Culture and Communication Survey

[socialres]

I am doing an exploratory social research paper for a class and my topic is about the relationship between ASL and Deaf culture. I would really like to get some info from every one. The more the better. I have created a short survey, which is below and attached as a word doc. Anyone who is interested please either post responses or fill-out atachment and email to me at truj2501@chapman.edu I will be collecting responses for a month, until May 11th. I am excited to see all of your opinions. After I have analyzed the responses I will post conclusions from the research. I would appreciate your responses to the survey.

Instructions​

This survey contains a total of 8 questions. The first 6 questions are yes or no questions. For these first 6 questions type either yes or no after the question. The last two questions, 7 and 8, are open-ended questions. Feel free to elaborate and discuss your answers. The point of these two questions is to get your opinion of what these two questions mean to you.

1)Are you deaf?

2)Do you know American Sign Language (ASL)?

3)Do you primarily use ASL to communicate?

4)Do you consider yourself as part of the Deaf sub-culture?

5)Do you view deafness as a cultural identity?

6)Do you view deafness as a disability?

Please explain and discuss your answers freely for these next two questions.

7)What characteristics must a deaf person have to be considered a member of the Deaf sub-culture?

8)If a deaf person knows ASL does that mean they are a part of the Deaf sub-culture?

Thank You!
Sara

 

[DeafInTX]

Hi. Here are my answers for your survey.

1) Yes, I'm deaf now, but I grew up hearing. Started losing my hearing in high school.

2) I've been learning. I can carry on a pretty good conversation, as long as the topics stay on everyday things.

3) Not that good yet. And since my family is mostly hearing, I only have a few deaf friends that I can sign with.

4) Do you mean Deaf community? No. From what I have learned about the Deaf community, my beliefs are strongly aligned with theirs on most issues, but since I grew up hearing, I don't feel I can just say, "OK, I'm a part of your community." I guess I feel I should wait until I'm invited.

5) Yes.

6) No.

7) Sorry, can't help you there. That's something I'd like to know myself.

8) No. From what I understand (someone please correct me if I'm wrong), being a part of the Deaf community is a choice each Deaf person makes. I think that to be a part of the Deaf community, you should know ASL, or the sign language of whatever country you live in, but just because you know ASL, doesn't automatically make you part of it. The same goes for being deaf: there are hearing people who are part of the Deaf community, but there are deaf people who choose not to be.

 

[IceCream]

1)Are you deaf? YES

2)Do you know American Sign Language (ASL)? NO

3)Do you primarily use ASL to communicate? NO.

4)Do you consider yourself as part of the Deaf sub-culture? NO.

5)Do you view deafness as a cultural identity? NO.

6)Do you view deafness as a disability? YES.

Please explain and discuss your answers freely for these next two questions.

7)What characteristics must a deaf person have to be considered a member of the Deaf sub-culture?

Must use ASL as the primary mode of communication. No cochlear implant. Must not care about hearing. Must be part of them 100%. Must love being deaf and be totally proud of it.

8)If a deaf person knows ASL does that mean they are a part of the Deaf sub-culture?

NO. I don't mean they can't be one if they want to unless they get rejected because of they have a CI or don't use ASL strongly as them. I know some learn it to communicate with other deaf friends or because they want to and not be part of the Deaf Culture.

*I think you should clarify what Deaf sub-culture mean. I don't think everyone knows what that means.

 

[ismi]

1)Are you deaf? Depending on your definition of deaf, yes and no. Medically, I'm borderline severely to profoundly deaf; I generally identify as HOH.

2)Do you know American Sign Language (ASL)?
Not yet, although it's a goal of mine.

3)Do you primarily use ASL to communicate?
No.

4)Do you consider yourself as part of the Deaf sub-culture?
No.

5)Do you view deafness as a cultural identity?
There is a cultural identity based around deafness, but deafness itself is not necessarily an identity (i.e., just because someone is medically deaf doesn't automatically make them culturally deaf). So there is a cultural identity of "deafness"; but it's not like the diagnosis implies the identity.

