When terms such as discrimination and prejudice are heard; commonly, the example is racism. However, discrimination and prejudice are similarly defined as: a preconceived negative judgment of a group and its individual members. (Myers, Social Psychology, 2013, p. 336) Our minds, being influenced by our environment and memories, tend to overlook other peer groups; specifically Deaf culture. This paper will discuss: my personal experience, discrimination, and Deaf culture. In late 2016, I was granted the opportunity to attend an American Sign Language class, at my local community college. Prior to this, I had only one experience meeting a deaf person. I was seventeen at the time, working my first job. I felt like a deer caught in headlights, …show more content…
According to World Health Organization, in 2017, there was an estimated three hundred sixty million people worldwide; who had reported some type of hearing loss. While this may seem like a lot, it only makes up a little over five percent of world population. When talking to the general public, it is learned that most people have similar stories. Either they have never had an encounter with a Deaf person, or maybe they saw some people signing in the mall once. Because these occurrences are so few and far between, it is not surprising that our biological instincts take over. We fear the unknown, and we panic when we do not have solutions. Regardless of excuses; actions have consequences. From a very young age, we are lead to believe that when something is different, it is wrong. This mindset has an influence on how we view ourselves, as well as how we view others. Deaf people are labeled as handicapped from day one, and deafness is considered a disability. This creates a stigma that Deaf people are something to be feared, unintelligent, and need ‘fixing.’ Despite having strict laws with the American Disability Act, Deaf people are frequently mistreated. Sadly, most officials are not taught how to communicate with American Sign Language. It is not unheard of for a person to be falsely arrested, because they could not properly communicate with an officer. Patients in a hospital can receive improper care, because …show more content…
They consider it a lifestyle; separated from the hearing world. They have different beliefs, and social behaviors. They value American Sign Language, and view it as an art form. An expressive language used as their primary source of communication. Some believe that Deaf people should only marry within their culture, some believe that using their voices is disrespectful. They have beliefs that deaf should be capitalized when referring to people, but lowercase when referring to the diagnoses. They have different terms for things such as: Audism. Audism is defined as: "The notion that one is superior based on one's ability to hear or to behave in the manner of one who hears." (Oberholtzer, Humphries "Audism Tags: deaf, faq, research guide", Doctoral dissertation, p.12. 1977, 2009) Most have respect for the hearing world, and will treat hearing people with respect if the respect is returned.
Discrimination is a very prevalent problem in our society. Despite having a changed personal view of Deaf culture, there are still battles being fought for the rights of humans. Humans that are just like everyone else, but cannot hear. It is with hope that society will continue to educate about Deaf culture in order to grow awareness, and provide a deeper, and more sympathetic
While reading " Deaf in America: Voices From A Culture " I notice the purpose of this book was to wrote about Deaf people in a new and different way. The book main focus is that Deaf people have a condition that they can't hear. The culture of Deaf people is what both authors want to begin yo betray. What I found interesting while reading is that the majority of indidivauls within the community of Deaf people do not join it at birth. While reading these chapters I've seen both auhtors try to present the culture from the inside to discover how Deaf people describe themselves and how they think about their lives.
We live in a world that is bounded by cultural norms and stereotypes that affect anyone who looks, acts, or is even born different. Our society narrowed scope views Deaf people as less, uneducated, and unworthy for the opportunities abled people are innately handed. There is a lack of opportunities that Deaf people received based on their disability in terms of jobs and acceptance. The feeling of acceptance is one thing the hearing community has felt at least once, if not their entire life, however it is a feeling that may be unknown to the Deaf community.
Deaf culture is like any bother minority culture with a set of their own beliefs, morals, values, traditions, and other things.Deaf people is part of one of the largest societies, but yet it is fascinating to come across someone who is death because we are used to sound and chaos everywhere.
Hearing people do view being deaf as a misfortune, but that does not justify the way that they get treated by hearing people. I think it's horrible how they are viewed as unable. I would hate to imagine someone treating me like I'm not able because I'm Hispanic or because I'm gay. It would tear me apart and I'm sure most deaf people feel the same way. Audism needs to be a bigger issue among hearing people and they need to know that being deaf is not a handicap, deaf
People used to think that being Deaf was a sin and a major disability. I don’t really understand this view, as being Deaf is not a choice because a majority of the time, most people are born Deaf. Just because a person can’t hear, doesn’t mean there is something wrong with them. Deaf culture is so mesmerizing as their is such a deep connection within the community and they even have their own language. What people need to do is put themselves in the shoes of a Deaf person and imagine how difficult it must be being the “odd one out” all the time.
