Deaf rights movement

Sign languages are an important part of Deaf culture. The American Sign Language (ASL) alphabet is shown here.

The Deaf rights movement encompasses a series of social movements within the disability rights and cultural diversity movements that encourages deaf and hard of hearing people and society to adopt a position of respect for Deaf people, accepting deafness as a cultural identity and a variation in functioning rather than a communication disorder to be cured.

Deaf education

Main article: Deaf education

Oralism

Main article: Oralism

Oralism focuses on teaching deaf students through oral communicative means rather than sign languages.

There is strong opposition within Deaf communities to the oralist method of teaching deaf children to speak and lip read with limited or no use of sign language in the classroom. The method is intended to make it easier for deaf children to integrate into hearing communities, but the benefits of learning in such an environment are disputed. The use of sign language is also central to Deaf identity and attempts to limit its use are viewed as an attack.

Deaf Schools

Parents of deaf children also have to opportunity to send their children to deaf schools, where the curriculum is taught in American Sign Language. The first school for the education of deaf individuals was the Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons, which opened on April 15, 1817. This was a coeducation insitiution. This school was later renamed the American School for the Deaf, and was granted federal money to set up of deaf institutions around the country. Many teachers in these schools were women, because according to PBS and the research done for the film Through Deaf Eyes, they were better at instructing due to the patience it took to do something repetitively. The American School for the Deaf was set up based on a British model of education for deaf individuals with instruction in the subjects of reading, writing, history, math, and an advanced study of the Bible.

Gallaudet University is the only deaf university in the world, which instructs in American Sign Language, and promotes research and publications for the deaf community. Gallaudet University is responsible for expanding services and education for deaf individuals in developing countries around the world, as well as in the United States. Many deaf individuals choose to be educated in a deaf environment for their college level education.

Deaf President Now

Main article: Deaf President Now

I. King Jordan had made history in 1988 for becoming the first deaf president of Gallaudet University. The year he became president, students, with the support of from many alumni, faculty, staff and friends, protested the Board of Trustees' appointment of a hearing president. DPN (deaf president now) was a week long protest. It was a watershed event in the lives of deaf and hard of hearing all over the world. At the end of this memorable protest, the Board reversed the decision for a hearing president and named Jordan president, one of three finalists for the position. Jordan was the eight president but the first deaf president.

Public accommodations

The American Disability act, also known as the ADA has made a huge impact on the deaf community. In 1990 it was a landmark for people for with disabilities. The ADA has been a great benefit for hard of hearing and deaf people to help they gain every aspect of life that a hearing person has. The ADA took the important principles in these laws and extended them to the broad mainstream of Americans public life. It prohibits discrimination in almost every aspect of society.(26) Meaning you would have a legitimate reason to not hire someone with a disability. The legislation provides legal protection in employment(Title I), access to state and local government and public transportation (title II), public accommodations (Title III)(they have to provide a translator), and telecommunications (title IV). (26) George H W Bush signed this into act, and there was no acclaimed retaliation from this. It didn’t solve the problem of discrimination but it gave those who had a disability protection.

In 1975 Congress found that more than eight million children were not receiving equal education. There was another bill passed to help solve this problem called the Individual with Disabilities Act (IDEA). The IDEA was made to "ensure that all children with disabilities have access to a free, appropriate, public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their needs and prepare them for employment and independent living. To ensure that the rights of children with disabilities and their parents are protected. To assist states, localities, educational service agencies, and federal agencies to pay for education for all children with disabilities. And finally to assess and ensure the effectiveness of efforts to educate children with disabilities." (73)

Deaf culture movement

Main article: Deaf culture

Deaf culture is a culture defined by usage of sign language and many cultural and social norms.

