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Running Head: AMERICAN DEAF CULTURE

AMERICAN DEAF CULTURE

Jane L. Doe

Central State University

CED 555 – Human Relations Skills

Professor Duckie D. Happy

September 13, 2012

Abstract

To a large number of Deaf and Hard of Hearing people in America, hearing loss is not a disability. They see themselves as members of a linguistic minority that depends upon the use of American Sign Language for communication. They prefer the terms Deaf and Hard of Hearing to describe themselves, as opposed to a variety of terms for hearing loss that they find imposed upon them by a hearing majority. This paper explored the basic understanding of deafness, historical context of seeing Deaf people as a culture, and includes approaches for meaningful communication with Deaf and Hard of Hearing people for those who have little or no exposure to American Sign Language.

American Deaf Culture

The following study is to review a general look at Deafness in America, its connection to the world of education, American Sign Language, Deaf culture, and customs such as eye gaze and introductions. The principal application of this research is to classify the most effective tactics to promote acceptance of and develop effective interaction with members of the Deaf culture.

A General Look at Deafness in America

There are many things to be said for living in a silent world. One would not be bothered with the noises of car accidents, warplanes, or screaming neighbors, but one cannot discount the fact that Deaf and Hard of Hearing people are at a communication disadvantage with the remainder of the hearing population. It must also be pointed out that someone who considers themselves Deaf or Hard of Hearing may have an actual hearing loss in the mild range all the way up through the profound range; it may surprise some people to know how much (or how little) a Deaf person can hear. With the advent of better medicines and childhood immunizations, education about damaging the ear, and cochlear implant surgeries, many causes of hearing loss have been eliminated, but there are still those unexplained cases where hearing loss just happens to a person. With the advent of free public education for all American school children, schools had to develop a way to educate these children.

No discussion on Deaf culture would be complete without discussing the importance of and deep connection to the education of Deaf and Hard of Hearing people. Since a majority of people with hearing losses are born to families where they are the only person in that family that way (I read sometime in the early 1990s that the percentage is around 90%, but I have since misplaced the source), or developed that hearing loss due to illness, few families are equipped to transmit the language needs, let alone Deaf culture to their children the way that most families transmit these (generationally). In the Deaf world, culture is passed on at residential schools for the Deaf, or schools where there is a large population of both other Deaf students and Deaf teachers – these are the cultural educators. They transmit history, language, and values to the younger generation. In addition, these schools can also equip their students with and understanding of a general curriculum, a focus on competence in written English, and basic lip-reading skills (more discussion on these topics later).

What most hearing people might find puzzling, especially, is that Deaf people do not consider themselves handicapped; instead, they relish in their shared experiences and the beauty of their language: American Sign Language (ASL).

American Sign Language

Spoken and written English is not the primary language of Deaf and Hard of Hearing people in America. How could it be? How could one expect a person who has not heard a language to be a proficient user of that language? Instead, Deaf and Hard of Hearing people experience the world primarily through their eyes, thus becoming dependent upon a visual language. Yes, the argument could be made that Deaf people could read English, and thus are proficient users, but the subtleties that come from listening to the language are lost upon them, as is the explanation of abstract terms like articles (i.e. “the”, “a”, “an”, etc.). However, when allowed to experience the world and communicate about it through a language that originates visually, like American Sign Language (ASL) does, those considered at a language disadvantage by those who feel language needs to be read and heard are shown that their logic is incomplete.

Since most of all children with hearing losses have hearing parents, they are in a linguistic minority, even in their own households. Most Deaf people learn American Sign Language in their school settings from peers and teachers who are users of ASL. According to Padden (1989), “(n)ot all Deaf individuals have native competence in ASL; …there are many individuals who become enculturated as Deaf persons and bring with them a knowledge of some other language, usually English”.

Culture

According to Padden (1989), “Deaf people can be born into the culture…(h)owever, the type of degree of hearing loss is not a criterion for being Deaf”. With this definition, even hearing people can be considered Deaf. That is, even the hearing children of culturally Deaf parents can be considered Deaf. Carl Cronenberg (as cited in Padden, 1989) commented on the social isolation of members of the Deaf community: they can be isolated from each other, so when they do have the opportunity to contact other Deaf people, they often remain in groups talking late, long after the party ends or the restaurant empties with people. Since ASL is not a written language, there are no books that Deaf children read to learn cultural values; instead they learn them through their education with other Deaf people who will reinforce or discourage their comments and actions (Padden, 1989). According to Hall (1989), there is a deference to age by the youth in the Deaf community, with older Deaf people displaying parental attitudes toward younger Deaf people, whether related by blood or not.

There is sacredness to how the hands are used to communicate (Padden, 1989); Sign Language is often explained in terms of the pictures that it depicts. ASL users strongly believe that there must be “reason and rhyme” behind a sign (Padden, 1989). Padden (1989) continues by stating that Deaf people believe that hand gestures must conveys some kind of visual meaning and have strongly resisted what appear to be “nonsense” use of hands.

