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Running head: OBSTACLES FACED BY THE DEAF 1

Obstacles Faced by the Deaf Culture: A Proposal for Further Research

University of Mississippi

OBSTACLES FACED BY THE DEAF 2

Abstract

There is a communication barrier that exists between the deaf and the hearing

populations. The deaf population face a number of challenges daily and nothing is being done

due to the majority of the hearing population not knowing American Sign Language in order to

help. Researchers constantly provide various obstacles the deaf culture face, but never include

solutions to help prevent them. This is a gap in the research considering solutions are not being

created. The public is not aware of these issues and until they are, no precautions and safety

measures will be created to help aid in the deaf population. Included in this paper is my small-

scale pilot study which surveys the public and collects data on their awareness of these issues.

After conducting my small-scale pilot study, I then created a large-scale study I would use to

further my research if time and resources were available to me. Both studies would contribute to

the gap found in this research and help aid in filling this gap.

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Obstacles Faced by the Deaf Culture: A Proposal for Further Research

For years, researchers have examined the problems that the deaf culture face. Without

being able to hear or properly communicate, it sets a boundary between that person and the rest

of the world. Communication is the key to success and happiness in life; it is how we survive.

Without the ability to communicate, one faces constant struggles and obstacles on a day to day

basis. Researchers have done an excellent job on displaying the constant challenges the deaf

culture face, but they lack in the area of creating and providing solutions to fix the problems in

our society. A separation has occurred between the deaf and the hearing, leaving the deaf

helpless in the world. The public is not aware of these obstacles that the deaf population face. As

the challenges that the deaf population face become worse and the barrier between the deaf and

the hearing becomes greater, the awareness and the creation of solutions needs to take place

faster. It is necessary that the public is aware of these challenges so that they are knowledgeable

of the situations and focus as a society on creating possible solutions. Research today does a

great job at pointing out the challenges the deaf population face, but is flawed in the area of

providing solutions and making the public aware of these occurrences. I intend to address this

gap in research with the research proposed in this document.

Social separation and neglect begin at an early age in life. During school years, a child

that is deaf gets neglected by his or her class peers due to being “different.” Yu-Han, Potmesil,

and Peters (2014) state, “Even deaf children who have good spoken language and hearing aids

still face difficulties in social interactions, especially in noisy places.” Although this is very

helpful in displaying the problems that persist in the deaf population at an early age, the public

does not seem as if this is a problem, therefore no actions are taking place in order to help the

continuing success in school and social life of deaf children. Not only are the deaf being socially

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separated in school, but separation is also taking place in the work place. A surveyor from a

study conducted by Hayes and Linden (2012) reported being “excluded from staff meetings” due

to being deaf and the company not having on-hand interpreters ready to assist the deaf

employees. The lack of interpreters in the work place can become a problem due to “equality in

the work place” not taking affect. The deaf population are being stolen of their success left and

right and the public is not aware of this phenomena taking place.

Not only is there a lack of interpreters in the work place, but there is also a lack of

interpreters in the medical field. The communication of medical information between a doctor

and patient is very important for someone’s health. If a patient is deaf and lacks the availability

of an interpreter, medical information and understanding could be lost throughout the

conversation and could ultimately lead to a life or deaf situation. Researchers Cabral, Muhr, and

Savageau (2013) conducted a survey and a respondent stated waiting in the ER for hours for a

interpreter to arrive becomes very “difficult and irritating.” The lack of available interpreters in

the medical field can lead to a deadly situation.

Although all of the previous challenges are very important, intimate partner violence

against women is the most horrifying and unknown. A study of deaf women was conducted by

researchers Anderson, Leigh, and Lamar (2011) and respondents stated that “not being able to

verbally resolve a disagreement” led to abuse by their partner. This could be a deadly situation in

the deaf population that the public has no knowledge of. The media and the government needs to

make this known in order to create proper precautions and safe solutions.

Nonetheless, it is clear that the deaf population face multiple challenges where

interpreters are not available and solutions are not being made. The public seems to not be aware

of these occurrences, therefore lacking the ambition to eliminate the social boundary between the

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deaf and the hearing. In the section immediately following, I explain a small-scale pilot study I

created on proving the lack of knowledge the public has on these certain challenges the deaf

culture face on a daily basis.

Small-Scale Pilot Study Methods and Findings

Before creating a large-scale research centered toward focusing on Social Services and

hospitals’ awareness and possible solutions of obstacles the deaf population face, a small-scale

pilot study is beneficial to gather data on how aware the public is on these challenges the deaf

culture face. For my small-scale study, I focused on the public. The media and the government

does a phenomenal job of picking and choosing what they want to be known to the public and

what they think is not important enough to advertise.

