Deaf Community the Pathological View and the Cultural View

This is a video of three young boys showing off their sign language skills.

Since American Sign Languages is its own language being able to "sing" in it is an art.

Many other Deaf individuals envy these boys for their talent.

“According to a National Center for Health Statistics estimate, 28 million Americans—almost 10 percent of the population—have a hearing loss of some degree. Of these 28 million people 2 million are classified as Deaf,” this was stated by Gabriel Grayson in her book, Talking with Your Hands Listening with Your Eye (1). There was a point in history when Deaf people were not allowed to vote, or own property; it was by Plato’s assumption that those who couldn’t speak showed no intelligence. Plato concluded, “Deaf people must not be capable of ideas or language.” It was also concluded by Aristotle, “those who could not speak were unteachable” (qtd. Avon 186). In an article “Deaf Culture: Changes and Challenges”, Paul Bacon stated, “overcoming these challenges and striving to gain acceptance in the hearing world while embracing the isolation of living in a world without sound have all helped to define the deaf as a group with a distinct culture (1).”

What is the Deaf Community?

The Deaf Community is a group of individuals who share a common language American Sign Language (ASL), they also share a common set of beliefs and rituals (Johnson 70). As the awareness of the Deaf Community becomes stronger so do two distinct views of this community. First the cultural view of the Deaf Community is one many Deaf individuals have, a view that incorporates the idea that deaf people are not impaired. Second the pathological view of the Deaf Community is a view many medical professionals hold, this view defines being deaf as a disability.

This is the symbol for a Deaf Church, the Deaf Community has its

own churches where sign language is used as the primary language.

Members of the Deaf Community want people who are not part of the community to respect their language (ASL) and culture. They prefer the terms deaf, hard of hearing, or deafened when someone is referring to someone with a hearing loss; although people who consider themselves hard of hearing or deafened do not consider themselves part of the Deaf Community, notice the lower case ‘d’. However people who use American Sign Language have the opportunity to participate in certain aspects of the community (Grayson 6). The views of the Deaf Community form the cultural view of the community. When someone considers them self part of the Deaf Community they consider themselves members of a group that includes all Deaf people. The community doesn’t have the sense of individualism that most dominant cultures in the United States has. Deaf people often pay more attention to physical appearance rather than names to remember someone, often in conversation the name of an individual won’t come up until the end of the conversation (Grayson 10). Generally a conversation starts with where the other individual is from, and discussing the friends they have in common. It was stated on PEP Net, “most hearing people do not freely and effectively use their face and body to communicate, so Deaf people see their communication as lifeless and lacking emotion (1).” not only is our conversation different in face and body motions, but also eye contact.

The Pathological or Medical View

The pathological perspective can also be thought of as the medical perspective. This perspective has preconceived notions that being deaf is a disability, and uses terms like hearing impaired, deaf mute, and profoundly deaf. These terms often offend the Deaf Community; this is because these terms suggest that deaf individuals are broken or inferior. Perhaps some of the less-informed people can be attributed to the special education textbooks. John Johnson stated in his article, “Toward a Cultural Perspective and Understanding of the Disability and Deaf Experience in Special and Multicultural Education”, “introductory special education textbooks typically focus on a description of the physiological characteristics and perceived deficits attributed to deafness, defining it as a disability (71).” Not only is our conversation different in face and body motions, but also eye contact. This quote discusses what students in special education classes are being taught about deaf individuals. I believe that with the rising awareness of the Deaf Community both views of the community should now be being taught in schools. This would help prevent the biased opinion many of the medical professionals are being taught to have because they haven't had the exposure to both views, this would enable professionals to make their own opinion on the Deaf Community.

History of The Deaf Community

The history of the deaf people and their culture begins in 400 B.C. when deaf people had no rights. This idea lasted until the renaissance when new ideas for teaching deaf individuals were discovered. During the 1700s Charles Abbé de l’Epée opened the first school for Deaf individuals in France (Avon 187). Although l’Epée was able to learn sign he was unable to recognize that sign was its’ own complete language. In the article “Watching Films, Learning Language, Experiencing Culture: An Account of Deaf Culture through History and Popular Films”, Avon stated:

What l’Epée failed to recognize however, was the completeness of sign language? Schien and Stewart contend that while l’Epée is revered by many for creating and calling attention to the deaf community, l’Epée could only learn sign because of it pre-existence. Therefore, his contributions were not so much a formation of a community as an expansion for which he may have even served as an ambassador in some ways. (Avon 187)

After l’Epée raised the awareness of the Deaf Community the ideals grew for a long period of time. It wasn’t until 1815 the Americans began teaching the Deaf, and it wasn’t until 1817 a school was opened. The first school was opened by Lauren Clare in Hartford Connecticut; because of American Sign Languages history 2/3 of the words in sign have a French origin. In 1864 the first university for Deaf individuals, Gallaudet, was opened (Grayson 5). Since the opening of this university Gallaudet students and faculty have rallied and gotten a deaf president, King Jordan, elected. After the election was over King Jordan publicly stated, “Deaf people can do everything a hearing person can except hear.” This election was so powerful for the Deaf Community; King Jordan was elected president over two other hearing candidates, showing the Deaf people were no longer be limited by a hearing society (Grayson 7). Gabriel stated, “Their ultimate triumph was a reminder that they don’t have to accept society’s limitations” (7).

