Deaf Culture

We live in a world that is bounded by cultural norms and stereotypes that affect anyone who looks, acts, or is even born different. Our society narrowed scope views Deaf people as less, uneducated, and unworthy for the opportunities abled people are innately handed. There is a lack of opportunities that Deaf people received based on their disability in terms of jobs and acceptance. The feeling of acceptance is one thing the hearing community has felt at least once, if not their entire life, however it is a feeling that may be unknown to the Deaf community.

The rich history of American Deaf culture in conjunction withlanguage displays the determination along with the brilliance of these people. Though the hearing world had called them sin, denounced them as dumb, these people rose up against their oppressors, making a new world for themselves.

Watching the film Through Deaf Eyes was eye opening to Deaf history and culture. The film was a great introduction and snapshot of what it is like to be Deaf and to live in not only the Deaf world but to also be a part of the hearing world. Watching the film and learning the history and the achievements that the Deaf have overcome was inspiring. It was also depressing to see the kind of oppression that Deaf people have faced and within their own community. One of the biggest things that I took away from the movie was that Deaf people can do anything they wish to do, besides hear. Seeing the way they stood up and demanded a Deaf president of Gallaudet University and that helping to influence the introduction of the Americans with Disabilities Act was inspiring. Whenever I would think of what it would be like to be Deaf, I thought of the immediate loses that a Deaf person would have and that just isn’t the way to look at it.

There are numerous facts concerning the Deaf culture that I am not aware of, and a few of those elements have been made known. One of the new facts that surprised me was that approximately 90 percent of Deaf people are married to other Deaf people. This goes along with them being a tight-knit community. Another interesting piece of information I have learned is that I am to focus on a signer’s face, instead of their hands, while they are signing. Once I began to consider the expressions he or she would be showing while signing, and how one should pay attention while talking to another, it made perfect sense.

Together, Clerc and Gallaudet founded the first deaf school in the United States, what is now known as the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. The school opened on April 15, 1817 with Gallaudet serving as the principal and Clerc as the head teacher. Aside from teaching the students, Clerc was responsible to training the future teachers and administrators of the School. He was sent to other schools throughout the United States to continue to teach his methods to both students and prospective teachers, and his influence on teaching the deaf spread widely throughout the United States.

     ASL is essentially the offspring of native new world sign languages and French Sign Language. LSF merged with the indigenous sign languages when it was brought to the United States in 1817 by Laurent Clerc, a Deaf Frenchman who opened the first American school for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. Grammatically, ASL is far removed from English. One common misconception is that ASL is simply silent English; a means of representing English with the hands. Codes such as this do exist, but they are rough hybrids of English grammar and ASL hand

The Black Deaf Community seems silly to believe the existence of itself, but in reality based on surveys and observations, it seems rather smart. Going through the supplemental reading, I have noticed the Black Deaf community consists of strong and proud members of both, overcoming many issues thrown at them. This paper will discuss the issues and show how amazing the community really is.

Two centuries ago, the Deaf community arose in American society as a linguistic minority. Members of this community share a particular human condition, hearing impairment. However, the use of American Sign Language, as their main means of communicating, and attendance to a residential school for people with deafness also determine their entry to this micro-culture. Despite the fact that Deaf activists argue that their community is essentially an ethnic group, Deaf culture is certainly different from any other cultures in the United States. Deaf-Americans cannot trace their ancestry back to a specific country, nor do Deaf neighborhoods exist predominantly throughout the nation. Additionally, more than ninety percent of deaf persons are born

It is known that hearing people are superior to Deaf people. No one can sit and prove it, but you can tell how a hearing person acts compared to how a deaf person acts when they walk into a room. The hearing people are chit-chatting and enjoying their time. The deaf person is looking around trying to read lips but deep down is feeling isolated. Most Deaf people understand that they are equal to hearing people and should not feel discriminated against. Deaf people sometimes still get treated different, but most of the world is starting to treat them equally. They have been able to get more employment, higher education, and higher job positions. In Bernard Bragg’s book, “Lessons in Laughter: The Autobiography of a Deaf Actor”, he expressed

“While with hearing people, she was expected to adapt to their behaviors and to their ways of talking. She realized that their view of her as handicapped could not be overcome; it was too deeply rooted in their culture” (Padden 154). In quote Tom Humphries is talking about Carol Padden in a very influential time of her life. Being a part of a subculture like the deaf community must be enriching but also have interesting effects on how people within the subculture see “normal” individuals. Deaf people can be seen throughout history, the best historical information found was in The Deaf Community in America: History in the Making, written by Melvia M. Nomeland and Ronald E. Nomeland. They provide many details about the history of deaf individuals like, “The first mention of a deaf person, Chushim, is noted in the Torah” (Nomeland 6). The Torah is the religious text of the Jewish people, and was written around 1312 B.C. Education for deaf people took over 3,000 years for there to be public education for the Deaf. “The London Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, another school, was opened at Kent Road in 1792 to accept deaf children from poor families” (Nomeland 17).

The deaf community does not see their hearing impairment as a disability but as a culture which includes a history of discrimination, racial prejudice, and segregation. According to PBS home video “Through Deaf Eyes,” there are thirty-five million Americans that are hard of hearing (Hott, Garey & et al., 2007) . Out of the thirty-five million an estimated 300,000 people are completely deaf. There are over ninety percent of deaf people who have hearing parents. Also, most deaf parents have hearing children. With this being the exemplification, deaf people communicate on a more intimate and significant level with hearing people all their lives. “Deaf people can be found in every ethnic group, every region, and every economic class.” The

Hearing-impaired students face significant challenges in the Coeur d’Alene school district and do not often go on to higher education.

Everyone belongs to a culture some people belong to multiple cultures but everyone belongs to at least one. A culture is “ the sum of the social categories and concepts we embrace in addition to our beliefs, behaviors and  practices; everything but the environment around us.” (ConleyA-3). Culture provides many things for individuals including; self-realization, moral values, discipline, and compassion. Most cultures are contained to a specific part of the world, however there are some cultures that are universal, one of those being the Deaf culture. The Deaf culture is also a unique culture because within this large culture are  multiple sub-cultures, that each person brings with them. But because there is an underlying disability that brings all of those in the Deaf culture together there is oftentimes a social barrier between the Deaf culture and the Hearing culture. During social gatherings where members of the Deaf and Hearing cultures are both represented, actions are guided by social norms in order to make social interactions accepted by both cultures.

Across an endless time continuum through many different eras, many individuals from various different language backgrounds have experienced speech or communication disorders—including swallowing disorders, the incapability to coherently speak certain words, and auditory processing difficulties. According to the speech-language hearing association (ASHA), a communication disorder is defined as an impairment in the ability to receive, send, process, and comprehend concepts or verbal, nonverbal and graphic symbol systems (Asha.org, 2015). The severity of communication disorders may vary from mild to quite profound in a range of numerous individuals, regardless of era, heritage and ethnicity. A communication disorder amongst those experiencing

The deaf community does not see their hearing impairment as a disability but as a culture which includes a history of discrimination, racial prejudice, and segregation. According to an online transcript,“Through Deaf Eyes” (Weta and Florentine films/Hott productions Inc., 2007) there are thirty-five million Americans that are hard of hearing. Out of the thirty-five million an estimated 300,000 people are completely deaf. There are ninety percent of deaf people who have hearing parents (Halpern, C., 1996). Also, most deaf parents have hearing children. With this being the exemplification, deaf people communicate on a more intimate and significant level with hearing people all their lives. “Deaf people can be found in every ethnic group,