Inside Deaf Culture
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Oxford University Press, 2005 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 528 pages Deaf Studies, Language and Education In Plato's cratylus, which dates to 360 B.C., Socrates alludes to the use of signs by deaf people. In his Natural History, completed in 79 A.D., Pliny the Elder alludes to Quintus Pedius, the deaf son of a Roman consul, who had to seek permission from Caesar Augustus to pursue his training as an artist. During the Renaissance, scores of deaf people achieved fame throughout Europe, and by the middle of the 17th century the talents and communication systems of deaf people were being studied by a variety of noted scientists and philosophers. However, the role of deaf people in society has always been hotly debated: could they be educated? Should they be educated? If so, how? How does Deaf culture exist within larger communities? What do advances in the technology and the genetics of hearing loss portend for Deaf communities? In this landmark volume, a wide range of international experts present a comprehensive and accessible overview of the diverse field of deaf studies, language, and education. Pairing practical information with detailed analyses of what works, why, and for whom, and banishing the paternalism once intrinsic to the field, the handbook consists of specially commissioned essays on topics such as language and language development, hearing and speech perception, education, literacy, cognition, and the complex cultural, social, and psychological issues associated with individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. Through careful planning, collaboration, and editing, the various topics are interwoven in a manner that allows the reader to understand the current status of research in the field and recognize the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead, providing the most comprehensive reference resource on deaf issues. Written to be accessible to students and practitioners as well as researchers, The Oxford Handbook of Deaf Studies, Language, and Education is a uniquely ambitious work that will alter both theoretical and applied landscapes. It surveys a field that has grown dramatically over the past 40 years, since sign languages were first recognized by scientists to be true languages. From work on the linguistics of sign language and parent- child interactions to analyses of school placement and the mapping of brain function in deaf individuals, research across a wide range of disciplines has greatly expanded not just our knowledge of deafness and the deaf, but of the very origins of language, social interaction, and thinking. Bringing together historical information, research, and strategies for teaching and service provision, Marc Marschark and Patricia Elizabeth Spencer have given us what is certain to become the benchmark reference in the field. List of famous and well known people who are or were deaf and have or had hearing impairments. * * * A hearing impairment or hearing loss is a full or partial decrease in the ability to detect or understand sounds. A hearing impairment exists when an individual is not sensitive to the sounds normally heard by its kind. In human beings, the term hearing impairment is usually reserved for people who have relative insensitivity to sound in the speech frequencies. Hearing loss can be inherited. Both dominant and recessive genes exist which can cause mild to profound impairment. If a family has a dominant gene for deafness it will persist across generations because it will manifest itself in the offspring even if it is inherited from only one parent. People who are hard of hearing have varying amounts of hearing loss but usually not enough to be considered deaf. Many people who are deaf consider spoken language their primary language and consider themselves "hard of hearing". People with unilateral hearing loss (single sided deafness/SSD) can hear normally in one ear, but have trouble hearing out of the other ear. Problems with this type of deficit is inability to localize sounds. Those who lose their hearing later in life, such as in late adolescence or adulthood, face their own challenges. For example, they must adjust to living with the adaptations that make it possible for them to live independently. They may have to adapt to using hearing aids or a cochlear implant, develop speech-reading skills, and/or learn sign language. List of Famous and Well Known People who are/were deaf and have hearing impairments. Pete Townshend - (born Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend on 19 May 1945 in Chiswick, London), is an award-winning English rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, composer, and writer. The Who rocker Pete Townshend is losing his hearing, and fears the disability will end his songwriting career. Pete Townshend blames his hearing loss on a lifetime spent using headphones, experts say today's iPod Generation is storing up trouble for the future by listening to music at high volumes. Helen Keller - (1880 - 1968) - Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 - June 1, 1968) was an American author, activist and lecturer. She was the first deaf/blind person to graduate from college. She was not born blind and deaf; it was not until nineteen months of age that she came down with an illness described by doctors as "an acute congestion of the stomach and the brain", which could have possibly been scarlet fever or meningitis. The illness did not last for a particularly long time, but it left her deaf and blind. Keller went on to become a world-famous speaker and author. She is remembered as an advocate for people with disabilities amid numerous other causes. Thomas Edison - Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 - October 18, 1931) was an American inventor of Dutch origin and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph and a long lasting light bulb. In school, the young Edison's mind often wandered. He was noted to be terrible at mathematics, unable to focus, and had difficulty with words and speech. This ended Edison's three months of official schooling. The cause of Edison's deafness has been attributed to a bout of scarlet fever during childhood and recurring untreated middle ear infections. Ludwig Van Beethoven - Beethoven was as we know a great source of confidence for himself and for others, being able to create music and play music even after being completely deaf is by itself quite a miracle. Although it was clear to everyone that beethoven was but a man, he conquered his disability and led himself to being one of the greatest musicians of all time. If there was one thing that was affecting his struggle to succeed it was not only being deaf, but having to fight all the emotions that he felt inside when he had to turn around to look at the audience applause because he could not hear. Linda Bove - (born November 30, 1945) is a deaf American actress who played the part of Linda the Librarian on the children's television program Sesame Street from 1971 to 2003. Bove has introduced thousands of children to sign language and issues surrounding the Deaf Community. Her role as Linda on Sesame Street is currently the longest recurring role in television history for a deaf person. Bove attended Gallaudet University. She has been married to Ed Waterstreet since 1970. Like Bove, Waterstreet is also deaf. He also performed with the National Theater of the Deaf. Johnnie Ray - John Alvin Ray (January 10, 1927-February 24, 1990) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Ray developed a unique rhythm based style, described as alternating between pre-rock R&B and a more conventional classic pop approach. He was partially deaf because of an injury sustained at the age of 13. He became deaf in his right ear at age 13 after an accident during a Boy Scout event. He later performed his music wearing a hearing aid. Surgery performed in New York in 1958, left him almost completely deaf in both ears, although hearing aids helped his condition. Foxy Brown - Inga Marchand, born September 6, 1978, in Brooklyn, New York City, better known as Foxy Brown, is an American rapper of Afro- Trinidadian and Asian descent. She is known for her solo work and her brief stint as part of hip-hop music group The Firm. Foxy Brown has revealed that she is slowly losing her hearing after being diagnosed with a rare condition that only affects 1 in 10,000. On December 5, 2005, outside of Manhattan criminal court, Brown's attorney Joseph Tacopina stated he wanted to confirm rumors that Brown was almost totally deaf and claimed that he could no longer communicate with her verbally. Brown told reporters on December 15 that she was diagnosed with sudden hearing loss in May while she was recording her upcoming album. Shortly after Tacopina spoke to the public about her hearing condition, news spread that Brown had fired him. According to reports, Tacopina was never given permission by Brown or her agent to discuss her medical condition to reporters. William Elsworth - Dummy Hoy - (May 23, 1862 - December 15, 1961) was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for several teams from 1888 to 1902, most notably the Cincinnati Reds and two Washington, D.C. franchises. He is noted for being the most accomplished deaf player in major league history, and is credited by some sources with causing the establishment of signals for safe and out calls. Hoy became deaf after suffering from meningitis at age three, and went on to graduate from the Ohio State School for the Deaf in Columbus as class valedictorian. Hoy became the third deaf player in the major leagues, after pitcher Ed Dundon and catcher Tom Lynch.