Marlee Matlin Accomplishments

Another interesting aspect of this chapter is to read about how Deaf parents feel about their Deaf children in depth (such as how their lives will be mapped out). As expected, Deaf parents treat their children as a mirror image of themselves.

By embracing the Deaf culture, he found his career and his family, and he is a much happier person living for himself and not trying to fit in with what he previously viewed as “normal”.

Perhaps one of the most notable and widely known members in Deaf society is Laurent Clerc, who was a teacher for the deaf. Born on December 26, 1785 in La Balme-les-Grottes, in southeastern France to hearing parents, it is unknown for sure whether Clerc was born deaf or was deafened later on in life. It is believed that Clerc became deaf at the age of one when he had fallen from his high chair into a fire, badly burning his cheek. He developed a fever from the burn, and was later found out to have lost his sense of smell and hearing. As far as it is known, Clerc was non-speaking and relied on pen and paper to those who could not communicate using sign language.

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

In “Through Deaf Eyes” you will find a range of perspective on the question what is deafness? This film is a balanced presentation of deaf experience. I believe that the film does a good job of revealing the struggles and triumphs of deaf people in society throughout history. The documentary covers a span of close to 200 years of deaf life in the United States. You will see experiences among deaf people in education, family life, work, and social activities.

Bob Hiltermann is a famous deaf storyteller, actor, comic, and musician. He was born in Wiesbaden, Germany and became deaf at the age of four due to spinal meningitis. His family assumed that he was slow and it wasn’t until he was ten years old that they finally realized he was deaf. When Bob turned eighteen, he attended Gallaudet University. While attending Gallaudet he learned American Sign Language, which would eventually lead him to become a confident and successful signer. Bob grew up in a family of classical musicians and this shaped his love for music. Despite being deaf he has become an accomplished musician himself and is the drummer for a famous all deaf band named Beethoven’s Nightmare. He has also experienced a very successful career as an actor and has starred in many award winning documentary films, TV, stage productions, soaps, and feature films. Bob has also helped create and star in an educational sign language series called “Shut up and Sign” (Hiltermann, 2016).

Deaf Like Me is a story compiled together by Thomas and James Spradley. It is a compelling story about two hearing+ parents struggling to cope with their daughters overwhelming deafness. This powerful story expresses with simplicity the love, hope, and anxieties of all hearing parents of deaf children. In the epilogue, Lynn Spradley, herself, now a teenager thinks back about different times in her life growing up deaf. She reflects upon her education, her struggle to communicate, and the discovery that she was the inspiration and the main focus of her father's and uncle's book collaboration. Deaf Like Me is a

The guessing based on visual clues was what I wanted, and it indicated that hearing people cannot tell if a person is deaf or not by looking at them. Knowing that Jeremy Joseph and CJ Jones were not famous, I decided to add Marlee Matlin and Sean Beardy to the survey as both are well-known deaf actors. In doing so, I believed that the vast majority would know that they are both deaf, but I was incorrect in this assumption. Only 72.4% (165/228) of all people who participated knew Marlee Matlin was deaf and 73.1% (155/212) of all hearing people knew Marlee Matlin was deaf. This number was much lower than expected as Marlee Matlin is by far the most iconic deaf actor in Hollywood. The findings were more dismal for Sean Berdy. 46% (104/228) of all participants thought he was hearing and 42% (96/228) thought he was deaf. The results were disheartening because I thought most people knew that they were deaf and they were supposed to be more of a control for people's knowledge, unfortunately this was not the case. My research has once again indicated that hearing people cannot tell if a person is deaf or not by just looking at them.

Black Deaf Students: A Model for Educational Success Williamson explores the types of environments that would be best for deaf black students. She is able to do this by taking all of the intersectionality’s that are variables in the success of deaf black individuals. She took the

The novel Deaf Like Me is an extremely compelling and inspirational story. The story revolves around a little girl named Lynn Spradley who was diagnosed with deafness at a very young age. The story is a timeline which takes the reader through the countless struggles that Lynn’s parents, Tom and Louise, encountered when learning to live with the deafness that Lynn was born with.

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.

     Born hearing to deaf, signing parents, Mark gradually lost his hearing. Despite the fact that his deaf parents preferred sign communication, Mark was raised and educated without the use of sign language. His parents and grandparents were concerned that sign might interfere with speech and restrict his educational achievement. Although Mark became increasingly hard-of-hearing, he worked hard to "pass" as a hearing person. This ambition, he later discovered, actually constricted his development and limited the depth of relationships with family and friends. During these long years, he just "didn?t know what (he) was missing." When he later learned ASL, chose to mix with deaf people, and learned to

The book A Loss for Words by Lou Ann Walker is a biography about Lou Ann. Her parents are deaf and she and her sister are hearing. The book describes the troubles and embarrassment she felt and had while growing up. She loved her parents dearly but often felt embarrassed, or infuriated about comments people would make to her about her parents. Lou Ann exclaims that “their world is deaf, their deaf culture, their deaf friends, and their own sign language it is something separate, something I can never really know, but I am intimate with.”(2) Lou Ann was both speaking and she could also sign. She felt it hard to fit into one culture. She had a love for her parents and the

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

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,