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In what ways has deaf culture changed and become more respected and accepted in our society?
Intro:
When looking at and into deaf culture, we can see the importance of access and resources for this deaf community, which most people do not see or understand; this is so important because when you cut off access for them when they might need it they won’t have the ability to learn and access what the world has to offer. There have been fights for equal access since the disability rights movement yet there has been little to no show of improvement, when there has been it has been for better qualified interpreters . Only 5% of high schools in the US have access to an ASL class. Access is something that is needed for people to understand a language and a culture. For them to then get opportunities to learn from this and experience things. How can people learn to understand and communicate with something they do not fully understand?
“ The idea of deaf gain reverses the traditional hierarchy of normalcy to ask how the view of deaf people and of the world might change if society stopped viewing deaf people as individuals with a hearing loss and instead looked at what contributions accrue to the world by the existence of people with a different sensory orientation.”
Deaf Studies Encyclopedia:
The deaf community has developed many terms that they use to describe things about themselves, and one of them is deaf gain. Deaf gain is a term that is used when talking about the sensory and cognitive diversity that can contribute to the greater good of our society and humanity. Not only this but also explaining how using sign language around people who can hear can be helpful. Growing up with parents who are deaf can be challenging for the child who isn’t deaf to learn english but also communicate with their parents. That is why they explain learning ASL and sign language as a child can be helpful and it means they are also able to communicate using both languages. They claim this gives the child a head start in understanding and learning the world around them. The child who can hear is able to communicate, remember, and learn more. This source is aimed at people who are trying to understand why ASL and sign language is important to learn and to understand how learning this other language can not only benefit them but the people around them:
The use of sign language by hearing babies allows them to develop bimodal language abilities. Not only is this a boon to parents and caregivers; it also gives the child a head start in processing the world around them. Hearing children who use sign language have been shown to have increased spatial memory compared with non signers; they remember where things are located in space. Studies also show that members of this population have increased visual working memory; they are able to mentally manipulate and orient objects in their minds. Knowing sign language has also been correlated with better reading outcomes in hearing children as well as deaf children. Hearing people who use sign languages also have increased facial recognition and processing skills and enhanced ability to detect and categorize motions (Gertz, Genie, and Patrick Boudreault, Deaf Studies Encyclopedia)
When exposing younger children to a different language, other than the one they are growing up with, it gives them benefits. Exposing children to a different communication and community can help them understand people and the world around them more. They are able to develop quicker and also be the ones to see change in their community. Understanding the world more can lead to more discoveries and knowledge about yourself and how you can help others.
Linguistic Human Rights Discourse in Deaf Community Activism:
Linguistic Human Rights Discourse in Deaf Community Activism provides basic human rights for every human even if they cannot function the same as other people in this world. Giving someone a way to access materials or services they need is very important and is one of the ideas of democracy. Equal rights among all people, yet this is not happening for everyone. “In some countries today deaf people are denied basic citizenship rights, such as equal voting rights during public elections (World Federation of the deaf 2014)” Now people are being discriminated against and being denied basic human rights. Clearly you can see how these people are treated very differently in today’s society. They are not allowed basic citizenship rights and then since they do not have this they cannot have the rights to vote. Without the right to vote it is harder for them to stand up and ask for what they want and need. Their basic needs and rights. It is harder for them to ask for what they need if they do not even have the needs or they barely have the services they might need. How are we living in a democracy when people in this society are being denied rights. Rights that should come with the idea of democracy and living in America. Many people do not have access to things they may need like schools or even interpreters. People struggle in a society where they do not have access or are denied access to something they may need. They will continue to struggle on a daily basis if our world doesn’t wake up and understand the importances of being aware and providing things people may need to just live. It’s as simple as providing schools with Spanish and French as a language. Providing this type of education for people around the world could benefit so many more people than it can harm.
