Chapter 22
I've always been curious about how
deaf individuals feel about signing in public and being approached by others.
Since ASL is visual language, deaf individuals signing in public have no real
way of keeping a conversation quiet unlike the hearing people. Hearing people
have the opportunity to whisper or lower their voice in public while deaf
people don’t have that luxury. While reading in this chapter, I read that deaf
people have to physically “hide” themselves to make a conversation private.
It’s crazy how many things we (hearing individuals) take for granted on any
everyday basis. From reading this
chapter, I've learned some very valuable information about when or when not to
approach deaf individuals. It’s
important to respect their boundaries just as you would with anyone else. The
same respect and privacy we give hearing people, should also apply to the deaf
we encounter.
Something I found interesting about
this chapter was the use of “name signs.” I've never heard of such a thing
before. As I read on in the additional
information section, I found out that it’s a sign usually given to you by a
deaf person that’s personalized, and distinctive. Pretty neat! J
Chapter 23
In my past experiences with the
deaf community, I've learned that they often ask a lot of questions. They are
very curious about your life, and want to know anything/ and everything they
can. Nonetheless, we had this discussion
in class a couple of weeks ago. Growing up as a deaf child can be very hard!
The miss out on a lot of things that hearing children do not especially if
their parents don’t sign. Because they missed out on so much as a child, it’s
important for them that they communicate as much as possible. For instance, a
deaf children growing up with hearing parents miss out on basic, everyday
conversations. For example, they may
never hear “How was your day?”
Nonetheless, it’s very important to them that they don’t miss out on
anything.
As getting asked where I learned
ASL, it’s casually come up in several conversations. However, as I stated above
I feel like being curious is just a part of their culture.
Chapter 24
As a hearing individual, it’s
important to recognize and respect American Sign Language. As stated in the
text, ASL is one language that commonly belongs to the deaf community. As a hearing individual, you must think of
all the possibilities you have as a hearing person (not saying that deaf
individuals are any less superior). Nonetheless, we are able to communicate
more easily on a day to day basis. The deaf community can do just as much or
not more but face more challenges along the way. Because of these, some may be
more hesitate with hearing people learning ASL. Can you blame them? I can’t!
As a new learner of ASL, it’s also
important of me to learn about the culture. Just like any other language ASL is
constantly changing. Therefore, it’s important we alter ourselves that of the
ever-changing language. As the example
in the book stated, it’s not any different than going to a foreign country and
learning their language. Ultimately, it’s a sign of respect!
Chapter 25
ASL students have trouble learning
English for the same reasons many non-native speakers have learning English the
first time! It’s a completely different language! As it stated in the text,
many deaf children start school without any real language at all! This was
shocking to me! Because they are deaf,
they missed out on the ever crucial “language bombardment” that many hearing
children face. During this time, children learn about language and begin to
imitate and produce it. One thing that I found shocking was that some parents
of deaf children refuse to learn ASL! Nonetheless, the parents don’t
communicate with the child whatsoever.
It really bothers me to think that parents could just ignore and not
make any effort whatsoever. It’s their job as parents to do anything and
everything they can for their children!
Before reading this chapter, I was
curious to know how deaf people read/ and write in English. However, I have
learned that many deaf people use “deaf English” to write. My cousin that is deaf writes using deaf
English; it is English mainly written in the ASL grammar syntax. On the other
hand, I’ve also met some deaf people that fluent in written English! Just as I
am learning a new language, they are too! It’s takes a lot of dedication and
time for a deaf individual to become fluent in both ASL and written English!
In reading the Chapter, I also
learned about the overwhelming language gap many deaf children are facing in
the schools. I feel like this directly affects me in the future because of my
career choice. As a future teacher, it’s up to me to help these students become
successful! It’s up to me to accommodate these students, and give them the
necessary tools they need in the classroom.
Chapter 26
Before reading this chapter, I
thought reading for enjoyment was a personal choice for anyone (including the
deaf). However, after reading I’m shocked to find out the many horrible things
deaf children endured in the past! For long periods of time the English
language was forcibly battered into the minds of the children. Ultimately, they
were punished for not succeeding! For generations, the library was used as a
form of punishment. For most hearing people, a library is a quiet, relaxing
place full of knowledge. However, for many deaf children the memories they have
of the library haunt them! They were also struck by therapists for mispronouncing
words! I don’t blame them for not finding reading enjoyable! The majority of
their experiences with the English language have been nothing less than
horrible!