In the movie, “Audism Unveiled” we learn that audism is a negative or oppressive attitude towards deaf people by either deaf or hearing people and organizations, and the failure to accommodate them. The documentary opened my eyes as to what the deaf community and what deaf people really go through, in the world. People who don't fully understand the deaf community and what being deaf is really like catoregize them as something less than human making false accusations as well as “walking on eggshells” thinking that they can’t do anything for themselves. We learn that the term audism is in the same discriminative category just like racism, and [ …]
This topic is very important to me because I was raised in the Deaf culture. My entire family is Deaf and have faced many of these questions that hearing people are unaware about. I feel that it is my job to educate when I have the chance to do so. By being able to educate at least one person, I have done my job. I do not think there is enough information out there to reach everyone’s awareness of Deaf culture.
In mainstream American society, we tend to approach deafness as a defect. Helen Keller is alleged to have said, "Blindness cuts people off from things; deafness cuts people off from people." (rnib.org) This seems a very accurate description of what Keller's world must have been. We as hearing people tend to pity deaf people, or, if they succeed in the hearing world, admire them for overcoming a severe handicap. We tend to look at signing as an inferior substitute for "real" communication. We assume that all deaf people will try to lip-read and we applaud deaf people who use their voices to show us how far they have come from the grips of their disability. Given this climate, many hearing people are surprised, as I was at
Two centuries ago, the Deaf community arose in American society as a linguistic minority. Members of this community share a particular human condition, hearing impairment. However, the use of American Sign Language, as their main means of communicating, and attendance to a residential school for people with deafness also determine their entry to this micro-culture. Despite the fact that Deaf activists argue that their community is essentially an ethnic group, Deaf culture is certainly different from any other cultures in the United States. Deaf-Americans cannot trace their ancestry back to a specific country, nor do Deaf neighborhoods exist predominantly throughout the nation. Additionally, more than ninety percent of deaf persons are born
deaf: working for the rights of all deaf people in this country, including education of deaf children.
First, this book allowed me to see the negative way in which deaf people were perceived. This book is not old by any means, and I was taken aback by the way deaf children were perceived by not only others in the community, but often times by their own parents as well. The term
The deaf community does not see their hearing impairment as a disability but as a culture which includes a history of discrimination, racial prejudice, and segregation. According to PBS home video “Through Deaf Eyes,” there are thirty-five million Americans that are hard of hearing (Hott, Garey & et al., 2007) . Out of the thirty-five million an estimated 300,000 people are completely deaf. There are over ninety percent of deaf people who have hearing parents. Also, most deaf parents have hearing children. With this being the exemplification, deaf people communicate on a more intimate and significant level with hearing people all their lives. “Deaf people can be found in every ethnic group, every region, and every economic class.” The
The deaf culture has often been labeled as the deaf- and- dumb culture. This is not only an insulting term it is also very inaccurate. Deaf people are just as intelligent as hearing people. In the early 1800's when ASL was first brought about in the United States Being deaf was considered shameful
Take a second, close your eyes, and imagine silence. Nothing is going on around you; you can't even hear a pin drop. Not a sound to be heard for miles. You open your eyes expecting the world to come to life, and everything to breath wavelengths into your ears, but instead, you are met with an ocean of nothingness. People hustle about you, yelling at you to move out of their way, but still… nothing. This is the reality of a deaf person's world. Every day they wake up to this, and nothing more. When out in public, they must learn to communicate, to fend for themselves while the hearing go on with their lives as normal. We don't even realize how blessed we are as a hearing person, until it's gone. One way to dissolve this issue is by offering
It is easy to see why Deaf culture is so critical of those who assimilate with hearing culture because the Deaf have had a history of struggle and discrimination. Hearing culture has been critical of what Deaf people are able to do and have denied their existence. In the past American deaf people have been denied the right to vote, to marry, and to raise children (Halpern). Deaf children often were denied education, grew up illiterate, or grew up with no real language because at one point in time sign language was not allowed (Halpern).