This is a photo of Gallaudet University, you can see how large the

university has gotten. The university is still for deaf individuals.

American Sign Language is now recognized as a language of a linguistic minority (Avon 193). Around 500,000 North Americans use ASL as their natural and primary source of communication (Grayson 1). Although American Sign Language isn’t the only means of communication for Deaf individuals it is the most commonly used. Gabriel explains American Sign Language:

An estimated 13 million people can sign with some level of proficiency. This makes ASL the third most commonly used language in the United States! The most widespread misconception about American Sign Language is the belief it’s a signed version of English. In fact, ASL is not English at all. Instead, it’s a distinct language with its own grammar and syntax (Grayson 1).

American Sign Language is as capable as any spoken language at communicating ideas and complex thoughts. Another option for communication for Deaf individuals was Oralism, which incorporated speech and speech reading (Avon 192). Signing was severely oppressed, because it didn’t create a sense of national unity. American Sign Language was also thought to be a poor substitute, Gabriel stated, “for many years, American educators considered signing to be a poor substitute for speech. That attitude was changed by William C. Stokoe, the Gallaudet professor who proved scientifically that American Sign Language is a fully developed language”(Grayson 6). Before signing became accepted Oralism was the norm, and was what was being taught in schools (Avon 192). During the time of Oralism a study was conducted, Avon states the results, “sacks places the average reading level of Deaf high school graduates at the fourth-grade level” (qtd. Avon 192). Those supporting Oralism were not concerned with how difficult it was for the Deaf students to learn this way of communication. Deaf students studying American Sign Language today are at an almost average reading level for their varying age groups (Grayson 10). In the Deaf Community Oralism is forced upon no one, it is looked down upon because of the difficulty it creates for the students. The Deaf Community only has the students best interest in mind, not only is Oralism so much harder for a deaf person to learn and understand, it creates setbacks in a deaf persons reading proficiency.

This image is of The American Sign Language alphabet.

The Deaf Community is distinguished, it is has come up with its’ own set of social norms; so it shouldn’t come as a surprise when the Deaf Community saw cochlear implants as an attack on the community. In Robert Sparrow’s “Defending Deaf Culture: the Case of Cochlear Implants”, he stated, “cochlear implants are a technology which attempts to ‘cure’ deafness by bypassing the outer ear through electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve” (135). As our society searches for a cure to deafness the Deaf Community believes there is no need to find a cure that nothing is wrong with being deaf (Sparrow 137). What makes deafness a disability? Before making this predetermined judgment we should know most deaf people do not feel that deafness is a disability. Sparrow stated, “A sizeable proportion of Deaf individuals say that they would not want to be granted hearing even if it were possible” (137). Deaf people often make up for their inability to hear with stronger senses in other areas. It could even be thought that in certain environments being deaf could be an advantage (Sparrow 138). Our society believes deafness is a disadvantage; however Robert Sparrow discuses the key to that statement is “in this society.” My sign language class discussed a community that existed years ago that was 90 percent deaf this community existed because of a gene that did genetically pass down being deaf. As the settlers of this community spread across the country the community slowly died, but before this the community was as strong as any. The Deaf Community has the ability to be as strong and “normal” as any. Sparrow stated:

The search for the cure for deafness represents the desire of a majority culture to impose its language and values on the Deaf rather than modify its institutions to take account of the perspectives and needs of members of another culture. Cochlear implant technology represents an attack on the culture of the Deaf, because it seeks to ensure that deaf children grow up to use a spoken language rather than the signed languages of the Deaf (Sparrow 136).

Our society doesn’t view being deaf as simply being different, the idea is that something is wrong with being deaf. If our society stopped judging people and putting labels on people and things that didn’t fit in and make a perfect society we would be able to have a peaceful world. A world that isn’t so judgmental of the views of the cultures of others.

Conclusion

My purpose in this paper was to defend the belief that the Deaf Community does exist. I chose to examine the two views that exist about the Deaf Community, and to also discuss the long history of the Deaf Community and how it got to where it is today. Sparrow stated:

What is clear is that on this continuum “Deaf culture” falls closer to the paradigmatic cases of ethnic and national cultures than do many other proposed candidates for the appellation. Unlike subculture, or even some ethnic cultures, Deaf people possess their own distinct language(s), each with a unique vocabulary and grammar. Deaf people also have a shared a set of experiences, relating to the consequences or deafness in a hearing culture, a shared history and distinct set of institutions. They have their own schools, clubs, meeting places, and even sporting competitions. The combination of the possession of a language and a set of institutions makes the claim of Deaf culture a particularly strong one (Sparrow 139).

The history of the Deaf Community began around 400 B.C. this history as long and specific as it is has shown the great unity of the Deaf Community. I believe the Deaf Community has overcome enough experiences to prove themselves as a community. I also think looking at ideas that oppose the idea that the Deaf Community is its own community that the deaf should be able to choose whether they want to be involved in such a community. It isn’t fair to these people to force Oralism or cochlear implants on them just because our society believes something is wrong with them. As stated above 90 percent of deaf individuals would not want to be granted hearing even if it were possible.