6)Do you view deafness as a disability?
This question is what motivated me to respond, as I have something of a minority opinion on the subject. Yes, I think deafness is a disability; however, I view disability in a far more positive light than most. My primary disability-related identifications are not deaf (i.e., I identify first as one disability (won't name because you probably haven't heard of it), then as a wheelchair user, then as HOH (I identify pretty equally as the latter two). As I see it, disability can correlate to a cultural identification much like deafness can, but that hasn't been recognized yet by mainstream society or by most deaf.

My pet peeve is that, in their attempts to avoid the stigma that disability still carries, many d/Deaf say things like, "well, it's not like I'm disabled", which tends to perpetuate said stigma. At the same time, many deaf take advantage of disability-related legislation - the ADA, IDEA (and the IEP that goes with that), Section 504 of the Rehab Act, SSDI, etc. So it's sort of a "Yes, I'm disabled, but only when it's convenient for me. And you'd damn well better not call me that!" attitude. This, I think, is harmful to those who do identify as disabled; in other words, I'm not so bothered if you ID as disabled or not, as that is your choice, but the oh-so-quick "I'm NOT disabled!" response perpetuates the stigma of disability, and to "switch hats" whenever it suits you is, IMO, unethical. It's an unfortunate phenomenon, since we could be major allies; we share many goals and common obstacles. Also, note the huge benefits that the disabled rights movement's efforts have had for d/Deaf.

7)What characteristics must a deaf person have to be considered a member of the Deaf sub-culture?
Identify as Deaf. Be accepted by other Deaf as Deaf. Sign fluently, whether in ASL, PSE, or SEE (some will with me on the disagree on PSE and SEE part), even if sign is not the primary mode of communication; speech, lip reading, and cued speech may be primary.

8)If a deaf person knows ASL does that mean they are a part of the Deaf sub-culture?
No. See my answer above. I think knowing ASL (or PSE or SEE) is necessary to be part of the sub-culture; but that is not all there is to it.

 

[Teresh]

1)Are you deaf?

I don't identify myself as deaf, but I'm definately not hearing (my hearing is pretty messed up, even if I'm not deaf, per se).

2)Do you know American Sign Language (ASL)?

I know a fair amount. Not fluent, but I can communicate.

3)Do you primarily use ASL to communicate?

I use ASL, PSE and speech interchangably. Depends on who I'm talking to and what their communication preferences are. I tend to go with whatever the person I'm conversing with prefers because it's the easiest and most fair for both me and the other person.

4)Do you consider yourself as part of the Deaf sub-culture?

No. Deaf people who preach isolation from the rest of society annoy me greatly. Normal Deaf people don't bother me, though. I'm an observer to Deaf culture rather than a participant.

5)Do you view deafness as a cultural identity?

There is a Deaf culture. There is both physical deafness and cultural Deafness, and while there is much overlap between the two, not all culturally Deaf people are physically deaf (such as CODAs), just as not all physically deaf people are Deaf. (Actually, probably the majority of deaf people are not Deaf, my estimates being 60-70 million dhh people in America, of which only 5-10 million are Deaf.)

6)Do you view deafness as a disability?

No. It's a physical thing yes, but not a disability. Disabilities are limiting. Deafness isn't at all limiting in and of itself.

Please explain and discuss your answers freely for these next two questions.

7)What characteristics must a deaf person have to be considered a member of the Deaf sub-culture?

Um... There's probably only two requirements: Must be able to sign, must subscribe to the cultural Deaf model. The first one is really the only hard requirement, and the second could be flexible depending on who you talk to. As I said, I'm more of an observer of it, so I'm probably not really qualified to answer this question.

8)If a deaf person knows ASL does that mean they are a part of the Deaf sub-culture?