Different versions of American Sign Language

American Sign Language is used by many deaf in the United States. It promotes assimilation into the Deaf Community. ASL is a very visual language, and speech- reading or listening skills are not needed to learning ASL fluently due to the visual aspect of the language. Signs are constantly changing over the years as new words come about. ASL has developed over time through usage by deaf individuals and is a free flowing, natural language. ASL is a language complete in itself. It is based on Latin roots. ASL has its own set of grammar and syntax. The structure usually follows the Time+ Topic+ Comment pattern. Pidgin Signed English is best described as a combination of English and ASL. A pidgin is a simplified language derived from two or more natural languages. Culturally Deaf people, signing with each other use ASL, but many use a mixture of ASL and English. PSE is most frequently used by those who use spoken English as their primary language. Signing Exact English is a system that matches sign language to the exact English translation. In 1972, this was one the first sign languages to be published. Imagine a visual counterpart to match written and spoken English. This method will include word endings not gestured in PSE or ASL. Sentences are signed word for word in English. Cued Speech is a system of communication used with and among deaf or hard of hearing people. It is a phonemic-based system which makes traditionally spoken languages accessible by using a small number of hand shapes to represent consonants in different locations near the mouth.

Cochlear implants

Within the Deaf community, there is strong opposition to the use of cochlear implants and sometimes also hearing aids and similar technologies. This is often justified in terms of a rejection of the view that deafness, as a condition, is something that needs to be fixed.

Others argue that this technology also threatens the continued existence of Deaf culture, but Kathryn Woodcock argues that it is a greater threat to Deaf culture to reject prospective members just because they used to hear, because their parents chose an implant for them, because they find environmental sound useful, etc. Cochlear implants may improve the perception of sound for suitable implantees, but they do not reverse deafness, or create a normal perception of sounds.

The impact of the Cochlear implant

Research shows that children who are deaf have difficulty socializing when they are with a group of hearing peers. Deaf children also seem to show that have lower self-esteem than their hearing peers. The number of deaf children receiving cochlear implants is growing daily. The present study was conducted to examine whether deaf children with cochlear implants differ in perceived acceptance and competence as compared with their hearing peers. To date, there has been very little research into the psychological effects of cochlear implants in children. All participants were subjects in a larger study designed to examine the factors that influence the development in deaf children with cochlear implants of positive relationships with hearing peers. Participants were 8 deaf children, ages 5 to 6, who received a cochlear implant at the New York University Cochlear Implant Center (CIC) at least I year prior to participation. Each child with an implant was matched by age and gender to a hearing control child. Both children were asked to play with each other for 20 minutes in a room with age-appropriate toys. These sessions were videotaped and later coded. Modes of communication, initiation and response to interactions, and other aspects of the streams of behavior were assessed. Following the play session, parents of the child with the cochlear implant completed a series of questionnaires, including the Child Behavior Scale (CBS; L,add & Profilet, 1996), Vineland ABS (Sparrow, Balla & Cicchetti, 1984) and a demographic questionnaire. Following the each play session, the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children (PSPCSA; Harter & Pike, 1984) was completed by both the deaf and hearing child. ^ In spite of small sample sizes, findings suggest that children with cochlear implants do not differ from hearing children on any self-perception scales. Children with cochlear implants who perceive themselves in a generally positive manner were found to interact more, have more verbal exchanges, and initiate more new topics when engaged in a social relationship with a hearing peer. Regression analyses determined gender to be a significant predictor of self-perception and peer acceptance among deaf children with cochlear implants. Females tended to feel more accepted by peers and perceived themselves more positively than did males. Gender and hearing status were found to have interacted significantly to predict a child's overall self-perception.

The statement that deafness is not a disability, disorder or disease

Main article: Models of deafness

Being a part of the deaf community has changed over time. In society we accept certain things but once we find a cure, or a health issues that requires help, then it becomes a disability. What is that ultimate deciding point for a disability to be one? The social norms and technology of normalization come into play. During the industrial revolution they used to have the non hearing people work in the loud factories and pay them less because they wouldn’t quit due to noise. It was a way to regulate the able bodied workers to those who couldn’t because of disabilities. “Mental defiance” were able to work in simple repetitive task. In America we accept this as normal humans variation, and not disability. We have wide differences among people in height (this goes across the world), but we consider very short people to have a disability. We accept differences in weight but, gross obesity is a disability. Differing degrees of alcohol consumption are not a disability but alcoholism is. It's almost like the first schools for the deaf and hearing impaired where they took you away from home to be with people just like you to turn you into normal citizens

See also

• Deaf culture
• Sign language
• Deaf education
• Models of deafness
• Audism
• Surdophobia
• Deaf President Now
• Disability rights movement
• Deafhood