Advantages And Disadvantages Of Deafness

There are a lot of pros of going to Deaf School but it also comes with a lot of cons. The pros of attending Deaf School is that you are surrounded by other children who speak the same language as you do and you are not the only student who have hearing problems but one of the major cons in attending the Deaf School system is that students are graduating with a lower reading levels and writing skills compared to the students in public schools. This may be occurring because Deaf Schools often get teachers who are unable to properly communicate in ASL. Perhaps, having a place designed for a specific disability does more harm than good because people lower the standard when they hear the word disability. Being the only Deaf student in my school gave me the attention that I needed in order to flourish in both spoken and written language. I was expected to thrive like the hearing students in my school. By my father’s simple decision, changed the way I am able to understand and communicate information in the written

Deaf Again is an autobiography written by Mark Drolsbaugh. In this book he begins at his birth, goes on to explain what it was like to lose his hearing, and details how this impacted and affected his life. Around the time Mark was in first grade, he began to realize that he was losing his hearing when he began having difficulty hearing some of his fellow students. His hearing continued to deteriorate until he was left completely deaf. This was very tough for Mark, because even though his parents were both deaf, they encouraged him to do his best to continue to be a hearing person. His parents believed that he would be happiest if he could fit in with all the hearing people, but didn’t understand that he could not truly be himself if he was

Language is communicated in various ways. Yet, there are still children who are denied the privilege of having one. Only ten percent of deaf children are born to deaf parents. This means around ninety percent are born to hearing parents. Most hearing parents have never been exposed to American Sign Language (ASL), so they do not teach it to their deaf child. One of the main reasons this happens is hearing parents tend to deny their child's deafness (Gray, n.d.). Instead, they choose to have their baby get a cochlear implant (CI). Parental decisions regarding cochlear implantation may be influenced by what they understand it means to be deaf. Basically, they see being deaf as a disability and are more apt to consider

People used to think that being Deaf was a sin and a major disability. I don’t really understand this view, as being Deaf is not a choice because a majority of the time, most people are born Deaf. Just because a person can’t hear, doesn’t mean there is something wrong with them. Deaf culture is so mesmerizing as their is such a deep connection within the community and they even have their own language. What people need to do is put themselves in the shoes of a Deaf person and imagine how difficult it must be being the “odd one out” all the time.

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

I chose the task of being deaf for about 4 hours which I thought may be the easer and safest option for me but I was quickly surprised that being able to hear contributes to so many things in my life. For example not being able to hear my kids call me when they say mom was sad because a mother will always know there child’s voice even if she’s in the middle of Time Square on New Year’s. Therefore not being able to come to their aid quickly was my biggest challenge. I wasn’t able to laugh at the things that they were laughing at when we watched our family movie. I couldn’t do my job at work of answering my customer’s phone calls because I couldn’t hear. I was afraid to drive because I was scared that I wouldn’t hear

In the past, many deaf or even hard-of-hearing students were sent away to special schools for the Deaf, and were not able to associate with the hearing at all. Now, many schools, both public and private, have programs to help these students and make sure that they can stay in a regular school that is close to home.

Living with hearing loss wasn’t always an enjoyable experience. Growing up, I gradually became more and more self-conscious of my hearing loss. Sometimes, I became so anxious that I kept asking people to repeat themselves just because I didn’t think I heard them correctly the first time. Most of the time, I simply needed to relax in order to comprehend what the other person was saying–I discovered later on that playing the piano and exercising allowed me to maintain my composure.

Mark Drolsbaugh’s autobiography, Deaf Again goes through his life journey as a deaf individual who tries to find his Deaf identity in the hearing world. Mark was born as a hearing person, but as he got older he gradually started to lose his hearing which made it difficult for him to fit in as “normal child.” When Mark was in kindergarten, he started to feel lost with his classmates and heard less and less. After this incident, his grandfather took him to numerous doctors to find a solution for his hearing loss, but there wasn’t any resolution. Despite the fact having deaf parents who knew sign language, Mark was never encouraged by his parents nor grandparents to communicate in sign language, they were told by doctors that signing would interfere

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 1997, Mark Drolsbaugh printed a book titled Deaf Again. In this book, Mark narrates his life story from a hearing child to deaf adult and all of his hardships. Mark was a hearing child born to deaf parents. As he matured, his hearing began to worsen and soon he was labeled as deaf, communicating became harder. He would make mistakes in class and be ridiculed for it. He did not understand the reason for the ridicule and eventually stopped putting effort in his studies. A pediatrician told his parents to look into speech therapy and hearing aids for him. His parents felt he would be happier if he connected more with his hearing side than subject him to a life ruled by his disability. However, his parents were fluent in ASL and regularly communicated with each other by signing. His guardians felt being taught to sign would hinder his development. As he aged, he experienced a larger disconnect from the hearing world, resulting in an isolating feeling. Eventually Mark learned ASL and gradually let the Deaf culture become a bigger part of his life. As his involvement in the Deaf culture grew he found a comradery that he had never had before. Soon, he began to see the value that came from communication and relationships with others above all else.

Although it is possible for deaf children to attend public schools and succeed, research suggests that it is best for them to have their own environment, says Meagan McDonough. It is already hard enough for a hearing student to find his/her place in the classroom, but when you add being deaf to the list, a major challenge presents itself. This deaf student must work extra hard to keep up and be able to read the lips of his/her teachers and fellow peers, and learn to communicate. Even though accommodations are made and sometimes interpreters are given, it is hard for the student to feel welcome. If this student were to attend a deaf school, he/she would not have to work so hard and would find it much easier to communicate and socialize - both of which are major focuses in a high school student’s life. In Meagan McDonough's article "Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children in Public Schools", she states that public schools might not be best for deaf students, but if they start out in a deaf school and eventually integrate into a hearing school, they will be better off and be able to keep up. I agree with her in that it is good for a child to at least start his/her education in a deaf school so that the base of their foundation is laid by something they can understand. If later they feel comfortable trying out a public school, they may do so and will find it easier to be and feel included. However, if ASL was to be offered in all public schools and colleges, it would give hearing students the chance to be able to communicate and be more comfortable with deaf

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,

I also want to briefly point out the range of hearing impairments that a child can have. Even though a child may not be classified as “profoundly impaired” or deaf, this does not mean that the child will not face several of the obstacles a deaf child does. Therefore, even though this site is taken from a “worse case scenario” perspective, many of the methods and therapy situations may apply to those with less severe impairments.

In past times, an issue that occurred most often was how to respond to the deaf in terms of education. They most certainly were not able to hear which meant that they also would not be able to speak clearly or at all; many questioned how they would be able to comprehend others or communicate with them in that kind of setting. There were little to no schools that educated deaf children until Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, a man with great intellect, decided that what he wanted do in life was to contribute to the deaf world (“Thomas H. Gallaudet”). Gallaudet, founder of Gallaudet