Dr. Ray L. Jones

PRO JE CTS CO MP,.ETED BY STUD ENTS OF THE NATIONAL LE ADERSHIP TRAINIMG PRO Gf{,1\M I N THE ARE,'\ OF THE DEAF 1975 Di rected by Dr. Ray L. Jon es Dr . G. Earl Sande rs CALIFO RN IA STA TE UNIV ERS ITY, NO RTHRIDGE Depar tment of Specia l and Rehabi litation Educa t ion Nor thridge , Cal ifornia 913 24 Volume I I A RATIONALE FOR DEVELOPING A DEAF STUDIES PROGRAM GRADUATE PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE NATIONAL LEADERSH IP TRAINING PROGRAM BY DENNIS B. HOFF~illYER CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY NORTHRIDGE, CALIFORNIA JUNE, 1975 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PURPOSE . 1 CHAPTER I 3 Presentation of evidence to show there exists a deaf culture within general Arnerican society. CHAPTER II 10 Evidence of a poor self image among deaf people. CHAPTER III . 14 Examples of deaf studies programs adopted by schools for the de~f. CHAPTER IV 19 Suggested subject areas to be included in a Deaf Studies P rogram. CONCLUSION 23 BIBLIOGRAPHY .• 26 APPENDIX 28 ii PURPOSE In the following paper this \·.'ri ter will attempt to develop a rationa le f or teaching a comprehensive Deaf s tudies Prog ram. Our p urpose will be to outline the his- torical i mplications that may have resulted because o f failing to properl y prepare deaf students for a productive role in socie t y . Conside ring a ll of t he forces and p ressures operat ing on h i m, the t ypical hearing-impaired person does quite we ll. I n all prcbability he will find a job , marry, pay taxes , raise a family and become an inde pendent, contributi ng member of s ocie ty. However, on a group basis, some difficulties can be observed. On the whole , there is a t endency toward neuroticism and the hearing- i mpaired, if we can gen eralize with s uch a large d i ver se group, have been found to be relatively rigid, inflexible , and imma ture. They tend to have negative feelings toward deafness and toward themselves; in other word s, they perceive t hems elves as i n f erior ... There is also evidence t o suggest that a s hearing i mpaired child ren mature and enter adolescence, their self- aware ness increases , and t h e problems encountered by normal Ame r i can adolescents are intensified . l There are many conditions that c an be the cause of this . Mos t deaf adults were educa t ed in residential s chools where paternalism and authoritarianism have been the normal procedure for "education." Lack of communica- t ion between parents and child, bet ween teacher and child, a nd bet we en peers and child is also credited with the poor :~c 1 f image. Mud can b e thrown at any one of a multitude of :. i l c sophies, methodolog ies, and rationales . But let's 1 2 :, rocced a little deeper and attempt to see the world ~~ rough the child's e yes . A crisis of identity develops wh e n the child be comes consciously and acutely aware of his dif fere ntness. His self-image may well be threatened He hus little opportunity to develop a r ealis tic life goal, a dream, a hero.2 We say he is a person, but we give him no identity . 1~ e call him intelligent, but we make a ll his decisions. We complain of his i mma turity , b ut we g ive him no responsibil- ity . The chi ld l ooks for models; they are all hearing . The child looks for identity , a nd we t each him the Fitzgerald Key, the Pledge of Allegiance, and Dick and Jane. Then, when it's all over, we can afford the luxury of noting that "On the whole the re is a tendency toward neuroticism, rigid- ity, immaturity, paranoia, inflexibility, etc."3 So this is the problem . This p aper is not meant to be a cure-all for all, or maybe any, of the results of 150 years of education of the deaf . It is only a rationale that may lead to some firm identity for our children. I PRESENTAT ION OF EVI DENCE TO SHOW THERE EXISTS A DEAF CULT URE WITHIN GENE RAL AME RICAN SOCIETY When one di s cusses t h e basic American culture , one normally is r eferring t o the middle class core culture . The middle class culture can be illus trate d by (a) an empha- s i s on "success " in t he f o rm o f upvvard s ocia l mo b ility ; (b) an emp has i s on " p rop rie t y " i n the form of observance of guides to b e h avior; (c) an emp hasis on the owne r s hip of material goods , cleanline ss, a voidance of ove rt aggression (particular l y phys i cal a g gress ion), and active particip ation in organizatio n s ; (d) an emphasis on delay ed g ratification o f needs and desires. 