It is that time of year again, as we are at the beginning of September in 2019, and it is the month of International Deaf Awareness Month! Every year in September, the deaf and hard-of-hearing community comes together to celebrate. At the same time, we use this opportunity as a platform to raise awareness among the public, educating them about our community and sharing with them many aspects valued in the Deaf community, such as its culture and various sign languages. As for me here in United States, American Sign Language is not the only sign language because every country have their own country such as British Sign Language (BSL), Mexican Sign Language (LSM), Australia Sign Language (Auslan), French Sign Language (LSF), South African Sign Language (SASL), Korean Sign Language (KSL) and others so you get the idea that most of the countries have their own sign languages including the one here in the United States of America which is American Sign Language but the United States is not the only one county that use American Sign Language since Canada also use American Sign Language as one of their primary sign language along with another one which is Quebec Sign Language (LSQ). So, a lot of you who are hearing don’t know a lot about the Deaf community, and unfortunately, there are a lot of hearing people who refuse to respect us.
What? There is a Deaf community that has its own culture and its own language, or more specifically, sign languages. There is, and if you are not aware of that, then this is a good time for you to do some research to see what the Deaf community is all about, because, like I said, there is a community, culture, and languages – all those beautiful things, but they also have some ugly sides.
International Deaf Awareness Month In September!
International Deaf Awareness Month is observed in September every year, thanks to the World Federation of the Deaf, established in 1958. As a result, Deaf Awareness Month is celebrated in every country, and we typically refer to it as Deaf Awareness Month for short. Initially, it was International Deaf Awareness Week, which started the last week of August and lasted until the first week of September. Now, we refer to it as Deaf Awareness Month, which begins in September.
Sign Languages
I already mentioned that every country has its own sign language. There is also another sign language called International Sign Language (ISL), which is a sign language used to communicate with people from all countries. As I being American so my primary language would be American Sign Language (ASL), meeting someone from say Africa who’s primary language is South African Sign Language (SASL) so I don’t know SASL and that someone does not know ASL so that is where the International Sign Language (ISL) comes in so to communicate with each other coming from a different country or know a different language. No different than a person who knows English meeting someone who only speaks French; you are stuck, but not for us Deaf people, because we can use International Sign Language to communicate. We are ahead of you all when it comes to communicating with others who are not from here or there, and there is no international spoken or written language. We are that awesome.
Although we do not have written sign languages, there are some attempts, and they are a work in progress. For example, one of them is called SI5S or ASLWrite.
We can go out swimming in the sea, in the pool, in the river, or in a lake, and be able to communicate under the water perfectly, which is something that you, who are hearing people, cannot do; otherwise, you would be drowning. Can you communicate with someone from inside another building? No, and we can. How about through the windows? No, and we can. So, sign languages have many benefits that spoken languages do not have, and that is the beautiful thing. Some studies have shown that toddlers can develop languages in a remarkably short time, using more words than those spoken in spoken languages, by using sign languages.
Even an article by Parents magazine (with over 2 million readers) wrote an article about this, about a child of theirs coming home from preschool learning sign language with more words than spoken languages, which you can read here: Start Signing! Why Kids Should Learn Sign Language.
There are many things that not just I, but many others, can discuss regarding sign languages, including the fact that by learning sign language or multiple sign languages, you are essentially bilingual, meaning you know two languages. That is what I am. My primary language is American Sign Language, as it is a recognized language, and my second language is English, obviously. No, American Sign Language and English are not the same because they are wholly different. American Sign Language has its own grammar syntax, as well as other unique aspects. Not just American Sign Language, but also other sign languages.
The Culture
Just as any other culture, the Deaf community takes pride in its culture with art, literature, traditions, history, values, and institutions. The main thing for the culture in Deaf community is their sign languages to socialize, also their economic bloc known as Deaf Ecosystem where we would see a lot of Deaf business owners along with some hearing people that invest in that ecosystem especially the Video Relay Service providers and equipment or tools that help the Deaf people to live more independent such as door alarms, fire alarms, and whatnot. We even host our own expo every year, where we showcase the products we create, along with art, equipment, tools, technology gadgets, and share information on various topics.
As I mentioned, the art in Deaf culture is actually as large as in our culture as a community, for the art is called De’VIA, which is an abbreviation for Deaf View/Image Art, representing the Deaf experience (good or bad) and the culture itself. You can read more about De’VIA here via Wikipedia.