Chapter 27
As a hearing individual, I never
realized the importance of closed captioning to the deaf community. Once again,
we take for granted the opportunity to watch television. Nonetheless, the deaf
community cannot enjoy television without the use of closed captioning.
In the chapter, I learned about the
disagreement that is currently circling the captioning industry. Some people
feel it’s necessary for closed captioning to read verbatim the audio. Others
believe that the captions should be simplified. As of right now, I’m currently
on the fence about this issue. I can
honestly say I can agree with both sides! Advocates of the verbatim side argue
that it’s unethical and insulting to alter the wording. On the other hand, advocates for the
simplified translation argue that deaf individuals cannot comprehend some of
the vocabulary on TV. I do think it’s important not to treat deaf individuals
as less superior people! Therefore, I
agree with the supporters of verbatim captioning when the say it’s insulting to
the deaf individuals. Why should we get
the opportunity to receive more information via the TV just because we can
hear? However, I also agree with the simplified approach on some things. If it
ultimately allows for the deaf community to better comprehend what’s going on,
why would we not make the change?
Chapter 28
As a future
teacher, I firmly believe in the knowledge of literacy. It’s an important part
of learning for all students, deaf children included! In the past, my deaf
children attended “Deaf-only schools” such as the Hartford Asylum. Schooling at
the Harford Asylum was very tedious and demanding but yielded great results for
their students. If you were to compare schools today with the Hartford Asylum
there really isn’t a comparison. I believe that Hartford Asylum took more pride
in educating their students! Unlike schools today, the asylum had no modern
technologies, speech therapists, sport teams etc. They were ultimately focused
on learning with no distractions! As a future educator, I believe that there
such be a mixture of the two. The main focus should be on learning!
I find the idea
of Charter Schools very beneficial for deaf children! It’s sad to say that many
deaf children in public schools get left behind. Many are mainstreamed into classrooms
were the teachers have no formal education in ASL whatsoever. Nonetheless, charter schools combine the best
features of deaf schools, with the idea of mainstreaming.
Chapter 29
Many children that participate in mainstreaming
face great problems. Most of the time, they are the only deaf child in the
class, and face staff they are adequate in dealing with their needs. One alternative to mainstreaming is the use of
residential schools. However, these residential schools face many negative conations
among parents, and teachers. Nonetheless, these schools are suffering! They are
also facing budget cuts. Because of
these budget cuts the quality of their programs are diminishing! I agree with
the text when it states that closing all the state locals and rerouting the all
deaf the deaf students is false economy. I firmly believe that our government
should take action in strengthening our residential schools! As stated in the
text good residential schools have many advantages over mainstreaming. These
advantages include: professional staff, individual attention, everyday exposure to ASL, deaf mentors,
etc. Because of these advantages, it’s
important we get residential and state schools back on track!
Chapter 30
As a current ASL student, I think
it’s a good idea to learn as much about the language as possible! Before
reading this chapter, I already knew that the library would be a good starting
point. However, I was unaware of the Gallaudet Bison Bookstore. I found it very
interesting that the bookstore was a mail order catalogue featuring a wide variety
of books and multimedia. There are also many organizations that have websites
that offer insightful information! In
the future I plan on looking into these organizations in more detail J
Quiz (Chapters 16-30)
After taking the quiz, I was quite
surprised that I knew many of the answers! After grading the quiz I ended up
only getting one question wrong. The question that confused me the most was
question number 6: Since all ASL teachers in schools and colleges hold ASLTA certification,
it’s not really necessary to ask an acquaintance who their sign language
teacher is, except out of curiosity. Not
every ASL teacher is going to excel. Nonetheless, it may be beneficial for
someone to inquire more information about a certain teacher before taking their
class!
Chapter 31
This chapter greatly affected me!
As a future teacher is important that I know where to inquire more information
about the deaf if necessary! One
resource that I found rather interesting was the TDI Blue Book. I have never
heard of this before! The blue book allows you to zero in on a specific county
or state agency. For example, the blue book would allow finding local agencies
for the deaf right here in bowling green!
