...Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was a passionate advocate for the deaf and impaired; someone who helped progress educational reform all across America during the 19th century. Gallaudet also had a son, Edward Miner Gallaudet, who followed in his footsteps and helped fight for educational equality. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was born on December 10, 1787 in Philadelphia. Thomas Gallaudet did exceptional in school, graduating from Yale in 1805 at the top of class at just 17 years old. Thomas would then continue to further his education in graduate school, where he got his master’s degree in 1808. Thomas then became an ordained Congregational Minister in 1814 (Bayton, Gannon, and Bergey, p.11). Thomas Gallaudet was born to become...
Words: 1827 - Pages: 8
...it is implied that Deaf people are an inconvenience and that they are broken and need to be fixed. Deafness is not a disability, a disability is considered to be a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements or activities. The ADA (Americans with disabilities act) goes on to add that a disability “includes individuals who do not have a disability but are regarded as having a disability”. This means that disabilities are not necessarily a set concept rather it is largely influenced by the attitude towards whatever “disability”. People that are Deaf have become a proud culture, refusing to consider themselves handicapped because they can do anything any hearing person is capable of besides hear. The Deaf culture in America begins in the nineteenth century when French Deaf educators, Thomas Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc, came with the...
Words: 1236 - Pages: 5
...Comparison of Deaf Culture and Hearing Culture in the USA | |(Using the Hofstede Cultural Comparison Assignment as a guide) | |Where Deaf Culture Would Score If Included in the Geert Hofstede™ Cultural Dimensions | | | |Nathaneil Godfrey | | | PDI Power Distance Indicator Power distance This dimension deals with the fact that all individuals in societies are not equal – it expresses the attitude of the culture towards these inequalities amongst us. Power distance is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organisations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. It has to do with the fact that a society’s inequality is endorsed by the followers as much as by the leaders. http://geert-hofstede.com/ Deaf culture I think Deaf culture would...
Words: 3035 - Pages: 13
...Running head: DEAF PEOPLE SHOULD NOT USE SPERM DONOR WHO IS LIKELY TO GIVE THEM A DEAF CHILD Deaf People Should Not Use Sperm Donor Who Is Likely to Give Them a Deaf Child Course number and title Instructor’s name University Date Nowadays the topic ‘to design’ or ‘not to design’ a deaf child turns the debate over designer babies, providing various specialists, such as genetics counsellors, ethicists, scientists and others with a dilemma. Some stated that it is immoral to prohibit people creating a deaf child, but others are sure that it is a right step and it will help to change contemporary situation in better side. I agree with the last group of people and think that Deaf People should not use sperm donor who is likely to give them a Deaf child. The are two different categories of deaf people, one are ordinary people with hearing disabilities, while others are unusual people, who identify themselves as ‘Deaf’ with a capital ‘D’. Both groups are people with hearing disabilities, but their attitude to this question is quite different. The last consider that their Deaf status is a kind of their special culture, their special world and people should to respect their wishes, but society is observing this issue from different side and is disagree to allow the appearance of deaf children by their parents’ wishes. Debating this topic it is important to think about true nature of things and remember the beginning of our life on the planet. Centuries...
Words: 748 - Pages: 3
...Sarah Benor Arts and Letters 100g: 35237R 7 December 2014 American Sign Language “If I hadn't lost my hearing, I wouldn't be where I am now. It forced me to maximize my own potential. I have to be better than the average person to succeed” (Lou Ferrigno). In this short glimpse into Ferrigno’s experience, he explains that losing the ability to hear requires an entirely different perspective towards daily life, especially because another language is needed to be able to communicate with others. This language is called American Sign Language (ASL). There are many different ways that language is spoken throughout the world, due to numerous distinctive features such as accent, pitch, as well as geographical location, and languages that are...
Words: 2367 - Pages: 10
...Education Act (IDEA) 2004, as well as, have the ability to teach individuals with disabilities requires that all educators take a deeper look into and understand the main diagnoses of these disabilities. The disabilities focused on will include intellectual disability, traumatic brain injury (TBI), autism, severe disabilities, and deaf-blindness. By expanding on these noted definitions, characteristics and causes of these five disabilities it will allow educators and parents to have a deeper understanding of the needs of their disabled learner. This allows the public education system to provide equal educational opportunities for all students which is required by law under IDEA. How to Understand Intellectual Disabilities The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA), created definitions to help in the understanding of many different disabilities. These definitions then help create diagnoses that allow students to receive a free and appropriate education (FAPE). This type education falls under the category of public schools providing special education services for their students (U.S. Department of Education, 2004). All children deserve a fair shot at life and have the right to learn to the best of their ability. While each discussed disability has its own unique set of characteristics and needs it must be serviced in the way most appropriate for the student. To accomplish this it is important that physicians, educators and parents have a better understanding...
