Heather Whitestone Research Paper

Claudia Gordon, the first deaf woman with African decent to be an attorney in the United States was an important figure head. To talk about her, however, we have to look deeper, towards some of her actions.

Sarah Breedlove which name she was born into on 12/23/1867 in Delta Louisiana on a cotton plantation.Sarah Breedlove parents name was Minerva and Owen Breedlove.Sarah Breedlove had 5 siblings.In all 6 kids Owen and Minerva had,Sarah Breedlove was the first one to be born-free.Sarah Breedlove was born-free because she was born around the war of 1812.

Katheryn Marie Hawkins was born in fort Knox Kentucky on December 29,1998, at Ireland military hospital where she was 81 lbs , 6 oz and 23 inches - normal delivery . she was the second child of Russell and Catania Hawkins . she spent her 1st 6 months at home with her mom but on the 7th month, she started daycare at little angels daycare . she loved it there and they loved her . her favorite food was strained Gerber peaches and strawberries . her favorite drink was milk . she learned how to walk and talk faster than her older brother and even began doing chores around the house by the time she was 2 .

The documentary, Through Deaf Eyes, is a two hour film that focuses on all things related to Deaf life over the span of 200 years. The documentary includes interviews of people who have made a significant impact on the Deaf community, including actress Marlee Matlin and various people who work or either have worked at deaf schools such as Gallaudet University. Before watching this documentary or even before signing up for this ASL course I knew a little bit about Deaf culture through my own personal experience. After watching this documentary I have learned so many different interesting facts and now I have a whole new perspective on the Deaf culture.

I enjoyed learning about Heather’s background, education, and career goals before and after her reign as Miss America. Heather Whitestone inspired me because she reached out to several people and motivated them to work hard and focus on their dreams. I can only imagine the amount of people in both the hearing world and Deaf Community that looked up to Heather and praised her for her successes. Even though Whitestone joined the hearing world later in life, I believe she used her cochlear implant to associate herself with deaf and hearing individuals and create relationships and a joint understanding with members of each

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.

Dr. Laurene Elizabeth gallimore is her full name, she was born on July 30 1985.she grew up in Columbia. She went to Indiana school for the death for high school. Her deaf education started at western Maryland college he started going there in 1986s she became a professor in the 2000s. she graduated from Indiana school for the deaf. she became a professor at the education department at Gallaudet university, which is located in Washington D.C. she got many degrees. In fact, Dr. laurene gallimore was actually the second African American woman that is deaf to earn a doctoral degree from going to collage at Gallaudet university one of the the only deaf schools back in the day but now there are many other universities’

Heather Whitestone has contributed so much to deaf history. In 1995 Heather made history by being crowned the first deaf Miss America. She has raised awareness for Deaf and hard of hearing people all over the United States. She has written three books, been part of the National Council on Disability, promoted awareness for deaf issues, and ,of course, been the first deaf woman to win the Miss America title.

She travelled throughout the country and gave several speeches. She encouraged deaf children and adults to strive for their dreams. Some people in the deaf community were upset because she spoke and read lips instead of signing. But Heather continued to speak and encouraged deaf people not to settle but to go beyond their disability.

Her legacy continues to inspire both Deaf individuals and their hearing allies to appreciate and support ASL as an integral aspect of Deaf

There are a couple very well-known Deaf entertainers, who have proven to a great extent the success that deaf actors can achieve. Marlee Matlin is featured in a plethora of movies and television shows. The role most should know her for is Sarah Normon in Children of a Lesser God, which she won an Oscar for, becoming the first deaf actress to win an Academy Award (Hunter, 2013). She’s also been main characters in movies such as Where the Truth Lies (1999), Hear No Evil (1993), Bridge to Silence (1989), Askari (2001), and Sweet Nothing in my Ear (2008) (Film/Tv/Awards, 2014). Just a few of the television shows she’s been in are Switched at Birth, Law and Order: SVU, and The West Wing (Film/Tv/Awards, 2014). She has competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2008, becoming the first deaf person to compete, but not to win.

The Deaf President Now movement and Gallaudet University protest did not only achieve its aims, this revolution brought unity to the Deaf Community and awareness to the general public. This revolution grew into a civil rights movement, consequently enacting legislation, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and The Telecommunications Accessibility Enhancement Act of 1988, to benefit deaf citizens. The events of February- March 1988 are still a great source of pride and enlightenment that are still nostalgically looked back on by this generation of deaf citizens. The Deaf community can be described as being a relatively private community, consisting of many people with various ranges of hearing loss. Like any culture, the deaf have their own community, culture, language, and essentially a separate world from the hearing majority. However, it has only been in the last few decades that there has been awareness and acceptance of this culture, nevertheless there is not full acceptance and understanding of this community and deafness in

The schools built began to shun sign language, focusing on oral education. A conference brought the decision that oral based education was more effective than manual education. Despite the diminishment we see in education during the 1900’s, we see huge strides for Deaf advocacy from both Deaf people side by side with hearing people. The first home run was performed by Deaf ballplayer William Hoy. The first hearing aid is developed. William Taft protects Deaf people’s rights to federal jobs in 1909. WWI along with WW2 provided jobs for Deaf people. The first African American graduate from Gallaudet College, Ida Wynette Gray Hampton. Captions are established 1958. In 1960, ASL was beginning to be recognized as a language. The first cochlear implant device constructed. Ending a time of Educational decline, Congress claims that oral education a “dismal

“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).

One thing that I was confused about was what qualities someone to be in the Paralympics, and the Deaflympics. I know that you need to be cleared by multiple doctors to be eligible to participate. When I was listening Andrea Smith said, she played college basketball making it sound like she was not in a wheelchair. Later on, she spoke about how she got into the sport when she got arthritic in her hips. I just find it interesting that someone with the ability to still walk is able to patriciate in wheelchair basketball. The same goes for Katherine Ward she was the deaf soccer player. One thing I found interesting was that she has a listening device. With this device, she can hear, but she can still compete in the