In the culture itself, the Deaf people evolves around institutions such as the Deaf university namely Gallaudet University, back then most of the states have each of their own school for the Deaf but now that are dwindling because of two things which is some government refuse to help especially from Republican party which is unfortunate and also some was or is being taken over by the hearing people in positions for principal or superintendent that does not have any clue in Deaf education especially bilingual-bicultural (bi-bi) program. Most since 1880. Also, even we have organizations that represent different groups from the Deaf community such as National Black Deaf Advocates (NBDA) since 1982 to represent Black Deaf, Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf (RAD) since 1977 to represent Deaf LGBT, Deaf Women United (DWU) since 1985 to represent Deaf women, Jewish Deaf Congress (JDC) since 1956 to represent Deaf Jews and many more but these are the most popular ones in the Deaf community.
The deaf community has its own clubs and owns some of the buildings for these clubs, such as SVCD, also known as the Shenandoah Valley Club of the Deaf in Staunton, Virginia, as well as others in Texas. They have some camps, such as Aspen Camp of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Snowmass, Colorado, and a few more.
They also have Deaf sports, known as Deaflympics, where Deaf athletes from different countries get to compete against each other in different types of sports such as track, shooting, diving, swimming, tennis, handball, basketball, and many more, like the Olympics, except that the contestants are all Deaf and Hard of Hearing. You can find more information, including dates and details, about the Deaflympics at Deaflympics.com and on Wikipedia.
As we have a national representative, such as the National Association of the Deaf, for the Deaf community, we also have an international organization that represents the Deaf community from all countries, known as the World Federation of the Deaf.
We have many things in common with other communities, including our own magazines, news, blogs, vlogs, and media – JoshiesWorld.com is one of them.
I can go on talking more about the Deaf community’s culture but that probably would take me all night to at least share half if not the most about the culture, if you want to learn more about Deaf culture I highly suggest that you do a research on search engines like Google or Bing about the Deaf culture because there are a lot of things that you can learn from the internet.
Education
Having education is vital for the Deaf community. Education is becoming harder for Deaf people to get, especially those who accept us and have the tools to teach us properly. If a Deaf child were to be sent to public school, it is almost a guarantee that Deaf children would be immediately put in special education, and doing that is not the right way of teaching Deaf students. Now, there are indeed some Deaf children who may need special education. Still, not every one of them, and the problem here is that every time the public school sees a new Deaf enrollee, they immediately place them in special education without evaluating that Deaf student to determine what kind of education would be proper for the student. That is one of the biggest problem going on in the Deaf community because the public school or mainstream school are the very reason that Deaf children are deprived of their language, which delay them from developing language to communicate because they think that the spoken language is the way to go when they are not even close to being recommended as the very beginning is to help them to learn their native language which is their sign language from that country that they are in and by doing so will skyrocket their education levels. To learn effectively, it is essential to learn through one’s native language, which is sign language, and from there, they would be better off. It is no different from trying to teach a child using English when that child only knows French. For the child to receive proper education, it is essential to learn using the language the child knows, which is French in this case. The same concept applies to Deaf students.
Deaf education emphasizes a bilingual-bicultural education program, which utilizes both sign language and its written language equally. For example, in the United States, both American Sign Language and English are used in a similar manner (not equally, as not everyone in the United States uses either English or American Sign Language, as the United States has no official languages). It’d be best to have a teacher who knows the same language as the students do; that is common sense, right? Duh. In that case, a teacher who knows sign language can teach the Deaf child to develop their language skills and then learn other things through sign language, including written language.
Here’s information about bilingual-bicultural education so you can get a better idea of what it is all about: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilingual%E2%80%93bicultural_education
The deaf and hard of hearing people are known for having 3-4 grade levels in writing and reading, which is due to not getting proper education, putting them in special education when they should never even be near them, and an IEP does not really work. This is why I always advocate for the public school to at least have a program in to ensure that the deaf children aren’t deprived of their language or delaying them from learning their native language which is sign language, especially for anyone who does not want to go to the deaf school or does not have the deaf school in their state and also that we need to get our government legislature to pass a bill calls LEAD-K (Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids). http://www.lead-k.org/about/
The public and mainstream schools fail the Deaf children miserably because most of them do not have a program or even know how to teach one.