Customs

Holding Eye Gaze

Some of the major differences between Deaf and hearing cultures come in regard to length of eye contact. Padden (1989) points out that in American hearing culture, people are taught that staring is inappropriate; however, in ASL conversations, it is considered rude to break eye contact with the signer too soon. Because of this, Deaf people have learned to break eye contact with hearing people at what may seem like “strange” times, because they don’t want to be seen as stupid for staring or making improper advances. Additionally, eye contact must also be used as a monitor for comprehension of the conversation. Occasionally during conversation, Deaf people will often stop and ask if the listeners understand; this behavior is also common when communicating with hearing people. When using an interpreter, the hearing person should maintain eye contact with the Deaf person, and the Deaf person should alternate eye contact with the hearing person and the interpreter (who should be next to the hearing person). Closing one’s eyes, turning away from the Deaf person, or otherwise breaking eye contact is considered rude and or intentionally hurtful.

Introductions and Identification

Membership in Deaf culture is often obvious during the ritual of introductions and exchange of names. First, getting the attention of a Deaf person can be a challenge; appropriate methods include a tap on the arm or shoulder, flashing the lights of a room when the person is too far away to touch, or stomping on the floor or tapping on a table to create vibrations are all perfectly acceptable ways to get a deaf person’s attention (Hall, 1989). After hugging or brief handshakes (marital status, gender, age differences do not matter – everyone hugs or shakes hands), Deaf people often introduce themselves by first and last names and add which city or state they are from, and in most cases, which school they attended or spent most of their childhood; according to Padden (1989), this is important because the cultural group is small and maintaining ties with its members is a means of preserving group connectedness. This information allows Deaf people to instantly identify themselves as either one who has “grown up Deaf” or acquired their Deaf cultural status later in life. In the former case, slightly higher social status is awarded to this person; if it is the latter case, there is a somewhat lower status placed upon this person.

Alternately, introductions between a member of the Deaf culture to someone of the hearing culture are affected by these interactions. First, Deaf people often find it amusing how startled hearing people are to being touched; however, one should never hold the hand of a Deaf person for very long – it “silences” them (Hall, 1989). Introductions between these two groups do not include school information, unless the hearing person indicates they know any ASL, and then the Deaf person will ask where s/he learned it. Deaf people do appreciate when a hearing person tells them that they know some Sign Language; this disclosure allows for two things: 1) it can help them know that private information they share with others is not as private as they thought, as it is easy to “eavesdrop” on an ASL conversation, and 2) this information shows that the hearing person might be more open minded to the challenges a Deaf or Hard of Hearing person faces.

Communication

Most Deaf people assume that hearing people do not know sign language, and do not feel comfortable reading lips. As a matter of fact, only about 30% of what is said on the lips can be read easily. With people chewing gum, sporting facial hair, being disadvantaged by crooked teeth, or having an “accent,” most Deaf people abandon all attempts at lip-reading once they leave school. So, how do Deaf people communicate with hearing people? Well, one could hire an interpreter, but waiting for that person’s arrival is a waste of precious time to conduct business or pleasure. The parties could scramble to find paper and something with which to write, as is still occasionally practiced. However, with the electronic world in which we all now live, Deaf people now use their electronic devices to speed communication between the Deaf and hearing worlds. When meeting, sometimes, Deaf people will use their notepad or text message functions in their pocket communication devices (cellular phones), and then show it to the hearing person with whom they are trying to communicate. Passing this device back and forth in face-to-face interactions is becoming more and more commonplace, especially with the younger generation. Since Deaf people often cannot hear well enough to use the phone (although, surprisingly, some can), e-mail or text messaging is the most appropriate and preferred method for conducting business between Deaf and hearing people now (when one of the two parties is not an ASL user). The use of web cams over the internet is very important for long-distance communication between Deaf people; they use video chat software to conduct personal and business matters between those who are ASL users.

Saying good-bye in the Deaf community takes a long time. Since so many Deaf people are isolated from other Deaf people, this is a formal, lengthy process. When the conversation ends, each person must indicate where s/he is going and what s/he is going to do; this is the same in person or electronically. In large gatherings of Deaf people, good-byes can take as long as an hour or more, as each person will look for their friends to say a final good-bye. This lengthy leave-taking can occur in interactions between Deaf and hearing people, but usually takes much less time, as long as one remembers to tell what one is up to next.

Conclusion

The Deaf culture is an often unnoticed part of the richness that makes America a precious place to live. Their members have contributed so much to the needs of Americans: to communication (the man who developed the teletype machine, a predecessor to Instant Messaging, was Deaf), entertainment (Marlee Matlin, a Deaf woman, won a Best Actress Academy Award), connections with other countries (Heather Whitestone [Hard of Hearing] was Miss America and an ambassador for us in the Miss Universe pageant), pets’ livelihoods (Robyn Limberg-Child is a veterinarian and animal rights activist in Michigan), and public safety (Leroy Columbo was a Deaf lifeguard who saved 907 lives over his career). But due to their isolation from us in so many other parts of our world, I think

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