...Nika Pickwoad Ms. Ruiz Deaf Culture November 18, 2013 Deaf culture #1) Sign language has been around for as long as its existence of deafness. Deafness, in the early centuries of American life caused many problems for those that were deaf. Doctors did not understand the root causes of deafness and books were rare at the time. Until the most recent years, doctors finally understand why deafness occurs and the deaf communities in the world today are being respected and admired, with the aid of American Sign Language. “ASL has many roots not only is it rooted in the French ideas, but also the ideas of the Great Plains Indians in America” (Butterworth & Flodin, 1995).The man responsible for bringing sign language to light in the United States is Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. Gallaudet studied the French ways and returned to America in 1817 where he founded the first school for the deaf in America, near present day Hartford, Connecticut. The college was appropriately named Gallaudet College, after Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. ASL is starting to be referred to as a foreign language. The reason for this growing idea stems from colleges and universities recognizing ASL as a success for foreign language credits in many college degree programs. “Gary Olsen former Executive Director of the National Association of the Deaf, referred to this notion of ASL as a foreign language as an American ground swell” (Butterworth & Flodin...
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...On Deaf Culture Deaf culture is usually found in Deaf schools, and Deaf Clubs. Having Deaf culture depends on the person and how they accept being deaf. This is different for every deaf person, depending on their situation. At Deaf school is where culture begins. Here everyone is equal and they can interact with other deaf kids. This gives them a since of actually belonging somewhere. Hearing people see the Deaf schools as a dumping ground for deaf kids. When in actuality it is a place for the Deaf to identify themselves. Deaf of Deaf acquire their culture from infancy, but only about 10% are Deaf of Deaf, others get this culture from attending Deaf schools. And yet there are still others who are put in mainstream schools who aren’t exposed to Deaf culture until college or even when they start attending Deaf Clubs. Deaf communities consider themselves family and believe in taking care of each other, Deaf take care of Deaf. Deaf value Deaf of Deaf, they want to preserve deafness. While hearing people want to do away with deaf by cochlear implants and even hearing aids, are hearing people’s way of fixing their deafness. Deaf people do not need to be fixed. They are very capable of leading a normal life. They think this would destroy Deaf culture; besides cochlear may improve only environmental sounds but it does not cure deafness completely. To go with cochlear, oralism is not thought highly of either. Being forced to speak or learn to lip read is a waste of time to a majority...
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...to pity deaf people. They also admire how deaf people succeed in a hearing world by overcoming a serious handicap. Deaf community has defined being deaf and hard of hearing as having nothing to do with how much you can hear! It is the knowledge of what deaf people face with certain limitation. We always work hardest efforts to gain acceptance in hearing world. They embrace aloneness of living in a world without sounds. The parents give a birth baby without the ability loses their hearings. It is consider in that condition is deaf, with a lowercase d. Another definition of deaf is used with a capital D. It implied to the subculture of whose identity is big thing by their shared language and experiences of being deaf. Often interpreters and children of deaf parents are part of the culture. American Sign Language is the first language that is unspoken in English. It is characterized by shared dialects, slang, and differences accents. We speak our language with the use of hands, face, and bodies. If you watch how deaf people sign, and you will notice they look at each other’s faces when communicating. They don’t look at hands. It is this because facial expressions are important. Our language is visual language. American Sign Language has identify the meaningful hand shapes, movements, and locations. Likewise, sign language for father is shape of hand as like high five and a thumb placed on forehead. Mother is the same thing, but the placed is on the chin. In the deaf world, we...
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...America Deaf Culture After reading the book, Reading Between the Signs, I realized that there was a big difference between the America deaf culture and my culture. This book aimed at the audience who study sign language or sign language interpreters. It focused on the different aspects of culture instead of the language expression. Firstly, the author, Anna Mindess, describes the study of the culture. She cited the reference that Tylor said “ culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”. Then Anna selected topics in intercultural communication, such as the collectivism and individualism, high context and low context, and time orientation. Finally, she talked about the American deaf culture, which is my favorite part in the book. Now, I would like to describe the chapter of America deaf culture that I read from the book. This describes the perspectives of insiders who live in deaf culture and outsider who just study deaf culture. Anna discusses the development of deaf culture that deaf children attended to residential school and hard to communicate with hearing people in the past, while the recent developments of deaf culture are disappearing. The reason is that the deaf culture did not have some rules that deaf people have to live in the deaf culture and they wants to become rich or full people. So it means they have to become enculturated...