We Are A Minority
We are a minority ourselves as a Deaf community. Being a minority, we struggle greatly because of how others behave towards us, especially the hearing people, along with other organizations, businesses, or agencies that have the goal of oppressing us – the perfect example is theAlexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf. There are so many incidents where they would deny the Deaf people of doing business with them, even with the Americans with Disabilities Act law here in the United States, since 1990, they still deny us. They will find everything within’ their power to come up with excuse to continue denying us to do business with them, that is a perfect reason why there are no closed captions in most of theaters or cinemas (except Hawaii), even still to this day we are fighting for our access so that we can enjoy what others enjoy and be part of the society. Still, they are trying so hard not to let us be part of that. There are over 360 million Deaf people overall on this earth, putting us as a 5% population of the earth, and that puts us as a minority among other minorities.
With that, since we are a minority, that means we hardly have any voice when it comes to getting the government and business/corporations, even with the statistic saying that there are over 360 million of Deaf people on this earth that still does not convince any of them and because of that we actually have to fight as twice or three times hard to get at least something little done to make things better for the Deaf people. The most common trend going on around in the Deaf community is fighting for education for the Deaf children because, like I said, we are considered minority which that we barely have any power to put a stop to the government shutting down the Deaf schools or the schools that offer bilingual-bicultural or some sort of program in some schools or colleges such as NTID or others.
Speaking of jobs, the Deaf people actually have to work two or three times harder to get a job over someone else who does not even come close to having the qualifications or the experiences that the Deaf people do. A deaf person could hold a Ph.D. and have several experiences or skills on their resume. In contrast, the other person, who is hearing, has dropped out of high school and has no experience or skills for that specific job – that hearing person gets the job over the overqualified Deaf person. Equality? Please, there is a great inequality between the Deaf people and the hearing people. One example is that many Deaf customers have been denied service when ordering certain foods at some drive-thru restaurants. In contrast, the hearing customers order the same or even less and get the order immediately, compared to the Deaf people who are basically begged to order the food, or are threatened with being called cops if they refuse to leave the drive-thru. Numerous articles can be found on search engines detailing instances where people were denied service at drive-thru restaurants. This is becoming the norm, and it is unfair.
Even though there is a Deaf Drive-Thru Discrimination group on Facebook filled with several videos and articles showing that the restaurants with drive-thru deny their service, and if refusing to leave, they threaten them with calling the cops on them, especially when Deaf complain how it was unfair of them to deny them their service. Here is the link to the group on Facebook that you can lurk around: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2366416370253678/
Plus don’t let me get started on how police behave towards the Deaf community, Deaf people seems to have targets on them for the very happy-triggering police as they have been shooting them lately without asking the question first such as if they are not being able to hear them then that should give them the clue that there is a chance that they may be Deaf but no, they rather shoot first and ask question later. Example? I even wrote an article about one person being shot by the police here: https://www.joshiesworld.com/police-doesnt-protect-deaf/
That article does not have to be the example, as you can research it for yourself by heading over to search engines like Google or Bing and searching for news about Deaf people and the police.
So, this is just the tip of the iceberg regarding the fact that we are a minority and the struggles that come with that. This world is full of ignorance, we continue to educate the world about us so that the people out there in this world to understand and to be aware that there are Deaf people among them people on this earth.
Respect And Inclusion
Put Sign Languages In School!
The bottom line is that all we ask for is to be respected and included in society, and everything else. By that, we would like to have sign languages to be one of the options, along with other languages, offered at public, private, or mainstream schools, as well as at colleges or universities. If you have Spanish, French, Italian, and other languages, then isn’t sign language included in those options? There is no excuse for a sign language not to be included, as it is considered a language, a unique sign language for each country. For instance, here in the United States, it would be American Sign Language (ASL). In the United Kingdom, it would be British Sign Language (BSL); in Mexico, it would be Mexican Sign Language (LSM), and so on. I think that there should be a sign language in addition to the other languages that a school, college, or university offers, particularly if it wants to provide classes in different languages within its country, including here in the United States.
Denying Us Service Or Business!
