First of all, you might have noticed that sometimes I write deaf with a lowercase "d" and sometimes I write Deaf with an uppercase "D." Lowercase deaf has to do with the medical condition, and uppercase Deaf has to do with the culture. People who are born deaf - so they can't hear - often move to an area with more people who can't hear so that they can attend Deaf schools and interact with more people who are like them. This group of people is the Deaf community. There are many people who cannot hear but live in an environment without other people who cannot hear, so these deaf people are a part of the Hearing community, which consists mostly of people who can hear.
People who can hear are called hearing individuals, and most hearing individuals are a part of the Hearing community and do not frequently interact with deaf people. People who can hear with close family members or friends who are deaf are part of the Deaf community.
Summary: It doesn't matter if you can hear or not, if you often interact with deaf people, you are Deaf, and if you don't often interact with deaf people, you are Hearing.
Second, ASL is a legitimate language, and it's not meant to be signed simultaneously with spoken English. ASL has complex structure just like any other language and has its own rules and expression. People didn't just go, "Hey, let's make a funny hand movement for every single word in the dictionary" when they came up with ASL. Sign language does not have an exact "word" to go along with a sign; a sign can mean multiple things as a word concept, for example genius/brilliant/smart. For my brain project in this class, I researched the benefits of lerning sing language, and I basically came to the conclusion that it's more awesome than most spoken languages. But that's another conversation.
Lastly, this is a topic that many of you are going to read and say, "What?!" But it's something really important in the Deaf community that can't be stressed enough:
Deafness is not a disability.
Deafness is not a disability.
DEAFNESS IS NOT A DISABILITY.
Yes, technically deaf people do not have the "ability" to hear, so they are legally recognized as "disabled." However, people of the Deaf community do not think of themselves as disabled or handicapped. Politically correct term for deaf people are "hearing impaired," but the Deaf community just recognize themselves as "Deaf." It was at first hard for me to grasp this concept as well, but if you think about it in a certain way, it makes sense.
I think this article by Dr. Vicars says it better than I ever could, but I know some of you aren't gonna click on that link. Please be a good human being and read the article.
(Here it is again: http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/topics/disability-deafness.htm)
Here's some of the meat.
"Let's put it this way: 'Being Deaf isn't about having a disability. It is about navigating through life with your eyes and hands.'
Or how about this: 'Deafness doesn't have to be a disability. The knowledge, habits, and approaches to life used by members of the culturally Deaf community allow a person to live without needing to hear. Thus the ability or lack of ability to hear can be made to not matter.'...[Deaf people] have simply found an alternate path on this journey through life. A path wherein we (Deaf) are not broken versions of you – needing to be fixed so we can become more like you. Rather we are fine versions of 'us'" (lifeprint.com).
People of the Hearing community who are deaf often do perceive themselves as disabled because they were raised in an environment that told them they were. However, that has to end. Just because people who are Deaf are taking a different route through life does not mean they are disabled. This does not mean that they're disrespecting disabled people either. They just want everyone to know that they love the fact they're deaf and view it as an important part of who they are. Deafness is a difference, not a disability.
I think very passionately about this for someone without connections to Deaf people, but this is simply something that more people must know.
Sources: http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/topics/disability-deafness.htm
People who can hear are called hearing individuals, and most hearing individuals are a part of the Hearing community and do not frequently interact with deaf people. People who can hear with close family members or friends who are deaf are part of the Deaf community.
Summary: It doesn't matter if you can hear or not, if you often interact with deaf people, you are Deaf, and if you don't often interact with deaf people, you are Hearing.
Second, ASL is a legitimate language, and it's not meant to be signed simultaneously with spoken English. ASL has complex structure just like any other language and has its own rules and expression. People didn't just go, "Hey, let's make a funny hand movement for every single word in the dictionary" when they came up with ASL. Sign language does not have an exact "word" to go along with a sign; a sign can mean multiple things as a word concept, for example genius/brilliant/smart. For my brain project in this class, I researched the benefits of lerning sing language, and I basically came to the conclusion that it's more awesome than most spoken languages. But that's another conversation.