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...Abstract The deaf culture is one that I am not familiar with. No one in my immediate family or none of my close friends are deaf so I have not been exposed to it during my lifetime. I decided to take an American Sign Language course in high school to not only learn the language, but to learn about the deaf culture as well. I would like to someday be fluent in sign language so that I can cater to the deaf community while conducting business. Conducting research, I learned a lot about to deaf community. Deaf people are presumed to have a disability because they do not have the ability to use all five senses. The Deaf community is a cultural group, sharing common experience, concerns, and language Main Body The deaf community share common experiences. Many people have misconception of the deaf community. Many people assumed that deaf people are dumb because they cannot hear. It is assumed that because they can’t hear, their understanding of the world around them his somehow lessened. Many hearing people have this mind frame and tend to treat deaf people as such. High percentage of deaf people has experienced this at least once in their lifetime. I did not agree with some of the facts that I found out about this. Just because one cannot hear, should not have anything to do with his or her intelligence. Deaf people learn the same way was hearing people and can comprehend things just as well. Intelligence depends on the individuals person drive and their willingness...
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...Deaf Culture and History “Deaf culture is exactly what Carol Padden defines as a culture: a set of learned behaviors of a group of people that share a language, values, rules for behavior, and traditions.” ("Deaf Culture” ¶4). Deaf people of the world have lived in a secret shroud for quite some time. Less than centuries ago, deaf people didn't even have an official language. Over time those who were deaf created their own culture and language. Deaf people have had their beliefs and language evolve throughout history into something that can allow people to break communication barriers. Contrary to popular belief, sign language is not universal. Different languages have different forms of sign language and here in America, deaf people use ASL (American Sign Language). American Sign Language derived from French Sign Language, which was brought to America to help teach deaf people (“History of American Sign Language”). Today, ASL isn't just a language, but it is a culture of people who care for each other. Deaf people encourage people to use ASL as it is...
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...it is implied that Deaf people are an inconvenience and that they are broken and need to be fixed. Deafness is not a disability, a disability is considered to be a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements or activities. The ADA (Americans with disabilities act) goes on to add that a disability “includes individuals who do not have a disability but are regarded as having a disability”. This means that disabilities are not necessarily a set concept rather it is largely influenced by the attitude towards whatever “disability”. People that are Deaf have become a proud culture, refusing to consider themselves handicapped because they can do anything any hearing person is capable of besides hear. The Deaf culture in America begins in the nineteenth century when French Deaf educators, Thomas Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc, came with the...
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...Comparison of Deaf Culture and Hearing Culture in the USA | |(Using the Hofstede Cultural Comparison Assignment as a guide) | |Where Deaf Culture Would Score If Included in the Geert Hofstede™ Cultural Dimensions | | | |Nathaneil Godfrey | | | PDI Power Distance Indicator Power distance This dimension deals with the fact that all individuals in societies are not equal – it expresses the attitude of the culture towards these inequalities amongst us. Power distance is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organisations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. It has to do with the fact that a society’s inequality is endorsed by the followers as much as by the leaders. http://geert-hofstede.com/ Deaf culture I think Deaf culture would score...
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...and beliefs. This is why I believe Deaf culture has come about as Deaf people within the wider community have formed their own communities based on a shared understanding of the challenges faced by those with hearing loss in a world that is predominately geared to hearing people. Deaf culture is the way in which the Deaf community connects with each other allowing them to share their experiences with each other and also those who are not a part of the Deaf community. As seen in the video it is often easier for a Deaf person to communicate with other Deaf people then it is for Deaf people to communicate with non-deaf people. Deaf people have their own language called Auslan and even if they do not use this to communicate they understand the need to make sure they gain the...
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...Before reading chapter 2 in Far from the Tree I had honestly not given a lot of thought to Deaf culture. I didn’t even know that it was a term used by the deaf community. I assumed that all deaf people would give anything to have their hearing back but I quickly learned I wasn’t completely right about that. Deaf people are very proud that they have the ability to communicate through American Sign Language. I am embarrassed to say that I had a lot of misconceptions about deaf people before today. I think that I was so uneducated because Deaf culture is not something we talk about very often. Growing up I came across a few deaf people in school. They always seemed to be getting an equal education so I am ashamed to say I felt like they had it...
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...Hurt Deaf Culture Alexander Graham Bell (AG Bell) is famous for inventing the telephone. AG Bell wanted to help deaf people because his wife was deaf. The telephone he invented had some amplification. He believed that his telephone would help the deaf people to hear and communicate on the telephone. What he thought would help deaf people and other opinions he held made him notorious for the near destruction of American Deaf Culture. AG Bell was found to have quoted that ASL was a beautiful language, but was against its use. AG Bell said “I admit with ease with which a deaf child acquires sign language and its perfect adaptability for the purpose of developing this mind; but after all, it is not the language of the millions of people among who his lot is cast.” And “We should try ourselves to forget that they are deaf. We should try to teach them to forget that they are deaf.” (Paddy 129) Following the 1880 Conference of Milan which outlawed the use of sign language as a method of teaching deaf children AG Bell used his influence on the Board of Education promoting his ideas of oral education. In 1872 Alexander Graham Bell opened a school in Boston. Its purpose was to improve the speech of those who are deaf, who stutter and who had articulation problems. He called it the School of Vocal Physiology. Soon many schools utilizing only the oral method for teaching deaf students were established. This was popular among hearing educators but resulted in deaf teachers...
