More rambling papers
So I haven't posted any of my papers all semester. They probably won't make sense seeing as none of you have probably read the books I was writing about, and they probably just don't make sense in general as I was pretty bored while writing a couple of them. But here ya go, more papers from my Interpreting and ASL classes...
The first book read was called "At Home Among Strangers" by Jerome D. Schein.
Paper # 1
The first chapter in the book is basically just an introduction to the rest of the book. It touches on the main points but doesn’t go into too much detail. It gave me much to think about; some things I already knew, others I didn’t. The bulk of it, obviously, is about the Deaf community.
The thing that struck me the most was the idea that deaf people seek each other out. I have heard this before, and I can understand why they would. I don’t claim to be any kind of expert on the subject, but from what I have learned and what I have observed I see that the hearing world only holds so much dear to the Deaf world. And lack of communication between hearing people and deaf people don’t make it much easier.
The book mentioned the idea of a singular deaf community and multiple deaf communities, and what requires the formation of a community. It made me think of Sierra Vista and the surrounding towns. The book said that ten deaf out of one hundred hearing people would not constitute a community. This seems wrong to me. Sierra Vista and the surrounding towns has such a small population of deaf people yet they, to me, are a community. Why should the size of a population constitute a community? Would the one here in Sierra Vista be called just a group, not a community? I think what is here is a community.
The other part of this, the idea of a community or several communities in the U.S. deaf population was intriguing to me. I never thought of it as more than one community, but I see now that I should have. Not all communities are the same. The Deaf Community in Southern California is not going to be the same as the Deaf Community in Southern Florida. Racial differences, gender, sexual orientations, backgrounds, religious beliefs, etc all form the differences in a community. People are different all over. Why should the Deaf Community be viewed in bulk when the rest of the population and communities are not?
Another thing in the chapter, and something I have heard before as well, that is interesting is what the Deaf population considers the requirements for being Deaf. Being deaf does not make one Deaf. A deaf person who lost their hearing at an early age, or was born deaf, are almost automatically considered Deaf. Some one who lost their hearing at a later age are not. Then there are the deaf people who were never introduced to the Deaf world. They were brought up in a hearing world. To a hearing person who doesn’t understand, the fact that being deaf doesn’t make you Deaf is a little confusing. Being in the ASL program at Cochise I am beginning to understand a little better.
The Deaf community is just that, a community (or communities). In any other community, you are either part of it or you’re not. A suburban, rich black kid can’t go to Detroit and try to “get down” with the black community there. He’s just not part of it. He is part of the suburban rich community, what ever that may be. A deaf person who has been around hearing people all their lives can’t just walk into the Deaf community and automatically be a part of it. The same goes for a newly deaf person. How long it takes for them to be accepted into the community is something I don’t know yet. Hopefully the book gets into detail on that. What confuses me a little is when the book tells of a deaf person who walks into a room for the first time to meet other deaf people for the first time, and they immediately feel at home. Why is this person not considered a part of the Deaf community?
I am ignorant beyond words (or signs) on this topic. I probably never will fully understand the Deaf Community. I am not part of it, nor can I ever be. I am hearing. I can catch glimpses of it, and I can maybe be on the outskirts of it, but I will never fully be a part of it. All I can rely on are books and teachings. The Deaf Community and Deaf World is all the more fascinating for that fact alone…
The first book read was called "At Home Among Strangers" by Jerome D. Schein.
Paper # 1
The first chapter in the book is basically just an introduction to the rest of the book. It touches on the main points but doesn’t go into too much detail. It gave me much to think about; some things I already knew, others I didn’t. The bulk of it, obviously, is about the Deaf community.
The thing that struck me the most was the idea that deaf people seek each other out. I have heard this before, and I can understand why they would. I don’t claim to be any kind of expert on the subject, but from what I have learned and what I have observed I see that the hearing world only holds so much dear to the Deaf world. And lack of communication between hearing people and deaf people don’t make it much easier.
The book mentioned the idea of a singular deaf community and multiple deaf communities, and what requires the formation of a community. It made me think of Sierra Vista and the surrounding towns. The book said that ten deaf out of one hundred hearing people would not constitute a community. This seems wrong to me. Sierra Vista and the surrounding towns has such a small population of deaf people yet they, to me, are a community. Why should the size of a population constitute a community? Would the one here in Sierra Vista be called just a group, not a community? I think what is here is a community.
The other part of this, the idea of a community or several communities in the U.S. deaf population was intriguing to me. I never thought of it as more than one community, but I see now that I should have. Not all communities are the same. The Deaf Community in Southern California is not going to be the same as the Deaf Community in Southern Florida. Racial differences, gender, sexual orientations, backgrounds, religious beliefs, etc all form the differences in a community. People are different all over. Why should the Deaf Community be viewed in bulk when the rest of the population and communities are not?
Another thing in the chapter, and something I have heard before as well, that is interesting is what the Deaf population considers the requirements for being Deaf. Being deaf does not make one Deaf. A deaf person who lost their hearing at an early age, or was born deaf, are almost automatically considered Deaf. Some one who lost their hearing at a later age are not. Then there are the deaf people who were never introduced to the Deaf world. They were brought up in a hearing world. To a hearing person who doesn’t understand, the fact that being deaf doesn’t make you Deaf is a little confusing. Being in the ASL program at Cochise I am beginning to understand a little better.
The Deaf community is just that, a community (or communities). In any other community, you are either part of it or you’re not. A suburban, rich black kid can’t go to Detroit and try to “get down” with the black community there. He’s just not part of it. He is part of the suburban rich community, what ever that may be. A deaf person who has been around hearing people all their lives can’t just walk into the Deaf community and automatically be a part of it. The same goes for a newly deaf person. How long it takes for them to be accepted into the community is something I don’t know yet. Hopefully the book gets into detail on that. What confuses me a little is when the book tells of a deaf person who walks into a room for the first time to meet other deaf people for the first time, and they immediately feel at home. Why is this person not considered a part of the Deaf community?
I am ignorant beyond words (or signs) on this topic. I probably never will fully understand the Deaf Community. I am not part of it, nor can I ever be. I am hearing. I can catch glimpses of it, and I can maybe be on the outskirts of it, but I will never fully be a part of it. All I can rely on are books and teachings. The Deaf Community and Deaf World is all the more fascinating for that fact alone…