Persuasive Essay Yucca Valley High School has the opportunity to allow a new class into the school, and sign language is the appropriate option. Why learn sign language? Sign language allows students to be educated in a new level of languages. Sign language is essential for communication with many people in the United States. Many people throughout this country are deaf or hard of hearing. A large amount of these individuals are over five years old, and many people lose most of their listening skills after they grow older than the age of sixty-eight. Approximately how many people are deaf or hard of hearing? Approximately “1, 000,000 people over the age of five are deaf, over 8, 000,000 people are hard of hearing” (Reilly Par. 5). …show more content…
Interpreters use sign language frequently to benefit many deaf and hard of hearing people. Amazingly, citizens that understand sign language can become an interpreter and earn “as much as 30-35 dollars per hour” (Severson Parr. 3)! Interpreters are found in many different work environments such as a doctor’s office and a school. How are interpreters beneficial? Interpreters give deaf people more job opportunities because they can assist them in their work. Also, jobs are offered in federal and local government to people who are skilled in sign language. Where can these people work for the government? These people can be found in offices and work as deaf or hard of hearing specialists. Working in the government as an interpreter gives the hearing impaired citizens more rights they deserve to participate in the country’s decisions. Berke stated, “specialists can work at vocational rehabilitation agencies and state commissions for the deaf and hard of hearing” (Par. 3). Along with government work sign language specialists can be introduced into the education branch. This country needs more people who are educated in ASL. These knowledgeable people can teach at deaf universities such as Gallaudet University and National Institute for the Deaf. There are also special education teaching opportunities for deaf specialists. Another deaf education career is “working with deaf blind students using a tactile form of sign
In the book Seeing Voices, the author describes the world of the deaf, which he explores with extreme passion. The book begins with the history of deaf people in the United States of America, the horrible ways in which they had been seen and treated, and their continuing struggle to gain hospitality in the hearing world. Seeing Voices also examines the visual language of the deaf, sign language, which is as expressive and as rich as any spoken language. This book covers a variety of topics in deaf studies, which includes sign language, the neurology of deafness, the treatment of Deaf American citizens in history, and the linguistic and social challenges that the deaf community face. In this book, Oliver Sacks does not view the deaf as people having a condition that can be treated, instead he sees the deaf more like a racial group. This book is divided into three parts. In the first part, Oliver Sacks states a strong case for sign language, saying it is in fact a complete language and that it is as comprehensive as English, French, Chinese, and any other spoken language. He also describes the unhappy story of oralism (this is the education of deaf students through oral language by using lip reading, speech, and mimicking the mouth shapes and breathing patterns of speech)) in deaf children’s education. In addition, the first part is about the history of deaf people as well as information about deafness. It also includes the author’s own introduction to the world of the deaf.
Padden, Carol and Humphries, Tom (1988). Deaf in America: Voices from a Culture. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
In this article, “The Deaf Body in Public Space,” Rachel Kolb explains how interacting with people who do not understand sign language could be difficult. With her hearing disability she struggled to communicate with her peers. Kolb further explains the different situations she has encountered with people and comments that are made with first intercommunications. Going further she also mentions how she struggles with two languages and two modes of communication.
The problem faced by the deaf community is the injustice they encounter in the criminal justice system. Someone who is deaf or hard of hearing has at least a 50 percent loss of hearing in one ear (Ridgeway 2009), and some may be able to read lips. However, only 12 of all spoken sounds can be translated into American Sign Language (Ridgeway 2009), which makes it difficult for the deaf to communicate without using sign language. Because English and sign language are not the same language, many deaf people are illiterate because of a lack of schooling past a certain age. Even those with schooling up to the age of 18 or older are often functionally illiterate, read at a grade level of second grade or below, and have unintelligible speech (Vernon 2010).
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
“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.
A psychologist is shouting for signing to become offered as a ‘foreign language’ subject for both hearing and the deaf in primary or mainstream secondary schools for them 2 last GCSE years.
