Post #29: Chapter 60 and Quiz Results

Chapter 60:

Before reading this chapter I had never considered the internet to be a way of destroying Deaf Culture. I had never heard of deaf people meeting at clubs before. I didn’t know that there were local deaf clubs and that people went there and “watched a captioned or subtitled movie (or even one in ASL), socialized, discussed politics, swapped information, chatted, gossiped, and networked” (pg. 353). I thought this was an awesome idea and found it cool that even people in the hearing community were invited to participate in Deaf culture. Then I read that “the upsurge in accessible mass media has led to the downfall of the club” (pg. 353). This was disappointing just because I had never heard of the deaf clubs before and I thought it was such a neat idea. I guess that is why I hadn’t heard of them before, because the increase in technology is decreasing the deaf clubs.

The authors compared the Internet to the TV. “The Internet is more interactive, even social, medium than TV. Exploring Websites is more interactive than channel-surfing via remote control” (pg. 354). The use of deaf chat rooms really interested me. I discovered that “DeafChat began getting visitors from across  the nation and abroad-including parents of deaf children, some of them distraught, who were seeking information, advice, encouragement, and support” (pg. 355). I think that by using the chat rooms in a safe way, it would be an awesome way to meet new people and learn about ASL. The chat rooms were used to “share the positive (and negative) aspects of the Deaf experience: discussing their schooling, jobs, lives, families, issues, controversies, frustrations, and dreams” (pg. 355). I never considered it to be a great way to network but now that I read that I completely understand how it would be beneficial.

The authors kept comparing the chat rooms and Internet to something called “TRS”. After reading the chapter I still didn’t understand what “TRS” stood for. I researched it and learned the TRS stands for Telecommunications Relay Service. This apparently allows deaf people to make phone calls. It incorporates the use of a teletypewriter (TTY). It is like having someone facilitate a telephone conversation to another person for you. I personally think that this would get tiresome after a while.

The authors say that they are “looking forward to the day when videophones become affordable and technically sophisticated enough to be commonplace” (pg. 355). I think that this idea is not as futuristic as it may seem. A lot of people are already purchasing smartphones that have the ability to “face time”. This feature allows two users with Apple iPhones to be able to see each other when they are talking on the phone. Another way we to communicate that we discussed in class was via Skype. As long as each user has a webcam, which most computers now come with, people are able to video call one another. I think it is amazing how far we have come in our technology and think that these improvements have helped instead of hindered the Deaf community for the most part.

5-Minute Quiz for Chapters 47-60:

I knew all the correct answers to these questions which lead me to believe that I understand the information covered in these chapters.

Post #28: Chapters 58 & 59

Chapter 58:

                This chapter of the book really got me thinking. Of course deaf people don’t think of being deaf as a disability. It is all they really know unless they were late-deafened. Just because it is different from what hearing people consider “normal” doesn’t mean they are defective or damaged. It is sad that people could really look at a group of people as just being broken or defective. I too think that those people who look at them as being defective don’t “take into account what we do with our remaining senses, how creatively we cope, how we communicate, and, most significantly, the richness and color of our lives- as deaf people” (pg.343).

                I think that deaf people have formed their own culture. “ASL-Deaf people certainly do have a distinct language, folklore, literature, art, and social customs” (pg. 344). Just because they don’t have a “distinctive religion, cuisine, or costume” (pg.344), doesn’t mean they aren’t a culture.

                I always wondered why deaf people don’t consider themselves as having a disability but want to be a part of the Americans with Disabilities Act. I learned that, “They want inclusion. Bring down the barriers” (pg.345). It was a little complicated to understand but I also read that, “While those with physical disabilities are concerned about mobility, for example, our concerns focus more on communication” (pg. 345). So I guess it is more to raise awareness? I don’t completely understand it. I do understand however how some people think it more accurate to consider it both a disability and a culture.

 

Chapter 59:

                The first response written by the hearing person I thought was insanely selfish and showed how uneducated they were on the deaf community. I also didn’t agree with the Canadian cochlear-implant surgeon. I do think that the cochlear-implant industry has negatively affected the deaf community but I disagree with his statement that it “will lead inevitably to the extinction of the alternative culture of the Deaf, probably within a decade” (pg. 347).  I didn’t like that he compared the deaf culture to the Yiddish culture because while I agree that “people who have devoted their lives to creating these alternative cultures deserve our highest respect and deepest sympathy” (pg. 348), I disagree that they will be unsuccessful in remaining a culture. I do think that both the responses “are indicative of the hostility with which some hearing and oral-deaf people view ‘Deaf Culture’” (pg. 348).

                This chapter talked a lot about the Deaf Community being compared to the ghetto. I didn’t really understand this comparison. I never would have compared the two. I learned how more wealthy families are choosing to get cochlear implants while a lot of the lower class families are not. “That means that we will end up with a ‘class’ of un-deafed deaf people who are financially comfortable, and a class of poor folks with strong Deaf identities (and, as it looks, substandard educations)” (pg. 351).

                I never considered how new implants are to our society. Our generation is kind of the guinea pigs for cochlear implants. We haven’t had an older generation with them. I find it interesting that the authors predicted that “there will be a vigorous anti-implant backlash-spearheaded by deaf adults who were implanted as children, and who have long since stopped using their implants” (pg. 351).

                I agree that “Prejudice and ignorance are still wide-spread” (pg. 351). I am glad that I took ASL and learned about the Deaf Culture. I think more people need to be aware of this culture.

Post #27: Chapter 57

Chapter 57:

I am glad that Cissy Andes wrote a letter asking for more information on how Alexander Graham Bell almost wiped out deaf culture. I had also wondered about this after reading a previous chapter in the book. I still find it shocking that he was an advocate for oralism considering his own wife was deaf!

