The Changing View of Deafness

By Ben Gilbert

Editor: Inspired by the Gallaudet brouhaha, Ben Gilbert recorded his thoughts on what it means to be deaf or hard of hearing, and kindly agreed to share them with us. Ben has a progressive hearing loss that has become "severe to profound. Over the years, he has maintained communication with state-of-the-art hearing aids, and since, 2001, with a cochlear implant.

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The general view of the deaf and deafness (whether capital D or small d) is changing because of advances in medicine and technology, spurred by the knowledge of resources available to assist the deaf and near deaf to adapt to the increasing need for more effective communication going well beyond the acknowledged benefits of American Sign Language (ASL). Some may not want that assistance, and that's their privilege.

The desire of students to protect the role of American Sign Language in teaching at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC was the primary factor in successful protests that reversed the appointment of Dr. Jane K. Fernandes as the next president of Gallaudet. For them, sign language is not only a basic communication tool, but a key to their identity as part of the Deaf Culture.

The Washington Post reported that Dr. Fernandes "would like to see the institution become more inclusive of people who may not have learned to use sign language while growing up. Reportedly, she believes that Gallaudet must be welcoming to "all kinds of deaf people." Protesting students appeared to view her "bi-lingual" fluency in English and ASL as a liability, not an asset. There was a perception that she "was not deaf enough." One can hope that the students' view of the world around them will broaden as they experience it.

In some respects, deaf students are facing what European immigrants faced when they flooded into the United States in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. They treasured the culture that they brought with them and made use of their native language in the little enclaves where they settled. They had a great desire to make the grade in America and did the best they could with their often faulty English.

English speaking classes sprung up in New York City and other immigrant centers, and many benefited. Their children frequently emerged as adept English speakers, certainly much more fluent than their parents. The language the children spoke served to Americanize them.

That did not necessarily mean surrendering their identity. Americans with Italian, German, and French, Jewish and other Middle East parents and grand parents enriched their children with a culture gleaned from their origins as well as what they picked up as Americans. Today, their descendants can proudly state that they are qualified as Americans. They are not under pressure to sacrifice their historic identity to do so.

Like the European immigrants, many of those who are deaf, as well as many with severe to profound hearing problems, are choosing to live in two worlds, in the deaf community and within the oral community. They navigate both worlds.

Their focus on sign language and signing enables them to communicate with other members of the deaf community (small or capitalized). Not unreasonably, they can ask their teachers to communicate through sign language.

It is difficult to see how Ms. Fernandes' ability to communicate orally as well as to sign would make her a less effective administrator. But the board of trustees quailed before the student protests and rescinded her appointment. That does not necessarily mean that the board of trustees considers American Sign Language as the totem pole around which the institution revolves as the protesting students appear to want it to.

For the deaf as well as the hard-of-hearing, communication is more complex. For example, captioning to enhance speech with visual cues has great value as do other visual cues.

Devices to enable Gallaudet students to communicate orally with individuals who do not know sign language such as hearing aids, assistive listening devices, and cochlear implants are mentioned on the institution's web site. Such instruments link the spoken word to the hearing nerve. They help their teachers reach out to the hearing community as well as to the deaf. Similarly, the students would benefit from the broader horizons that become open when they are able to move in both worlds.