Deaf Culture In mainstream American society, we tend to approach deafness as a defect. Helen Keller is alleged to have said, "Blindness cuts people off from things; deafness cuts people off from people." (rnib.org) This seems a very accurate description of what Keller's world must have been. We as hearing people tend to pity deaf people, or, if they succeed in the hearing world, admire them for overcoming a severe handicap. We tend to look at signing as an inferior substitute for "real" communication. We assume that all deaf people will try to lip-read and we applaud deaf people who use their voices to show us how far they have come from the grips of their disability. Given this climate, many hearing people are surprised, as I was at first, to learn of the existence of Deaf culture. To me deafness is not a defect but a source of connection. Imagine yourself deaf, growing up with a beautiful language, visual literature, humor, and theater. Imagine taking pride in your identity without any desire to become a member of the majority culture. For many deaf people, their community is a comforting relief from the isolation and condescension of the hearing world. However the Deaf community is far more than a support group for people who share a physical characteristic. Members of the Deaf community may have hearing levels that range from profoundly deaf to slightly hard-of-hearing. But no members of the Deaf community are "hearing impaired." Inside this community, deaf people become Deaf, proudly capitalizing their culture. Hearing people suddenly find that they are handicapped: "Deaf-impaired." 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... ... middle of paper ... ... goal of the Deaf civil rights movement is parity in education; development of an educational system where deaf children can become both Deaf and literate. 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. Works Cited: Helen?s Legacy, 22 December 2004. The Life of Helen Keller. 24 Mar. 2005 http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/publicwebsite/public-keller.hcsp Breaking the Federal Glass Walls, 2 April 2000. National Association of the Deaf. 24 Mar. 2005 http://www.nad.org Deaf Culture, Deaf Culture. 1996-2005. 24 Mar. 2005 http://www.aslinfo.com
I learned a lot about Deaf people, ASL, and/or Deaf Culture after reading this book. Deaf people are normal just like anybody else and they should not be treated any differently. Some people treat Deafness as a disease that needs to be cured, but it's not. If a parent comes to learn that their child is deaf they react very crazily and act like their child is dying and that deafness is some fatal disease. Deaf people should be treated just like anyone else and no differently. They are not disabled and can do great things in this world.
...s that “sometime several Hearing people treat us the Deaf people like aliens or weirdos” (Scearce). Many of these issues could be resolved if the root of the problem was addressed and people sought to raise awareness about the deaf community, deaf culture, and the deaf way of life.
Many hearing people do not take the time to listen to the Deaf community as they just assume that they are being “selfish” as they do not want to change. The Deaf community does not want the hearing community to change them. If we try to change the Deaf community, we are trying to change their language and culture. The Deaf community relies on American Sign Language just as many of us rely on English. We would not want anyone to try to convince us to change our language just so we can communicate with the general population. Being deaf is not a disability, but rather a culture that most of the hearing community is going to have to
In this book, we read of several different things about the deaf culture. One example is the dislike the deaf people have for cochlear implants being given to deaf children. As stated in our book, the reason why the deaf do not approve of cochlear implants being given to deaf children is because they feel the child should have the opportunity to decide whether they want to be hearing or deaf. Another part of the deaf culture that we learn about in “Train Go Sorry” is that the deaf are very social people. They enjoy being involved in many social events and love to talk with one another.
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
Stepping into a room filled with both students who were deaf and others who were not, I was instantly met with smiles and hugs. While most people sat cross legged in a circle on the floor, the warm and amiable atmosphere imitated how Deaf culture is founded on a collective mindset and not on a separated
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.
Many people of society perceive deafness to be a disability a person has at which causes them to lack the power of hearing. Many of the people whom choose to believe that those who are deaf are disabled rather than possess a simple difference amongst them have most likely never had the chance to learn about deaf culture. Only about two or three out of every thousand children are born with detectable levels of hearing loss in the United States and an entire ninety percent of deaf kids are born to two fully hearing parents. (NIDCD) Therefore, it may be possible that a large portion of society views deafness as a disability due to the lack of background knowledge on Deaf culture.
90% of all deaf children are born to hearing parents who never thought much about the deaf community (Bat-Chava). That is why in mainstream society, the quality of being deaf is seen as a disability rather than something to be praised. The common view of deafness is that it is simply a person who cannot hear and “is deficient in some way because he or she may not be able to communicate by ‘speaking’ or ‘hearing”, we capitalize on what a deaf person cannot do rather than what they can (“Understanding Deaf Culture”). Carla A. Halpern says:
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.
Deaf and hearing impaired individuals are know longer an out cast group. They now have there own deaf community. Deaf individuals do not consider themselves having an impairment, handicap, or any type of disability. They believe that through the use of sign language, other communication skills, and technology that there deafness is the way they are supposed to be. Many people who have perfect hearing can not understand deaf people and why they embrace there deafness instead of trying to receive hearing and get rid of there handicap. However not all deaf people have th...
“Stop Global Warming!,” “Water Discovered on Mars!,” “Is Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber Dating Again?,” these and similar headlines are very common for us to see in the news but there is a particular topic I want to talk about that you do not normally, that is Deaf education. For years the deaf have been oppressed by those that are hearing until recently, within the last twenty years, they have been able to find their voice to speak about education, work, medical, and other concerns for the deaf. One of the biggest issues regarding the Deaf is the education and the mandatory use of oralism- the theory, practice, or advocacy of education for the deaf chiefly or exclusively through lipreading, training in speech production, and training of residual hearing (Dictionary.com). Basically,oralism is teaching lipreading and speaking with your voice. Not only can using oralism inhibit the student in a classroom setting by taking away from class time in order to attend speech class, it also can create a miscommunication between a deaf student and a hearing teacher, parent, or other student. Deaf students should not be forced by school
The Deaf community has dealt with and are currently dealing with many hardships in their lifetime. One of the struggles they are presently facing today is the term audism. Audism is one of the types of isms, where the hearing community believe that they are superior because they are able to hear. They portray this negative behavior towards the deaf community that it is a misfortune to be deaf. Their negative behavior expresses that those who are deaf must do their best to fit in with the “hearing world”. They forbid the use of sign language, forcing people who are deaf to learn how to speak and lip read. Although this stigma exists, the deaf community has successful striven in proving
We live in a society where we need every piece of ourselves to be ideal so we can live a perfect life. There are whole communities that live on this planet that chose to live, work, and play without a piece of themselves, and you won’t hear them complain. Over 5% of the world's population, that’s more than 360 million people, has disabling hearing loss otherwise known as deafness. For many people, the idea of living their lives in total or partial silence is unthinkable. General misinterpretations and fallacies about the Deaf have created both passive and active prejudices against the Deaf.
“If the technology became available for the deaf to hear completely, would you want your deaf child to have this technology?” It is every parent’s dream for their child to grow up healthy and happy. There are so many children in the world that do not have the ability to hear, and it is a horrible thing. Many would think it wrong for a parent to not want to give their child the gift of sight. If I had a child that was deaf, I would do everything in my power to help them get their hearing. If the technology was there to fix this disability, why wouldn’t anyone want their child to have it? “840 babies are born with a permanent hearing loss every year.”(NDCS of UK). This is a horrible number to hear, that so many children will never be able to hear. If there was any technology able to restore a child’s hearing it would be a shame if the parents didn’t get it. “Deaf children face tremendous difficulties learning to read, write and communicate with the hearing world around them.”(NDCS of UK). Not only would you be giving your child the gift of hearing by using this technology, but you will also help child to be able learn on the normal level of other children.