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Deaf Culture
Deaf President Now!
"Deaf President Now!" summarized the student protests of March 1998, of the appointment the 7th hearing President of Gallaudet University.
This video was very moving; it showed students fervently campaigning for the removal of the newly appointed hearing President of Gallaudet University Mrs. Zinser. The Gallaudet community felt it was time to have a deaf President. The protest spanned nearly a week, there were no classes held as students took to the streets to protest the appointment Zinser. The Gallaudet community even went so far as to create mock dolls of Zinser and burn them in the streets. I doubt they wanted her dead but that was just how strongly they felt about her removal and the placement of a deaf person as President of the school. I wasn't shocked when the Board gave in to the students' demands. Zinser finally resigned making way for a deaf man to be appointed as President. Initially, thought the students were overreacting; but I begin to see parallels between the women's movement and the civil rights movement and realized that when women and minorities fought for equality, many people believed they too, were overreacting. I was reminded that you can't judge someone, because you don't understand what it is like to walk a mile in their shoes....
The appointment of a deaf President to the students would have legitimize deaf people, without a deaf President the message was sent that deaf people somehow weren't good enough to be leaders. But as a little boy pointed out in the video that having a hearing President didn't adequately serve the deaf community at Gallaudet since a hearing President could never "share the same experience" as a deaf person.
The questions I have after watching this video are:
What happened to Zinser after she resigned?
What happened to the first hearing President, Dr. Jordan? Where is he now?
I was able to locate information or Dr. Jordan. Dr. I. King Jordan, Gallaudet's first deaf President served as President from 1998-2006, he resigned in 2006. He currently serves on the Commission on Presidential Scholars. He was appointed by President Obama and is an international renowned speaker. Dr. Jordan also received numerous awards throughout his career including: the Presidential Citizen's Medal, the Washingtonian of the Year Award, the James L. Fisher Award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), and the Distinguished Leadership Award from the National Association for Community Leadership.
See What I Say
"See What I Say" is…
What similar documentaries/films today address this same issue? Have deaf people finally found their voice in society? Or, has there been no progress?
How has the hearing world made advances to be more inclusive? How, as a hearing person ensure that am I doing my part to create an inclusive environment?
I was able to locate a very similar film to "See What I Say," it is called "See What I'm Saying: Deaf Entertainers Documentary." It is a modern twist on the 1981 movie, "See What I Say." Even though the movies aren't related, "See What I'm Saying" follows 4 deaf entertainers for one year. It chronicles not only their professional lives but their personal lives as well. From watching the clips, it would appear that the Deaf Culture has made progress in the last 30 or so years, but there still remains much work to be done. Being deaf remains to be a communications barrier but the good news is opportunity has increased for those who are deaf giving them the chance to do things that just a few years ago would have been deemed impossible.
Deaf culture has become fairly well established in academia and to a lesser degree in mainstream public consciousness. However, Holly Elliot offers a unique perspective on Deaf culture and identity in Teach Me To Love Myself. Elliot begins her narrative by sharing her experience as a bicultural person: someone who had straddled the worlds of the hearing and of the Deaf. Her biculturalism allows Elliot to build bridges instead of
These churches include the Pilgrim Lutheran Church of the Deaf, International Deaf Mission, Los Angeles Deaf Church., Holy Angeles Catholic Church of the Deaf and the Grace Bible Church of the Deaf, to mention a few. There is also a presence of the Jewish deaf community. When it comes to education, the Los Angeles area has a sizable program at the California State University Northridge with a National Center
Deaf individuality itself is highly valued in the Deaf community. Members seem to concur that hearing people can never completely obtain that identity and become an experienced member of the deaf community. Even with deaf parents and a native grasp of ASL the hearing person will have missed the familiarity of growing up deaf, including residential school. For a lot of members of the deaf community, speech and thinking like
There is "evidence that deaf children benefit from early exposure to sign language points to the need for in-depth sign language training for parents and other caregivers, with special attention to underserved populations such as those in rural areas," (Marschuck 2001 p 9). Parents should not rely on external schools at later developmental stages, when the damage to the child's cognitive and linguistic abilities could have already been done. Chomsky's
Deaf There has been a dearth of literature on the training and development of deaf and hard of hearing employees. This research attempts to highlight gaps in the research and suggest methods of improving deaf awareness in the fields of human resources and organizational development. The Americans With Disabilities Act requires all organizations to make reasonable accommodations to the workplace environment, policy, and procedure for deaf and hard of hearing employees.
Equally destructive is the attitude that communicating with the Deaf person may involve more time and effort than one wishes to expend" (Zieziula, 1998, p. 193). Moreover, and perhaps one of the most important challenges related to this issue, a large percentage of deaf individuals do not trust the hearing society. "Historically, the dominant hearing culture has relegated deaf people to social categories such as "handicapped" and "outsider." The history