4 Within the ma crocosm of our culture e x ists a multitude of ethnic, religi ous, racial and nationa l cultures. One microcosm of our Ame rican cultu r e i s mad e up of deaf people, o f ten r e ferred to as the deaf sub culture or t he deaf commun ity . 5 Most cultures have t h e a bove four principles in common, ~o a greater or lesser degree . The same is true of the deaf cormn uni ty. (Pleas e note that "deaf c ommunity " and "deaf culture " will be used inte rchang ab l y .) Howe ver, there are ::..; ome differences. Becaus e of t h e asp ect of comnmnication, i t is often difficult for the d eaf to assimilate information r c1 ~, i~l y . This c an cause time lag s in the chang i ng of social ':i!.i ts in movements, lik e ,;,.,omen's libera tion or civil 3 4 ,· i· - a::! hts , a.rr.ong deaf people. There is also a difference in language and cormnunica- tion of d e af people and society in general. Whereas most of the civilized world conducts cornrnunication by the oral/ a ur al method, that is by the spoken word , the deaf community relies l a rgely up on visual input . This writer says "largely" because there is no universally accepted definition of "deaf." Persons having a 60 dB hea ring loss may f unction as hard-of-hearing. Because educationally or socially no one c an really define deafness , this writer will use the most a ccepted definition. A deaf person , in this paper, will be that individual who cannot hear or understand connecte d speech in a "normal" conversational situation. This visual input has varied considerably. Laurent Clerc introduced manual sig n language to America. La ter the oral method was introduced. Both are forms of visual commun ication. The lay person tends to underestimate the impact of deafness and s ome even suggest that it is a blessing. The hest illustration of the impact o f deafness i s one attrib uted to He len Ke l ler. An interviewer is said to have ~uestioned which disability she considered the hardest to overc ome. Her reply was that b lindness isolates one from th ing s; deafness isolate s one from people. In that example 0 nc c a n see the basis of deaf culture. Deaf people tend to ·: ~\'c lop t heir own culture within the g eneral comrriuni t y . .. ··--~-~...,.--- 5 "The majority of the deaf (people) want to socialize with other deaf (people) and cities are the only places where it does not take too much time for one to find or visit another. Therefore, distance and time involved in sociali zing often limits the deaf person's selection of a job. 116 As indicated, the two areas that make up an individual's life, work, and play are both dependent upon effec~ive, meaningful communication. As shown in a report done by the Teacher Preparation Program at California State University, 7 Northridge, California, those ~areas where the deaf culture is deviant from general society are areas that involve communication. Deaf people have a proud history of employment and service. For most of the history of social welfare in the United States, deaf people, as a group, have requested and received less public support, percentagewise, than the general public. The general outcasts within the deaf community normally are one of two groups. The first are the peddlers, those individuals who sell fingerspelling cards or other inexpen- sive items in public places. The second group are those people who willingly accept welfare payments rather than work. The general feeling among the deaf community is one of self-sufficiency and self-worth. "It is not a grammatical error that leads them (deaf pe ople) to call their organizations 'clubs of the deaf.' 6 It i s their way of emphasizing that they are not the recip ients of other people's charity, that the disability of deafness does, not foster incompetence."8 Their culture s hares some attributes that other minority groups display. Deaf persons tend to marry other deaf persons. In the total deaf population, 79.5 percent of those married are married to deaf partners. Another 6.9 percent are married to partners who are classified as hard of hearing, a nd only 13.6 perc ent a re married to hearing partners.

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