Posting #11: Chapter 33

This chapter was difficult for me to read because I felt like a Speech Pathologist was portrayed in such a negative light in the beginning. I am majoring in Communication Disorders to one day become a Speech Pathologist. There is a paragraph in this chapter when the authors explained what a Speech Pathologist does, they stated that:

“They drill their clients in correct pronunciation, teach them how to form sounds correctly, differentiate their vowels, consonants, and diphthongs, put the accent on the correct syllable, gain awareness of their movements, control their breathing and voicing, develop polished articulation and intonation (this is the tough part) and, in general, acquire good speech skills-as good as possible. They do so with wildly varying degrees of success” (pg. 196).

                I think that each Pathologist is going to differ and that just like a teacher, some are extremely good at what they do and others aren’t as effective. I think that in order to be a successful Speech Pathologist you need to be patient, and understanding of everyone’s differences. You are there to help them communicate more clearly with the language that they are given. I don’t think that you are there to completely change them. The authors say that many deaf people feel that Speech Pathologist view them as if “they are broken and need to be fixed” (pg.196).

My ASL course has really helped open my eyes to the deaf community. It has made me realize that they are just using a different language, but it is still one that is effective and fits them best, and there is no reason I should try to change them. I think that by knowing some ASL, I will be able to work with deaf children. I will want to help them develop and grow in the language that they are already familiar with. It is unfair for us to expect them to learn a whole new language on top of their native language and expect them to be distinguished in it. Just as the book said, in the future, I want my patients to find their sessions “enjoyable, or even rewarding” (pg.197). I am glad that the authors did finally point out that, “there are indeed some speech pathologists who respect deaf people, have a positive attitude towards the Deaf community, and even use sign language” (pg. 197).That is what I hope to do one day. I want to make a positive difference in my patient’s lives.

                At the very end of the chapter it says, “We would like the therapist/ client relationship to be one of mutual respect and honesty. Not one of antagonism or deception” (pg. 199). After reading the story about the deaf woman, who was told she was a wonderful speaker, then finding out she struggled at McDonald’s, I see the significance in having an honest relationship with a client. It is so sad that her speech therapist had lied to her when instead they could have been helping her.

Posting #10: Chapter 32

I had predicted that one of the chapters in this book would discuss deaf people’s ability to lip read, this was the chapter that discussed just that. I learned that “Only some 30% of all spoken sounds are visible on the lips” (pg. 191). There are so many factors to consider when asking someone if they can read your lips. I had never thought about homophones being an issue before. “They look and sound identical” (pg. 191). One must be good at guessing in order to read lips. A “lipreader must rely to some extent on guesswork to understand what’s being said, using the context to fill in the inevitable gaps (pg. 192). Before reading this chapter I had never heard of the word “speechreading”, the authors summarized it by saying:

“Speechreaders don’t just look at the mouth; they read the entire face: the eyes, the way the eyebrows tilt or the brows knot when certain words are emphasized. They note changes in expression, shoulder shrugs, posture, gestures. They also note any props the speaker is carrying; their surroundings. Picking up these associational cues is an art in itself. It requires a high degree of attention. It can be exhausting” (pg.192).

When people ask if deaf people can read lips, most likely they are really asking if the deaf person is a speechreader. I can only imagine how old and annoying this must be for a Deaf person. I think that I would find it irritating if someone expected me to be able to read lips just because I couldn’t hear. I think that speechreading is very challenging. I think about all the times I have had to try to read someone’s lips. Times when I am in a noisy place, like a concert, and someone is telling me something or when everyone is silent, such as during a sermon at church, and I have to attempt reading someone’s lips.

The authors say, “If all else fails, hearing people should forget the ‘rubberlipping’ and try the old standby, pencil and paper” (pg. 192). I know this approach would be time consuming, but I think it would be better for both people trying to communicate. It would be easier to write things down rather than trying to speechread.

This chapter brought up many good points that I had never thought about before. Such as, it is much more difficult to read a person’s lips that have a mustache. This makes perfect sense to me; it just is something I had never put much thought into. I am also glad that the authors said, “Don’t over-enunciate (exaggerate) your question” (pg.193). I think that that would seem so condescending. I found this chapter to be very insightful.

