More than one Deaf Community?

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Daft

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I realize the Deaf Community could be divided into several subgroups - such as by generation, religion, race, etc. But the two common elements of all these subgroups is Deafness and Sign Language. Is there a separate Deaf Community which is strictly Oral without the use of Sign Language? Let me give a bit of background.

I know an older interpreter who is very famous amongst the Deaf Community. Her parents and her brother were all Deaf. She is RID certified. When her parents were living, she would often attend Deaf Club and Deaf functions with them. She lived close to the state's Deaf School and knew many of the Deaf students. She told me she was once asked to interpret a wedding for a Deaf couple she had never met before. The Deaf couple were oralists and preferred speech-reading and using voice for their communication needs. The interpreter said there were several other (young) Deaf people at this wedding who were also oralists who simply didn't use ASL at all. However, they wanted an interpreter because it was too difficult to speech-read at the wedding (for the guests) and that there could be some Deaf who preferred ASL. This interpreter said she was simply floored that there were several of these Oralists who seemed to have formed their own Community for their social lives.

So my question is..... Is there a separate "Deaf Community" for Oralists who prefer to socialize only with Oralism and without ASL? If so, do they view themselves as separate from the "Signing Deaf Community"?

Time for my disclaimer. This post isn't intended as any sort of Oralism vs ASL debate or any other debate. Just curious as to whether it appears that there are two separate Deaf Communities.
 
Yep...

When I was in Edmonton, there were two separate groups... the people who use ASL/PSE/SEE... and the "Hard-of-Hearing" which were oral-only deafies (regardless of hearing status.) I always got lumped in with the latter group when dealing with the administration offices there-- despite my distate for them.
 
I think alot of people associate with each other from the school they went to. I guessing these deaf either attended the same AV/mainstream with deaf program school or they have CI. I know that people get together for cochlear events.

But if they want their flow of conversation to be huh? and what? their choice. Either that, they have real good hearing in the first place.
 
Lighthouse77 said:
I think alot of people associate with each other from the school they went to. I guessing these deaf either attended the same AV/mainstream with deaf program school or they have CI. I know that people get together for cochlear events.

But if they want their flow of conversation to be huh? and what? their choice. Either that, they have real good hearing in the first place.
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true this.
 
I also thought of late-deafened people as well. They do get together for support. I think Shhh.org is one of the organization.
 
I think there is. I know several "oral deaf" people who stay in contact with their friends from growing up at an oral deaf school. There are oral deaf teachers at oral deaf schools and there are oral deaf adult memberr of AG Bell.
 
I think so too, but then I also see deafies "jump" groups.

For instance Shel90 was mainstreamed and oral growing up, she moved to the East and came in contact with other deafies and she learned ASL, now she signs more than she speaks so she sort of made the jump from oral deaf to signing deaf. Nothing wrong with that, she has done quite well and she feels more comfortable with herself where she's at.

Then there are the deafies that grew up in a total ASL environment, they get older and they decide to get a CI, so they do then they make the jump from signing deaf to oral deaf. Nothing wrong with it if they find personal comfort in it


But I think there are deaf events that both groups attend together to advocate for the rights and expression of deafies as well as just simply for the fellowship.

I personally would like to attend a deaf event once I become fluent in ASL.
 
Lighthouse77 said:
I think alot of people associate with each other from the school they went to. I guessing these deaf either attended the same AV/mainstream with deaf program school or they have CI. I know that people get together for cochlear events.

But if they want their flow of conversation to be huh? and what? their choice. Either that, they have real good hearing in the first place.
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Hahaha! True..with my PA deaf girlfriends, there are the 6 of us and only one of them is pure oral deaf and whenever we communicate with her, it is always "Huh"..or misunderstandings. The other 5 of us communicate freely without all these problems but we respect her oral preference althought two of us dont have lipreading or speech skills. Our group is very interesting..
 
Dixie said:
I think so too, but then I also see deafies "jump" groups.

For instance Shel90 was mainstreamed and oral growing up, she moved to the East and came in contact with other deafies and she learned ASL, now she signs more than she speaks so she sort of made the jump from oral deaf to signing deaf. Nothing wrong with that, she has done quite well and she feels more comfortable with herself where she's at.

Then there are the deafies that grew up in a total ASL environment, they get older and they decide to get a CI, so they do then they make the jump from signing deaf to oral deaf. Nothing wrong with it if they find personal comfort in it


But I think there are deaf events that both groups attend together to advocate for the rights and expression of deafies as well as just simply for the fellowship.

