Deaf Video Analysis

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.

In the movie they show many people who share their stories of oppression due to the fact that they are either deaf or hard of hearing. They discuss that they don't want to be seen as people who need help or want sympathy because being deaf is not a disability. In the movie they state just some of the misconceptions that people have of deaf people. One being that they can’t do the same jobs as hearing people because its hard for them and theyre going to need assistance; that is not true; it’s sad that people believe that just because they can’t hear that they’re anything less than intelligent in a certain field.

I wasn’t expecting that. After viewing the movie I understand better now why even if some deaf people can use their voices, they don’t because it seems like it would lead to a one-way conversation. Although the hearing person would understand what the deaf person was conveying, the deaf person would not be able to understand the hearing person without lip reading or using sign language.

After reading Deaf Again, I can imagine some points about deaf people’ lives. It is really hard when someone tries to fit into something but it is not for he or she. I realize that the words “Never mind,” or “It is not important” can hurt someone. Moreover, I extremely admire the author, Mark Drolsbaugh, and other Deaf people because they are very patient and they are not easy feel down like hearing people.

To begin, it seems that it would be very disappoint for a parent that is hearing to find out their child is Deaf. Most parents just want their kids to be just like them. The video “For a Deaf Son”, showed a lot of true events and emotions that many families struggle with when realizing they have a deaf child. The parents of Tommy, was on crossroad of if they should have Tommy involved with the Deaf Culture or with help of a hearing aid, teaching him how to speak without the gestures. The mother in the video was so upsetting and disappointing.

What can I take away from the experience of observing this video that will help me build knowledge and Self-Awareness in Therapeutic Communication?

The video is broken into six sessions that correspond with each of the six sign language class sessions that new staff must attend. The video only contains a portion of the signs that staff will need to learn in order to work with Carol, about 100 signs total. This is to insure that the video can only be used as a study tool for new staff, not a substitute for the in class instruction. This is highly important in view of the fact that agencies who provide services are often encouraged to cut costs. Giving new staff a video to learn sign language from would be cheaper than paying both the teacher and the new hires for training hours. Though having only a video would be cheaper it would not provide the level of instruction needed to become skilled enough to work with Carol. The video only having a portion of the signs needed will still provide the staff with a valuable study tool, however it will also ensure that the classes that Carol’s support team were forced campaign for, do not become eliminated or reduced in any way.

“Through Deaf Eyes” was a documentary that really opened my eyes and allowed me to understand just a small fraction of what it may be like for a Deaf person to live in a hearing world. The first thing that really stuck with me was the fact that the film was all silent. The part that made it easy for me to understand was the fact that there was closed captioning. All throughout the film, all participants, both Deaf and hearing, were signing at what seemed like lightning speed. If it were not for the closed captioning, there was no way I would be able to catch up and really engage in the film. Then it hit me: this must be how Deaf people feel if the situation was reversed. I always used to get irritated

Right from the start, in episode one, the show addressed numerous misconceptions regarding deaf and hard of hearing individuals. It also displayed the positive effects of having a support system, that views the abilities a deaf or hard of hearing individual has, rather than seeing it as a disease that needs “fixing”.

For my major project, I decided to challenge myself by being deaf for one day and experience what a deaf person is living every single day and get a better understanding of their living situation. It seems as an easy challenge to do, but it turns out that it wasn’t.

This book was mainly focused on looking at Deaf culture of today and comparing it to the culture of the past, and what kinds of struggles deaf people had to endure to get where they are today. The two authors of this book are deaf; one was deaf her whole life and the other became deaf as a child. In my opinion, that was a major contributing factor to why it was so interesting. The reader gets a chance to travel through the history of the Deaf through words from those who have experienced it. It also had a positive impact because the authors let the readers know in the introduction that they are deaf and a brief history of themselves, which I

When I finished reading the book I realized that I had just learned way more than I had been expecting. Just reading the first chapter was enough for me to be awestruck by the intricacies of the Deaf culture, but as I continued reading I realized that the depth and many levels of social structure are so detailed that being able to fully understand them would be simply impossible. I was very impressed with the amount of respect that the word Deaf conveys among the Deaf community. The first chapter to me seemed to be the most interesting. The many stories about Deaf children meeting friends and interacting shed a new light on the way that Deaf people learn to communicate. The word Deaf itself is

American Annals of the Deaf is an educational journal that is committed to providing educational experiences of high quality as well as related services for the deaf. This journal has been around for over 150 years, and over time they have been dedicated to making sure that children and adults who are deaf or hard of hearing are receiving quality assistance for their disability (NEED CITATION). In July 1996, they published a scholarly article in response to a survey Catherine Gillespie and Sandra Twardosz conducted about the literacy environment and different practices that children are receiving in a residential school for the deaf.

The movie Trough Deaf Eyes shows us that Deaf people are just like everybody else. One individual in the movie said, "Being deaf is part of me, it's something I have to deal with, but it doesn't keep me from being happy. It's just like being tall instead of short." One thing that I thought was interesting, that was explained

I have watched three movies about the deaf culture, each has helped me to understand the Deaf World a little better.