No. You're not part of any group of people simply by nature of who or what you are. Being one thing or another is not criteria for being part of the group. Being deaf and knowing how to sign doesn't make you Deaf any more than being in the closet makes you Gay (in the sense of doing things that are considered to be gay activities, like gay bars and drag shows). I'm not going to debate whether or not there is a Gay culture--That is a subject for another survey. But suffice to say, nothing will make a person a member of culture X, Y or Z unless they actively become engaged with people who are of that culture.

 

[MorriganTait]

1)Are you deaf?

No - HOH only.

2)Do you know American Sign Language (ASL)?

Some

3)Do you primarily use ASL to communicate?

No

4)Do you consider yourself as part of the Deaf sub-culture?

Not exactly - let's say I am a freindly neighbor only.

5)Do you view deafness as a cultural identity?

Not Deaness itself per-se, but the use of an alternate language creates a culture in much the same way that any language does.

6)Do you view deafness as a disability?

Please explain and discuss your answers freely for these next two questions.

By a strict definition, Deafness itself is a disability, but only in the sense that "hearing" is an ability, and not being able to hear makes society a bit trickier to navigate. As disabilities go, it seems somewhat mild comparitively - not to say it isn't serious. A lot of people who are deaf or hoh do not care for the term disability because it carries so many negative connotations - people often assume deaf are unintelligent, physically incapable, retarded, etc. Even well-meaning hearies don't always see that deaf can do a lot more than they can't do just because they never gave it much thought. I don't have an issue thinking of it as a disability myself, but, I rarely have encountered any negativity because of my own condition - I might change my tune if I were treated badly.

7)What characteristics must a deaf person have to be considered a member of the Deaf sub-culture?

Honestly, just a willingness to "belong" and a certain authenticity of exprience. I have hearing friends who are so involved with deaf that they are basically a part of the deaf social sphere, and deaf friends who are mostly social with hearies, so they don't really feel they are a part of deaf culture. I think it's a matter of personal preference. There are also deaf who are raised in an isolated way and never really get to be around other deaf - so, they are just never exposed to deafness as culture.

8)If a deaf person knows ASL does that mean they are a part of the Deaf sub-culture?

Not necessarily, but it certainly helps. It depends on what you see the deaf sub-culture as. Is it a group of people with a similar disability that band together out of shared need? Yes. Is it a group of people with a shared language that band together out of a need and desire to communicate? Yes. Is it also people who serve the deaf as interpreters, social service providers, etc? Sometimes. Is it also HOH people, people with CI's? Sometimes. I kind of picture it as a big circle with very fuzzy edges. Some people seem like they are planted right in the middle of the circle, and some people are kind of at the edge, and depending on the circumstance may be in or out.

 

[highlands]

1)Are you deaf?
I'm hoh not deaf.. but I cannot understand speech without a HA..that's why I'm partially deaf

2)Do you know American Sign Language (ASL)?
I don't know sign language.. I was raised in hearing environment.. there are no deaf people around me to exchange

3)Do you primarily use ASL to communicate?
I use speech.. but I would love to learn sign language

4)Do you consider yourself as part of the Deaf sub-culture?
No.. I'm from hearing background.. I love deaf world but I'm not in deaf culture

5)Do you view deafness as a cultural identity?
No ..Deafness itself isn't a culture..it's only a physical diversity

6)Do you view deafness as a disability?
in the physical world, in some matters, yes.. but not otherwise

Please explain and discuss your answers freely for these next two questions.

7)What characteristics must a deaf person have to be considered a member of the Deaf sub-culture?
He/she must use sign language as primary communication tool...He/she
must like visual word more..


8)If a deaf person knows ASL does that mean they are a part of the Deaf sub-culture?
No..sign language must be his/her main communication..he/she shouldn't use spoken language

 

[DeafInTX]

Hi, it's me again. I'd like to expand a little on my answer about deafness being a disability. In the very literal interpretation of "disability", you would have to consider deafness a disability. Dis- means "not" and ability means "able to do". So a hearing disability would mean "not able to hear" and that's what deafness is. However, not being able to do something really only becomes a disability if it limits your life in some way, as Teresh said. I grew up hearing, I've been HOH, and now I'm deaf, but I can't think of anything that I used to do as a hearing person that I can't do now. I've had to learn to do some things a different way. Sometimes it's not as convenient (having to go inside to order fast food instead of being able to use the drive-thru). But I don't feel "disabled."