Stop denying us service anywhere. Often, we would already have a written list or a typed note on our smartphone before we even arrive, so that it wouldn’t take up our time or theirs. Often, their excuse would be that they are busy. The problem with that is that we have already written the list of what we want, and all they have to do is read the list to place their order. Then, we can proceed with our business. In fact, I think that we order quicker than the hearing people because when the hearing people pull over at the drive-thru, they are asked what they want, and then they take the time to voice the items on a list in their mind. Ours? A written list or typed out list on the smartphone, all you have to do is look at them and then register the order that we have on the list then we are well on our way out happily after ever – but no, they want to make it harder by telling us that they are busy, asking for us to come inside and all that but if they have already read the list to order we would be probably already a couple of miles away. So, seriously, stop with that crap!
Closed Captions In Theaters/Cinemas!
No, you cannot tell me that they do not have the technical means to provide closed captions because, by now, I am sure that every modernized theater or cinema has the equipment that includes the closed captions or subtitle feature. There were a few people who complained about them not providing closed captions at their theater, with the manager or supervisor who might empathize with us would take them to the room where they have the equipment, such as projectors, which is what puts the movies on the screen in theaters to see what they can do about that, and guess what? To their surprise, there was a closed caption feature built into the equipment, but it was just not turned on. That means one thing: some, if not most, theaters or cinemas (especially renovated/modernized/new ones) do have the closed caption feature. Still, they do not want to have it turned on because they fear it would bother frequent moviegoers. Well, excuse me! How about we take your audio and the sounds away, then how would you feel? The vibration from the subwoofer, bass, and audio bothers us, so we’ll complain to the theaters/cinemas to turn them off, ensuring you won’t have any audio or sound whatsoever. My point is, you want audio, and we want closed captions, so how about a compromise, please? Thank you very much!
Deaf, Not Deaf In Movie And TV.
It is becoming increasingly common in Hollywood for hearing people to portray Deaf characters in movies or television shows, and that does not sit well with me. At the same time, I do recognize that the number of films and shows featuring authentic deaf actors is increasing, but hearing people still tend to take the Deaf characters. Wonderstruck and Van Helsing are perfect examples because both Deaf characters are portrayed by hearing people who have no clue about Deaf culture or its language. I mean, come on. Stealing the deaf characters when there are still plenty of other hearing characters that they could take on, and as I said earlier, deaf people have to work twice or three times harder to get the job, so why deny them that opportunity for deaf actors to portray deaf characters authentically? When you see producers or directors hiring actors for deaf characters, stay out of the way and give the acting opportunity to people who actually know how to act as a deaf character because they live it!
Read this article about Deaf Talent and Van Helsing after you read this article! https://www.joshiesworld.com/deaf-talent-and-van-helsing/
A Position Given To The Clueless!
No, don’t. Hiring the principal, superintendent, or president for the Deaf school who has no clue about Deaf education and does not know any sign language. There are thousands of schools, colleges, and universities; please refrain from contacting our deaf schools. Assign the positions to those who genuinely know how to run the deaf education program, especially bilingual-bicultural education, as it has been proven successful, which means hiring the best deaf educators. Wait, what about CODA (child of deaf adults)? Fine, but only the students and parents approve that person after a few meetings. It must be a person who knows deaf education, preferably one who is deaf, but alternatively, can be a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults), and who is fluent in sign language (via the ASLPI – American Sign Language Proficiency Interview).
The bottom line here is that we need individuals who do know Deaf education, Deaf culture, and related topics in a position like this. It is just common sense!
Label Us Right!
Some media label us, such as hearing impaired, which is considered offensive; it is like fingernails scratching on a blackboard every time I see some news labeling us hearing impaired or hearing impairment. The proper way to label us is Deaf and Hard of Hearing. In fact, I have written an article on this topic, and I recommend that you read it after finishing this one. Here’s the link: https://www.joshiesworld.com/news-outlet-improperly-labeling-deaf/
You Deaf?! I am SORRY!
Hush, shut that mouth of yours! We have heard that so many times, where we end up telling the people that we are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, and most of the time their response would be “you deaf? I am sorry!”. Like seriously? What’s that? You got a mole on your chin, I am sorry! What? You have an overly large nose. I am so sorry! Wow!? You are so fat, I am so sorry. You get the gist. We have nothing to be sorry for; some of us are happy with it, and let’s leave it be. Thank you very much!
Can You Read My Lip?
No, and get a mint or maybe a bag of mints, please. Just because we are Deaf or Hard of Hearing does not automatically mean that we can read lips. How about you take a lesson in sign language? I have written an article about “Can You Read My Lip?” and I recommend that you read it after reading this article. https://www.joshiesworld.com/dont-tell-deaf-people-to-read-lips/
The Deaf People Are Humans Too!
