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I've seen very little discussion of Deaf culture on the boards, so I thought I'd start one up here. I studied Deaf culture and American Sign Language for a year in college; I thought I wanted to be an interpreter, but after the first year I realized it was not for me. Still, it was absolutely fascinating to learn about all of this and I do not regret taking the classes at all. I learned a lot about culture, history, language, and even anatomy of the ear.
I'm going to start with the thing that seems to rile most non-Deaf people the most:
Deaf parents want to have Deaf children.
There, I said it. Yes, you read it right. Deaf parents don't see Deafness as a handicap or a problem or something that needs to be cured. It's a culture and a way of life for them. They have their own language (be it American Sign Language or another form of sign language) and often times their own community (Deaf people tend to live near each other) and want their children to be involved in all of that. If Deaf parents have a non-Deaf child, the child will not as well understand or fit into the Deaf community as a Deaf child would.
Some of you may be wondering why I use a capital "D" when referring to Deaf people. There are really two kinds of "people who can't hear":
-deaf people, (spelled with the small "d") who don't associate with the Deaf culture much or at all. These are typically people who lost their hearing later in life, after learning to hear/speak, due to an illness or accident. They can also be children who were born naturally deaf or lost their hearing as children, but still don't associate with the Deaf community because they were raised primarily in a hearing community.
-Deaf people (spelled with the upper-case "D") who have their own culture, their own language, and their own community. It is spelled with the upper "D" just as American is spelled with an upper "A" or Canadian is spelled with an upper "C." It's to signify that they are their own culture. Typically, people consider themselves Deaf if they were born deaf or lost their hearing while children, and were raised in a Deaf community. This could be Deaf children born to Deaf parents, or it could be children who were born to hearing parents but sent to special schools specifically designed for Dead children to help immerse them in the Deaf community and meet other people like themselves.
Deaf people and deaf people don't often understand each other and don't often associate with each other very often. I'm not trying to advocate that one is better or more right than the other, simply that there are two very different ways of being "deaf."
Back to the original subject. Deaf parents want Deaf children. I understand this. I'm not sure how to make a comparison for non-Deaf people to understand better. Maybe it's like "normal" (what's the word...neuraltypical?) parents wanting a "normal" children but instead, having a child with Autism. As much as a parent of a deaf child may love the child, the parent will still never truly understand what the child is thinking or feeling or going through, because the parent can hear, and (typically) has always been able to hear, and the child can not and may not ever hear their entire lives. It's like that, except just the opposite, for Deaf parents with non-Deaf children.
I've heard a lot of outcries from non-Deaf people (including my parents) who think it's absolutely outrageous that someone would want their child to be born "disabled" or "handicapped." Why would they want to put their child through this, they ask? Why wouldn't they want their child to be born healthy and have a "normal" life?
Anyway, I'm interested in what everyone's thoughts on this are.
I'm going to start with the thing that seems to rile most non-Deaf people the most:
Deaf parents want to have Deaf children.
There, I said it. Yes, you read it right. Deaf parents don't see Deafness as a handicap or a problem or something that needs to be cured. It's a culture and a way of life for them. They have their own language (be it American Sign Language or another form of sign language) and often times their own community (Deaf people tend to live near each other) and want their children to be involved in all of that. If Deaf parents have a non-Deaf child, the child will not as well understand or fit into the Deaf community as a Deaf child would.
Some of you may be wondering why I use a capital "D" when referring to Deaf people. There are really two kinds of "people who can't hear":
-deaf people, (spelled with the small "d") who don't associate with the Deaf culture much or at all. These are typically people who lost their hearing later in life, after learning to hear/speak, due to an illness or accident. They can also be children who were born naturally deaf or lost their hearing as children, but still don't associate with the Deaf community because they were raised primarily in a hearing community.
-Deaf people (spelled with the upper-case "D") who have their own culture, their own language, and their own community. It is spelled with the upper "D" just as American is spelled with an upper "A" or Canadian is spelled with an upper "C." It's to signify that they are their own culture. Typically, people consider themselves Deaf if they were born deaf or lost their hearing while children, and were raised in a Deaf community. This could be Deaf children born to Deaf parents, or it could be children who were born to hearing parents but sent to special schools specifically designed for Dead children to help immerse them in the Deaf community and meet other people like themselves.
Deaf people and deaf people don't often understand each other and don't often associate with each other very often. I'm not trying to advocate that one is better or more right than the other, simply that there are two very different ways of being "deaf."
Back to the original subject. Deaf parents want Deaf children. I understand this. I'm not sure how to make a comparison for non-Deaf people to understand better. Maybe it's like "normal" (what's the word...neuraltypical?) parents wanting a "normal" children but instead, having a child with Autism. As much as a parent of a deaf child may love the child, the parent will still never truly understand what the child is thinking or feeling or going through, because the parent can hear, and (typically) has always been able to hear, and the child can not and may not ever hear their entire lives. It's like that, except just the opposite, for Deaf parents with non-Deaf children.
I've heard a lot of outcries from non-Deaf people (including my parents) who think it's absolutely outrageous that someone would want their child to be born "disabled" or "handicapped." Why would they want to put their child through this, they ask? Why wouldn't they want their child to be born healthy and have a "normal" life?
Anyway, I'm interested in what everyone's thoughts on this are.
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