Deaf Video Analysis

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.

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.

“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

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.

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

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.

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

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

After watching Through Deaf Eyes I learned many things about how the deaf were treated throughout American history. From being isolated from each other and discriminated against and teaching them to use their voices and read lips instead of signing. I also learned that not all deaf people use American Sign Language. Some use hearing aids, or cochlear implants. Also some use other types of sign language like French Sign Language or Spanish Sign Language.

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

The video called Through Deaf Eyes made me think a lot about what they had to overcome to get to where they are today. As I watched the movie several things made me stop and think about how hard some of them had it growing up. In the beginning of the movie, I learned that 90% of deaf people have hearing parents. Then only 10% of those parents who have deaf children even learn sign language. Then to top it off only 1% of those parents are fathers. I feel that most people who have deaf children, feel like there is something wrong with their child. When in reality the only thing is their hearing. It just aggravates me when parents won’t take time to learn something, so that way they can communicate with their children. To me all kids should be able to communicate with their parents in the way that is easy for them. To tie into this a little more I’m going to jump to the end of the movie, where they were interviewing two families. The first family made their kids get cochlear implants, hearing aids. Had them take speaking lessons, and didn’t allow their kids to sign. The other family let their son learn sign language. They also learned sign language, so they could communicate with their child. I feel like, the first family felt like their children were less than them. They had their kids stand behind them during the interview. They talked directly towards the camera the whole time didn’t look towards their kid. The second family sat next to their child, like they were all

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

The goal that is expressed in the introduction is that his book is writing about deaf people in a new life. This book goes beyond the physical condition of not being able to hear and that being deaf is an illness, they highlight how there is so much more interesting aspects to a deaf person then many people may understand. The way we can truly understand a person is threw them using sign language. Sign language helps to “portray the life they live, threw their art and performances, their everyday talk, shared myths and the many lessons they can teach one another” (Humphries, Padden ,1).