We are just as human as you are, no less or more. We can do anything that you can do, except that we may have difficulty hearing, so please treat us just the same. I am saying this is because people are questioning us Deaf people about our being able to drive, eat, write, type, fish, hunt, play sports, and whatever else thatpeople usually do. Being Deaf or Hard of Hearing does not cause our brain to malfunction or affect our brain in any way, because being Deaf or Hard of Hearing means that there is something wrong with our eardrums inside our ears.
Don’t Be An Audist!
There is racism, sexism, ableism, ageism, homophobia, and many more than there are audist. Here is the definition of audism.
Discrimination or prejudice against individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audism
Audism is absolutely the opposite of respecting Deaf and Hard of Hearing people. There are many ways to detect the behavior of audist, thinking that it is a waste of time to find a way to communicate with a Deaf person, instead of being willing to write or type on a smartphone to communicate with the Deaf person. Another one is when a Deaf person tells you that they are deaf, they will find a way to communicate with you, such as a piece of paper with a pen or using a smartphone to type to exchange words with each other, and you ignore that by continuing to talk with your voice or attempting to force that deaf person to read your lips instead. These are just two examples of the audist’s behavior. I have included a link to Audism on Wikipedia for you to read about it above, under the quote. I also suggest that you conduct an online search about audism/t, as well, to gain a better understanding.
Sign Languages Are Not Gang Signs And Cops Mistreats Us!
I am getting quite tired of seeing the stories all over on the internet, through social media, and whatnot, that people were mistaken for or believe that sign languages are gang signs. There were some stories where the police became brutal with a Deaf person when that Deaf person was trying to communicate in sign language. The police quickly assumed that the Deaf person was throwing up some gang signs when it was not even gang signs at all, as the Deaf person was trying so hard to communicate with the police in sign language. A perfect example of this was when the police officers beat up a Deaf black man driver because he wasn’t responding to the police officers’ commands and thought he was trying to resist when he was trying to communicate with the police officers in sign language. In fact, a video of this exists, and I highly recommend watching the video below, which should shock or leave you in disbelief.
I could continue, but I will leave it at that for now. Want to read more stories or find some information about stuff like cops mistreating the Deaf community, or how people assume the sign languages as gang signs? Google or Bing is your best friend, and there is some interesting search out there for you to find! The solution? Training? No, some sort of disciplinary? No. Hire Deaf people to work in police departments and other organizations, so that officers can socialize with them and learn to recognize them when they are out on the road or in other situations. It doesn’t have to be a cop who is Deaf; there are different fields beyond being an officer, such as receptionist, forensic, liaison, and others.
Another article on how police treat Deaf people: https://www.joshiesworld.com/police-doesnt-protect-deaf/
Others
There’s more to add, but I will stop here if that’s okay with you. If you have any more ideas that should be included on this list, please feel free to leave a comment below so that others can read it. Additionally, there are numerous resources on Deaf topics and Deaf-related issues available for searching on JoshiesWorld.com. You can go to the search, which can be found at the very top right corner or under the menu, beside the social icons, and type the keyword “deaf” to search. If you want to learn more about the Deaf community, I highly encourage you to leave a comment below or search for a Deaf group on Facebook, such as the Deaf and Hard of Hearing group, to ask any questions you may have or read to learn more about us. I may return to add one or more items to the list when I think of something. However, I may not, if there is no need for me to do so, and as time is limited, I will stop here.
To make it easier to search for more Deaf related articles on JoshiesWorld, click this: https://www.joshiesworld.com/?s=deaf
The Bottom Line And The End
There are many more points I could elaborate on, but I must conclude here because this article is becoming too lengthy, and I don’t think anyone is in the mood for a lengthy read. The bottom line is to be aware of Deaf people and say hello to us! We won’t bite, but we may bite with our hands, not with our mouths. I write this article because I am Deaf, I am proud to be Deaf, and this is my contribution to International Deaf Awareness Month in September 2019. For any journalists or bloggers, I encourage you to write an article or blog post for International Deaf Awareness Month in September 2019. Feel free to pingback to this article, which in turn allows readers here to read yours and others’.
Joshua “Joshie” Sullivan.
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