Often people take for granted the sounds of the world around us. The birds chirping, the trees blowing in the wind, the seas crashing on a beach. These are all sounds that people enjoy at varying times every day of their lives. But, imagine living your life not being able to hear those sounds. There is a sizable number of our fellow citizens who live each day not being able to hear a sound. They are called The Deaf.
In the United States, it is estimated that 38 million people past five years of age are deaf, hard-of-hearing or deaf and blind, according to the last Census. The Community Resources for the Deaf estimates that around 11 thousand people in the city of Dayton are deaf. The state of Ohio itself has one of the largest deaf populations in the country. This is because Ohio has two deaf schools (Ohio School for the Deaf in Columbus and St. Rita’s School for the Deaf in Cincinnati), one of only two states to have more than one. Despite the fact that they cannot hear, deaf people have created a whole culture for themselves with their own language, customs and sensibilities much like any other culture. They also face similar challenges and tribulations because of their deafness much in the way as some minorities do in the hearing culture.
Gwendolyn McNeal of the American Sign Language (ASL, for short) Department at SInclair, located in Building 9. McNeal is a Faculty Instructor and Practicum Supervisor in the ASL Department and has been working at Sinclair since 2009 after graduating from Sinclair in 2007. Amanda Hix, a Sign Language Mentor, also talked to the Clarion about working in the ASL-ECE Lab in Building 9. Hix is Deaf, and provided insight into the Deaf culture, which is key to the understanding of the culture that many hearing people cannot grasp, according to Hix.
It may surprise some to know that deaf people are treated rather unfairly, and in some cases as second-class citizens by hearing people when in public. Hix spoke of a situation at a restaurant:
“If a server comes up to me, I will try to point to the things that I would like to order and that person will still continue to talk to me,” Hix said. “When I gesture and point to my ear and say that I can’t speak, then often I am given attitude or the server won’t come and take care of our table as frequently as with other tables. So, I feel slighted or ignored when that happens.”
Hix also mentioned an experience at a fast-food place, saying, “When you go up to the counter and you ask for something to write with, do you think that would be clear for them to write with pen and paper? But the hearing individuals that work there just kind of stare at you and then it’s like ‘Hey, I can’t hear!’ and they say ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!’ But then they still keep talking. So, I think that that can really be rude once they know that a person is deaf and they don’t speak that we go forward with writing or gesturing.”
Hix said it’s very typical. She said that she has gotten around that to a point by using text on her phone. She said she still saw attitudes from the cashiers or servers even when she used the text messages because of the language differences.
“Before, I used to go in some place and try to avoid conversations, and now I will type it on my phone and then show them the phone when I get there and they’ll read the text message and take care of whatever they need to do,” she said.
Ms. Hix noted that the staring she gets from people when they know she is Deaf seems to mostly be uniformly non-committal or judgmental, and thus rude.
“I don’t think there’s enough education about the Deaf culture out there,” Hix said. “I guess my point would be that if I point to my ear and say that I’d like to write, then after that, you know that I’m Deaf, so don’t continue to talk to me. That’s really rude.”
Hix did point out that there are some deaf people who can read lips and even some who can use their voices, but it is important to note that not all deaf people can do either one.
So why is there this negative attitude towards the deaf among hearing people? Hix argued that such treatment was related to a view about disabilities that pushes people aside, “They think that they know what to do and they’re just not really aware of Deaf culture and they see Deaf culture as a disability and it’s not. They don’t know about our language and our culture and all that it encompasses. They just don’t know about it. They really look at it as a disability rather than a culture.”
Hix said that some people are “clueless” about Deaf culture and don’t have enough exposure to it.
“The first time that a person sees a deaf person, you wouldn’t know how to communicate,” Hix said. “It can be a difficult experience, one that you’re nervous about participating in. Sometimes that is where the attitude comes from is insecurity on how to handle it.”
Hix mentioned that in history books, we learn about African-American culture and history, and Chinese-Americans’ culture and history, but not Deaf culture and history. She believes the inclusion of such may lead to a better understanding among the general populace about Deaf culture and history, and perhaps reduce the stigma that seems to follow the deaf all the time, starting with the formative years in elementary and junior high school.
If given the chance, Hix would “absolutely” argue for the inclusion of deaf history in textbooks. “I think that would really be beneficial for the deaf community, as well as the hearing community that both of them stand to gain in that environment where they can support each other rather than a place where they don’t know about the culture and discriminate or have negative attitudes towards each other.”
To get the flip side of the perspective, the Clarion asked Mrs. McNeal, who can hear, about how she first viewed the deaf culture when she first started studying American Sign Language and the Deaf culture as opposed to what her views are today.
“I would say I didn’t start out as a typical student. I worked for the VA Hospital and back then, we had a department that was mostly deaf. We had seven deaf employees and I became friends with several of them. So, we had been signing with each other for several years before I started school here. But to be honest I still was really scared coming into the lab. I only knew my deaf friends and not any other deaf people. But I don’t know. I had always been a language person. I always loved language and culture. I had been in the military, which is the most diverse a place there has ever been.”