Words: 2173 - Pages: 9
...The Impact of New Technology on Deaf Communities When it comes to the topic of how technology affects the Deaf community, most of us will readily agree that technology should be developed to help people that face these challenges. Where people often disagree is on the question of whether or not the technology that is already existent actually helps these people. On the one hand, there are many scientists that support how technology has helped these people connect with their community. On the other hand, many journalists argue that the technology available is unable to mimic the vocals that hint towards emotion which causes a rift between the Deaf and their hearing counterparts. Others even maintain that the rise of new technologies aimed to...
Words: 1502 - Pages: 7
...he writes about people who are deaf and how they now have the option to undergo surgery to have cochlear implants. These implants are electronic devices that stimulate the auditory nerve directly, and provide a sense of sound to one who is deaf or hard of hearing. However, Lane expresses a feeling of disapproval in regards to the cochlear implant. Lane feels as though if a child were to receive the implants, they would lose fundamental value in the deaf community“(Lane, 264). Also, succeeding in the hearing community would be a struggle, resulting in personal/social identity insecurities. However, if someone has an opportunity to improve such an essential sense as hearing, they should most certainly take advantage of it. Treatment for the learning disability ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is an exceptional example because the medication only lasts for a short period of time, and also makes the person taking it, feel and appear different. This treatment can lead to nearly different personalities when someone does or does not take the medication, which often time can lead to personal/social identity issues and other insecurities. ADHD testing involves assessing one’s strengths and weakness’ in school functioning. Many children display symptoms of ADHD and are never tested because many parents believe their children are just young, energetic, and just get bored in school. This may be true in some cases, but some children should be tested for their own...
Words: 2165 - Pages: 9
...The Silent Society: Being Deaf Deafhood and Epistemology When considering the epistemology of deafness, one must consider the history of how deafness has evolved. The history of deafness comes from the ignorance of those who could not understand how people who had a disability were different from them. It was easier to place these types of “folks” in intuitions and not deal with their needs. Understanding the deaf community comes through understanding the culture and the history that allows the deaf to have a “voice” and provide them with the necessary services that make the deaf more human. Through mental health, hearing assessments, and trauma, there is an understanding that even though they may not live in the hearing world, there are still apart of society. How they function as a community is important, as they too have a voice. Deafhood is described as “static”, not a medical condition; however, it is a process-a struggle that is endured by every child, adult, and family to explain themselves, and each other their own existence within their world (Hauser, O’Hearn, Steider, &Thew, 2010). Epistemology can be defined as the philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits to human knowledge. When dealing with deaf epistemology, there are many facets to which it can be understood and misunderstood. The authors discuss the visual learning process that a Deaf child goes through by being raised by either a Deaf parent or a hearing parent....
Words: 3079 - Pages: 13
... but what constitutes as being a good parent is an impossible one. Both Candy and Sharon believe that having a deaf baby is their right of choice. However, the opposing viewpoint believes that their choice to have a deaf baby is violating the sacred duty of parenthood. The sacred duty of parenthood is the belief that parents are supposed to provide their children with the best chances of being successful. Although some believe that having a deaf baby is unethical, Candy and Sharon have the right to have a deaf baby, and are still upholding the sacred duty of parenthood because they are promising to provide Gauvin an accepting community and safe household....
Words: 784 - Pages: 4
...America Deaf Culture After reading the book, Reading Between the Signs, I realized that there was a big difference between the America deaf culture and my culture. This book aimed at the audience who study sign language or sign language interpreters. It focused on the different aspects of culture instead of the language expression. Firstly, the author, Anna Mindess, describes the study of the culture. She cited the reference that Tylor said “ culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”. Then Anna selected topics in intercultural communication, such as the collectivism and individualism, high context and low context, and time orientation. Finally, she talked about the American deaf culture, which is my favorite part in the book. Now, I would like to describe the chapter of America deaf culture that I read from the book. This describes the perspectives of insiders who live in deaf culture and outsider who just study deaf culture. Anna discusses the development of deaf culture that deaf children attended to residential school and hard to communicate with hearing people in the past, while the recent developments of deaf culture are disappearing. The reason is that the deaf culture did not have some rules that deaf people have to live in the deaf culture and they wants to become rich or full people. So it means they have to become enculturated...
