Is Deaf Culture really ALL THAT?

I am not exactly a Deaf militant but yeah ... there are both positive and negative aspects of both Deaf and hearing culture. I try to take both of the best of positive things from both cultures even though I am 100% Deaf. My real family is hearing and I am the only Deaf person in my family so there you have it and my another family is the Deaf community.
 
I do agree with his story, in fact that's why my dad didn't want me to be involved in just the deaf world, He wants me to be involved with both hearing and deaf world, that is one major reason why I learned to speak at a younger age, as I remembered that I was growing up losing my hearing more and more to the point of becoming deaf, My dad knew that and he did not want me to be in an all deaf school system, He wanted me to be involved in mainstream and oral to learn to read lips, speak and understanding both sides of the world, parents need to decide whether a child is likely to benefit more from oral based education or sign based education, being deaf doesn't mean that you have to stick with one community. But, it is very wrong to judge the deaf's intellectual level by how good their oral skills are and how bad their oral skills are, each person is different and each person learned in a different way. Doesn't make sign language top level than oral, It doesn't make oral top level than signs. If a deaf person wants to sign ASL only, It's up to them, If they want to carry a pen and paper with them at all times, that's up to them. But, myself, no I rather to use my voice to speak, just because I'm deaf I don't have to always stick with one community which that is deaf community, I want to be part of people all over the world, be treated equally. ;)
 
Mod Note:

Ok, let's take a step back for a moment here before things could get ugly, etc., there's always a chance that any blunt statement could be viewed in a different way than it's intended--bearing this in mind...it could be a bit helpful when stating an opinion/idea and being able to be a bit more specific without members having to 'guess' just what a member is really trying to convey here....

If any member have a plm. with another member, etc., pls. be advised it's better to take it up in PMland, or to contact a moderator....

Bottom line...let's stick to the topic for which this thread is concerned with--

Thank you!


~RR
 
I am a hearing individual with a deaf son. I am kind of new to this whole "deaf culture" thing but it's clear to me that there are two sides to the story. I am finding that as a hearing individual, it's difficult for me to get involved with deaf people because I am not proficient in signing yet. I can only imagine that it's just as hard for deaf folks to break into the hearing world for the same reason. Communication.

I really don't understand some of the deaf culture purists that believe the hearing world are against them. I do believe there are prejudices that exist when hiring deaf people and I think that is wrong. That prejudice applys to people with handicaps, not just deaf people. On a personal level, we are all brothers and sisters. Not just deaf and hearing, but all humans.

This is just another example of stereotyping that exists in our lives. It happens in many cultures at many levels. The best thing to do is to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and accept our differences. While I commend the young man for his beliefs, I also can sympathize with his friends but don’t agree with their radical stance. Once you close your mind, you are abandoning your hope for change.

Lets all keep an open mind and look at the hurdles as challenges, not obstacles.
 
I showed the link to my husband and he agreed with it. He rarely talks to me about his past experiences so I do not know exactly why he feels alienated from the deaf community. I'm getting some insites here and that is helpful for me, so that I don't press him into going to deaf activities. If he were my child, it would be a different story. I cannot help the way he was raised or the choices he has made, and being a 52 year old man, he's pretty set in his ways now. I can only be his wife and love him just as he is.

I appreciate seeing the story, even when it makes me sad on several levels. It's hard for me to believe though that the entire Deaf Culture alienates those who wish to be part of the hearing community. I don't see it on this forum and haven't seen it in the brief encounters I've had with other deaf people.
 
You guys know the Onion is a satirical newspaper and their stories are bogus? I love reading them. I liked the ones titled "Pope Says Screw the Meek" and "Hamas Calls for Giant Summit with All Israelis"
 
For those of you who aren't aware, The Onion is a joke newspaper. This isn't a real story. It's a joke.

Let me repeat this.

"THE ONION" IS A JOKE NEWSPAPER. THIS ISN'T A REAL STORY. IT'S A JOKE.

carry on.
 
travisdoesmath said:
For those of you who aren't aware, The Onion is a joke newspaper. This isn't a real story. It's a joke.

Let me repeat this.

"THE ONION" IS A JOKE NEWSPAPER. THIS ISN'T A REAL STORY. IT'S A JOKE.

carry on.
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I thought I was mama's joke.
Eve is purposely messing with my head.
Quick, burn her at the stake.
;)
 
End, what about the piece they did on 9/11...."God Clarifies Thou Shalt Not Kill Rule" ? :)

I really don't understand some of the deaf culture purists that believe the hearing world are against them.
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I do, even thou I am only hoh. I guess it's a backlash to oralism. Like I remmy reading an article by a TOD in California in Volta Voices....she was ranting that new legislation would require TODs to be fluent in Sign b/c the CIs make Sign obsolete! There's also the snotty oralists who are very " high and mighty" to Deaf folks b/c they have oral skills and Deaf folks don't.
(not saying that ALL oralists are snotty.....just that there seems to be a subset of oralists who are all high and mighty b/c they don't need Sign)
Many Deafies undy that most kids raised orally, did not choose to be that way.
 
