The book The Mask of benevolence by Harlan Lane, has opened so many thoughts, feelings, and questions. I don't know if the book hit me harder because I am pregnant or because I am caring and feel everyone should have the right to be treated equal even if they are not the same. There is many things in the book that have caught my attention and made me really think about my own life and the life's of other people and others thoughts about themselves or others. What the cochlear implant has done and not done for people. In chapter seven, the one thing that stood out to me the most was the fact that the children would have a cochlear implant but still didn't feel like part of the hear or deaf. I the one sentence in the book that this was in was “the child's developing a social identity, a partially successful …show more content…
Me being pregnant and taking ASL has made me think a lot about life. Think about what would it be like if I was deaf or my baby was deaf how it would be hard to communicate if I have not talking the ASL class and how others would view me. I still really don't understand why the FDA could put out the cochlear implant out for children and adult when they haven't done the long term effects. The way people view others who are not the same as the norm don't really now what the world is like out there and sometimes I think that people do that to make themselves feel better. Know that I have realized that the hard life that people in institutions went through makes me want to go to the NYSARC and listen to all the stories that I kind didn't really listen to in the first time. I also take time when I am at work and talk to the deaf people even if I don't understand everything that they say but it feels good to be helping them find things and just listening. My thought is that people don't want to know what is different from them and that for some people its all about the way you are
It was painful to see how hard the parents worked to get Lynn to be normal like the rest of the family. They spent so much of their time focusing on getting her to talk and read lips that they overlooked one huge factor: that no matter how hard they tried, Lynn was deaf. It was so frustrating to see how much resistance they had towards using sign language. It was sad to see how disappointed the parents were when they learned of Lynn’s deafness even though it was easy to see they loved their child very much. I feel as though this book was a great look into how the world wants to fix, and repair people with disabilities and how strong and proud the deaf community is that they would rather consider themselves to be special and of their own culture than to be considered less abled than a hearing person. I like that the story started off with the parents frantically trying to fix Lynn, and ultimately led to their love, acceptance, and celebration of their daughter’s deafness. In the beginning of the book Thomas and Louise are told not to treat Lynn like she is deaf because then she will act
The movie “Audism Unveiled” was a very interesting and powerful movie. I never realized that deaf individuals are discriminated against. This could be partly because I have never been immersed in or educated about the deaf culture until this year. One of the things that struck me the most while watching “Audism Unveiled” was the many heart wrenching stories about children being unable to communicate with their own non-signing hearing families.. The deaf child would have to ask their family members, why everyone was laughing or what’s going on. The family members would just tell them “I’ll tell you later” or “Nevermind. It’s not important”, resulting in the individual feeling isolated. Personally, I agree with people saying that if a parent has a deaf child they should learn how to sign; communication is what brings families together. As a result, the most intriguing thing to me was the stories of family members never learning American Sign Language; leaving their family member isolated.
After reading Deaf Again I learned a lot of new things about Deaf culture and was drawn in by the story of Mark Drolsbaugh. "The hardest fight a man has to fight is to live in a world where every single day someone is trying to make you someone you do not want to be" e.e cummings. I was brought into the book immediately from this quote and realized how difficult it must have been for Mark to find his identity. He was trying to hang on to his hearing in fear of going deaf as if there was something wrong or not proper with being deaf. It took him a long time, twenty-three years to realize that the Deaf culture is receiving and it was there for him to embrace the entire time. It would be difficult to be able to hear and then slowly lose your hearing while having to communicate in the world we live in. Both his parents Sherry and Don were Deaf and I enjoyed reading the part where Mark was brought into this world through childbirth and the signing and conversation that was going on inside while the process was taking place. Like the anesthesia machine not working, which had to have been painful.
Heather's grandparents are both hearings. They do love their sons and the grandchildren and are very involved in their lives. They devote lots of time to their family especially Heather. The grandmother often describes sounds to Heather, explaining how wonderful they are. Both of Peter's parents and Heather grandparents want Heather to receive the cochlear implant. They view Peter's inability to hear and thus speak clearly as a handicap. They insist that Heather receives the implant, so that she might hear and speak and lead a life in the hearing world. They view Peter's and his wife's resistance to doing so as abusive to Heather. They view Peter's and his wife's insistence that Heather remains deaf and continues using sign language as unfair to Heather, depriving her of the many opportunities the hearing world has to offer. They feel that Heather if she remains deaf, and continues using only the sign language will be deprived of the opportunity to fully develop her talents and to live a "normal," happy, productive, full of possibilities life as a hearing person.