“Although he became a skillful signer and acknowledged the beauty of sign language, he believed that speech was of supreme importance, and that deaf people should assimilate into hearing society” (pg. 340). Since Bell was so passionate about this, I wonder if he looked at his wife as having a “curse” and if she choose to be on the speech path or did he choose for her?

It broke my heart to read that,  “he proposed legislation against ‘the intermarriage of congenital deaf-mutes’” (pg. 340). I think that is incredibly cruel. It was sad that he also made sure his idea would work by adding the following three rules (pg. 340):

1. Eliminating residential schools

2. Forbidding the use of sign language in the education of deaf pupils

3. Prohibiting deaf adults from being teachers of deaf children

The events that happened over these years such as Deaf teachers losing their jobs, and signing students and oral students being separated were awful (pg. 341). This must have been such a setback for the Deaf culture to overcome.

Post #26: Chapters 55 & 56

Chapter 55:

                Linda Evans, wrote in to the authors asking if, they knew where she could find books and other articles answering the question regarding "What is Deaf Culture?”. I have often wondered if there were publications on Deaf culture because I do find it very interesting.

                The authors defined Deaf Culture as, "a social, communal, and creative force of, by, and for Deaf people based on American Sign Language (ASL)" (pg. 325).  I think that the definition they provided is accurate based on just what I have been learning. I had already started to realize that "deaf people still prefer to communicate and mingle with their own kind. That is the psychosocial basis of Deaf culture" (pg. 325). I think this is because they have formed a community with one another. I think it is really neat that "deaf people who attend the common residential schools for the deaf... tend to seek out other deaf people and communicate in sign language" (pg. 326).

                I learned that "certain team sports, notably, volleyball, bowling, softball, and basketball, are 'Deaf tribal sports.'  In Deaf tribal sports, everyone gets a chance to participate. To Deaf People, sports are a social experience, a kinetic way of expressing 'belonging'" (pg. 326). This is a great way for people to come out and get involved in the Deaf community and learn more about it.

                This chapter stated that, "Some Deaf people do not believe that we have a full-fledged culture... Ethnic culture is generally transmitted from parent to child" (pg. 327). I had this conversation on the phone with my brother just this week. I was explaining to him that by going to DCE's for class, we are also being exposed to deaf culture while sharpening our signing skills. I explained to him how being deaf was a way of living and the importance of deaf people gathering together. I am glad that deaf people have formed a Deaf culture. I think culture is very important for any person to be able to experience because it encompasses so many aspects of the way we live.

                "There is no distinct mode of dress, no special cuisine, and no uniquely 'Deaf religion'" (pg. 327). When we associate people in groups and categories we seem to always consider these factors. "The only truly distinctive aspect... Is our 'Deaf language'- ASL in the U.S.A" (pg. 327).  I think this sets the Deaf culture apart from many other cultures. Some consider it to be subculture though because the only deaf social custom is based on communicative needs (pg.327-328). I consider it to be a cultural group I wouldn’t think of it as subculture. The part I really appreciate is that "the Deaf culture is by no means restricted to deaf 'members only'" (pg. 329).

I think it is cool that many children raised by deaf parents are "native ASL users and bilingually proficient in ASL and English" (pg.329). This allows them to "straddle both Deaf and Hearing cultures" (pg.329). This reminds me of a previous chapter which discusses how many of these kids later become teachers of ASL and interpreters. By being bilingual these kids are at such an advantage when it comes to job options later on.

 

Chapter 56:

                I never considered it to be a bad thing for a hearing person to write about deaf culture. I agree that “we want to balance the outsider’s views with what the insiders have to say” (pg. 333). This chapter discusses how it can be an advantage for a hearing person to write about deaf culture, this is because of the “researcher’s objectivity and lack of preconceptions” (pg. 333).

                In regards to the book by Helmer R. Myklebust, who was considered an “authority in the field of deaf education” (pg. 334), I find it incredibly disappointing that sign language was not mentioned. William C. Stokoe’s states that, “For years this book was the standard training text at schools of education for teachers of deaf students” (pg.334). It really irritates me that teachers used this book to try to understand their deaf students when the book fails to mention a huge part of their identity, their language! I was relieved to read that “Now, however, the majority of hearing researchers are equipped with a far better attitude towards deaf people and a better understanding of Deaf issues” (pg. 334).

                I am glad that “Hearing sociologists and linguists are paying more attention to the Deaf community and the dynamics of sign languages. Those who don’t know ASL do field work with an interpreter” (pg. 334). I think that this is only right. If someone is going to produce research on a certain group of people, which is what sociologist do, I would hope that they are being fully immersed into that culture. This helps them acquire a better understanding of why certain cultures act and do things the way they do. I think that surrounding yourself with the cultures language is one of the best ways to experience what that culture is really like.

When learning about sociologists studying deaf history the book says that, “They have enhanced our understanding of how deaf people lived and communicated in earlier times and other cultures, and how people use and process language” (pg. 335). I agree that both hearing and deaf people should be able to study and learn more about the deaf history in order to learn more about this group of people. I do not think that a hearing person who studies the deaf culture is trying to steal the deaf person’s language. I understand why deaf people are protective of their language though, it is the only thing that is truly theirs (pg. 335). I agree that researchers should make sure that their research “contributes to the sum of universal knowledge” (pg. 336).

The authors add that, “If you really want to study the Deaf community and gain valuable insight, it’s a good idea to learn Sign and become part of our community in some way” (pg. 337). I think the best way to study a culture is to become a part of it.