I personally would like to attend a deaf event once I become fluent in ASL.
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Thank you Dixie...actually, I started learning ASL while I was in AZ but I was shunned by the AZ Deaf community at first because I shunned them growing up. When I moved and then visited AZ to see my brother and his friends from the Deaf community there, his friends were all impressed with how "Deaf" I became and finally accepted me. :D
 
I have no desire to be a part of a solely oral deaf community. Too much hard work to try to lipread and too many misunderstandings.
 
I've met two oral Deaf people: one grew up deaf and the other's late-deafened. Neither of them seem at all involved in the Deaf community and they don't seem to know or care much about it either.

Obviously I didn't grow up in the Deaf community but at the same time I don't want my social interactions to be all "huh?" and "what?" Not to mention I actually enjoy having a conversation at a natural pace and not having to worry about if it will be too noisy or if there will be too many people.

I wonder what the reasons behind choosing to be oral Deaf are, especially in individuals who are proud of their deafness but still choose to be oral.

It makes sense that oral Deaf and signing Deaf people tend to form their own social groups cause I can easily see there being feelings of resentment on both sides.
 
Yes, there are some "pure oral" deaf community, although it does seem a lot smaller then the Deaf community. I'd say that the oral deaf community tends to be AG Bell/hearing impaired /progressive dhh/ highacheiver types rather then hoh types. Many AG Bad kids do eventually learn ASL (and go to NTID)
 
CJB said:
I've met two oral Deaf people: one grew up deaf and the other's late-deafened. Neither of them seem at all involved in the Deaf community and they don't seem to know or care much about it either.

Obviously I didn't grow up in the Deaf community but at the same time I don't want my social interactions to be all "huh?" and "what?" Not to mention I actually enjoy having a conversation at a natural pace and not having to worry about if it will be too noisy or if there will be too many people.

I wonder what the reasons behind choosing to be oral Deaf are, especially in individuals who are proud of their deafness but still choose to be oral.

It makes sense that oral Deaf and signing Deaf people tend to form their own social groups cause I can easily see there being feelings of resentment on both sides.
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As a former oral deaf person who wanted nothing to do with sign language, the reason for that was because I was deeply ashamed of my deafness and wanted nothing to do with it. Sign language represented deafness to me so I reject people who used it.
 
shel90 said:
As a former oral deaf person who wanted nothing to do with sign language, the reason for that was because I was deeply ashamed of my deafness and wanted nothing to do with it. Sign language represented deafness to me so I reject people who used it.
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I can understand that but it seems like not all oral Deaf people are inherently ashamed of their deafness so I'm wondering what the other reasons might be.

On another note, I'm glad to hear that you came to accept your deafness and re-connect with the Deaf community in AZ.
 
CJB said:
I can understand that but it seems like not all oral Deaf people are inherently ashamed of their deafness so I'm wondering what the other reasons might be.
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As for me - I am late deafened, and now considered to be oral deaf. I have to be oral with my family since they don't know ASL. They are picking it up little by little, but will never have enough for me to stop being oral. I am finding that the more I go out in public, the less oral I am (except at church). I have printed up little cards like business cards that explains that I am deaf and I can read lips a little and do not yet know ASL. That has helped wuite a bit and people are very quick to help me and write on my notepad.
 
CJB said:
I can understand that but it seems like not all oral Deaf people are inherently ashamed of their deafness so I'm wondering what the other reasons might be.

On another note, I'm glad to hear that you came to accept your deafness and re-connect with the Deaf community in AZ.
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I cant speak for others but I am just speaking for myself to why I was so proud to be oral deaf when in reality I was trying to hide my deafness and trying to be as "hearing" as I could be.
 
deafdyke said:
Yes, there are some "pure oral" deaf community, although it does seem a lot smaller then the Deaf community. I'd say that the oral deaf community tends to be AG Bell/hearing impaired /progressive dhh/ highacheiver types rather then hoh types. Many AG Bad kids do eventually learn ASL (and go to NTID)
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Stereotype, stereotype, stereotype
The Deaf community is actually, overall, pretty small. Estimates put it at about 500,000 in the US but there are greater than 35 million people with hearing loss.
 
faire_jour said:
Stereotype, stereotype, stereotype
The Deaf community is actually, overall, pretty small. Estimates put it at about 500,000 in the US but there are greater than 35 million people with hearing loss.
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But the Deaf community is very very tight-knitted. That what makes us special.
 
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