Posting #9: Chapters 30-31 & Quiz Results for Chapters 16-30

Chapter 30:

I had never known where my local agencies that support deaf people both within community and legal aspects would be. This chapter provided a lot of resources that are available to people wanting to learn more about ASL. I thought it was cool that the National Deaf Education Center has a website to look up information, “You can do a keyword search there or through a search engine such as Google” (pg.183). I will have to check that out! I had never heard of the Blue Book: National Directory & Resource Guide. It apparently has a through list of information “for many local and nation deaf organizations, institutions, agencies, clubs, interest groups, and businesses” (pg.184).

Quiz Results for Chapters 16-30 (pg.185):

                I took this quiz and got them all right! I was really excited that I was able to recall the information correctly. I think that the information stuck better for me this time because I started to form my own opinions over topics discussed in each chapter, such as the method of teaching, and school systems. I think this is because I began to think about what I would do if I had a deaf child.

 

Chapter 31:

                In Roger Mindel’s letter, he said that his wife works with a boy whose hearing but has deaf parents. He said that the boy seemed to be “merely translating into spoken language the language he was raised with” (pg.187). In response to his letter, the authors suggested that he and his wife could find more material on works on deaf children, early intervention, and education by checking the website for the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center at Gallaudet University. I think it is really neat that they have a lot of publications listed on their website for people to read. There are so many sources readily available about the deaf culture that I didn’t know about.

Posting #8: Chapters 28-29

Chapter 28:

I really liked that Clerc and Gallaudet taught their students hard things, they had an “emphasis on the tough stuff-reading and writing” (pg.170). The authors later state that they think that the “criticism that schools for the deaf are not giving students enough training in literacy has some validity” (pg. 171). When talking about the early teachers of the American deaf they were said, “They taught, making themselves understandable to their students, using the simplest, most basic equipment, and their knowledge, experience, empathy, and drive” (pg.171). In order to improve on deaf literacy the authors say, “What schools can do is to emphasize literacy as a primary goal- and to act on it” (pg.172). I agree with them.

If I had a deaf child I would want to hire a private tutor who was certified to teach my child while they were younger and first learning ASL. That way they would be able to start school already knowing a language. When it came time to choose a school for my child, I like the idea of sending them to a charter school. Before reading this chapter I didn’t really understand what a charter school was. I thought the book provided me with a better understanding of it by summing it up like this, “A charter school is a private school incorporated and owned by the parents and teachers. Such a school is directly answerable to the parents for the progress and well-being of its students” (pg.173).

I like that it seems to really focus on the deaf children and their growth and development instead of just throwing them into a classroom where they may or may not even have an interpreter. If I did send my deaf child to a Mainstream school, I think the authors gave some helpful pointers. I would need to make sure that “the teachers entrusted with the responsibility for the deaf students have any real training in deaf commitment to providing accessible, high-quality education to its deaf students or is simply fulfilling a political-legal mandate” (pg.172).These are good things to think about when choosing the right school for a deaf child.

Chapter 29:

This chapter seemed to be very controversial. I learned that, “Good residential schools offer advantages no mainstream program can: an abundance of trained professional staff, individual attention, a 24-hour learning/social environment, everyday exposure to ASL, full and equal participation in all activities, and Deaf mentors” (pg. 177). It was also brought to my attention that money was a big problem for Residential schools since a lot of them are not state-ran, and even the ones that are “state budgetary cuts are threatening the quality of their programs” (pg.175). I read that the mainstreaming law “became an easy excuse to shift deaf children wholesale from residential schools into local day programs or public schools.

I don’t know much about residential schools but I discovered through reading this chapter that “One problem the residential schools have long been struggling with is lower expectations” (pg.176). On the contrary students from mainstream schools said that “many feel isolate and cheated of an education” (pg.177). I think it would depend on where you live and your child when choosing the best school. The authors suggested that parents should “Check into the schools. Visit them. Ask tough questions. Investigate. Do your homework. And know how to communicate with your deaf children before enrolling them anywhere” (pg. 176). I think parents should be informed on the education systems available for their children.

           I haven’t heard of any recent school closings in the media recently over this issue so I will have to look that up. As far as the letter written by parents Barb and John Boelter, I think that they had some very interesting points. It does seem that hearing parents of deaf children are criticized for what they don’t do. They said in their letter that, “parents today who do recognize the social, educational and emotional needs of the deaf children should not be penalized for what parents didn’t do in the past” (pg.181). I completely agree. Times are different now and hearing parents are hopefully becoming more aware of how to meet the needs of their deaf children. They ended their letter with a very valid point saying that, “Perhaps if deaf parents were told over and over again that they were not able to provide an appropriate environment and identity for their hearing children, they would understand our frustration” (pg. 181). I am glad that they seem to be really involved in finding the best ways to help their deaf little girl.

