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Deaf culture structure
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Personal essays on deaf culture
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During the first Saturday of every month I volunteer at St. Columbkill Church in Parma, Ohio which has a program for teenagers and young children to come and socialize and learn about the bible. With the church being located in Parma, Ohio there is a great amount of diversity within the teenagers, which makes the volunteering fun and exciting. Some of the teenagers who participate in the church group are people who were born Deaf. To help assist with the children who are Deaf, the church brings in a ASL (American Sign Language) interpreter, therefore the teenagers are able to participate fully in the church activities and not feel left out. Before taking a ASL class I was not able to communicate with the Deaf teenagers at any level. After taking a semester of ASL I was able to pick up on certain signs and I was able to communicate with the Deaf teenagers more …show more content…
Most of the signs I can pick up easily are greetings, commands, and numbers. Fingerspelling is an area that I feel extremely confident in. While communicating with the Deaf group members I am able to fingerspell certain words if I do not know the correct sign. Some of the activities I help out with are team building exercises to help individuals learn about each other and create a dynamitic group environment. One of the team building exercises that I help chaperone is called Poker Tower. Poker Tower involves groups of two or five people to construct the tallest tower of playing cards with only the materials they are given to complete the task. Having experience in ASL I was able to assist in the instructions that were given to the children by the church organizer on the group building activity. Even though my vocabulary in ASL was not the strongest I was able to give commands by having the children sit and pay attention to instructions. During the Poker Tower exercise I felt confident enough to finger spell certain directions to the few children
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.
As a hearing person in a hearing environment I do not come across a lot of deaf people. I have only encountered three deaf people and in the three situations it was hard for me understanding them. Now I am taking an ASL class and it has been one of the best choices I have made in my educational path. The event I was able to go was the Deaf Pizza Night at Shakey's in Garden Grove. It was on July 16 from 6pm-8pm. There were only 5 deaf people in the event and a lot of ASL students. One of the 5 deaf persons in the Deaf Event was Rennie. He was kind to tell the others that not a lot of deaf people went to the event because the venue was too small. Instead they met at Starbucks located at the Outlets of Orange. Rennie was the only one who was approaching the students the other 4
Kimmy Bachmann A Journey into the Deaf-World Chapter 1 The narrator begins this chapter by introducing himself as well as his colleagues and co-authors. Ben Bahan, the narrator, is a deaf man from New Jersey whom was raised by deaf parents and a hearing sister. After spending an immense amount of time studying American Sign Language (ASL) he moved on to now become an assistant professor at Gallaudet University in the Deaf studies Department. His colleague Harlan Lane, a hearing man, is a specialist in the psychology of language and having many titles is a key aspect of this book as he believes, as does most of the Deaf-World, that they are a minority language and takes up their point of view to the hearing world.
Have you ever felt like there was nothing that you can do for your child? In the book, Deaf Like Me, by Thomas S. Spradley and James P. Spradley, I can the journey that Lynn’s parents had to take to get her help. This book was excellent I really liked the way that they described the ways that they tried to help Lynn to understand the world around her. In this book, I also saw how a mother and father will do anything for their child so that they can understand all that is around them. This book, is also a great asset to any family that might be unexpectedly thrown into a situation that they do not expect such as a deaf child.
In the Unites States and Canada, an estimated range of 500,00 to 2 million people speak/use American Sign Language. According to the Census Bureau, ASL is the leading minority language after Spanish, Italian German and French. ASL is the focal point of Deaf Culture and nothing is dearer to the Deaf people’s hearts because it is a store of cultural knowledge and also a symbol of social identity, and social interactions. It is a fully complete, autonomous and natural language with complex grammar not derived and independent of English. ASL is visual manual, making visual manual words, moving the larger articulators od the limbs around in space. English uses audible words using small muscles
Throughout the course of the semester, I have gained a new understanding and respect of Deaf culture and the many aspects it encompasses. The information supplied in class through discussion, movies, and guest lecturers since the previous reflection have aided in the enhancement of my knowledge of Deaf culture and nicely wrapped up all of the information provided throughout the semester.
“Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things” (American). For centuries, people from all walks of life have been using their hands to communicate with one another, and for centuries people from all walks of life have been learning. Today I am following in their footsteps with a passion from God for the deaf language, culture, and souls. For almost a decade, an intense ardor for American Sign Language and a desire to reach its native users for Christ seeded itself in my soul, wove its roots deeper and deeper, and blossomed into one of the greatest loves of my life. American Sign Language is a unique language with a rich history that not only provides a service to people in the deaf culture, but also to hearing people who seek to attain fluency.