For my small-scale study I conducted a survey aimed towards the public to collect data

on their knowledge of these occurrences. For the list of survey questions please refer to

Appendix A. I anticipated that the public would not be aware of these actions taking place and

wanted to prove the lack of knowledge the public really has on the deaf population. With the

audience for my survey chosen, I then proceeded to the website Qualtrics.com, a website to help

create my survey, and began creating my questions.

When completing my ten question survey, I then posted it to my Facebook page. I chose

Facebook because I have a variety of different friends from numerous different places. This

helped to aid in my small-scale pilot study because it not only concludes data from the area I live

in, but data from a variety of different places, making the idea of the lack of public awareness

true for around the world.

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After posting my survey to my Facebook page, I waited 24 hours for people to respond.

After I received my results, I began to analyze my data. I only received 13 responds but that was

enough to get a generalized idea of public awareness. According to my survey, 54% of my

respondents reported knowing a deaf person and 46% of them did not. Out of the 54% who knew

of a deaf person, only 27% of them reported knowing and using American Sign Language to

communicate with them. Those who replied not knowing ASL, reported that they used writing

notes, hand motions, other people, and reading lips to communicate. 92% of my respondents

reported not being aware that deaf women face partner violence almost daily and suggested that

ASL should be learned to break that communication barrier, a health care facility to help aid in

the violent attacks, and awareness and education on the issue could be advertised through classes

and social media. 92% of my participants also responded stating that their job did not have an

on-hand interpreter in case of emergencies. This proves that there is a desperate need of more

ASL interpreters in every work place to accommodate everyone in the business including

employees and/or customers.

Although these are very helpful statistics, a further large-scale study would be needed to

expand my horizon past Facebook friends on the awareness of challenges the deaf culture face.

My primary focus would be on Social Services and their awareness of these issues and multiple

hospitals around the world seeking whether or not they have on-hand interpreters and how many.

The following section outlines how I would create this research if additional and appropriate

resources were available to me.

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Large-Scale Research Project Methods and Hypothesis

Because the data I collected in my small-scale study only reflected on Facebook friends, I

proposed furthering the research with semi-structured interviews with workers at social services

and hospitals around the United States, collecting data on whether or not they are aware of these

issues and whether or not hospitals around the world have on-hand interpreters. Interviewing

these places from all over the United States would broaden my spectrum on public awareness

around the world, not just in small towns of Mississippi. My research would further contribute to

the gap in public awareness and knowledge that the world has on the deaf population.

Before starting my research, I would complete the IRB paperwork. The role of the IRB is

to review all proposed research involving human subjects to ensure that they are treated ethically

and that their rights and welfare are protected. Considering I will be interviewing workers from

Social Services and hospitals, their answers need to be protected so I would need to complete the

entire IRB application. I expect this process could take a few weeks to process so I would get

started immediately.

Following my approval I would then begin contacting Social Services and hospitals

throughout the United States and seek their approval for participating in my research. Upon

approval of their participation, I would then set a date with each organization of which we could

have our interview. After setting a date with each place, I would begin my research. To limit

research expenses and save time, I would conduct a phone interview if possible to collect my

data. I would first start with the Social Services I chose to pick and then move into interviewing

the hospitals. I would do them separately in order to not get my interview questions mixed up

and confused. Since structured interviews do not always go as planned, I would need to make

sure I at least hit my important questions first. I expect each interview to take at least an hour to

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be completed. The questions I asked would be focused on the awareness of these situations and

what precautions and safety measures are taking place to reduce these issues. To see the list of

the interview questions, please refer to Appendix B. Following the completion of interviewing

Social Services, I would begin interviewing the hospitals. I would ask the interviewer to be

placed in a quiet room to reduce the possibility of miscommunication due to hospitals being

noisy. I would expect the interview to also be about an hour in length. The questions I would ask

would be focused on knowledge of the effects of miscommunication in the medical field between

doctors and patients and ask them how available are on-hand interpreters in their hospital and

how many (if any). To see the interview questions for the hospitals, please refer to Appendix C.

After completing all of my interviews, I would then analyze my data collected and compare

those findings to my small-scale pilot study. This would prove that there is a gap in research

regarding obstacles faced by the deaf culture. This will prove that yes, research is taking place on

the challenges that the deaf culture face, but the public is not aware of these occurrences and

solutions are not taking place.

