Do Internet improve our life quality as deaf people?

For my thesis i want to discuss the question here:

"Do Internet improve our life quality as deaf people?"

Compared to our life style in 1980 i know we've gotten a lot changes. But i wonder, arent we better without the internet? Shouldn't that improve our community or do we still have community but more internet-based so we have a stronger individualism?

Let the discuss begin! I'm curious to your reactions

your name is definitely GOMER

Yep, it's my real name

I got this from wikipedia on Deaf Culture.

Characteristics of deaf culture
Reliance on technology

Deaf individuals rely on technology for communication significantly. In the United States, video relay services and an array of freestanding and software driven video phones are often used by deaf people to conduct telephonic communication with hearing and deaf business, family and friends. Devices such as the teletype (known as a TTY, an electronic device used for communication over a telephone line) are far less common, but are used by some deaf people who are without access to high-speed Internet or have a preference for these methods for their telephonic communication.
Technology is even important in face-to-face social situations. For example, when deaf people meet a hearing person who does not know sign language, they often communicate via the notepad on their cell phones. Here, technology takes the place of a human sense, allowing deaf individuals to successfully communicate with different cultures.
Social media tends to be of great importance to deaf individuals. Networking sites allow the deaf to find each other and to remain in contact. Many deaf people have deaf friends throughout the entire country that they met or maintain contact with through online communities. Because the deaf community is so small, for many deaf people, the stigma of meeting others online does not exist.
Closed Captioning must be available on a television in order for a deaf person to fully appreciate the audio portion of the broadcast. Conflicts arise when establishments such as restaurants, airlines, or fitness centers fail to accommodate deaf people by turning on Closed Captioning. Movie theaters are increasingly compliant with providing visual access to first run movies through stand alone devices, glasses and open caption technology which allow deaf people to attend movies as they are released.[13]
Alert systems such as fire alarms and alarm clocks must appeal to different senses in order for a deaf individual to notice the alert. Objects such as vibrating pillows and flashing lights often take the place of the noise-based alarms.
Lack of understanding about technological accessibility for the deaf causes conflict and injustice for the deaf community. For example, a significant amount of deaf individuals in the UK admit that they are dissatisfied with their banks because of their heavy reliance on telephone banking and lack of assistance to deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals.[14]
Architecture that is conducive to signed communication minimizes visual obstructions and may include such things as automatic sliding doors to free up the hands for continuous conversation.[15]
Religious work among the deaf and their use of technology includes the Deaf Bible App with contains the American Sign Language translation of the New Testament and portions of the Old Testament.[16]

I use internet to keep in touch with my hearing family and friends. It helped me get through high school and college. Internet helps deaf people with severe and profound hearing losses get further in education. Cable modem is required for videophone. Deaf people before 1980 had to depend on their parents and neighbors to make phone calls for them. Their writing level was fourth grade. They were not entirely independent.

Gomer said:

For my thesis i want to discuss the question here:

"Do Internet improve our life quality as deaf people?"

Compared to our life style in 1980 i know we've gotten a lot changes. But i wonder, arent we better without the internet? Shouldn't that improve our community or do we still have community but more internet-based so we have a stronger individualism?

Let the discuss begin! I'm curious to your reactions

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I think it depends on how we use the Internet. The Internet is a powerful tool (i.e., it enables us to use the P3, SIPrelay, VP) but at the same time it may be detrimental (i.e., the circulation of misinformation about the D/HH community, the distraction factor with Facebook and other social networking sites). It's all about moderation, really. Not too much use of the Internet but not too little use of the Internet. Too much work and no play makes Jack dull. Too much play and no work makes Jack lazy.

For some rural Deaf communities, the Internet may be an educational lifeline (i.e., online medical consultations, e-mails with healthcare providers, DeafMD.com, et cetera). Research is a necessary component of the exploration process to see just what is out there for the D/HH community in terms of accessible programs and services.

A balance with online interaction and face-to-face interaction is necessary to maximize the quality of life--it doesn't matter if we're Deaf, deaf, hard-of-hearing, late-deafened, deaf-blind, or just hearing. The Internet impacts all of us, not just the D/HH community--with that said, it is warranted that we all engage in self-introspection.

internet improve lives and deteriotates lives of many people, but as far as deaf people goes and their 'quality of life' goes... well no, its an improvement by little margin, it doesn't remove oppression it doesn't change the way society puts down d/Deaf people.....

quite different things, so don't get deluded to think quality of life is same as emancipation, it is completely unrelated, if you ask me

Grummer said:

...so don't get deluded to think quality of life is same as emancipation, it is completely unrelated, if you ask me

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Agreed. Just as I said, the question of whether the Internet has improved the quality of our lives in general is dependent on what we use it for and how much time we spend on it.

One thing you need to keep in mind. I myself am a deaf student majoring in psychology at ARC so I read research literature on my free time. A 2011 research article from the American Journal of Public Health shows that the D/HH population is more likely than the hearing population to be obese, to attempt suicide, and to experience partner violence.

