travisdoesmath
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2005
- Messages
- 85
- Reaction score
- 0
It seems to me that in the deaf community, there are certain aspects that are off-limits to hearies, for example, it's not kosher for a hearing person to come up with new signs.
Now, I was born hearing, grew up in a hearing family and have no deaf/hoh relatives, I started taking ASL a little over a year ago and I'm starting to make friends in the deaf community. I'm not saying that I feel unwelcome, there have been many people who have received me warmly, however, it is obviously not "my" culture.
I'm not sure about crossover lines, but it seems to me that CODAs and perhaps siblings of Deaf can claim ownership of the culture, or at least moreso than a late-comer like myself.
But here's a scenario ..
Suppose that I become fluent in ASL and immerse myself in Deaf culture, always remaining a peripheral member .. but then I lose my hearing. Am I now allowed to lay claim to Deaf culture where I wasn't before?
if so, why?
Now, I was born hearing, grew up in a hearing family and have no deaf/hoh relatives, I started taking ASL a little over a year ago and I'm starting to make friends in the deaf community. I'm not saying that I feel unwelcome, there have been many people who have received me warmly, however, it is obviously not "my" culture.
I'm not sure about crossover lines, but it seems to me that CODAs and perhaps siblings of Deaf can claim ownership of the culture, or at least moreso than a late-comer like myself.
But here's a scenario ..
Suppose that I become fluent in ASL and immerse myself in Deaf culture, always remaining a peripheral member .. but then I lose my hearing. Am I now allowed to lay claim to Deaf culture where I wasn't before?
if so, why?