This issue is important because if you try to force the Deaf to hear, they might not grow because they will have no form of communication to use with other people. Even though the doctors might say to not use ASL, this will greatly hinder your child's well-being in the long run. I learned a lot about Deaf people, ASL, and/or Deaf Culture after reading this book. Deaf people are normal, just like anybody else, and they should not be treated any differently. Some people treat deafness as a disease that needs to be cured, but it's not.
Hearing about the deaf clinking of glasses (wrists) for cheers was very interesting to me. Having hearing is a privilege and being able to receive and express communication is how we all function; I can not fathom losing one or both modes of communication. Learning about deaf culture should be implemented in school. Many children and even adults do not know how to interact with a deaf person and can either offend the deaf person or make the situation extremely
Marika Kovac-Houlihan’s TED Talk hurt me. Hearing her stories first hand truly reveals the discrimination Deaf people face. It’s an easy to listen and understand the definition of discrimination but to experience it or witness is different. Kovac-Houlihan’s intention was for the audience to be stunned by her experiences, I imagine most of those people feel the same way I currently do. Her understanding was that most hearing people see Deaf people as disable or inferior, not every hearing person thinks that way, but most do. Kovac-Houlihan believes hearing people’s assumption is “that a deaf person may be isolated, uneducated or without language” (2:29 Kovac-Houlihan). I slightly disagree with her, but there are exceptions to every rule, one individual does not always impact the thoughts of the mob. I choose this video because of my reaction to Kovac-Houlihan’s primary discussion topics: the phonocentric ideology, loss of identity, and the divide between hearing and Deaf
CeCe Bell wrote a graphic novel about a young girl who becomes deaf. In this novel, she addresses the issue of differences and disability. Other articles and books that address the same controversy are The for Hearing People Only textbook, the Mastering ASL textbook, and the article Disability and Difference: Balancing Social and Physical Constructions. Disability and difference is a big issue today, the Deaf especially.
Deaf Again is another eye opening book about what it is like to grow up deaf in a hearing-dominant world. It showcases the struggles experienced by the Deaf, and shows the reader that the Deaf cannot be made to fit into their hearing world. The Deaf, once they find their identity as Deaf with a capital D, don’t want to fit into the hearing world. Being Deaf isn’t a bad thing. Deaf again has further shown me just how difficult life can be when you are deaf.
Up until now Lynn had it very tough growing up in a hearing world, but as soon as she started learning and using sign language her world turned around. Lynn finally gained a means of communication and Thomas and Louise were finally able to understand and communicate with their beautiful little girl with whom they were cut off from with a language barrier. Through communicating with other deaf individuals like her, Lynn finally felt like she was “normal” without trying to please the society’s normalcy.
The documentary of “Through Deaf Eyes” has open my eyes to the deaf culture. The movie has made it “click” that deaf people are just that people and individuals like me. Deaf community has its struggles just like everyone else. They struggle with growing into who they are as a person, harmful situations, and feeling a sense of belonging. They just speak a different language like Italians and Hispanics. Communicating with a different language does not make them lesser than a hearing person. When able to learn to communicate, the deaf are able to learn and gain knowledge just like a hearing person. The only difference is they have to learn more and work harder to achieve their goals and gain knowledge, which a hearing person learns just by hearing their surroundings.
The biggest type thing that I picked up on in this book was neglect to the children. The definition of child
This will also give hearing people an understanding of how Deafness plays a role in everyday life of a D/deaf person, not only the D/DEAF person but also individuals surrounding
Have you ever felt like there was nothing that you can do for your child? In this book, Deaf Like Me, by Thomas S. Spradley and James P. Spradley, I can see the journey that Lynn’s parents took to get her help. (Spradley & Spradley, 1978). This book was an excellent read. I really liked the way that they described the ways they tried to help Lynn to understand the world around her. The book, is a great asset for any family that might be unexpectedly put into a situation that they know nothing about such as a deaf child.
First of all, when I was a baby, my Mom noticed that I was not responding when she called my name. Each time Mom took me to the doctor, the doctor said everything was fine. One time the doctor clapped behind my head to test my hearing. I turned to the doctor and the doctor told Mom, “See, he can hear.” When I was 18 months old, Mom asked the doctor, “shouldn’t he be talking by now?” The doctor said,” Boys are slow. My son never talked until he was 2 ½ years old and then he just started talking in sentences.” But, Mom didn’t give up. She took me to an audiologist to have my hearing tested. The audiologist diagnosed me as being deaf. This is where I was truly my own body, being deaf without a cochlear implant. My parents showed they loved and cared about me by not giving up when they thought something was wrong. This is kind of ironic because I was my own body and my parents wanted to change it for the good. Meaning that they want to give me a cochlear implant so I can hear.