I was working at the Homecoming football game (yes, I was one of those people sporting those *ama-za-zing* buff shirts that read “bison crewâ€â€¦go me) and experienced a rather… “:-\†(for the lack of words) moment. One man asked me for something, and signed “pretty please†and I retorted with “with sugar on top?†This guy stopped and asked me if I was hearing. When I told him I was Deaf, he said that he was surprised that I knew that, because most Deaf people don’t.
I understand that that saying is a very hearing thing, but doesn’t mean that deaf people don’t know what it means. I find it irksome when people are shocked when a deaf person knows a certain saying, thinking that person either can rely on phonetics and was raised in the hearing world, or is/was hearing. While the former technically applies to me, I know a lot of people who don’t hear a drop of sound, but know that saying, among others, as well. Why can’t people know how to say it because they’re literate? Or why can’t we just know it simply…because?
This led me to think about other issues that we have within the Deaf community. We continue to put each other down in diverse ways, and I never really realized it until Homecoming weekend was approaching and the alumni started arriving…and it was then I realized that contrary to popular belief, current Gallaudetians are pretty open-minded about things that previous students never accepted.
A friend of mine told me that she came across someone while listening to music through her iPod. That person stopped my friend and asked her if she was hearing. My friend answered no, and the man said, “okay…then you’re forgiven.†Nowadays on campus we pass people who listen to music without a second though; it’s something that has become widely accepted.
We have gone a long way in terms of technology. 30-odd years ago, hearing aids were not even generally accepted at Gallaudet. Now, not only do we seeing hearing aids on people, but we see people with Cochlear Implants as well. There are people, of course, who feel that they’re not necessary (I admit, I feel the same way sometimes too…â€hearing aids, CIs..forfor? You don’t need to be able to hear here!†**I consider this place to be a break from home…meaning what?? NO HEARING AID!!**) but we are starting to look past what is in/on the ear, and more at the person and their signing abilities. I even try to look past individuals signing abilities (we all know that I’m not really one to judge!) but look at their attitude; do they want to be here? Are they willing to assimilate themselves into the Deaf world? Do they have a superiority attitude towards others?…and these questions apply to everyone, not just people with HAs and CIs. It was just weird to see older alumni come on campus and gape at people with hearing aids and CIs.
There are also a lot of divisions at Gallaudet, which should be confronted and altered in order to change the outside Deaf community. Divisions include how well people are at signing. People who come from Deaf families or grew up signing ASL all the way tend to clump together, and the people who are asi asi at signing clump together, but can swing between the strong-ASL users and the weaker signers, which is the third group. One thing that bothers me the most is when people come up to me and ask me if I’m hearing. They look at how I sign and automatically assume. While yes, I can understand their view, I wish they would try to understand mine, and not make assumptions without knowing my history. I grew up oral and did not truebiz sign until 7th grade (about seven years ago) and even then, I did not sign on a daily basis…I signed maybe a total of 24 hours in one week, if I was lucky. I have no confidence in my signing, but I must say my receptive skills are pretty good ïŠ. I’m done going on about myself now!…I just mean to say that people should get to know other peoples’ backgrounds before labeling them…or better yet…don’t label people at all!
Just some random rambling….
A penny for my thoughts…how about a penny for yours ïŠ
I am very surprised at the wide range of hearing capabilities of people who say they are deaf. Everything from a person who can’t hear anything to somone who can listen to an ipod and talk on the phone and they both consider themselves Deaf, It’s not as black and white as you would think. Makes me wonder where I am in the whole scheme of things. I consider myself hard of hearing, I am 39 and started losing my hearing about 12 years ago. At this point I have a profound loss in my left ear and a severe loss in the right. My signing is not so good but i am working on it as best I can. The Deaf community here is very small and for some reason nobody offers ASL classes. I assume that the level of a persons involvement in Deaf Culture has a lot to do with how they label themselves.
Adam
I feel that labeling plays too big of a part in the Deaf community. In class we always have debates on who decides who is Deaf and who is deaf. Last year I learned in my FYS (first year experience) class that we should not label others and only label ourselves. When classifying who is Deaf we cannot only look at the ear, but look at the person as a whole; their attitude and involvement in the Deaf community usually indicates how D/deaf a person is.
This brought to memory a conversation I witnessed between a Deaf young lady and her fiance, who was able to use a phone sometimes. “You not Deaf, you hard of hearing,” she said. He said, “No, I’m Deaf as you are.” Back and forth it went until another person settled it. “It’s a free country. If you think you are Deaf, therefore you are Deaf!” It was said in very strong ASL: (pop-a-sign-Deaf). It isn’t the audiogram, it’s a way of thinking as expressed in a rich language.
Great blog!! Like Adam above, I am late-deafened. I have had progressive deafness most my life. My “culture” is hearing, though I’m learning ASL and it comes more easily to me than the average person. I don’t mean to brag, but I have an exceedingly high spatial IQ-off the charts- which I think might be common for deaf/Deaf. Sometimes I wonder if this progressive Deafness has changed my IQ because I’m so alert to the visual. I do not have the answer. Most my deaf friends are similarly inclined when it comes to spatial skills I’ve noticed. Spatial can be applied both to art and math– the two fields Deaf excel in. Then again, in my case, it could have been genes. My mother is an artist and my father a retired engineer. Or maybe it was a combination of genes deafness?? Endless questions. . .
So– the labels are complicated, and I think the Deaf are too hung-up on labeling each other. It’s not black and white. No one is ALL this or ALL that. We’re all on a continuum of deafness. You can be in-between somewhere.
What if you were born Deaf to a Deaf mom and hearing dad? What would be your culture? What about hearing CODA’s whose FIRST language is ASL? But they hear?? If ASL= culture, are THEY not part of your culture??
The sociology professor, Michele, at Gallaudet summed it up best for me when she said the Deaf have their Culture, and then there’s a wider community of deaf. How much we hear, and our methods of communication are another matter. We’re all in the same community. Gallaudet was once a school for Deaf culture. Now it seems to be transforming into a school for deaf community.
Sorry for such a long comment. I loved reading this.
Let’s look at a person’s mind and character/personality as more important than signing skill; after all one usually improves signing when given time! I understand it is easier to talk to people who share the same skill level but there are gems everywhere, including hearing people! I will find a way to communicate with a person who interests me on that level.
I do think deaf people today are much more open that way.
By the way, I say the above as someone who does not speak well or use HAs or have a CI.