Posting #7: Chapters 25-27

Chapter 25:

This chapter was really eye opening for me. I had always wondered how children learned English so quickly and the authors shared a valid point, we are bombarded with it! “They listen; they imitate. Effortlessly, it seems, they begin to put together grammatically correct sentences well before they learn to read” (pg.151). When I thought about it more I realized that I have always been surrounded by English. When talking about deaf children they say that “since they cannot hear this ‘language bombardment,’ they cannot benefit from it” (pg.151). So why do we expect deaf children to be fluent in English? We have such an advantage growing up surrounded by people speaking English and being able to hear it. I understand why deaf people would have a hard time learning English. I think it is unfair of us to expect them to master the English language when it isn’t what they have had the most exposure too; It is not their first language and because of this I think that we should accept what they call “Deaf English”. “It is not the writing of ignorant, unlanguaged persons, it’s the writing of persons whose first language is ASL” (pg. 152). That quote really summed all of it up for me.

I think the gap for literacy could be closed by parents teaching their deaf children a language early on so that when they get to school they will have one. They would then be able to focus on improving the skills they already have acquired rather than having to learn a whole new language. I think that we need to accept their efforts for even trying English. It breaks my heart that some parents don’t know any form of sign language or even enough to communicate with their child. I can’t imagine beginning school as a child and not really knowing any language at all. I think that this explains why many deaf children experience language delays.  I think it is the parent’s responsibility to learn ASL in order to teach and communicate with their deaf child before the child begins school.

This quote really stood out to me, it says “Instead of asking only why so many Deaf people can’t read and write English, we should also be asking why so many hearing people, especially teachers and parents of deaf children, know nothing about ASL” (pg.152). I think that really portrays the double standard our society has set and I think it is time we change that.

Chapter 26:

Some of the reasons of why some Deaf people like to read that stuck out to me were that there was “not enough emphasis on reading and writing in school” (pg.157) and that their native language does not have a written form. The fact that there wasn’t enough emphasis on reading and writing in school stuck out to me because of reasons explained in the previous chapter. When deaf children go into school with no language at all they have to first learn how to understand English in spoken form and then are later taught how to write and read it. They are already behind most children their age at that point so I think they get discouraged and look at it as just another thing they have to learn in order please our society’s expectations. The other reason stuck out to me because it’s true, Deaf people who know ASL as their first language are not use to language also having a written form. I think it is unreasonable for hearing people to expect deaf people to be able to learn a whole new language understand how to write and read it because unlike ASL, English it is not a visual language like they were taught but it is spoken and written.

The two misconceptions about deaf people are quite strange to me, I guess just because I never thought of either one of them before. I learned that some view them to be “The Silent Bookworm” or “Thee Illiterate Dork”.  I don’t know why people would think that just because a group of people can’t hear that they automatically love to read. They still can communicate, it’s not like they have to make up for a loss of social opportunities by reading. I think it is the same as Hearing people; it is just a personal preference. As far as the deaf being considered “Illiterate Dorks” I think that is just an awful, harsh, and rude thing to say and I don’t think that is the case. If a person thinks that they are truly ignorant. I agree with the author’s when they say that, “Literacy skills are not a true gauge of intelligence” (pg. 158). I think this is true in many circumstances. I know plenty of smart, hearing people who are bad readers; their intelligence level has nothing to do with it, and a deaf person’s intelligence level should not be questioned because of that either.

I think that Speech therapy is important but I don’t think it is as crucial for a deaf child. I think that rather than pounding in a new form of language into them we should embrace the language they are gifted with. I think we should work more with improving a child in the language they will use more for communicating everyday than teaching them another language entirely. We don’t need to change them; they have their own language that has been very successful in communication. I think speech therapy should focus more on hearing children’s ability to articulate because it is helping them better their first language. I don’t think that speech therapy should be used to punish deaf people. I am majoring in Speech Communications and that is not what my goal is. As far as literacy, I think that literacy is important for both hearing and deaf communities but I think that it should not be used to determine intelligence levels.

