Marlee Matlin Research Paper

Deaf people living in a hearing world have certainly made their mark in the hearing community. Deaf people can do anything that hearing people can do. The band shown in the film called “Beethoven’s Nightmare “caused quite a stir in our class. I think that we were simply amazed that deaf musicians could play so well. By showing the audience this experience, it provides hearing viewers with the knowledge that this type of event does occur within the deaf community and that the deaf can appreciate

For my American Sign Language class I needed to attend some type of Deaf event. The event I chose was the showing of Love is Never Silent on October 22nd from 6-8pm in Wiley Hall at the University of Minnesota. Love is Never Silent is a very touching and powerful television movie from 1985. This movie can help the hearing world get a look at what it is like to have family members that are Deaf. This movie was also probably an inspiration for Deaf people by how relatable it could be to their life. The movie follows Margaret, a child of Deaf parents, through childhood until she is a grown adult. During the stages of Margaret’s life depicted through the movie I learned new information about Deaf culture and was able to make

A culture is usually accompanied by their own sets of labels whether it being good, bad, true, or false. Deaf culture is one of those cultures that has lists of common stereotypes, and issues they face constantly on a daily basis. Some of most common misconceptions are: Deaf can not talk, laugh, have good jobs, can not drive, all deaf sign, and so many more. Marlee Matlin, is a deaf actress who is very popular and successful. She has starred in many movies, and shows over the years, playing a deaf role in each part. Her success shows that Deaf are capable of great achievement. In an article about Matlin winning a Ruderman prize, they said “The $100,000 award will be given to the Oscar winner on behalf of the Ruderman Family Foundation for her work promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities in Hollywood.” (Jerusalem post) It is very inspiring to see people who are thought to be different win oscars and other awards. Even though she choses not to talk, she has a lot of talent and her acting skills are amazing due to her passion for her career. If a Deaf or Hard of Hearing person wants to reach a goal, they are very much able to achieve it. They may have to work harder, but it does not stop them. Another stereotype that can be seen as true, but also not; is that Deaf can not talk. Using their voices is something they choose to do or not. Some feel comfortable with speaking, or they lost their hearing after knowing how to speak; so they still use their voices. And

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).

“While with hearing people, she was expected to adapt to their behaviors and to their ways of talking. She realized that their view of her as handicapped could not be overcome; it was too deeply rooted in their culture” (Padden 154). In quote Tom Humphries is talking about Carol Padden in a very influential time of her life. Being a part of a subculture like the deaf community must be enriching but also have interesting effects on how people within the subculture see “normal” individuals. Deaf people can be seen throughout history, the best historical information found was in The Deaf Community in America: History in the Making, written by Melvia M. Nomeland and Ronald E. Nomeland. They provide many details about the history of deaf individuals like, “The first mention of a deaf person, Chushim, is noted in the Torah” (Nomeland 6). The Torah is the religious text of the Jewish people, and was written around 1312 B.C. Education for deaf people took over 3,000 years for there to be public education for the Deaf. “The London Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, another school, was opened at Kent Road in 1792 to accept deaf children from poor families” (Nomeland 17).

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

Two centuries ago, the Deaf community arose in American society as a linguistic minority. Members of this community share a particular human condition, hearing impairment. However, the use of American Sign Language, as their main means of communicating, and attendance to a residential school for people with deafness also determine their entry to this micro-culture. Despite the fact that Deaf activists argue that their community is essentially an ethnic group, Deaf culture is certainly different from any other cultures in the United States. Deaf-Americans cannot trace their ancestry back to a specific country, nor do Deaf neighborhoods exist predominantly throughout the nation. Additionally, more than ninety percent of deaf persons are born

Benjamin James Bahan who was born by Deaf parents in New Jersey was very passionate about American Sign Language and Deaf Literature. As a child he attended Marie Katzenbach School for the Deaf in West Trenton, New Jersey as well as Gallaudet University where he is now a professor and chair of American Sign Language and Deaf Studies. Upon returning to Gallaudet University as a professor and chairs person in 1996 he went to The Salk Institute in La Jolla where he researched American Sign Language linguistics and acquisitions as well as receiving his masters degree in Deaf Education and helped operate the Deaf Studies Program in the School of Education at Boston University. Lucky for Ben, while attending Boston University he met his wonderful wife who was not only Deaf but had Deaf parents just like him.

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.

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

Melba Pattillo Beals is a teenage girl who got excepted with eight other kids to go to an all white high school called "Central High". Melba and the other were tormented and threatened the whole time they were there. Melbas family and friends gave her the strength to get through her problems even if she wasn’t wanted at Central High. Melba made some white kids who were different, She was in a life or death situation a couple of times at Central High.

DiMarco said he realized the celebrity status meant becoming more than just a pretty face. He wanted to show his complexity and bring about change. So he created the Nyle DiMarco Foundation to improve the world for deaf people so that they can embrace themselves and their identities.

Mahalia Jackson was known as the “Gospel Queen” as she lived her life inspiring many African Americans. Jackson was born on October 26, 1911, into a poor family in New Orleans, Louisiana. She had six people in her family: her mother, Clarity Jackson; her father, John Jackson, Sr.; her brothers, Wilmon and John Jackson, Jr.; and her sisters, Pearl and Yvonne Jackson. Living in the segregated South, Jackson’s father had several jobs; he was a longshoreman, a barber, and a preacher. Her mother, the one who took care of the six as a devout Baptist, unfortunately, died when Jackson was five. Young Mahalia Jackson started singing at the age of 4 in Mount Moriah Baptist Church. In 1963, before Dr. King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech, Mahalia Jackson sang an inspirational song called “I Been ‘Buked and I Been Scorned,” to over 200,000 people. Mahalia Jackson, unfortunately, died on January 27, 1972, never fulfilling her dream of building a nondenominational temple. Dedicated to Mahalia The Mahalia Jackson Theatre was built and is located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was dedicated to the “Gospel Queen” for letting the world experience her music. Two major influences that impacted the life and music career of Mahalia Jackson were her religion and her family.

Reba Nell McEntire is a legendary country singer. She grew up in the small town of McAlester, Oklahoma, and is now a star in Nashville, Tennessee. She is still going strong at the age of sixty. Reba was born on March 28, 1955. Her profession is being a country singer and an actor. She is married and has one child.

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,