Deaf culture and the National Association of the Deaf

Deaf Cultures and Communities

Many people are unaware of how deaf culture can be complex. There are a number of things that make deaf culture what it is. Deaf culture is a culture that is unique to the deaf or people who are hard of hearing. They produce plays, books, artwork, magazines and movies that are targeted at the deaf or hard of hearing audience. The deaf community also takes part in social and political activities that are exclusive to the deaf community. The Deaf culture comprises people who consider their own deafness as making them different as opposed to being a disability. There are new activities that are developed that contribute to the growth of the American deaf culture and the output of intellectual works increases. The term deaf is used to refer to the aspects of deaf culture that are going to be discussed including organizations, publications and social clubs (Siple 2).

Deaf organizations

National Association of the Deaf

The National Association of the Deaf or the NAD is the nation's premier civil rights organization of, by and for the deaf and individuals who are hard of hearing living in the United States of America. It is also a nonprofit organization that individual and organizational donors, who also include corporations and foundations, generosity supports. Deaf leaders, who believed in the right of the American deaf community to use sign language, congregate on issues that were important to them and also have its interest represented at the national level established and shaped the NAD in 1880. The core value of the association is American Sign Language and the association remains true to the above stated beliefs (National Association of the Deaf 159). The NAD advocacy scope is broad and covers a lifetime while impacting future generations in the areas of early intervention, education, health care, telecommunications, employment, youth leadership, technology and more, and as a result improving the lives of millions of the hard of hearing and deaf Americans. The National Association of the Deaf acts as a representative of the country in the international front at the World Federation of the Deaf which is an international human rights organization. Through individual and organizational membership, the NAD ensures that the collective interests of the American deaf and hard of hearing community are seen and represented at the federal level among America's opinion leaders and policy makers.

i. The Civil Rights organization of the Deaf

The rights of the deaf or individuals who are hard of hearing are protected under several pieces of legislation of which the Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA is most known. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is an expansion on the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which addresses federal programs, post-secondary education and vocational rehabilitation services. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA focuses on educational access and dovetails with the Rehabilitation Act. Under the ADA, the rights of the deaf and hard of hearing persons are covered under five major areas. These five areas include among them, telecommunications (Dubow 286). The phone company is required to provide a means of using the phone system with TTYs for both local and long distance calls. TTY/TDD refers to a group of telecommunication devices that ease the process of deaf and/or mute people over telephone lines. TTY refers to telephone typewriter, teletypewriter or text phone. TDD refers to Telecommunications Device for the Deaf. TTY may refer to manual devices like typewriters while TDD falling under the computer assisted or digital devices category. A caller dials 711 where they get in touch with a trained telephone relay representative at the Michigan Relay Centre. The representative reads what the TTY user types and types what the voice telephone user speaks. The Michigan Relay Centre is capable of handling a variety of services including Voice Carry Over, Hearing Carry Over, Spanish to Spanish, Speech to Speech among others (Bauman 73).

The other area is state and local government, courts, attorneys. The State and Local government includes a list of agencies and services in addition to government offices and courts. Some include social service agencies, jails, police/fire, school systems, public swimming pools, municipal golf courses, civic arenas, lottery bureaus and also zoos. The services and agencies should have interpreters or hearing assistive device that are accessible by the deaf and the hard of hearing. The law specifies that a deaf individual has the right to an interpreter when they are arrested and no statement made in the absence of an interpreter is admissible in court (Moore and Levitan 206).

The other area is public accommodations whereby auxiliary aids and services for communicating with the deaf or hard of hearing are required to be provided in stores, businesses, hotels, theatres, restaurants, retail stores, banks, museums, parks, libraries and private schools. Business hotels and public accommodations are required to provide TTYs and amplified phones when phones are available for the general public. Malls, hospital waiting rooms, stadiums, convention centers, airports or any building with more than four pay telephones should have at least one TTY ("Athletes ").

In medical treatment, government sponsored hospitals are required to provide equal services to Deaf and Hard of Hearing persons. Their doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff should also be able to communicate with the deaf and the hard of hearing. With regards to employment, the ADA stipulates that employers cannot discriminate the deaf or the hard of hearing in the job application process, hiring, firing, salary or pay promotion or other benefits. There should be accommodations for the ease of access to information and safety by the deaf or hard of hearing persons. They should be able to perform their primary functions of the job which is also their own responsibility.