During registration last semester, when I decided to take this course to see if I wanted to continue onward with ASL as my minor, I was not sure what to expect. Through my brief introduction of Deaf culture during my first sign language courses, I knew some vague details about historical events. Gallaudet had been mentioned several times within not only my workbook, but also by my professor. I could have given you a short synopsis of the oral movement that threatened to wipe ASL out as a language. Though I knew these facts, and a few traits about Deaf culture that I had experienced firsthand, there was so much that I had not considered before the readings and journals for this course opened my eyes.
Deaf people are often seen incorrectly. According to a legend, a Greek mythical character named Procrustes, invited tired travelers to rest at his home. Procrustes gave out special accommodations that fit everyone, regardless of the guests’ size. When the guest was shorter than the bed Procrustes owned, Procrustes would stretch the guest’s body to fit and when the guest’s legs were longer than the bed, Procrustes would chop off their legs so they would fit the bed. Aimee K. Whyte and Douglas A. Guiffrida explained the way deaf people are viewed: “Deaf people are often stretched or cut short to assimilate with the majority culture…Deaf people struggle against a procrustean system of hearing and speech and continually experience discrimination” (Whyte and Guiffrida 2008: 190). Deaf culture is seen in a variety of ways. When capitalized, the word “Deaf” focuses on what deaf people have: a living culture in which people have unlimited options to do endless possibilities. Deaf people in America live among hearing people who have a separate cultural belief system. Deaf culture has many values and deaf people have many experiences unique to their culture.
“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see” – Mark Twain.
From antiquity, being deaf was looked upon as an undesirable and a culture which was disconnected with the rest of mainstream society. Often members of the community found themselves ostracized by members of other cultures, who viewed them with suspicion, and were thought to be possessed, or in communion, with undesirable “spirits”, particularly during the advent of the Christianity that was in practice during the Middle Ages. During this period, before the advent of Gutenberg’s metal, movable type printing press, the populace was mostly illiterate and religious texts and spiritual obligations/instructions were verbally transmitted to the people by the literate clerics of the day. Thus, the deaf were believed to have no access to “Fides ex auditu,” which was the primary way, and often thought to be the only way; one could reach spiritual fulfillment and salvation. (Lane, 1984)
“Being deaf does not make you dumb, just as being hearing does not make you smart.” The author of this quote is unknown, but the concept behind these words is true in every aspect: hearing people do not know much about the Deaf culture. Our world is always quick to jump to conclusions when it comes to different people. This leads to many misconceptions and unknown realities about Deaf people and their way of life. So much is unknown about the Deaf world; for example, many do not know the qualifications for being deaf and the day to day activities deaf people can participate in. Everyone should be able to receive a chance to see inside the Deaf culture and be enlightened to the truth.
The Deaf event I attended was the DEAFestival. This festival took place at the Los Angeles City Hall on October 3rd at 12:00pm. I specifically attended this event because I felt I would be much more comfortable at a larger gathering with more space and people rather than a small one such as Starbucks. Since the festival was greatly occupied I had more time to observe, take everything in slowly, and prepare myself. To say the least, I was extremely nervous. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I was genuinely that apprehensive. The cause of my anxiety was I because didn’t want to embarrass myself and I especially didn’t want to offend anyone. There were so many things going through my head. I stood to the side and repeated everything I knew about Deaf culture and American Sign Language in my head. Nonetheless, after several conversations with deaf individuals I felt marvelous. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I anticipated. The people I had the privilege of communicating with were very
Imagine using no spoken words, not hearing at all, yet at the same time communicating perfectly. By use of American Sign Language (ASL), many people communicate everyday. They share stories of hope and despair, trade ideas and opinions, cry and laugh. Their difference is one that is important in their lives, yet does not in any way decrease the value of those lives. Deafness is such a unique, insightful, and wonderful loss. It is one with such beauty and meaning. Deafness is one "disability" that isn't really a disability at all. Instead many prefer to look at it as a culture. The Deaf culture is made up of primarily deaf people who view their hearing loss as a different way of life. These people use their native tongue, American Sign Language, to communicate. ASL is a "full" language. it has adjectives following nouns, in addition to verbs, adverbs, and pronouns. It is not a language made up of gestures or miming. Signing is a precise process. It is a combination of one's face, body, eyes, shoulders, and hands moving in synch. A person cannot fully "speak" the language without understanding the importance of all five aspects. You can change the meaning of a phrase completely by raising your eyebrows, repeating the sign, or enlarging the space used. You create a whole picture, the scenario as it takes place. You explain to the receiver the mood, time frame, and event all in a short amount of time. Take an airplane ride, for example: you could sign the place quickly taking off, flying steadily to its destination, and having a bumpy landing, all with one movement. In the same sense, you can describe a person, a place, or an object to the tee. Giving directions is a snap, and telling a story is marvelous.
To accommodate the needs of my hearing impaired students, I took two sign language classes. I learned ASL (American Sign Language) and how to teach hearing impaired students by using a philosophy called Total Communication. I have chosen to do a case stud...