Words: 815 - Pages: 4
...about their story is, they wanted to genetically engineer their child to be deaf, like they and their first child are: “'We celebrated when we found out about Molly's deafness,' says Lichy. ’Being deaf is not about being disabled, or medically incomplete - it's about being part of a linguistic minority. We're proud, not of the medical aspect of deafness, but of the language we use and the community we live in.'” (McKie and Hinsliff) When people heard the story of Molly, they were shocked and outraged with the couple’s decision to want their child to be born deaf. While being deaf is not necessarily a bad thing, the bill called for the disposal of embryos that had the gene that made them deaf. While some people, like Lichy and Garfield, were disgusted to find that they would do that, the majority of people, including the British government thought that it was unfair to let a child be born knowing that they were going to be crippled for the rest of their lives. To some people, the prospect of genetically engineering their child to be disease free might sound appealing, but can the average American handle the...
Words: 1028 - Pages: 5
...Examining Government Regulations Student Name HSM/210 Date Instructor Name Living with any type of disability can be difficult; however, the deaf population in America faces a unique challenge when trying to pursue the American dream: finding a job. Upon researching contemporary problems within the United States, it was discovered that gaining and keeping employment among the estimated one million functionally deaf individuals in America is one of the larger problems that the deaf community faces. The reason that this is such a large obstacle is that communication within a workplace is vital to ensuring successful completion of tasks and accomplishing goals. Programs have been put in place, and legislative measures have been introduced, to assist these individuals in not only gaining employment, but also in maintaining a healthy and happy work environment that can lead to career longevity. The first step to ensuring open channels of communication among both the deaf and hearing communities is to form a standard of education. After Arizona entered the Union in February of 1912, one of its first state legislatures enacted a provision to form the Arizona Schools for the Deaf and Blind (Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind, 2011). Starting classes in October of that year with just 19 children with hearing loss, the school continued to grow over the years to eventually become a public corporation. This school has many services for eligible students; including...
Words: 783 - Pages: 4
...After reading the article “Do Deaf People Have a Disability?” by Harlan Lane with my peers, I have educated myself further by understanding fully. Before I took American Sign Language, I didn’t even think about the Deaf community, much less if they were being oppressed or not. I never thought that they were oppressed for being Deaf, something which isn’t wrong, just like racism and sexism. The word disability is socially constructed, and that we should stop using it because putting labels on people isn’t right or morally correct. Before reading this article I didn’t even know about the word Audism. To be fair, a lot of hearing people are quite ignorant on the subject they think one thing but they won’t try to understand or educate themselves....
Words: 1830 - Pages: 8
...Erastus “Deaf” Smith was born April 19, 1787 in Dutchess County, New York. Erastus’ nickname was “Deaf” Smith also known as “El Sordo.” Erastus then moved to Port Gibson, Mississippi in 1798. Then he came to Texas in 1821 for health reasons, but returned back to Natchez in 1822. Erastus appeared in most events leading up to Texas Independence. His mother was Mary Smith and his father was Chilab Smith they were very religious they were strict Baptist. When Erastus was 11 or 12 he moved with his family to Natchez, Mississippi Territory. Later on a childhood disease caused Erastus to lose his hearing. Erastus married Guadalupe Ruiz de Duran December 12, 1797. Guadalupe was a widow of Jose Maria Vicente Duran, by whom had three children; Rufugia, Josefa, and Lucinda. The Smiths had four children; Susan Concepcion, Gertrudes, Travis, and Simona. Together they had a total of seven children, four of them were Erastus’. After Erastus helped at the Battle of San Jacinto he returned to Columbia and he then later moved to Richmond in Fort Bend County. Erastus’ education came from his parents and nature. He didn’t have the same education as most kids his age. Most of what Erastus’ knew was common sense. There wasn’t much about his education but I think that teaching him was difficult for him and his...
Words: 1021 - Pages: 5