McNeal admitted her beginnings were different from most others, but in her time as a faculty member in the ASL Department, she noted that not all shared the same story.
“I would say all of our students are unique,” McNeal said, “We can say it is typical for any student to be nervous in their first semester, hearing or deaf, sign language or biology. They’re all kind of nervous starting out. Some would start out with more gusto than others.”
Then I asked about why the stigma about the deaf even exists in the first place. Mrs. McNeal answered, “My opinion, I think, is that hearing people are uncomfortable because they don’t know. It makes them feel insecure or makes them feel dumb because they can’t communicate. So they turn it around and to make themselves feel better, they don’t behave appropriately back.”
She continues to elaborate, “But I think it comes from a hearing person’s inability to do something. I think hearing people tend to go, ‘I want to ride a bike’, so they go do it. They say, ‘I want to go skiing’, they go do it. ‘Oh, here’s a deaf person. I don’t know how to do it.’ I think they feel insecure or not good enough personally and then they just don’t know how to respond. We see the same thing when people interact with those with Down syndrome or autism. They are often not treated well and they are wonderful people. So what is it that our hearing society does? I don’t know.”
Ms. Hix added, “The real stigma is because they think of hearing impaired as a disability and those people are less than because they have a disability. And this is a majority hearing world and they brush them aside because they have a disability. I would say it’s just a lack of education and understanding that Deaf people have their own language and culture. It is its own encompassing thing.” It is important to realize that saying the term “hearing-impaired” to a Deaf person is considered a grave insult.
Hix said, “Hearing people always say that. It’s used pretty frequently. It is an insult.” She then relayed an experience here at Sinclair that she found incredibly stunning; in one of her English classes, the class was doing a group activity and because there was an odd number of students in the class, Hix got left out of a pairing. So, the instructor asked Hix’s interpreter to be her partner. The interpreter objected, saying that that was an inappropriate role for them to play and suggested a group of three. The professor agreed, but said, “Who wants to work with this hearing impaired girl?” Hix was furious at this slight and said, “My name is Amanda, not hearing-impaired girl.” Here she was trying to actively participate in the classroom and she was receiving this treatment. This, to Hix, only proved that the stigma exists at all levels of life, not just as kids, but as adults as well.
McNeal added onto Ms. Hix’s previous comments about exposure and education, saying, “I totally agree with Amanda. We have education for all different types of subcultures in America and Deaf people have a rich history. They served the military, there’s an all deaf university, there’s deaf theater troupes. They have amazing things and have made amazing contributions to our country and the world. I totally agree they should be in the history books and that that knowledge would be beneficial for everyone.”
McNeal went on to say, “I would still support having Spanish and French as the typical foreign languages in high schools. But there’s not a big use for French in the United States, and sign language is the third-most used language in the United States. So why is it not more prevalent in our foreign language programs?” When asked if that was because of the stigma, Mrs. McNeal responded, “I don’t know if it is because of the stigma. I think people just don’t know. They don’t know it’s actually a language and not something they just created at home. They don’t realize the depth and breadth of the language and culture and community. They think it’s just a way to replace English for communication. They just don’t know.”
McNeal mentioned that several schools have begun to employ sign language programs in the local community. she argued that sign language should be just as prevalent as Spanish in high school. One thing that Sinclair does to promote the use of sign language and the Deaf culture in general is that half of the faculty working in the ASL Department is Deaf. “Many students come in their first semester and realize they have a deaf instructor and they say, ‘Oh man, my professor is deaf. I won’t learn a thing! I’m not going to understand what they’re saying!’ And they’re incredibly nervous. But by the end of the semester, they realize that our deaf instructors are smart and that the deaf people helped them learn and that deaf people can. They got grades and got the calculations for their grades right and learned all sorts of lessons about deaf equality from us having 50% of the faculty who are Deaf and half-deaf staff down in the ASL lab. So, on a daily basis, they are able to see equality.”
Deaf equality is in fact a civil rights issue that has garnered national attention before, much like along the lines of civil rights for African Americans and Hispanics and the like. In the 1960s, the United States Congress declared American Sign Language as an official language, a culture and a community. That happened with a march on Washington, D.C. two weeks ago, the deaf community held a rally calling for deaf equality in communication, education and employment. They argued that all of these other groups finally seeing them getting their rights and the deaf are still fighting for their equality. So, deaf equality is an incredibly hot issue along these lines.
The Clarion asked both ladies one final question: What message would you give to the student body of Sinclair and the Dayton area in general about the deaf community?
Hix’s message was: “We are no different from you guys. We’re human. We can do anything. When other people start to get engaged with the deaf community, they really get inspired. Once people take one step in and then before they know it, they’re all in. It’s an enjoyable experience for everyone.”
McNeal’s message was: “Open yourself up to see all of the positive things that other cultures and communities can bring. It will be scary to try something new and that the best things are scary when you try them. If they just take one step into the deaf community and the culture, they’re going to fall in love.”
Christopher Witt
Reporter