Through Deaf Eyes Reflection Paper

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.

Audism by it's very definition is a negative or oppressive attitude towards deaf people by either deaf or hearing people and organizations, and a failure to accommodate them. This documentary really opened my eyes as to what deaf people have gone through since the beginning of time. They have been treated with prejudice and oppression. They have been looked down upon- as if they are some sort of “subhuman” not worthy of being classified as a normal person because of the fact that they cannot hear. Audism goes under the same category as racism, sexism, discrimination, etc.

This entire movie offered a new perspective towards Deaf culture that we have not explored in detail in class. A lot of the Deaf culture we have learned about had to do with learning as a Deaf student or the history behind Deaf schooling. This movie showed me what it was like to be affected by Deafness without being Deaf yourself. Margaret had so many extra struggles in her life that may not have been an issue if her parents were hearing. For example, Margaret wanted to go buy a dress to wear for graduation just like all of her friends were doing. When Margaret told her mother that her friend’s father could give her a discount on a store bought dress her mother did not even consider it and told her no. Her mother insisted that they would not be beggers and that she would make her a dress. Since Margaret’s mother was unable to communicate without help from other people I think that she did not believe in accepting help from other people no matter what the help was for. Even though Margaret’s friend was being nice by offering her a discount the mother felt it was a handout because they felt bad for her. This showed how Margaret’s mother was very proud and taking care of herself and

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 learned a lot of new things I didn?t know about Deaf culture and was drawn in by the story of Mark Drolsbaugh. ?The hardest fight a man has to fight is to live in a world where every single day someone is trying to make you someone you do not want to be ? ? e.e cummings. I was brought into the book immediately from

Moreover, the movie discussed the way deaf people and hearing people criticize and. Deaf people are more straight up on giving feedbacks. They use "Direct Approach" to criticize which means they go straight to the point and not worry of hurting the other's feeling. This is because in deaf culture, people believe they should be frank and clear in order to show that they care. In contrast, hearing culture uses "Sandwich Approach" to criticize. This means they will start with a positive point first then the negative and finally end with a positive point. They do this because they don't want their friends to feel bad about his wrong or unqualified work. In my opinions I think that both cultures have their points and actually I prefer the "sandwich approach". However, I sometimes use the "direct approach" with my closest friends.

As I watched the film, I was shocked and disturbed at the extreme measures that was taken to experiment on ways to get a person’s hearing back throughout history. The thought of putting someone in a plane and doing loops in the air brings out the fear in me, but putting someone that was deaf in the plane just because they were different from the hearing culture filled my head with sad and horrid thoughts. Even a child’s happiest moments, throughout deaf history, were used to try to “cure the deaf child.” What was supposed to be a joyful memory was constructed with a bad thought of trying to be changed. In the movie when Professor Robert Panera was talking about how his dad took him to meet Babe Ruth in hopes the thrill will get his hearing

A statement that truly stuck with me during the documentary was probably overlooked by most, but to me it struck a chord somewhere deep inside my heart. It comes toward the end of the documentary when Jill Stark is talking to one of the women in charge of her cochlear implant after the woman states the implant may not work. Jill discloses after that, “I’d just be happy to hear what the letter “S” sounds like.” All my life I have tried not to take things for granted. I know I am blessed beyond what many people will have in their entire lifetimes, but never once in my life did I thank God that I could hear words or know what the letter “S” sounds like. Most non-Deaf people think about such things and suppose they came “natural” to us. Jill is in a unique situation because she has now distanced herself and her children from the Deaf community due to stigmas attached to cochlear implants, something that also never occurred to me would be an issue until taking this class. I always thought a Deaf individual would want to hear if they had the option. There is such a vast number of things hearing people do not know or think about, and I often wonder if I had not taken this class that I would go to my grave never

This documentary does an excellent job of advocating for the acknowledgment of people who are deaf within society. This is shown through not only the brilliantly written and performed poems of the students but also in the basic, everyday struggles each of them face, such as the desire to fit in or be valued by those around them. Deafness is not a specific to any gender, race, culture, or religion. The struggles many people who are deaf go through are relatable to all and

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

The Book I decided to read is called “Seeing Voices: A Journey into the World of the Deaf”. In this book the author Oliver Sacks basically focuses on Deaf history and the community of the deaf developed toward linguistic self-sufficiency. Sacks is a Professor of Neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He became interested in the problem of how deaf children acquire language after reviewing a book by Harlan Lane. The book was titled “When the Mind Hears: A History of the Deaf”. This book was first published in 1984 and was published again in 1989. Before reading Harlan’s book Sacks did not know any sign language. The book encouraged him to begin studying sign language. Sacks became extremely interested on how the deaf learn to communicate with the ability of sound being nonexistent. He wanted to know what this process may tell us about the nature of language. Seeing Voices is made up of three chapters, the history of the deaf, a discussion of language and the brain, and an evaluation of the problems behind the student strike that occurred at Gallaudet University, in March of 1988.

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

In chapter 1, two Deaf sisters Helen and Vicki were interviwed by Carol. Their interview stood out to be the most in the chapter because it showed children spend their time learning what things are supposed to mean. As Carol interviewed the two Deaf sisters and they both argued about Michael being deaf or hearing it made me question why they both had a different answer if their both deaf. Also when Vicki mentioned Michael being Deaf and hearing I noticed you can;t be Deaf and hearing. I also noticed that children are often wrong for the most intertesting reasons and right for reasons we never expect. This was interesting because when Vicki reaches her older sister age she will be better undertanding and

Deaf culture is like any bother minority culture with a set of their own beliefs, morals, values, traditions, and other things.Deaf people is part of one of the largest societies, but yet it is fascinating to come across someone who is death because we are used to sound and chaos everywhere.

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