Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Thoughts About Deafness

Hey everyone!
This post won't have a whole lot to do with what we've discussed in class, but you guys can feel free to add in comments on how this relates to chapter 6 if you would like! For my ASL 101 class, I had to watch the documentary "See What I'm Saying" that followed the lives of four deaf creators as they tried to be creative in a predominantly hearing world. While all of them were accepted into the deaf community as artists, they all had a lot of trouble becoming famous and making a name for themselves in the hearing world. This made me really upset, especially being a creator myself, as well as thinking about people like Marlee Matlin who was accepted into Hollywood fairly easily. I'm not sure everyone's major, but I'm assuming that everyone in this class is dedicated to making life easier for everyone, children and adults alike. Assuming this to be true, what can we do as the upcoming generation to make sure that people from all cultures are included and have the same opportunities, not just in school, but with their dreams? Why should it be okay for people to tell a deaf child that their dreams of becoming movie stars or musicians aren't substantial simply because they were born with hearing loss? I can't wait to hear your all's thoughts on this because I've been thinking pretty hard about it recently.

9 comments:

  1. I remember watching that video in 101; it was really interesting, and I loved CJ Jones.
    I think one of the best ways to help the upcoming generation would just be for us to want/ask for more representation. We're slowly getting there with shows like Switched at Birth, which has Deaf main characters, and having Nyle DiMarco on Dancing with the Stars. So, I think we just have to be the group that calls for representation and to show that media with Deaf individuals is actually something that people want and will consume/enjoy.

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  2. It is very sad that there are people who tell deaf children and adults that their dreams will not become a reality because of their hearing impairment. I think that it is a misconception in the hearing world that if they see that someone is deaf, they automatically think they are disabled and can not accomplish much on their own, which is totally untrue. Therefore, when someone wants to become a famous actor or musician, hearing people automatically think they will never achieve this. Some things that we could try to help these people achieve their dreams in the future is by trying to educate those who have no idea about the Deaf community and explain to them that there is nothing wrong with them, they just can't hear as well as we can. That shouldn't limit their acting ability or whatever they want to do. Sure it might be challenging to learn an instrument but anyone can master it with practice and learning what to do to benefit themselves.

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  3. It's so reassuring to me to hear that this type of biased treatment angers you. In my heart I am thinking "finally!"
    Finally, maybe, this generation--your generation--will figure out the need to respect all people for who they are and to work to include them in all aspects of society. Please make your voices (and signs) known every chance you get.

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  4. My view point on this topic is very similar to Katie's. I feel like as a generation we should put forth more of an effort to educate the hearing world about what being deaf or hard of hearing is! Knowledge is power and promotes acceptance.

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  5. As a mother my heart broke for the young actor whose mother would not communicate with him in that documentary. I am super happy to see the joy and desire of the students pursuing degrees to benefit deaf and hearing impaired children. I know my 9 month old grandson will get a dose every time he's with hims mammaw.

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  7. I agree with Jessi. It is important to give Deaf people and other minorities more attention. We need to allow them to be a greater part of society. If they are better represented then the younger generation will feel they have less barriers and be able to fulfill their dreams. I think we can help with this by promoting Deaf people and their accomplishments on our social media and in other ways so that our friends can be informed of how deaf people are the same as hearing people and they can have great accomplishments too. Then our friends can inform their friends and so on until more word is out and more people are likely to start including everybody

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  8. I just think it all boils down to what society thinks people can and cannot do. Growing up, I was told that deaf people were less, that they were disabled, that is just what society taught me. Never did I see a deaf person really until Marlee Matlin. I think that making young people aware that deaf people ARE capable of doing the same things as hearing people is very important, and I think that the inclusion is important.If society as a whole moved away from this whole "disabled" idea, I think that more deaf people would be recognized by hearing society instead of just glanced over.

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  9. I Feel when more people learn about what being deaf really is they wont try to limit people with hearing lost because of it. Right now people let kids that are deaf slid because they just guess they cant do something because they are deaf but what they really need is to be pushed and not forget that they can do anything they set their mind to. When the rest of the world stops looking a deafness as a bad thing that limits people then deaf children can grow up learning that they can do anything they want.

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