California Association of the Deaf

This is an association operated of, by and for the Deaf community as it advocates and promotes the quality of life and the deaf people's social welfare through empowering the deaf to exercise their self-determination and independence that is necessary for them to lead lives that are productive in the wider community. This association also tries to ensure there are equal opportunities that are for social, educational and employment fulfillment. It also advocates for the rights of the deaf and hard of hearing as well as protecting their rights to functionally equivalent services that are also accessible. It also advocates for the recognition of American Sign Language as a formal language. The final core value for the association is the preservation and respect of the deaf culture and heritage ("About CAD").

California Deaf Communities

Deaf communities do not necessarily include people who are either clinically or legally neither deaf nor do they exclude those who have good hearing. According to Baker-Shenk and Padden, one is Deaf if they identify as a member of the Deaf community and other members of the said community accept them as a part of it. It may include children of deaf parents, sign language interpreters, those who attend deaf schools among others. Of all the counties in the California region is considered to be the most "deaf friendly" places that one can live (Siple 2). The Los Angeles deaf society partakes in social events that are sponsored by small independent groups or by large agencies. The Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness, GLAD, has a social events calendar for events that it sponsors. There are deaf chat coffee in Los Angeles that meets at the once a month on Fridays at a coffee bean and tea leaf on the west third street. Los Angeles also has captioned movies whereby deaf people are able choose from either rear window captioned films or open captioned films at a variety of locations ("Deaf Community - Los Angeles Deaf America West Coast").

There are various ethnic organizations to cater to deaf people from different racial heritages. There is the Southern California Asian Deaf Association which is a chapter of the National Asian Deaf Congress. The Hispanics have the California Latino Council of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing but its existence is currently unknown. There is a Los Angeles California Black Deaf Advocates that is a chapter of the National Black Deaf Advocates.

There is a Hearing Loss Network in Los Angeles which is in addition to GLAD. These provide social services to their members through the use of the organization's units. An example of such a unit is the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults against Women. Los Angeles is home to the Deaf West Theatre of the "Big River" fame as well as the L.A. Bridges Theatre Company of the Deaf. There are interpretation services that are offered by GLAD which is called Lifesigns as well as other interpreting agencies like the in Good Hands Interpreting, Western Interpreting Network which services all of southern California including Los Angeles. LiNKS is another agency which offers interpreting services in the Los Angeles region (Padden and Tom 42).

There are several churches in the greater Los Angeles that cater to the deaf. 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 on Deafness. As a region, California has several schools for the deaf with both oral and signing or total communication. There is also a program for the deaf and hard of hearing program in the Los Angeles Unified School District. All these factors make Los Angeles and California as a whole a "deaf friendly" region for the deaf communities in it.

American Athletic Association of the Deaf

According to the USADSF, in 1945, the Akron Club of the Deaf in Ohio sponsored the first national basketball tournament at which time it established the American Athletic Union of the Deaf which was later renamed the American Athletic Association of the Deaf ("About USADSF"). It was later renamed the U.S.A. Deaf Sports Federation or USADSF in 1997. This association mainly purposes to foster and regulate uniform competition rules as well as provide social outlets for deaf members and their friends. It also serves as a parent organization of national sports organizations, conduct annual athletic competitions and assist in the U.S. teams participation in international competitions. It is the only recognized national athletic association that coordinates the participation of American deaf and hard of hearing persons in international competitions. It is also affiliated with the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (Stewart 74).

The deaf athletes are different from other athletes on the playing field by their loss of hearing and are all united on the USADSF's national teams by their virtue of experiences they share as well as the challenges they face. Former and current athletes act as ambassadors within the United States and around the world and serve as role models either actively or by example to the youths who are deaf and hard of hearing. Little interest is put in whether one is playing for a medal or not. More importance is put on ones dedication and on giving their best ("Athletes ").