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...Introduction When a child is diagnosed as deaf, parents are faced with a critical decision to make in the first few years of their child’s life. Deafness as defined by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), means “ a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, that adversely affects a child's educational performance” (34 Code of Federal Regulations [section]300.8[c][3] [2013]). Parents can choose to either communicate with the child in English, the major language of society, or teach the child manual language such as ASL and become a part of the Deaf culture. This decision is especially hard for parents to make who were never exposed to the non-hearing world before, and see deafness as a medical problem that needs to be fixed. This can become critical for the child’s future years and development as a person in the society since the child will always be viewed and judged as different. It is mandated that each child with a disability will be viewed individually to make the best decision in how to treat and help the child. The oral approach, audism, is a method in which children learn to use whatever residual hearing they have, in combination with lip-reading and contextual cues. The children will also thus use an auditory approach, in which they receive amplification devices to correct their hearing and to make use of the residual hearing they have as much...
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...Welcome to the DEAF-WORLD Welcome to the DEAF-WORLD provides you with an eyes view of the main character Mr. Ben Baham, whom is the founding partner of DawnSignPress. Mr. Baham was born deaf from deaf parents and did not let the loss of his hearing defeat him from accomplishing his goals and aspirations as a human being. The main points are understanding that the deaf culture “is not associated with a single place” but it is a culture derived based on relationships among individuals whom a number of places and associations may provide common ground. Secondly, Sign Language is one of the most important instruments for communication; this form of communication allows the individual to express what they are attempting to convey. Third, understanding that not all deaf person where born deaf in fact, some lost their hearing as adults and some in childhood. The DEAF-WORLD is a culture like any other culture once you are part of this society you feel a self of belonging you are not an alien however, if a hearing person attempts to be part of the DEAF-WORLD they can feel alienated because they are not familiar with this culture. Families with Deaf Children In chapter 2 it provides an insight of Families with deaf children and how the parents react to the birth of new addition(s) to the families. Surprisingly, deaf parents are happier to have a deaf child versus one that can hear. This information was puzzling to me however, continuing to read the chapter it explained the...
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...The Silent Society: Being Deaf Deafhood and Epistemology When considering the epistemology of deafness, one must consider the history of how deafness has evolved. The history of deafness comes from the ignorance of those who could not understand how people who had a disability were different from them. It was easier to place these types of “folks” in intuitions and not deal with their needs. Understanding the deaf community comes through understanding the culture and the history that allows the deaf to have a “voice” and provide them with the necessary services that make the deaf more human. Through mental health, hearing assessments, and trauma, there is an understanding that even though they may not live in the hearing world, there are still apart of society. How they function as a community is important, as they too have a voice. Deafhood is described as “static”, not a medical condition; however, it is a process-a struggle that is endured by every child, adult, and family to explain themselves, and each other their own existence within their world (Hauser, O’Hearn, Steider, &Thew, 2010). Epistemology can be defined as the philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits to human knowledge. When dealing with deaf epistemology, there are many facets to which it can be understood and misunderstood. The authors discuss the visual learning process that a Deaf child goes through by being raised by either a Deaf parent or a hearing parent....
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...Communication Essay: Deaf and Hard of HearingCommunication for deaf or hard of hearing people has always been veryfrustrating when trying to communicate with hearing people. Deaf people have tended toform deaf communities because of deaf pride, and a belief that they do not have adisability. However, this has led to a barrier between deaf and hearing people, and thesebarriers can lead to consequences because many hearing people do not know how tointeract with deaf people. Even people who are deaf or hard of hearing and that are notpart of a deaf community (such as if they chose to attend public school rather than aschool for the deaf) can have much difficulty when communicating with hearing people.Problems with communication occur all over the place for deaf people such as within afamily, in school, in the workforce.When a child is deaf, but his or her parents are hearing, it can create manyproblems with communication. If the parents have little or no experience with deafpeople, they will face challenges at first before they learn sign language and learn how toaccommodate their child. If parents don’t know how to properly communicate with theirchild, they will have problems raising them. With communication problems will cometrouble because they wont know how to scold their child or tell them when they are doingwrong, make their child feel included and a part of the family, and be a normal lovingparent. The sooner parents familiarize themselves with deaf culture, sign language, andall...
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