The story of the deaf man on pg. 161 was very interesting. I think he really tried to get his point across by comparing deaf people and hearing people to black and white people.  I think he has a valid point when he said that “A deaf teacher would understand our heads. Such a teacher could use ASL to teach English” (pg.161), he thought that the “Constant interchange” would help him learn better. He said that “My teachers looked down on the deaf. Even if they signed, they looked down on us; they had a Hearing attitude” (pg.161). I think that when he refers to hearing people having a hearing attitude he is describing a hearing person who knows ASL who tries to have power and control over the Deaf Community. “Learning how to sign doesn’t make a hearing person culturally Deaf” (pg.161). I understand where he is coming from but I don’t think that applies in every situation. I could see how that may be true for many situations but I think there are some exceptions to his statement.

Chapter 27:

I think that hearing viewers would either get used to having interpreters on every TV channel or would complain about it. I think that having interpreters on TV channels for deaf people is an awesome idea and think it should be offered to them but not put on everyone’s TV channels. Maybe it could be something they could subscribe to for free.

As far as captioning goes on TV programs and movies, I think the idea is a good and would benefit those who are fluent readers, but for many deaf people who struggle with reading it wouldn’t be helpful. I have seen many unclear captions during shows and movies where the captions are a little off or are choppy and don’t make sense. In that case, I don’t know how helpful it would be. I like that I can turn on and off the captions on my TV shows and movies. Some TV executives have pointed out that, “the captions would prove distracting, and annoying to hearing viewers” (pg.167). I think if they were on all the time I would find that statement true but sometimes I find it helpful when I watch TV at night and I can’t have the volume very loud or when I am watching a movie where the actors have thick accents. I laughed when I read that “Since October 1993, built-in decoder circuitry has been mandatory for virtually all new television sets” (pg. 167) because I don’t remember ever not having the option to have closed-captioning on or off on my TV.

I don’t think that movie theaters should put captions on every movie they offer just because the book brings up a good point, “to see is not necessarily to understand” (pg.166). Overall I don’t think it would be that effective or beneficial.

Posting #6: Chapters 22-24

Chapter 22:

Before reading this chapter I had always wondered if eye dropping would be the equivalent to eavesdropping. The book states that, “It’s not bad manners to enter a conversation, but it should never be an intrusion. It all depends on the situation and whom you’re with” (pg. 140). I think that I would feel uncomfortable watching a signing conversation and randomly joining in. I think I would feel more comfortable if I had seen that the deaf person had just met the person they were conversing with because then it wouldn’t be so awkward to approach and participate in the conversation.

This chapter also talks a lot about name signs. “A namesign is always bestowed by another Deaf person, and can be a humorous or affectionate way of commemorating a salient detail of a person’s appearance, ethnic identity, habits, passions, or quirks” (pg.141). I currently do not have a name sign. I think it would be awesome to have one and maybe one day I will. I find it amazing to think about all the little things that deaf people miss out on, such as whispering. I never really thought about it before, that a hearing person is able to have a private conversation by whispering where as a deaf person’s conversation is always public and may be interpreted by someone who knows ASL.

Chapter 23:

                I have noticed that most deaf people ask a lot of questions. In class we had talked about how it is sort of just how they are since they miss all of the side conversations that we hear every day so asking questions fills their curiosity. I like that they take the time to ask me questions it makes me think that they actually care and want to get to know me more. After reading this chapter I learned that when a deaf person meets a good signer, “Often such a hearing person will be welcomed into the Deaf community” (pg.144).  I think they appreciate the fact that someone is trying to learn the language. I also learned that sometimes they ask a lot of question in order to see if they can help you and to find out what instructor you are learning from. “Deaf people like to warn hearing students about bad teachers and to encourage them to take classes taught by good ones” (pg.145). I find this gesture sweet and I think it is commendable of them to want to encourage students. I had never heard of the ASLTA certification but I see why they find it important since it is “a reasonably reliable indicator of a teacher’s effectiveness” (pg. 145). I wonder if many schools require or recommend this certification for their teachers.

Chapter 24:

This chapter states that, “Deaf citizens rightfully resent hearing people’s learning ASL so they can take Deaf peoples jobs away while increasing their own power in the Deaf Community” (pg.148). I don’t think they should resent people for wanting to learn ASL. Not every student taking ASL longs to take away their job opportunities. I find that generalized statement very hurtful and offensive. I do understand that some people do learn and use it to their advantage and I think that is wrong.  I agree with the authors when they said that “Learning someone else’s native language to enhance one’s own personal power and make money from their community is a form of exploitation” (pg.148). I think then the deaf community would have a right to be mad but I don’t think they should resent all ASL learners.