If you would like to read the article in full, here's the link: Community Participatory Research With Deaf Sign Language Users to Identify Health Inequities.

sphenix said:

Agreed. Just as I said, the question of whether the Internet has improved the quality of our lives in general is dependent on what we use it for and how much time we spend on it.

One thing you need to keep in mind. I myself am a deaf student majoring in psychology at ARC so I read research literature on my free time. A 2011 research article from the American Journal of Public Health shows that the D/HH population is more likely than the hearing population to be obese, to attempt suicide, and to experience partner violence.

If you would like to read the article in full, here's the link: Community Participatory Research With Deaf Sign Language Users to Identify Health Inequities.

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hey, thanks for that id will read it with interest.

I think the short answer is, yes, it does improve quality of life. The long answer is that it is not a replacement for human interaction. So, depending on how you define, "quality of life" your argument is going to be different.

VacationGuy234 said:

I think the short answer is, yes, it does improve quality of life. The long answer is that it is not a replacement for human interaction. So, depending on how you define, "quality of life" your argument is going to be different.

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Agreed, it depends on the operational definition of "quality of life." It's a difficult concept to measure with objective assessments, precisely because the quality of life changes depending on our perceptions and timing. With that said, quality of life is only best understood from the use of a longitudinal study with a stable number of participants over the course of several years (or decades, if you have the money).

The tricky aspect about your thesis, Gomer, is the fact that the Internet is still a new feature in our lives. The Internet really started to take shape in the 1990s (I think the first computer was around 1985? I could be off with the year here) and then cellphone technology took off in the 2000s. As it's been only around 20 years or so, it's difficult to conclusively determine the full impact of the Internet on the quality of life for the D/HH population.


Sent from my iPhone using AllDeaf. Please excuse any grammatical or spelling errors.

It improves my laziness and my ability to talk to move Deaf people further away... unfortunately sometimes those Deaf people aren't the brightest crayons in the box... sometimes they're super bright crayons. So, it broadens the community reach... which is good to have a larger range... It is also good to be able to sit in my underwear and a T-shirt as I sit in bed and play around on the internet and much on food, which I could not do in person. Less drive time, less gas money spent to meet in person and in the end I can power off my laptop, roll over and go right to bed which saves me a lot of time. So in conclusion, I would have to say yes... definitely an improvement to my life. Too bad this leads to more time at the gym...

It doesn't help improve on find job at online is hassle than newspaper to find job. That's why more deaf don't have job. They probably busy on sue them.

Do Internet improve our life quality as deaf people?

In the beginning, yes, remember Sidekick that provided internet service for us to communicate with each other through texting. Since that period, deafies used TTY less to personally contact them. Afterwards, it does get better because of VP. Without internet, VP/VRS would not be here.

PowerON said:

It doesn't help improve on find job at online is hassle than newspaper to find job. That's why more deaf don't have job. They probably busy on sue them.

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Only 19% American with disabilities working and ADA failed to keep many deaf people employed, also VR performance varies from state to state. Many companies have other reason to not hire deaf people.

It is expensive to sue the companies, also you need have physical evidence that companies discriminate you based on disability so it is too much for NAD to handle those court cases. It cost $250 to file the lawsuit in my state.

Curious about your research results

Hi, Gomer,

Have you finished your thesis on that topic? I am interested to see that. Have you published some where? Are you now still doing something related to relative issues? I am a coda and I want to see how to help this population from an information professional's perspective.

Forgive me if I am too curious

Yana

Gomer said:

For my thesis i want to discuss the question here:

"Do Internet improve our life quality as deaf people?"

Compared to our life style in 1980 i know we've gotten a lot changes. But i wonder, arent we better without the internet? Shouldn't that improve our community or do we still have community but more internet-based so we have a stronger individualism?

Let the discuss begin! I'm curious to your reactions

Click to expand...

this is bit like asking if Radios improve lives of Blind people

Grummer said:

this is bit like asking if Radios improve lives of Blind people

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No, it's not like that at all. This thread is about our life quality as deaf people. Long time ago we suffered without CC, TTY and internet. Today we live better. Blind people, oh well, still suffer.

...and internet? lol

Grummer said:

...and internet? lol

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Oh well, I don't know if you have VP in your country, VP without internet won't work. Every deaf people in America live better as they can call (ASL) each other via high-speed internet (Skype, Facetime, Glide, etc). In other words, hearing people call each other via cellphone so can we due to internet.

If there's no VP in your country, I feel sorry for you really.

Yes. I grew up with very little technology. My school friends (hearing)and I used to write notes to each others all the time. I did have computers at my public school but that was in the late 80's and early 90 ' s. Then I had 2-way pagers.

Since the internet, I realized how much I missed out because I can not hear very good. I am severe to profound Hard of hearing.