In order to conduct this research, I would need a lot of time in order for me to call and

interview each place. Considering I would be conducting phone call interviews, no expenses

would be needed, just a large amount of time, patience, and cooperation.

Conclusion

Although researchers are doing a great job of providing multiple issues that the

deaf population face, there is a gap in the research due to there are no following solutions taking

place to account for these issues. There is much more research that needs to be done in order to

create solutions for these problems and to make the public aware of these problems. Although

my small-scale pilot study only had 13 participants, it still provided a general outlook on how

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unaware the public is about the challenges the deaf population encounter on a daily basis. As

research indicates, these challenges can create a setback for the deaf population, create social

barriers between the deaf and the hearing, and can be the cause of a life or death situation. If

further research is taken place, I firmly believe that one day the hearing population as a whole

will be aware of these issues and work to create solutions to destroy the social barriers and help

to aid the deaf population.

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References

Anderson, M., Leigh, I., & Samar, V. (2011) Intimate partner violence against deaf women: a

review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 3, 200-206.

Cabral, L., Muhr, K., & Savageau, J. (2013). Perspectives of people who are deaf and hard of

hearing on mental health, recovery, and peer support. Community Ment Health J, 49, 649-

657. DOI 10.1007/s10597-012-9569-z

Haynes, S., & Linden, M. (2012). Workplace accommodations and unmet needs specific to

individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive

Technology, 5, 408-415.

http://dx.doi.org.umiss.idm.oclc.org/10.3109/17483107.2012.665977

Yu-Han, X., Potmesil, M., & Peters, B. (2014) Children who are deaf or hard of hearing in

inclusive educational settings: a literature review on interactions with peers. Journal, of

Deaf Studies and Deaf Communication, 4, 423-437.

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Appendix A

Survey Questions for the Public

1. Do you know of a deaf person?

2. Is so, do you know and use American Sign Language which allows you to communicate

with him/her?

3. If you replied no to the last question, how do you successfully communicate with

him/her?

4. The deaf community face a number of obstacles daily. Were you aware that a large

number of deaf women face intimate partner violence almost daily?

5. In your opinion, what could be done to make this issue known and solved?

6. Studies show that accommodations and needs are not being met in the work place for the

hearing impaired. In a conducted research, one participant stated, "It would be nice to

have an interpreter from time to time for staff meetings, from which I am currently

exclude from due to hearing loss." Do you think this is fair?

7. If you work, at any job, do you have an available interpreter on hand ready to sign to a

hearing impaired person if needed?

8. Studies show that miscommunication of medical information to deaf patients happens

daily due to a large number of medical staff not knowing American Sign Language.

Miscommunication of medical information could be a life or death situation for the deaf

population. If you work in the medical field, do you know if your office has an interpreter

on-hand ready to relay the medical information to the patient?

9. Studies show that isolation and neglection begin at any early age due to having a hearing

impairment. Research states that, "A child who is deaf gets neglected by his/her peers due

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to being different. Even deaf children who have good spoken language and hearing aids

face difficulties in social interactions, especially noisy places." In your opinion, what

could be done in the school setting to help aid in the success, socially and scholarly, for

the hearing impaired children?

10. Although these are only a few obstacles that the deaf culture face, were you aware of any

of these at all?

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Appendix B

Interview Questions for the Social Services Worker

1. What role do you play in for the deaf population?

2. Were you aware that deaf women are violently abused by their intimate partner

almost daily?

3. If so, what precautions and safety measures are taking place to ensure the safety of

these women? If not, in your opinion what could be done in order to prevent this issue

from occurring?

4. Are there available support groups for the deaf women in the community to attend

voluntarily?

5. If a known occurrence is happening with a particular person, what actions are taken

place in order to stop the violence?

6. What do you do as a Social Service worker to make this issue known to the public

and educate them on this problem?

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Appendix C

Interview Questions for the Hospitals

1. Since you are working in the medical field, do you personally know and use American

Sign Language when needed to communicate with a deaf person?

2. Are there any on-hand interpreters that you know of in your hospital? If so, how many?

3. If not, how long does it take for an interpreter to arrive?

4. If you had to guess, how often do you receive deaf patients?

5. When relaying medical information to a deaf patient, how important is it in your opinion

to have an interpreter present?

6. Has a patient died in your hospital due to the lack of doctors/nurses not knowing ASL?

7. In your opinion, how important is on-hand interpreters in the medical field?