Deaf Culture
Every human being is born to develop their five senses; sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. Not all humans develop these five senses in their life. One of the senses that commonly does not develop or is at loss when growing up is hearing. Those people that are hard of hearing or have a loss of hearing are classified as deaf. There are many deaf people in the world, it can range from 5 million to 40 million people. The population of people who are deaf is so large, they even have their own Deaf culture or community. The Deaf culture is best defined as a social group of people who consider deafness to be a difference in human experience. Most people believe it’s a disability, but it’s not. It is assumed that if you are deaf you are automatically included into the Deaf community, or if you are hearing you are automatically excluded from this group. Both of these statements are extremely false. “It is not the extent of hearing loss that defines a member of the Deaf Community but the individual's own sense of identity and resultant actions” ( Mindess, 2006, p.83). There is so much to learn about the Deaf culture; from the diversity in the group, to the meaning of the word “deaf”, their behaviors within the community, and of course recognizing the accomplishments they have made in their community. Methodology
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There are a couple of reasons why I wanted to research into the Deaf culture. The first reason is, I took American Sign Language (ASL) as a language during my four years of high school. This class was not just to learn the language, but it was also to learn about the culture too. Also I had a deaf teacher who taught this course, so I was learning how to communicate better with people who are deaf. The class really amazed me, and wanted me to explore more about it. Another reason why I chose this topic is because my mother is a speech therapist. She helps mostly deaf children to learn the English language. For my mother’s personal benefits she took the time
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There are a couple of reasons why I wanted to research into the Deaf culture. The first reason is, I took American Sign Language (ASL) as a language during my four years of high school. This class was not just to learn the language, but it was also to learn about the culture too. Also I had a deaf teacher who taught this course, so I was learning how to communicate better with people who are deaf. The class really amazed me, and wanted me to explore more about it. Another reason why I chose this topic is because my mother is a speech therapist. She helps mostly deaf children to learn the English language. For my mother’s personal benefits she took the time
References: Baker-Shenk, C. (1978). American Sign Language: A Look at Its History, Structure and Community. Turnhout: T. J. Publishers. Deaf Culture. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2008, from http://www.start-american-signlanguage.com/deaf-culture.html. Deaf culture - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaf_culture. Holcomb, T., Langholtz, D., Mindess, A., & Moyers, P. (2006). Reading Between the Signs: Intercultural Communication for Sign Language Interpreters 2nd Edition. London: Intercultural Press. Inside Deaf Culture: A resource for the deaf-friendly community. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2008, from http://insidedeafculture.com. Ladd, P. (2003). Understanding Deaf Culture: In Search of Deafhood. Clevedon-Philadelphia: Multilingual Matters Limited. Welcome to DeafPeople.com. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2008, from http:// www.deafpeople.com/index.html.