why I choose to go to Gallaudet University.
First of all, Gallaudet University has the biggest advantage for deaf people like myself, as it begins with a barrier-free communication environment. Everybody signs at Gallaudet University and everything is visual. Gallaudet is truly unique. (Simms) Gallaudet University’s communication environment gives me the freedom and great comfort
In the following chapters, there is an extensive amount of knowledge to learn about how Deaf culture is involved in our modern world. The pages assigned give us an outlook of how Deaf people are treated in our daily life, and how we should learn from it. Its gives a clear line between what are myths and what are facts, to those who are curious about the Deaf community or have specific questions. This book has definitely taught me new things that I could put to good use in the near future. In specific chapters, my mind really opened up to new ideas and made me think hard about questions, like “why don’t some Deaf people trust hearing people,” or “do we need another ‘Deaf president now’ revolution?” I realized many new things in the course of reading this book, and have recommended this to my family.
Throughout the ITP program and the lower level ASL classes the name Gallaudet is driven into our heads. We know of the University named after him and how he was the man to bring education to the Deaf in America. What was not before mentioned is that there were two Gallaudets. The first thing I learned from this book is the importance of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and his son Edward Miner Gallaudet. I fact I had believed for some time now that E.M. Gallaudet was this extraordinary man that everyone loved and the named a university after him. It is unfortunate that this was not made clearer in the past. Now all I see is a man who took the only path that he knew how to take.
Deaf Culture is often misunderstood because the hearing world thinks of deafness as a handicap. The Deaf are not given enough credit for their disabilities even though they are unable to hear. Being misunderstood is the biggest reason why they are not accepted in the world of hearing. The learning process for them may be slower and more difficult to learn, but they are still very bright individuals. The problem at hand is the controversy of trying to “fix” the Deaf when they may or may not want to be “fixed”. The hearing world should give Deaf people a chance to show their true talents and abilities of intelligence before rushing to assumptions, such as hearing aids will fix all Deaf people, because Deaf are dumb, have social problems, and
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.
Throughout the course of the semester, I have gained a new understanding and respect of Deaf culture and the many aspects it encompasses. The information supplied in class through discussion, movies, and guest lecturers since the previous reflection have aided in the enhancement of my knowledge of Deaf culture and nicely wrapped up all of the information provided throughout the semester.
A hearing loss can present many obstacles in one's life. I have faced many issues throughout my life, many of which affected me deeply. When I first realized that I was hearing-impaired, I didn't know what it meant. As I grew older, I came to understand why I was different from everyone. It was hard to like myself or feel good about myself because I was often teased. However, I started to change my attitude and see that wearing hearing aids was no different than people wearing glasses to see.
Dr Jim Cromwell has also found that those deaf children who are being educated in mainstream schools are not getting the education that they be worthy of. There is not enough support for them, they are being helped by teaching assistants with level 2 BSL, which is less than an O-Level.
Deaf Again autobiography is a man’s recounting of his life growing up in deaf culture, but virtually living in the hearing world. Mark Drolsbaugh was born to deaf parents, but grew up partially hearing. When he was diagnosed with hearing loss, his grandparents responded by not allowing Mark to learn ASL. Doctors and speech therapists concluded that Mark should not be immersed in deaf culture, instead he should hang on to his hearing as much as he can. He was given hearing aids and translators did not sign to him, but just repeated everything clearer. His parents were actually instructed to not used ASL around Mark because that would promote deaf culture. He became very reliant on lip reading and had no significant connection to the deaf community, even though his parents were both deaf! When he wasn’t familiar with the lip patterns of an individual, he found it very hard to understand them. Because of this, he was unable to keep up in school and had to rely on teaching himself all of his classwork. Eventually, he was accepted into Germantown Friends School, which was very rigorous, but people
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, the author of Deaf Again, was born to deaf parents at a time when the deaf population didn’t have and weren’t given the same availability to communication assistance as they have today. He was born hearing and seemed to have perfect hearing up until the first grade when he started having trouble understanding what was being said but was too young to understand what was happening. (Drolsbaugh 8).
Hearing people can have a place in the Deaf community. Each minority group tends to welcome genuine allies and the Deaf community is no exception. But it is important for people who hear to remember our role as allies. We join the community to show our support, not to lead. We can help educate other hearing people, but we are not missionaries to bring Deaf people into the mainstream. Deaf people are the appropriate leaders of their own civil rights movement and teachers of their children. Our role is not to give Deaf people a voice; it is to make sure that the voice already present is heard. And we can do that. We can teach other hearing people to listen.
Gallaudet died his youngest son, Edward Miner Gallaudet went to become a teacher at the American School for the deaf in Hartford. Edward’s dream was to open the first deaf college. In 1857 Edward went to the superintendent of the Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind, which was in Washington DC, and was able to convince him to help him open the first deaf university. In 1864, Edward’s dream came true and he was able to open the National Deaf-Mute College, the first college for the deaf. Years later in 1986 the college was renamed to Gallaudet University who is known as the first and only deaf university in the world. And it located in Washington D.C.(Start ASL,
Throughout A Loss for Words, Lou Ann discusses the impact of having deaf parents played in her and her sister’s childhood. Some examples include, being an interpreter and a guide for her parents while she was growing up, causing her to more of an adult rather than being a child (Walker, 1986, p. 2). Lou Ann never minded though she loved to feel important and to help her parents, along with her two sisters, with their business affairs. It was not always easy though Lou Ann says that, “in a few instances I was an unfaithful go-between,” for instance, “the garage mechanic who refused to serve them because [her parents] were deaf” (Walker, 1986, p. 21). As children of deaf parents, Lou Ann and her sister were apart of the deaf culture, but they were also the connection to the hearing world as well. Her parents would often look to her for clues in different situations such as a thunderstorm, someone walking into a room, etc., but they never tried to place any pressure on her it simply came naturally to Lou Ann to help her parents because they relied on her. If I were Lou Ann I probably would have done the same thing, no one should feel helpless and have no one that can help them accomplish tasks that need to be done.
Bahan, Ben. Hoffmeister, Robert. Lane, Harlan. A Journey into the Deaf World. USA: Dawn Sign Press.
My instructor had informed us about people with hearing impairments and disorders, but I never thought much about it. After this assignment, I realized how hard it is to have your hearing impaired. I had the luxury of being able to take out my plugs and fix my impairment if I became to overwhelmed or stressed. Those who are impaired do not have such luxury. I did not expect as much of a psychological element to this assignment as there was. There were times where I felt anxiety stirring inside of me. I became anxious if I missed something. The first day back with un-impaired hearing was memorable. I kept thinking to myself how hard short conversations would be if I was impaired. Moving forward, I have a better grasp of what hearing impairment really is and how hard it is to live with. I will be more conscious of my hearing because I never want to experience fulltime