Essay about Spells Stuff

Submitted By Spellz504
Words: 1523
Pages: 7

Aaron Spells
ASL 2
Chapter Readings
Chapter 53:
Are hard-of-hearing people part of the Deaf community? Reflecting on the previous chapter 53 that asked, “What’s the difference between “hard-of-hearing” and “deaf”? Hard-of-hearing people and all non deaf was allowed to be in the deaf community. However, after reading this chapter I realize that the deaf community never ends, there is always something that sets another person apart from others. This chapter states that hard-of-hearing people can be a part of the deaf community, but their population is determinedly diverse and stubbornly individual. I feel when I read these chapters that there some people don’t want to be helped and there is some that feel welcome into new territory. Sometimes hard of hearing is used as an cover up for the deaf people who cannot accept the fact that they are deaf. I can see those people with hearing loss wanting to be a part of the deaf community to learn about the deaf culture. I feel as if I was hard-of-hearing, I want to be a part of something that means well for me in my life.

Chapter 55:
What is Deaf culture? Has anyone studied it from a sociological perspective?
U.S. Deaf culture is a social, communal, and creative force of, by, and for deaf people based on American Sign Language. It encompasses communication, social protocol, art, entertainment, recreation and worship. Sociological perspective about any subject varies widely but it is all the same that people act the way they do with a list of reasons. For example, in high school there were the jocks, preps, and geeks. These groups formed by characteristics or personalities that have been established. My personal definition for deaf culture is a community of people who share the same language or have common traits. Not all of the deaf people learn American Sign Language. Most people do, but some learn signed English, some communicate through written, some have the cochlear implants that make them hear a little more. So from my perspective you don’t have to know ASL to be a part of the deaf culture/ deaf clubs. In a primarily deaf environment you are free to do and sign normal. When you are placed somewhere with a bunch of hearing people then you don’t have that same freedom because they are speaking, so it’s uncomfortable.

Chapter 57:
How did Alexander Graham Bell almost succeed in wiping out Deaf Culture?
Alexander Bell, who founded American Association to Promote the Teaching of Speech, was the leading man in charge. He thought that he was providing deaf people with an important opportunity to be more like hearing people, even though it was something they didn’t want. The deaf community later found themselves out numbered and out moneyed. There is no denying the damage he did to deaf equality for more than 100 years. The ideas that deaf people can be easily taught to speak, that they almost always have deaf children, that they don’t want to be deaf, and that American Sign Language isn’t really a language, are all myths that were started by Bell and are still believed by a vast amount of hearing people. The myths he perpetuated and the quest he started to keep deaf people from each other clearly place Alexander Graham Bell in the foe category. I personally think deaf people are right to despise everything Bell stands for, and I also think hearing people need to know more about the negative impact he had on the deaf society. Bell may not have wiped the deaf out completely, but he sure set deaf culture back and it really pisses me off when people are not treated as equals just because of some stupid trait.

Chapter 58:
Isn’t deafness a disability? If it is, why do deaf people consider it a culture?
This question goes back to the idea of being noticed into these defined groups that only focus on one aspect of a person. From a purely physical viewpoint, deafness is a disability. If being hearing is “normal,” from a medical viewpoint, deafness is “abnormal.” I