The coming of Age of American Sign Language:
Starting recently colleges and universities have started to incorporate ASL as a language class. They explain the importance of learning ASL and providing ASL to someone who cannot hear. ASL is the language people who cannot hear prefer. One of the most important things might be that people who cannot hear have a preference for how they learn and communicate. This source is created for people who might not understand the deaf community and the importance of ASL. It is prime to explaining the importance and why more schools should incorporate this class. “However it is only in recent years that ASL has been recognized as a legitimate language. (Anthropology & Education Quarterly, vol. 19, no. 3)” Understanding how important this can be can lead to more communication between people. Communication is one of the main and most important pieces of the language of life. When you are learning a language early in life you are much more likely to understand people all over the world and have a better understanding of people and the world. Mainly deaf children and children of deaf parents are taught the language early in life. Yet it can be beneficial for other hearing children or children with hearing parents to learn the language to help communicate with people who they might meet one day. You will always have this second language in case you need it. For example people who have friends who are deaf are more inclined to learn the language to communicate with each other.
Young deaf children are encouraged to sign in English so that their English language skills will improve. However, outside of the classroom ASL is accepted as the dominant language of deaf children and deaf adults. The education system has responded to this by providing elective courses in ASL at the night school and university levels. Currently, there are over 300 colleges and universities offering signing courses and at least 12 universities that accept ASL in fulfillment of language requirements for various degrees.
Courses are now being offered at colleges and universities as they now understand the importance of this language and giving students a way to learn and access this language. As of right now out of the 24,000 high schools in the US only 1,000 of them offer ASL as a language class in their school. That is only 5% of high schools in the United States. More access means more ways to gain acknowledgement of the community and its language while providing others who are deaf to understand the people around them in this world. Though it is thought that learning ASL should start as early as elementary school. Learning a language earlier is proven to also be better for the development of the child and can benefit them in the future. It can lead to problem solving skills but also being able to be creative. So the elementary school age is when they should be incorporating and learning this language.
Deaf Parents and Their Hearing Children:
There is an importance when it comes to learning the language your family might speak or understand. There is much talk about who is and who is not a part of the deaf community and how you can become a part of it. People who are deaf are born into this community but people who have friends who are deaf are not really a part of the community until they are deaf or proficient in ASL. You are also adopting this new view, language, and communication. For this community they would call this specifically in America the American DEAF-WORLD. It is this world inside America that people are learning to live in and understand. This community includes people who do not have as much loss to people who have full loss and to people who have deaf parents and are fully hearing. Some of the people who do not have complete loss identify with the deaf community but some others can and will identify with the people in the hearing community. There really is a wide range of people in this community. But that means you are so much more likely to find someone else in this community. The deaf gain idea is stemming from the other side of the idea on how deaf people are just individuals with a hearing loss but now looking at people like this with just a different way of living life with this thing they may or may not have. Deaf gain isn’t the basic understanding we would have thought a long time ago because it is really just stereotyping and judging these people who just live in this world differently than we do. “Thus it is important to recognize the complex needs of these hearing families with deaf children and to ensure that services provided to these families are culturally, linguistically, and economically appropriate (singleton and Tittle, 2000).” People in this world have basic needs and necessities. For example deaf children need to learn how to communicate some way or another. They need to be the appropriate way of communicating and there needs to be services that families can lean on to help them and their families. Services could include an interpreter/ a deaf interpreter, an interpreter for someone who is deaf blind and someone who specializes in Communication Access Realtime Translation for people who prefer to read text instead of seeing it. Sometimes these services and resources can be limited which doesn’t help the family so there needs to be some way for them getting to these services. Parents who have deaf children also need to then find a way to access an education to help teach and learn the language. They should not struggle to find these resources and have a hard time learning. How can people in America help fight to provide this access to people who might need it? What do they have to do? How can people really say that they have rights when constantly being denied places for not being able to hear or communicate with others?
Conclusion:
Throughout history into this modern day and age ASL has been a more accepted language among others. Most people have a harder time understanding the importance of the culture since people recently started recognizing it. There has been a push for this kind of class in schools to help others understand the importance of deaf culture but there are not many schools that have this class yet. Throughout history there has been a broader fight for people with disabilities. Fighting for people to be seen, heard, and given access to things they might need to survive on a daily basis. Having access if you are deaf to an ASL interpreter is something that will benefit your learning in class, in an appointment, or workplace environment, because you will be able to understand everything that is going on, not 60% or 70% but 100% of what is going on.
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