I had never really took into consideration how much of a privilege it is to have the ability to hear until taking this class. These past few weeks of being in ASL 121 have been a real eye opener to me, and how being a hearing person you don’t really consider the struggles a deaf person may have. Through the various lectures and the two videos we had the pleasure to watch I gained insight on how deaf people may feel in regards to the ignorance hearing people sometimes possess. As I take the time to really reflect on my views of the deaf community before joining this class I realize I did not have a positive or negative view towards the culture. I simply did not know anything about deaf people, and I never really took the time to get to know about deaf people and how their lives may be effective by their inability to hear. I never really saw being deaf as a “disability” I mean I still don’t really see it as one. I see being deaf more as a barrier or limitation, almost as if you were a english speaking person going to mexico or other countries. You are not considered handicapped or mentally disabled if you are deaf. In fact the only thing that may be different is the fact one cannot hear. In the video the deaf community they went over how being deaf should not be considered a “disability”, in which I completely agree with. I was very touched with the conversation we had in class today about the rule that majority of the class including myself seem to be having a hard time with, which would be no voice in the classroom. As always my ignorance got to me and did not take into consideration how unfair it is to you, considering you have no idea what we are saying. This class, the videos, and the lectures really push me to think about the advantages I have as a hearing person. In conclusion my ideas of the deaf community will be forever changed and my respect to any deaf person in this world has grown.