Essays on Deaf Culture

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 ...

Before I became aware of Deaf culture, I used the term “hearing impaired” to mean someone who had acquired a degree of hearing loss. I associated hearing impairment with older people. If a person was profoundly deaf from birth or an early age, I would have used the term “deaf.” I used the terms because these are the most commonly used words in the general population and also because I had no contact with the Deaf community. Now, I would be more inclined to use the term “hard of hearing” to describe people who had difficulty hearing and who ...

The movie “Sound and Fury” tackles the issue of whether the parents of deaf children have the right to prevent their children from being part of the hearing world. The two opposing issues are presented in the movie. Why should a person be deprived of the opportunity to be cured and have his sense of hearing? The mere fact that the opportunity was presented to the family means that God has intended for their child to hear again. If the possibility of being able to hear again through the implant, is very high, one finds no reason why the ...

“Through Deaf Eyes”, directed by Diane Carey and Lawrence R. Hott, and narrated by Stockard Channing features many stories of figures from the Deaf community that are interwoven (2007). They show what it is like to be a Deaf person from the 19th century to the present. The film features individuals who attended a school for the deaf, as well as prominent figures in the Deaf community, like Marlee Matlin. The documentary’s aims are simple: to show the evolution of Deaf culture and that Deaf people are, at their core, human and no different than anybody else. There were ...

The movie, “Through Deaf Eyes” is a very touching story about how several individuals learned they were deaf, and coped with the life without sound. The documentary peers into deaf culture through the 19th century to the present. It attempts to show how deaf individuals felt, what they went through, and how they were treated as well as how they are treated now. The documentary aims to celebrate the culture and create an environment of awareness. Though there was not much understanding of these individuals to begin with, they are a strong culture now, with many things to offer society. The ...

The following is a discussion of a conversation with four deaf persons held by Arkansas Association of the Deaf (A.A.D) during the Pre-Home coming game lunch. These four individuals participated in the discussion; Glenn, Phillip, Valerie, and Aletha. It was an enlightening experience and meeting the four was educative and fun. The chat exposed me to the true feeling of the hardships experienced by the deaf when they are together, as well as, when they are with other people who are not deaf. This writing aims at explaining my experiences, my feelings; the difficulties faced and what I learned.

Summary of the experience

My experience ...

The movie ‘sound and fury’ is about identity in a deaf culture. It highlights the difficulty of a family living in the fear of losing their culture that has shaped them for generations. The deaf culture is important to the Artinian family, who fear losing it to a cochlear hearing plant that will force them to associate with a different culture in the hearing world. The concept of culture is, therefore, highlighted as an identity through the common behavior of a group of people. Culture is where a group is bound by the practices that identify them the most. It makes people who they are ...

- The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) This is the nation’s civil rights organization formed for deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the United States of America. NAD was established in 1880 by deaf leaders to help champion the rights of deaf and hard of hearing community of people to congregate on matters important to them and to have their interests articulated at the national level. On the international platform, the NAD represents the United States of America at the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), an international human rights organization. Being an ...

Deaf culture is associated to the behaviors, history, art, social beliefs, literary traditions, and shared institutions of people in the community, who use sign language as the main means of communication, due to the effect of deafness. The deaf people have their own habits, common experience, thought pattern, customs, values, and language that identify them as a unique cultural group (Yvette, Vincent, Elaine, 1996). Deafness is viewed by the members of the deaf community as a difference in human experience, but not a disability. The deaf people acquire their culture within the deaf social clubs and schools in which the deaf are ...