Lastly, this is a topic that many of you are going to read and say, "What?!" But it's something really important in the Deaf community that can't be stressed enough:
Deafness is not a disability.
Deafness is not a disability.
DEAFNESS IS NOT A DISABILITY.
Yes, technically deaf people do not have the "ability" to hear, so they are legally recognized as "disabled." However, people of the Deaf community do not think of themselves as disabled or handicapped. Politically correct term for deaf people are "hearing impaired," but the Deaf community just recognize themselves as "Deaf." It was at first hard for me to grasp this concept as well, but if you think about it in a certain way, it makes sense.
I think this article by Dr. Vicars says it better than I ever could, but I know some of you aren't gonna click on that link. Please be a good human being and read the article.
(Here it is again: http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/topics/disability-deafness.htm)
Here's some of the meat.
"Let's put it this way: 'Being Deaf isn't about having a disability. It is about navigating through life with your eyes and hands.'
Or how about this: 'Deafness doesn't have to be a disability. The knowledge, habits, and approaches to life used by members of the culturally Deaf community allow a person to live without needing to hear. Thus the ability or lack of ability to hear can be made to not matter.'...[Deaf people] have simply found an alternate path on this journey through life. A path wherein we (Deaf) are not broken versions of you – needing to be fixed so we can become more like you. Rather we are fine versions of 'us'" (lifeprint.com).
People of the Hearing community who are deaf often do perceive themselves as disabled because they were raised in an environment that told them they were. However, that has to end. Just because people who are Deaf are taking a different route through life does not mean they are disabled. This does not mean that they're disrespecting disabled people either. They just want everyone to know that they love the fact they're deaf and view it as an important part of who they are. Deafness is a difference, not a disability.
I think very passionately about this for someone without connections to Deaf people, but this is simply something that more people must know.
Sources: http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/topics/disability-deafness.htm
Awww Hanna, this is awesome! I'm so glad you took the time to look into being deaf/Deaf and imparted some of your knowledge on us. I know this isn't your official second post, but how is it going so far with ASL?
ReplyDeleteIt's going along fine, but it's a bit harder in a different way than I'd expected. I'm trying to be creative and string words together by myself, but I keep losing track of which words I know and don't know. I'll write more on this soon! :)
DeleteHey you found your passion! :D I never knew about the difference between deaf and Deaf, and I hear you when you say "deafness is not a disability." It will still be difficult/awkward for when I actually interact with a deaf person, but at least I'll be slightly more aware after reading Dr. Vicar's article. I think the world is definitely more (not completely, but more) open-minded about characteristics being "differences" and not "terrible-life-threatening scary things that we must avoid." Anyway it's so great that you're enjoying learning ASL, I can tell through your writing! Still waiting for your next post
ReplyDeleteHanna, this was a super informative post! I'm glad you took the time to research this because it shows how much you actually care about the entire culture, not just learning the language because it's "cool". ASL is cool, but it's also an important part of people's lives, and you show a lot of respect for that :)
ReplyDeleteI think this is such an interesting topic! I know you've been looking forward to learning sign language for a long time, and I'm excited you got to do it. However, I also love that you took into account that you decided to look into being deaf/Deaf. It shows that not only are you focusing on learning the language for your own benefit, but you also want to learn it so that you can teach others about the Deaf community. It's a really great thing that you're doing.
ReplyDeleteI think this is such an interesting topic! I know you've been looking forward to learning sign language for a long time, and I'm excited you got to do it. However, I also love that you took into account that you decided to look into being deaf/Deaf. It shows that not only are you focusing on learning the language for your own benefit, but you also want to learn it so that you can teach others about the Deaf community. It's a really great thing that you're doing.
ReplyDelete