Most would respond with a jeremiad of grief if a loved one, especially a child, was afflicted with hearing impairment. One could argue that the general population has been afflicted with an acute perception of what it means to be deaf and, therefore, often respond to it with condescension, deliberately or unwittingly. The latter response being the norm, most of society is not aware that there is an aggregate culture of people who are fully functional and completely capable of achieving the same goals and dreams that a person who is not hearing-impaired can. Moreover, the notion of the collective populous of deaf people procuring a culture is highly unfathomable among most of the social order. Therefore, it is the purpose of this manuscript to outline, briefly, the ways, the perceptions, and the completeness of the deaf culture and the Deaf Culture from an interloping, analytical point of view.
Researchers agree that, “Advocates of deafness as a culture distinguish culture by using the capital "D" whereas the lower case "d" signifies deafness as a pathology.” Therefore, it is important for this distinction to be made in regards to this manuscript. The pathologically deaf have been viewed as inferior. Yet, in the course of history, the Deaf Culture and its members deem themselves as contributors to society, empirically solidifying their culture that has been forced to defend their basic human rights to function with all the privileges and goals for people that the law allows. Their struggle has been very similar to the struggles that various other cultures have faced. They have fought for their rights to vote, to marry, and even to receive a proper education. While the definition of culture is a basic premise of understanding the traditions and ways of a people, one may arguably add to its notion, that the existence of culture does not come without some level of resistance and challenges. So, coming into such knowledge of the status of the members of the deaf community, one can safely quantify the Deaf Culture as such, equivalent to any other culture as it denotes and asserts its own rights and privileges.
“Deafness as a disability has been the underlying premise of the education and rehabilitation of the deaf for decades.” With the previous in mind, in order to render valuable discourse on the matter of the Deaf Culture, it is important to assure ourselves of the word “culture” in the most fundamental sense of it. Culture is a word that is used, usually, addressing a people of a nation, race, or ethnicity. It is also used when one may describe the functioning of a company, a church, or any institution that has come together for a common ground. Therefore, examples of culture would be that of American culture, one of which the world seems to participate in. Within the American Culture, one can attain knowledge about the.Culture of African Americans, Jewish Americans, or Mexican Americans, to name a few. Then, one may want to explore the Corporate America Culture, the ballet culture, or the hip-hop culture, groups that have formulated because of business or the art. Akin to the previous examples, there is the phenomenon of the deaf culture.
Unlike the litany of American Culture and it’s sub-cultures, this portion of society is typically labeled as a sub-group of the disabled community, not a culture. Yet, members of the Deaf Culture, view themselves as a developed group of people who share in a foundation of beliefs and formalities that only it’s members can fully comprehend. This culture rejects the identification of being called the hearing-impaired or being considered disabled. Furthermore, some may argue that the Deaf Culture exists as the dominant culture when viewed from an international scope. Because it is a culture that transcends race, ethnicity, and age, the subcultures of the deaf community are based on nationality and its distinct sign language. Therefore, the subcultures of the Deaf Culture are those nationalities that are often the dominant culture. This is particularly significant when an emphasis is placed on language and sign-language.
Like any developed culture, there is a language. Researchers agree that ASL and other nationally named sign languages are not, simply, representative of a nation’s national language. “ASL is far removed from English or even British Sign Language (BSL). One common misconception is that ASL is simply "silent English"--a means of representing English with the hands.” Instead, it is fully a language all its own that extends well beyond the nature of linguistic properties. It is a compelling language that is encompassed with facial expressions, the formation of shapes, and even body motions that are far more meaningful than simple body language. Furthermore, each national sign language has its own Parts of Speech that is even different from its nation’s spoken language. Therefore, sign language is quite the phenomenon in its own right within this discussion of deaf culture.
In this discussion of culture and its components, the Deaf culture is more similar than it is different from other cultures. As members of a culture, the achievements, accomplishments, and their mere survival is celebrated. Such acknowledgements allow members to feel a common sense of honor and dignity for the people who share in this common bond. Therefore, there is a sense of unity within the culture that will defend the rights and discriminatory treatment that is often infringed upon its members.
“An extension of this view is that people who are stigmatized, as with most people, tend to identify with similar people.” The maturation of the Deaf Culture goes beyond family heritage and the role of the household. This is due to the fact that ninety percent of all people who are born deaf, are raised in residential schools, taking them away from the biological family for their growth and development. Because of this common occurrence, the richness of their heritage falls on the relationships they develop over years of residential education. As one goes out into the world, initially meeting deaf people becomes a conversation of comparing schools and teachers. This is synonymous to the hearing’s initial conversation of comparing cities, neighborhoods, and general information about family. While the latter is typical for the hearing’s first conversation, it is typical for such information to be secondary in the conversation of Deaf Culture members.
This manuscript is a brief outline addressing the ways, the perceptions, and the wholeness of the Deaf culture from an interloping, analytical perspective. This analysis is a focus on the phenomenon of the deaf community having the establishment of the Deaf Culture and how that compares to other cultures. It is a discussion of how such a culture has developed, sharing in the disparities that other cultures have suffered and fought for, such as the civil liberties of African Americans or that of Despite the common bond that the members of the Deaf Culture share, there are some basic issues that need to be addressed that will bridge the gaps between the hearing and the non-hearing. More specifically, the claims of inadequate education and teachers inside residential schools for the pathologically deaf find that many who graduate from such schools do not exceed a reading capacity beyond the third grade. So, while there is a rich heritage and culture within the deaf community, there are several aspects of the phenomenon that need attention.
Bibliography
Halpern, Carla A. "Listening in on Deaf Culture." Standards 5.1 (1996). May 2016. <http://www.colorado.edu/journals/standards/V5N2/AWARD/halpern2.html>.
Jones, Megan A. "Deafness as Culture: A Psychosocial Perspective." Disability Studies Quarterly 22.2 (2002): 51-60. May 2016. <http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/344/435>.
