The Challenge of Being Deaf
It is not obvious from looking a person that they are deaf. It is only when you try to communicate, that you discover that a person is deaf. There are varying degrees of deafness. Some can hear a little, some are in total silence. Some can speak to a certain extent, while others never heard the sounds of language and so cannot talk in the slightest. Deaf people also face legal challenges ? only some sign languages have received official recognition. There is also the challenge of fitting into society ? deaf people are totally ably bodied except for the fact they cannot hear.
Sign languages developed around schools for the deaf. Unfortunately, this has meant there are several sign languages used around the world. These languages are not always connected to the common language of the location. For example, American Sign Language (ASL) used in the USA and parts of Canada is derived from French Sign Language. This is because the French pioneer Laurent Clerc, a graduate of the first school for deaf children in Paris, went to the United States and founded the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1817.
In the UK, Australia and New Zealand the sign languages are dialects of English. This means that just like those that can hear, deaf people are hampered in communication by foreign languages.
Deaf people have the advantage of being able to read and write. This opens up a wealth of information for the deaf, as well as entertainment. The problem is that writing is a slow form of communication compared to speaking or signing. In critical situations, moreover, signing or writing is not enough. Currently there is a massive petitioning of European Members of Parliament to devise a system for deaf people to telephone the emergency services. If a deaf person is in a burning house with no way to escape how does he or she tell the Fire Brigade their address?
For centuries the deaf have been forced to feel as incomplete because they cannot hear. In the past religious groups have seen deafness as a punishment from God and have wanted to ‘save’ deaf people. It was a commonly held belief among some religious groups that deaf people were possessed by a devil. Even the secular have often patronized the deaf and have believed that it is their mission to ‘teach’ the deaf.
Since Aristotle coined the term, many deaf people have been viewed as being ‘deaf and dumb’. This is an unfortunate phrase as ‘dumb’ also refers to a lack of intelligence; besides many deaf people can speak.
Deaf people have been wrongly treated: they have been locked in asylums with mentally disturbed patients. Hitler ordered deaf men to be castrated, and to be the subjects for medical experiments.
Even today people often talk about deaf people in front of them. Not only is this rude, but they are also forgetting that many deaf people can lip read. Deaf people are fighting for equal opportunities in education and employment. They fight for the legal recognition of their sign language.
Things have improved. America and several European countries now do recognize sign language as an official language. Moreover, there is now an international sign language (ISL) often called Gesturo that has been growing in use since the 1970s.
More still needs to be done on practical, educational and legal levels to help the deaf community. They are a minority who has a voice that cannot be heard. They have historically been treated inhumanely. The purpose of www.eudeaf2003.org is to chart the plight of deaf people both in Europe and around the world in their struggle for better conditions, more understanding and legal equality with the hearing world.
Resources:
The detrimental effects of smoking to your health is no secret but list of damages smoking can cause seems to get longer month on month. One of the most recent is that passive smoking could be a cause of hearing loss in teenagers.
The research was carried out by the New York University School of Medicines Michael Weitzman who stated ‘It’s the type of hearing loss that usually tends to occur as one gets older, or among children born with congenital deafness.’ The study was carried out on over 1500 youngsters between the ages of 12 and 19 with various test carried out that included both hearing tests and levels of cotine in the blood, this is a chemical in the body that is a result of exposure to nicotine.
When the results were finalized those that were exposed to a smoking environment, (none forced by the way) were found to have impaired hearing in the mid to high ranges of frequency. This all brings about the question of this affecting children in the classroom, with many of those affected having problems with distractions on hearing what is being said. This in turn leads to many children wrongly being diagnosed with ADHD or classed as troublemakers.
All of this leads further to the question of educating people to the alternatives to smoking. Giving up smoking completely and instantly is in most cases an unrealistic thing to attempt without help, for those that still want to smoke though there are alternatives. The electronic cigarette is one of those alternatives that is reportedly working for thousands worldwide and the positive it brings to smokers is that it does not cause any negative affect to those around. No passive smoking problems here.
Relationships and how they can help the deaf community.
The winemaking community is an interesting group of people. Truly international, it also features a range of folks with really varied life experiences. While we haven’t met anyone deaf in the wine world as of yet, there is a winery in Napa Valley called Oakenfeld which gives 10% of its profits from its wine gift baskets to a charity of your choosing.
While not many people are going to choose a deaf charity, perhaps some of us can form a relationship with these folks to have our favorite deaf charities as part of their “featured” charity section!