Two centuries ago, the Deaf community arose in American society as a linguistic minority. Members of this community share a particular human condition, hearing impairment. However, the use of American Sign Language, as their main means of communicating, and attendance to a residential school for people with deafness also determine their entry to this micro-culture. Despite the fact that Deaf activists argue that their community is essentially an ethnic group, Deaf culture is certainly different from any other cultures in the United States. Deaf-Americans cannot trace their ancestry back to a specific country, nor do Deaf neighborhoods exist predominantly throughout the nation. Additionally, more than ninety percent of deaf persons are born from hearing parents (Singleton and Tittle 222). Consequently, they often feel isolated from their families, as they do not even share the same language. Non-hearing children born into hearing families are more likely to attend a regular public school with typical peers, causing them to have little contact with other members from the Deaf community. Therefore, this community embraces a diverse group of individuals, who are surprisingly different from the rest of the members of their own families. This situation causes a cross-cultural conflict, which others believe needs fixing. Nevertheless, society should not perceive the Deaf community as a disability group but as a discrete linguistic minority, rich in history, values, and traditions.
The deaf community does not see their hearing impairment as a disability but as a culture which includes a history of discrimination, racial prejudice, and segregation. According to PBS home video “Through Deaf Eyes,” there are thirty-five million Americans that are hard of hearing (Hott, Garey & et al., 2007) . Out of the thirty-five million an estimated 300,000 people are completely deaf. There are over ninety percent of deaf people who have hearing parents. Also, most deaf parents have hearing children. With this being the exemplification, deaf people communicate on a more intimate and significant level with hearing people all their lives. “Deaf people can be found in every ethnic group, every region, and every economic class.” The deaf culture and hard of hearing have plenty of arguments and divisions with living in a hearing world without sound however, that absence will be a starting point of an identity within their culture as well as the hearing culture.
Furthermore, I am a member and work/study student of DancePlace (DP) in NE, Washington, DC. They are a non-profit organization that offers dance classes, performances, and extra-circular activities for participating adults and children. I have been an advocate for deaf inclusion and discussed options of integrating ASL into our programs and classes. If a deaf person comes to a class that I am in attendance, I am able to offer access upon request. DP has recognized the significance of incorporating ASL into their vision moving forward. As a visionary for this plan, obtaining a higher education will allow me to be better suited to train employees/staff members, interpret performances, build a bridge for deaf dance students at Gallaudet University (GU), and provide deaf exposure to the DP community.
In the United States today, approximately 4500 children are born deaf each year, and numerous other individuals suffer injuries or illnesses that can cause partial or total loss of hearing, making them the largest “disability” segment in the country. Although, those in the medical field focus solely on the medical aspects of hearing loss and deafness, members of the deaf community find this unwarranted focus limiting and restrictive; because of its failure to adequately delineate the sociological aspects and implications of the deaf and their culture. Present day members of deaf culture reject classifications such as “deaf mute” or “deaf and dumb”, as marginalizing them because of their allusions to a presumed disability. (Edwards, 2012, p. 26-30)
Have you watch America’s Next Top Model who has a deaf model competing or Switch at Birth with many deaf actors and actresses? Did you ever wonder why ASL started in the first place? Why is it important to have ASL for the deaf? I have only used ASL for ten years and now I am finally understanding the history of this rich, beautiful language.
Icelandic sign language was recognised in 2011, and became the official language of Iceland’s deaf community. This bill had an enormous impact on the deaf community. They have been pushing for more equal rights for deaf and hard of hearing people for over twenty years, and this have finally been a step in the right direction. The Icelandic Association of the Deaf is an association that fights for the rights of the deaf community.
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.
Very few people know more than the basics of sign and necessities for the deaf are overly expensive. Just the batteries for hearing aids are about $80 a year, and that doesn’t include the actual hearing aids themselves. Most deaf people have more health problems than just their hearing, one of my friends was in and out of the hospital with liver problems and other health issues, so if my knowing sign makes their lives a little easier than I am happy to help.