I believe the point of “Deaf”
Education is to create an environment where deafness will not be pathologized
and medicalized, but rather viewed as an unique characteristic of a whole
child. I am extremely uncomfortable when educators discuss Deaf education in
terms of loss and repair.
The majority of Deaf people
share a collective history of trauma when it comes to language deprivation. For
over a hundred years, hearing professionals have dominated the field of Deaf
education in the United States using oral methods, and this continues to be
true today. It was not until the 1970’s that sign language was finally allowed
in Deaf schools and Deaf programs. Deaf people have always fought for autonomy
in decision-making processes related to Deaf education, wanting Deaf education
to be Deaf-centered. Currently, there are a few Deaf schools run by Deaf people
themselves, and those schools are the first to embrace the American Sign Language and
English bilingual education.
As a Deaf community member, I
grew up hearing many stories where Deaf people were forced to undergo hours and
hours of speech therapy, wear uncomfortable hearing aids despite frequent resistances, and miss out on daily instructions and conversations because sign
language was perceived as inferior. Deaf people were indoctrinated to believe
that the only way to “better” themselves was to become as “hearing” as
possible. Deaf people share stories of not feeling accepted, not feeling whole,
and not feeling human. Many of them are angry for being cheated out of good
education and good life by the misconceptions imposed by anti-ASL advocates.
Although the technology and
educational approaches have changed through the years, the trauma remains the
same. As a current teacher, I see many Deaf students (labeled as ‘failures’)
coming to my school from oral schools severely delayed in their language and
cognitive development because they had failed to acquire speaking and listening
skills. They share similar traumas as the majority of Deaf community members.
Those students did not fail to learn because they are Deaf, but because they
weren’t given full access to language. Often, it is left up to Deaf schools to
make up for those years of deprivation.
As a Deaf graduate student, I
was negatively triggered by this week’s readings and the WebQuest assignment. I
had emotional reactions to the task questions and the information presented in
the websites because I carry a long and collective history of struggle and
resistance toward the pathological view of deafness. Questions such as:
1)
What are the different types of hearing screening for infants?
2)
What is an audiogram?
3)
What are some strategies to getting children use hearing aids on a
regular basis?
4)
What are the types of hearing loss?
5)
Can hearing loss be corrected?
6)
What are the degrees of hearing loss?
7)
What are some causes of hearing loss?
…instill deficit thinking in educators of the Deaf toward their
Deaf students. Those questions promote the perception that Deaf children “lack”
something instead of recognizing them as “whole” children who are perfectly
capable of learning and thriving. Unfortunately, the field of special education
typically focuses on physiological characteristics rather than language
development (in particular, language deprivation) when it comes to Deaf
students.
I, like many other Deaf
people, reject the medical model of disability. I have been collaborating with
other people with disabilities (Blind, Deaf, Little People, Autistic, etc.) in
dismantling the ideology of normalcy and normalization. We all embrace our
differences, and have no desire of striving to normalize our bodies and lives
in an attempt to fit the narrow definition of what it means to be a “normal”
human. This only serves to further oppress people with disabilities. Proposed
questions for educators of the Deaf:
1)
How do we make our curriculum fully accessible to Deaf children?
2)
How can we prevent Deaf children from language deprivation?
3)
What would an optimal education look like for Deaf children?
4)
What are the best strategies in supporting Deaf children’s
language development?
5)
How can we support Deaf children with speaking and listening
skills?
6)
How can we support Deaf children who do not have speaking and
listening skills?
7)
What can we do to support Deaf students when they arrive to our
classroom without language?
As educators of the Deaf, we
should not set our attention on Deaf children’s “hearing loss.” Instead, we
should focus on providing Deaf children access to the academic curriculum by
using languages that are fully accessible to them. For the most part, access to
language is missing, and that is where educators with an expertise in the field
of Deaf education should come in. I want to emphasize that I am not against
teaching Deaf children how to speak and hear. All current Deaf-centric schools
that practice ASL-English bilingual philosophy incorporate speech training in
their programs. This is not the issue at all. The issue is Deaf people (and all
other disabled beings) are constantly being reduced to nothing more than
pathological illnesses, diseases, and disorders, especially in the field of special
education.
I hope hearing people reading
this will keep an open mind and attempt to understand where I come from and why
I’m triggered by this week’s readings and assignments. I hope those who
designed this program will consider and include Deaf people’s lived experiences
and desire to be respected as full human beings. I am tired of being reduced to
my hearing and speaking abilities. I hope there will come a day where Deafhood
(the social view of deafness) in all its forms will no longer be pathologized
and medicalized in educational settings.
If knowing specifics on how
our ears are broken is deemed necessary to this program and cannot be
eliminated, I’d like to respectfully ask the program organizers to include
trigger warnings for any assignments that promote deficit thinking and the
medical perspective of Deaf people so I can be mentally and emotionally
prepared for the triggers and re-traumas as I work through the assignments.
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