Language has a very special way of helping create a culture. Saying deaf culture is good or bad is like saying any other culture if good or bad - each has good aspects, bad aspects, and can be taken to extremes or also abandoned entirely. I have learned incredible things from deaf people and learned to see things in ways I never looked at them before. If they had shunned me for being hearing or I shunned them for being deaf, we never would have gotten to share that way. How sad that would be.

I live in Southern California - we have all kinds of hispanic cultures and asian cultures all around. If I had turned my nose up at any of them, I hate to think of all the things I would have missed.

I personally think deaf culture is somewhat like that. Glad I have been exposed to it.
 
lol I know what the Onion is, but I felt the piece itself was worth discussion. And yes, I do know some people like the ones listed in the article.

I don't see it on this forum and haven't seen it in the brief encounters I've had with other deaf people.
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Stick around, honey, it's only a matter of time. :)
 
I'm glad to know the story is bogus, but I'm afraid I don't have a sense of humor about it. I started my blog a few months ago and then found this forum, hoping to get some understanding of this brand new world that my husband has introduced me to, because my frustration level is high. I can't seem to get him to tell me why he doesn't want to be part of the deaf community, and especially why he doesn't want to go to our deaf church.

I've been reading in this forum and finally feel brave enough to start talking about all the frustrations I've been having. I haven't been able to find anyone so far who understands or seems to care. I seem to have a new role in my life as ping-pong ball between my husband and ignorant hearing people. I've been trying to stay positive and hopeful, but it's not working. There's a lot I want to talk about and get off my chest so I don't explode and so I can keep my sense of humor.

Sorry for the rant.
 
jshumko said:
I'm glad to know the story is bogus, but I'm afraid I don't have a sense of humor about it. I started my blog a few months ago and then found this forum, hoping to get some understanding of this brand new world that my husband has introduced me to, because my frustration level is high. I can't seem to get him to tell me why he doesn't want to be part of the deaf community, and especially why he doesn't want to go to our deaf church.

I've been reading in this forum and finally feel brave enough to start talking about all the frustrations I've been having. I haven't been able to find anyone so far who understands or seems to care. I seem to have a new role in my life as ping-pong ball between my husband and ignorant hearing people. I've been trying to stay positive and hopeful, but it's not working. There's a lot I want to talk about and get off my chest so I don't explode and so I can keep my sense of humor.

Sorry for the rant.
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That is okay .... go to http://www.rid.org and I am sure the ASL interpreters can give you some good advice as you share your experiences and learn alots also as for Deaf culture... give it some time you will finally understand why :) :thumb:
 
The onion might be a joke paper but the content of that article is quite real. I don't agree that the CI will make sign obsolete. Remember that the CI does not work for everyone and even those that it works for have mixed results. Sign is here to stay. The profoundly deaf, I believe, will always need to sign. Lip reading and oralism must be very difficult skills to aquire and I would imagine take years and years to master for the profoundly deaf. As a hearing individual, I have never been shunned by the deaf community. In fact, I find it to be quite the opposite. There is obviously a gap and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why that is....Communication. There is a communication gap. In my opinion, if the hearing world knew how to sign deafies would not feel so alienated.
 
I do know some people like the ones listed in the article.
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Oh agreed......but that's not exclusive to Deaf culture....not by a LONG shot!
 
rockdrummer said:
In my opinion, if the hearing world knew how to sign deafies would not feel so alienated.
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Even knowing some basic signs and how to fingerspell would be helpful, but they have to have a good reason for learning it. The people in my church see me signing and think I'm doing such a great job that they don't have to learn any of it, at least that is the impression I get, even after explaining that I'm not an interpreter. I'm not even a mediocre signer.

We had a lesson a few weeks ago in Sunday School on talents. The teacher asked if we could figure out the talents of the people in the class. One lady immediately said the most obvious was my talent in signing. I interpreted this to my husband and he gave me a look that expressed what I was feeling, "What talent?" Half the time he doesn't understand what I'm signing. I know I'm suppose to think of their admiration as a good thing, but I couldn't keep from laughing inside.

Some people say they admire Sign Language and have always wanted to learn it. I tell them, "I will teach you." but no one has taken me up on it. People are too busy with their own families, I guess. I've discussed it with our bishop, and have been making a tiny bit of progress in that sense.

I won't get into the challenges outside of church because you all probably know it already. My own family hasn't even learned a single letter of Sign.
 
My opinion could be summarised as that Deaf culture is really just a subset of a broader American culture--Deaf Americans have more in common with Hearing Americans, than, say, Deaf Norwegians. Deaf people, I'd say, are not unified by the aspect of not hearing, so I'd go as far as saying that the only binding aspect is language... And since I think all deaf/hh people should be raised with both ASL and English, I think that a deaf person should be able to choose which group of people they want to associate themselves with, having been properly educated on how to communicate with both.

The Deaf people who think it has to be an "us and them" game bother me a lot because they're prejudiced against Hearing people, which is just as bad as Hearing people being prejudiced against Deaf people.

In terms of a community, I have hearing friends and deaf friends... And I'm as a result a member of essentially two circles of people. It works for me.
 
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