Understanding Deaf And American Sign Language - 1831 Words

While attending high school, I was seeking a foreign language to take. I had learned Spanish at a young age from my family, my two choices were French and American Sign Language, if you read the title of this paper you can safely assume that I chose the alternative. American Sign Language intrigued me at a young age when my father gave me a sign language book that illustrated some simple terms, ever since then it had always been a desire of mine to learn American Sign Language. With that being said, when I first started sign language class in high school the teacher made it the classes’ primary objective to understand the history of deaf culture. I soon learned that understanding deaf culture is essential in being able to effectively†¦show more content†¦Most often culturally deaf are either raised by a family with a deaf presence or they lost the hearing early on and were exposed to the culture. On the other end of the spectrum, usually deaf individuals that don†™t identify with the deaf culture typically have lost their hearing later in life or have been raised by a family that does not know American Sign Language. According to a study out of Gallaudet â€Å"across all age groups, approximately 600,000 people in the United States (0.22% of the population, or 2.2 per 1,000) are deaf† (Cole, Gallaudet University). What data is more difficult to retrieve is the amount of culturally deaf people there are in the United States, and how many are just simply deaf, this is because there are clear variances between the two that you would may not be able to experience when communicating with a deaf individual in American Sign Language, let alone conduct a study on with essential data. Now that it has been clearly established that there is deaf culture, lets discuss why deaf people are a minority group worthy of further research and to be the epicenter of a project like this one. Deaf individuals are singled out every day for not being able to communicate in the manner that the majority of people do, though even within deaf communities there are very diverse groups. As pointed out by Author Padden and Humphries: â€Å"Even within the population of Deaf people who use ASL, not surprisingly, there isShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Deafness On Deaf Children1669 Words   |  7 Pagesloss. The term Deaf is considered to be a disability solely on the fact that an individual who is Deaf is not â€Å"normal† due to their hearing loss. Most individuals do not believe that there are any benefits or positives from being Deaf, nor do they believe that a Deaf individual will ever be able to live a happy and fulfilled life. Deaf individuals do not view themselves as disabled nor do they view their lives as a loss, rather they view their Deafness as a Gain. This is called Deaf Gain, meaningRead MoreDeafness Has Been A Negative Label. Being Deaf Is Considered1528 Words   |  7 PagesDeafness has been a negative label. Being Deaf is considered to be a disability solely on the belief that an individual who is Deaf is not â€Å"normal† due to their hearing loss. Most individuals do not believe that there are any benefits or positives from being Deaf, nor do they believe that a Deaf individual will ever be able to live a happy and fulfilled life. However, Deaf individuals do not view themselves as disabled nor do they view their lives lacking anything, rather they view their DeafnessRead MoreI Am A Future Speech Language Pathologist1307 Words   |  6 Pagesfuture Speech Language Pathologist, I cannot in good conscience continue without having a decent knowledge of basic conversational American Sign Language (ASL). Before I chose this career my parents took the time to educate me in the ABCs and simple signs, I have continued to learn more as time has gone on. Even with my limited knowledge it has already helped me greatly through out my professional career. However ASL is not always beneficial, primarily with those who are born deaf or hard of hearingRead MoreHow the Deaf Communicate in a Hearing World Essay1671 Words   |  7 Pageshearing world and a deaf one. One wo rld is capable of hearing and the other involves no incoming source of sound whatsoever. Understanding how deaf culture and how the hard of hearing work and live is important in order to comprehend the reasons behind why they do the certain things they do such as stare at others for a long period of time or the reason why they perceive situations that they are placed in. In the world of the deaf, one who has been labeled with the term â€Å"deaf† has little to no meaningRead More The Deaf in Society Essay1411 Words   |  6 PagesThe Deaf Community Imagine if you could never experience the sound of your favorite song on the radio. Or you could never hear the voice of a family member wishing you happy birthday. Since these situations are typical we may take them for granted. But these every day scenarios will never be part of a deaf persons life. One out of thousand infants will be born deaf every year, (Deaf Understanding). Most people dont realize the giant impact of the deaf in our society. Deaf persons canRead MoreChloe Ziff . Professor Gary Rosenblatt. April 13, 2017.991 Words   |  4 PagesProfessor Gary Rosenblatt April 13, 2017 American Sign Language II Seeing Voices By Oliver Sacks Seeing Voices is a profound novel that was written by famous neurologist,  Oliver Sacks in 1989. Seeing Voices is a book that delves into the history of Sign Language and expresses a genuine meaning behind what language truly is.   Oliver Sacks is an engaging and fascinating writer. Being able to explore outside what he is used to, he can expand his knowledge about language. Being knowledgeable on psychiatryRead MoreThe Importance Of Deaf Culture1445 Words   |  6 Pageslearning about the hallmarks of Deaf culture such as â€Å"language, heritage art and history†, I began wondering about how the historical significance of each one impacted the modern choices of Deaf individuals (Holcomb 17). Our textbook Introduction to American Deaf Culture makes references to how important American Sign Language is to define the Deaf community which leaves me wondering how strong the foundation of Deaf culture would be if based on heritage rather than on language. Being Jewish I never learnedRead MoreDevelopment and Deaf Children Essay1360 Words   |  6 Pagesimportant early exposure is for deaf children (Drasgow 1998). Unlike hearing children who are exposed to language early in the womb, deaf children get their exposure to language at birth (Drasgow 1998). Drasgow explains that studies show the earlier language is developed the higher children excel in language skills (Drasgow 1998). Deaf children born to deaf parents will acquire language as easily as hearing child born to hearing parents develops a spoken language (Drasgow 1998). It is vital forRead MoreImpressions of the Deaf Culture and Community Essay725 Words   |  3 PagesAbstract The deaf culture is one that I am not familiar with. No one in my immediate family or none of my close friends are deaf so I have not been exposed to it during my lifetime. I decided to take an American Sign Language course in high school to not only learn the language, but to learn about the deaf culture as well. I would like to someday be fluent in sign language so that I can cater to the deaf community while conducting business. Conducting research, I learned a lot about to deaf communityRead MoreDeaf Perceptions Of The Deaf1510 Words   |  7 PagesDeaf Perceptions of Animacy Deaf culture has long been misunderstood and misrepresented within America, in part due to the significant language barrier between the American Deaf and their hearing counterparts. Though it is often thought to be nothing more than an elevated form of charades, American Sign Language (ASL) is a language like any other- not only with its own grammatical syntax, phonology, and morphology, but also in its compliance to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Created by Edward Sapir