 

[ismi]

Hi, it's me again. I'd like to expand a little on my answer about deafness being a disability. In the very literal interpretation of "disability", you would have to consider deafness a disability. Dis- means "not" and ability means "able to do". So a hearing disability would mean "not able to hear" and that's what deafness is. However, not being able to do something really only becomes a disability if it limits your life in some way, as Teresh said. I grew up hearing, I've been HOH, and now I'm deaf, but I can't think of anything that I used to do as a hearing person that I can't do now. I've had to learn to do some things a different way. Sometimes it's not as convenient (having to go inside to order fast food instead of being able to use the drive-thru). But I don't feel "disabled."

This is exactly what disability is. From a wheelchair, for example, "there is nothing I cannot do". Granted, I can't go up stairs; but neither can deaf use telephones (just to give one example). The key in your statement is I've had to learn to do some things a different way - this is *exactly* what disability is about. Disability doesn't "limit your life" any more than deafness does.

The medical/social models of disability are a good place to start with comparison of the two communities (if we are going to treat them as separate), and demonstrate that they have more in common than different.

 

[Cheri]

1)Are you deaf?

Yes

2)Do you know American Sign Language (ASL)?

Yes, I don't use it too often, I use my voice more, but when I'm around deaf people, I would sign ASL.

3)Do you primarily use ASL to communicate?

I use both if I want, but most of the time I use my voice to communicate.

4)Do you consider yourself as part of the Deaf sub-culture?

Yes, I am very much part of the Deaf culture and plus hearing world as well.

5)Do you view deafness as a cultural identity?

Not really, Deaf itself is not a cultrual identity, It's a community for the deaf includes hearing, hard-of-hearing, and deaf people.

6)Do you view deafness as a disability?

No, I don't.

7)What characteristics must a deaf person have to be considered a member of the Deaf sub-culture?

I always believe that a deaf person should just be her/his self, they don't have to do any requirement to be considered a member of the deaf community.

8)If a deaf person knows ASL does that mean they are a part of the Deaf sub-culture?

Yes, because that's the way of communicate with other deaf people, without ASL How are they going to be able to understand each others?

 

[Passivist]

1)Are you deaf? (Indeed I am profoundly so, but less than 40% of most in the Deaf community actually ARE).

2)Do you know American Sign Language (ASL)? (I use sign-language/lip-reading/text/body language amongst other sign forms/mime).

3)Do you primarily use ASL to communicate? No, few deaf are actually sign dependant, the ratio is about 11% of the total amount of sign users have to rely on it. You need to redefine the question pertaining to sign use, is it a need ? or a preference ? Preferences don't count in support terms. Most deaf could use text support without sign.

4)Do you consider yourself as part of the Deaf sub-culture? No, I'm no 'sub' anything ! I have my own culture as a hearing-impaired person, which is neither part of a Deaf nor a Hearing culture, but a mix of either or none.

5)Do you view deafness as a cultural identity? No, or all deaf would be 'cultural', what is deafness ? profound loss 100% ? or living a deaf lifestyle ?

6)Do you view deafness as a disability? Yes. Hearing is the norm, and acquiring hearing loss is the true definition of disablement.

Please explain and discuss your answers freely for these next two questions.

7)What characteristics must a deaf person have to be considered a member of the Deaf sub-culture? Eternal optimism ! that they will one day emerge into mainstream and find they all sign too, despite the fact no-one actually is heading that way !

8)If a deaf person knows ASL does that mean they are a part of the Deaf sub-culture? No, sign language is only an aid to communication, not an end in itself, or there would be more hearing in the Deaf cultural world than actual deaf people, sign use alone usually means a lifetime of dependency on others, so is ASL equally a disabling factor too ?