Publications

The deaf and hard of hearing community, like any other community, has its own publications. These publications are both independent or have been put out by various organizations that focus on the deaf and hard of hearing. There have been several publications which include the silent news, the SIGNews and Deaf Times among others.

i. The Silent News

The Silent News was first published in 1st January, 1969. It was the first publication that catered exclusively to the deaf and the hard of hearing. The publication reprinted stories from the media on deafness and also carried its own original content as well. It struggled to survive during its existence and its publishing ceased with its founder's, Julius Wiggins, death in 2001 (Berke). It suffered financially in its bid to survive financially and even outlasted its competition. Later years saw competition from a competition between the Silent News, DeafNation and Newswaves with the other two eventually losing to Silent News. It did expand to the internet in a bid to broaden its coverage. In its last years, it carried more original reporting and decreased reprints. There were also advertisements by vendors of deaf and hard of hearing products and services.

ii. SIGNews

After Silent News ceased publishing, the Communication Services for the Deaf, CSD, launched a print paper in October 2003 called the SIGNews which also featured some of the former writers from the Silent News (Berke). It is printed once a month with its information targeting members of the signing community. This publication offers information meant to unify and strengthen the deaf and hard of hearing community. The paper contains articles on news, investigative reporting, humor, sports, community activities and cartoons among others ("About SIGNews"). Its layout is specifically designed with photos and accessible text that are placed prominently on each page in an aim to satisfy the visual eye. It also serves as a forum for its readers through encouraging exchange of current news and events through informing, educating and presenting topics for discussion (Jenkins 147).

Deaf Nation

DeafNation Inc. was founded by brothers, Joel and Jed Barish in 2003 and is the international leader in video content, news coverage, social networking and special events for the greater deaf and hard of hearing community. DeafNation Inc. organizes an annual tour of 10 to 15 expos that take place all over the United States which is called DeafNation Expo, as well as DeafNation.com which is an exclusive social network that offers resources for the hard of hearing and the deaf where they post blogs or online videos providing in-depth coverage on current news, world events and other international and local outstanding individuals. The DeafNation offers a one-stop center for news for the deaf and the hard of hearing individuals. The site covers international events including Deaflympics and World Deaf Basketball Championships and other big events ("About DeafNation").

Social Clubs

Deaf social clubs are an important part of the Deaf culture. The Deaf and hard of hearing consider the social clubs as a second home where they get to socialize, swap information, make deals, get services among others. The clubs are usually run by volunteers who are always available for this purpose. Though the numbers of clubs are dwindling, deaf social clubs were important for developing leadership capabilities (Gall 172). People are able to gain enough confidence which they eventually carry with them to the mainstream society. Social clubs also served as a place for socializing where the deaf are able to interact with other different individuals rather than be stuck in their own groups that they are used to (Lane 158).

Sign Writing

The challenge that has faced the sign language is that though it is used by thousands of deaf people, they must again learn two languages so as to enable them communicate effectively: signing language and the general population alphabet. With the entry of Sign Writing this situation could be changed because for a long time signing which is the language of the deaf couldn't be written down. About a quarter of a million individuals who rely on the American Sign Language will be affected by this since its language being as complex as any other spoken one cannot be written down hence the deaf individuals are thus disadvantaged from reading everyday publications like the newspaper. The world signed language can now be captured on paper through the recent graphic symbols which are based on dance notation. The long sought bridge to English literacy may be furnished by the system for the deaf child which is usually a bit of a struggle to the beginners. The system is however yet to be widely accepted and its believed to be used by the educated people and more so the issue of writing down the sign language is still an open question. Nonetheless its popularity is growing in the homes and schools and is now present in the 27 countries (Fox 48).

According to Fox, there must be learning of English as a foreign language for the deaf child who a.S.L is the first language. The catch is that the sounds which the alphabetical letters are based upon and which they can't hear. This therefore is the reason for lack of full literacy of the deaf person to English language. It is thus observed that they score below the fourth grade level on average in the standardized reading exams. The literacy gap will therefore be bridged by the Sign Writing according to its advocates. Sign language works spatially whilst the spoken language operates acoustically. Each sign is considered a bundle of data which is compact whereby three key means are used to convey linguistic information: the hand of the signer shape; the hand's location in space and the hand's movement direction. To capture the thousands of signs of a.S.L. is quite difficult because it involves the compressing of three dimensional signs to two dimensional papers (Fox 49).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Deaf culture has similar aspects to our culture with the only difference being the means of communication that is used in communicating. It includes many aspects like publications, organization, social clubs and other clubs like American Sign Language clubs. Most people are not aware how complex their culture is. This is evident in the definition of culture whereby it is a set of patterns, traits, attitudes and intellectual/artistic activity associated with a populations (Padden, 24).