Eradicating the Deaf-World Essays

While reading " Deaf in America: Voices From A Culture " I notice the purpose of this book was to wrote about Deaf people in a new and different way. The book main focus is that Deaf people have a condition that they can't hear. The culture of Deaf people is what both authors want to begin yo betray. What I found interesting while reading is that the majority of indidivauls within the community of Deaf people do not join it at birth. While reading these chapters I've seen both auhtors try to present the culture from the inside to discover how Deaf people describe themselves and how they think about their lives.

25. Historically, the educational system viewed sign as a language for animals. It was thought by teaching speech, deaf students would be molded into

The book “A Journey into the Deaf-World”, by Harlan Lane, Robert Hoffmeister, and Ben Bahan, is about the different people who are considered deaf: hard-of-hearing, deaf, and CODA. People who are hard-of-hearing are people who don 't hear well; people who are deaf lack the power of hearing since birth; you can be born hearing and throughout time lose some or all of your hearing sense. People who are CODA (children of deaf adults) are often signing because their parents are deaf and CODA’s often are helpful by being interpreters. CODAs become a great link between their parents and the hearing world. This book explains about deaf culture and how sign is a visual and manual way of conversing. The benefits of sign language are many and the ASL “foreign language” is growing among hearing as well. About more than 500,000 people sign in America alone. ASL is dated from 1779, but probably even earlier. Sign language promotes cultural awareness; deaf culture uses sign language as their main form of communicating.

In the movie, “Audism Unveiled” we learn that audism is a negative or oppressive attitude towards deaf people by either deaf or hearing people and organizations, and the failure to accommodate them. The documentary opened my eyes as to what the deaf community and what deaf people really go through, in the world. People who don't fully understand the deaf community and what being deaf is really like catoregize them as something less than human making false accusations as well as “walking on eggshells” thinking that they can’t do anything for themselves. We learn that the term audism is in the same discriminative category just like racism, and [ …]

Deaf children are entitled to know that they are heirs to an amazing culture, not a pitiful defect. In order to follow through on that obligation, one of the best things I feel we can do is try to educate other hearing people about the realities of American Sign Language and Deaf culture. Language is one of the most critical aspects of most cultures, and one which sets deafness aside from other defects such as blindness, physical disability, or illness. Sign language is not universal, nor does it always correspond to the spoken language in the same country. For example American Sign Language is native to the United States and Canada. Deaf Canadians might use English, French, or both as a written language. But deaf people in Great Britain, while they may write in English, use a completely different sign language. (nad.org)

deaf: working for the rights of all deaf people in this country, including education of deaf children.

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.

First, this book allowed me to see the negative way in which deaf people were perceived. This book is not old by any means, and I was taken aback by the way deaf children were perceived by not only others in the community, but often times by their own parents as well. The term

The advent of new technologies such as the cochlear implant will not ultimately eradicate Deaf culture. The Deaf community is too close-knit to become torn apart. Not everyone has access to these new technologies because they are not eligible for them or the price is not right for their low budgets. Similarly, not everyone will be successful with the cochlear implant and most will return to Deaf culture for the rest of their lives. However, for those who are successful, they can still be a part of Deaf culture if they are bilingual and have adequate access to the Deaf community and its members. Knowledge is power and ASL education is spreading throughout high schools and universities all over the United States. These are several factors that

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

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

In the article should the Deaf Be Considered an Ethnic Group? By Susan Seligson the author examines the attitudes towards the deaf community and their classification in society. The author claims that the deaf community has major hurdles to over come to become a ethnic group including the medical industries affection toward technology like cochlear implants which are usually implanted into infants who may have hearing difficulties with doctors medical advice. Seligson maintains the belief in which these implants are actually harmful to children because they can only marginally hear which effects the socialization of the child because the child has to try to hear with these implants opposed to learning ASL and being a part of a community. The

First of all it implies that the Deaf are "broken" and must be fixed in order to be a happy, functional member of society. The second main reason and arguably the biggest, is that it takes away the person's Deaf identity. It not only threatens their identity but many believe that is has the potential to destroy Deaf culture entirely.

It is easy to see why Deaf culture is so critical of those who assimilate with hearing culture because the Deaf have had a history of struggle and discrimination. Hearing culture has been critical of what Deaf people are able to do and have denied their existence. In the past American deaf people have been denied the right to vote, to marry, and to raise children (Halpern). Deaf children often were denied education, grew up illiterate, or grew up with no real language because at one point in time sign language was not allowed (Halpern).

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,