Deaf Culture

This was a huge step for Deaf people. Before this book was written, the medical industry and those involved in Deaf education only saw Deaf people in terms of their hearing loss.The thought of Deaf people being a part of their own culture was unheard of...

Nonetheless, Deaf culture is exactly what Carol Padden defines as a culture: a set of learned behaviors of a group of people that share a language, values, rules for behavior, and traditions.

There are many famous deaf people who introduced the world to Deaf Culture and proved that deaf people can, in fact, make history.

Language

It was not until the Dictionary of American Sign Language was published that ASL was regarded as a real language. William Stokoe was the first to break ASL down into its linguistic components and prove that it truly is a language...not merely "English on the hands" or "pictures in the air" like people thought.

American Sign Language is a living, breathing linguistic masterpiece that is specially made for the Deaf.

Values

Language

American Sign Language is the most highly regarded asset of Deaf Culture. Spoken English is almost completely useless to the Deaf. Even if they can learn to read lips, the comprehension of English doesn't even come close to the language of ASL. If the ears don't work, why would you force them to?

ASL is the natural language for the Deaf. To equate the fluency of English to hearing people, ASL is the match for Deaf people. They are not meant to use a language that is not their own, nonetheless be forced to.

The Deaf also aim to preserve ASL. There are many language systems that have been invented to try to "help" deaf children learn English (Sign Supported Speech, Signed English, and Cued Speech, to name a few). These are not languages and are not supported in Deaf culture. They have, if anything, deprived deaf children of their true language and ability to communicate effectively.

ASL is so important for Deaf people to communicate, they created vlogs (video logs). They are similar to blogs, but consist of videos. That way, the Deaf can communicate with each other in their first language.

Speech

Not speaking is highly valued in this culture. Like I stated before, speech is commonly forced on deaf children and represents confinement and deprivation to the Deaf adult. When speech education is forced, deaf children are deprived of one of their core needs...language. The only language that is truly possible and effective is ASL.

When a hearing friend of a Deaf person turns and continues conversation as usual with another hearing friend, the Deaf person is left out. This is incredibly rude when the person could have signed or kept the Deaf friend included on what was being said (interpreting).

Exaggerated mouth movements can be seen as rude. There are only a limited number of mouth movements that are used while signing. Much-more-than-necessary mouthing can be seen as making fun of the Deaf (and you don't want that!)

Socializing

Socializing is a very important value of Deaf culture. Because there are so few Deaf people in an area, social lives are invaluable. In a society where the Deaf are commonly misunderstood, the support of others is more than necessary.

Nothing much has changed since then!

Deaf people will stay at a gathering very late to get in as much time as possible with their friends. When a hearing gathering generally ends around 10 at night, a Deaf gathering can end at 3 in the morning!

There are many Deaf events available to everyone (deaf and hearing!) who wants to socialize with the Deaf. Visit http://www.ohsoez.com to find events in your area.

Literature

Much like the American culture, Deaf cultural values are not openly written or explained. Deaf children learn how to fit in with Deaf culture from positive and negative feedback about behaviors and from the stories and literature that are passed down through the generations.

There is a wealth of Deaf art, poetry, stories, theatre, media, games, jokes, and books that teach the culture (most of which are not written down!) These avenues always demonstrate and support the way Deaf people live their lives: being Deaf and proud!

My absolute favorite artistic informational piece about Deaf culture is the film Through Deaf Eyes. If you have not seen this movie, you need to.

There are many famous Deaf actors and actresses who have brought the Deaf Community and ASL into people's homes. Linda Bove played Linda the Librarian on Sesame Street, Marlee Matlin won an Academy Award for her debut performance in Children of a Lesser God, and Bernard Bragg is a very well-known theater actor (whom I have met personally), to name a few.

Rules for Behavior

Eyes

In hearing culture, it is rude to stare. However, in Deaf culture, staring is necessary. If you break eye contact while a person is signing to you, you are incredibly rude! That's like plugging your ears when someone is speaking to you!

Facial Expression

In hearing culture, facial expression is very limited. If you move your face or body a lot while you are talking, you can be seen as "weird" (and nobody wants to be weird!)

However, in Deaf culture, facial expression and body movement is required for ASL. It's part of ASL grammar! It's OK to be "weird" in Deaf culture...it's normal! And absolutely necessary!

Introductions

In hearing culture, you normally introduce yourself by your first name only.

Deaf people, however, introduce themselves by their full names, and sometimes even what city they're from or what school they went to. By city, I mean the city you grew up in, not what city you are currently residing in. And by school I usually mean a residential school you attended. The Deaf community is very small, and Deaf people like to find those specific commonalities with each other.

Labels

What Deaf people call themselves is something that also needs to be taken into consideration.

In hearing culture, the terms used to describe deaf people have to do with their hearing loss. The term "hard of hearing" is better than "deaf." Hard of Hearing people are generally regarded as being easier to communicate with and fit in better with hearing people. Deaf people, on the other hand, are seen as being difficult to communicate with and that they may not even speak. The term "hearing-impaired" is also used to be "politically correct" to identify them both.

In Deaf culture, though, the terms are quite the opposite. There is one label for people who are part of Deaf culture...

Deaf.

This label has nothing to do with hearing loss. Regardless of how much better your hearing is than the next guy, you're still all "deaf." Using the term "hard of hearing" can be seen very negatively...like you're saying you're better than everyone else (because that's the one-up in hearing culture).

You will also see both the terms "deaf" and "Deaf" used. They are referred to as "little d" and "big D." "Little d" deaf refers to people who have lost their hearing. "Big D" Deaf refers to people who are involved in Deaf culture and share the values, behaviors, and language of that culture. Just because you are deaf, doesn't mean you are Deaf. And in some cases, just because you are Deaf doesn't mean you are deaf (as is the case for some hearing children of Deaf parents--CODAs).

The term "hearing-impaired" is seen even more negatively because that says there is something wrong with being Deaf (which is the complete opposite of what Deaf people believe!) Most hearing people believe that deafness is a handicap. But, au contraire! It indeed, is not. Deaf people can do everything except hear. Everything! Deafness is not a handicap. The only real handicap of deafness is when deaf children are deprived of true communication--ASL.

Resources and Recommendations:

American Deaf Culture: An Anthology I love this book and it was another required reading for my Deaf Culture class. This collection was invaluable to me. Some of the stories just talk about Deaf culture in general while others consist of personal stories and experiences from Deaf people. With a variety of authors, this book is a great look into the lives of many Deaf people--not just one. I highly recommend it.

A Deaf Adult Speaks Out by Leo Jacobs I absolutely love this book. It was a required book for my Deaf Culture class at CSUN. Leo Jacobs is a great author. This book is his account on what it is like living in hearing world as a Deaf person. This book is easy to read and covers excellent information about issues such as mainstreaming and how it affects Deaf children, total communication versus oralism, employment for Deaf people, and public policy in relation to the Deaf. I highly recommend this book to understand what it is like for Deaf people and what the members of Deaf culture value and believe.