The proactive way to deal with stereotyping...

[Rose Immortal]

I've noticed a lot of threads complaining about stereotypes but I haven't seen much discussion at all of what can be done to prevent them from happening in the first place (or at least making people aware of them so they can work to change).

As for me, I am a firm believer in the power of education--and the earlier, the better. I may not like a lot of government spending, but I'll almost always support education and the services that help people to get an education, because I strongly believe that by education a lot of future headaches can be prevented.

One example would be stereotypes. I see a lot of discussion here about the stereotypes some hearing people hold, but not a lot of talk about what kinds of proactive things could be done to prevent the problem in the first place.

I personally think one of the best things to do is to educate hearing kids when they're little. I don't know about others, but even though my school didn't discuss a lot of this stuff, my parents did their best to expose me to books that taught about stuff like ASL--and I think that went a long way towards shaping my attitudes as I grew up. I suggest teaching little children for a couple of other reasons...in my observation, little kids seem to be more open to learning and a little less bound up by prejudice. Also, I think sometimes questions from little kids are more accepted and treated with less suspicion than questions from adults--which may help the teacher/lecturer to feel more at-ease in explaining the things they really want to know (some of which may make a real difference).

So...here's your imagination task: suppose you've got a classroom full of curious little kids that want to learn from you about your experiences being deaf or hard of hearing. You've got a prime opportunity to help them to be more informed and understanding adults, so--what do they need to be taught and how do you teach them?

 

[Roadrunner]

...here's your imagination task: suppose you've got a classroom full of curious little kids that want to learn from you about your experiences being deaf or hard of hearing. You've got a prime opportunity to help them to be more informed and understanding adults, so--what do they need to be taught and how do you teach them?

Little kids? Give 'em a bag of treats such as candy, surely that'll get their attention--heh. WELLL...that surely can be frowned upon, so...let's stick with a bag of fruits.

One good way to present what it is like to not hear is to hand out ear-plugs or any other way that'll cut sound out and then to get a feel of what it is like for several minutes or even for a hour or so. Then turning on such devices like a radio, tv., movie projector, etc., and watching them struggle to try to 'hear' the sounds. Once that objective is reached, then being able to explain that is what the world is like to those who can't hear. Pointing out such facts as why 'reading' is important like when captions is being displayed on telecasts and movies.

Also, pointing out that one of the important things to know and to be able to understand is the fact that we are really no different, we're also human, we'll err from time to time as well as learning and growing from experiences. Which then it'll be easier to teach them that any given opportunity to communicate with a Deaf/HoH individual can be considered 'normal' just like it can be when meeting and making acquaintances. Likewise, to show that it's not nice to poke fun or even to take an advantage of a Deaf/HoH as 'we' (the Deaf/HoH) have feelings as well and can get 'hurt', etc.,....

For those who are HoH, who can hear, speak fluently (like myself), it's not only appropriate, but considerate when they face the person while speaking and to understand if there is a need to 'repeat' without showing frustrations or being aghast about having to repeat all over again. As for those who are Deaf, knowing sign-language goes a long way, breaking down a certain communication barrier, even a little knowledge of hand signs helps...if no knowledge of sign-language is the case, then being able to write, draw, make face gestures/expressions, etc., also helps...showing these 'little kids' by presenting examples of several different scenarios that they surely can identify and do if they're ever founded to be in any such situation down the road.

Lastly, pass out some more of the 'good fruits'....


btw, good thread--

 

[Endymion]

Argh. I made a nice little response (flattering both of your egos, by the way), and Alldeaf went and lost it.

Oh well. Such is life.

In any instance, I'll just say you two have great posts though there are a few things I'm a little sketchy on. Mostly that education can actually be a catalyst to a problem, so it's important how you present the information.

One thing I want to bring up is that I would -not- teach kids that "deaf people are normal like everyone else." What this does is it tells kids that, "deaf people are different enough that they have to explain to us that they're normal." What I would do, instead, is cultivate the idea that deaf people rock, just like Tiger Woods and Brett Favre.

 

[Teresh]

What I would do, instead, is cultivate the idea that deaf people rock, just like Tiger Woods and Brett Favre.

Does this mean walking into class with a subwoofer and a pimp hat?

 

[Rose Immortal]

Gonna sit back for a bit and watch other replies...but I had to comment on this...

Little kids? Give 'em a bag of treats such as candy, surely that'll get their attention--heh. WELLL...that surely can be frowned upon, so...let's stick with a bag of fruits.

You know, that trick works all the way through college...you'd be amazed how often I saw free pizza used to bribe people to come to meetings...

 

[Endymion]

Does this mean walking into class with a subwoofer and a pimp hat?

, homey. Werd. Do that West-side thing, yo.