Deaf Culture in America

ASL-1

Thoughts on Voices from A Culture

When I finished reading the book I realized that I had just learned way more than I had been expecting. Just reading the first chapter was enough for me to be awestruck by the intricacies of the Deaf culture, but as I continued reading I realized that the depth and many levels of social structure are so detailed that being able to fully understand them would be simply impossible. I was very impressed with the amount of respect that the word Deaf conveys among the Deaf community. The first chapter to me seemed to be the most interesting. The many stories about Deaf children meeting friends and interacting shed a new light on the way that Deaf people learn to communicate. The word Deaf itself is used to communicate specific things. It not only describes a culture but it can be used to describe a single person or family at the same time. It seemed that the word itself was extremely multifaceted in its usage.

The first chapter was intriguing for me to read. Learning about the ways in which Deaf children learn to communicate and behave was very informative. When I was reading the different stories about Deaf children meeting friends I would try to put myself in their shoes and almost see it from a different perspective. To be able to look at the world through a totally different mindset was challenge. Having never thought like that before I struggled to completely grasp the point that some of the stories were trying to get across. The story about the young child who was deaf and thought everyone lip read better than he did was an amazing story to me. That story got me to look at speaking from a non-auditory perspective. The ability to read lip movements and understand them without realizing that there was an auditory aspect that is attached is an extremely impressive feat. Many stories like this throughout the first chapter made me look at speaking, motion, gestures, and signs in a totally different way. I also liked the story about Tony, who had trouble identifying himself amongst his family and friends. This story illustrates that deaf children, like hearing children, struggle with the same issues about identity and who they should associate themselves with. Seeing this similarity along with many others helped me understand the way in which deaf children begin to associate themselves with the Deaf culture.

The next chapter titled Images of Being spoke more about the school aspect and some of the origins of signed language. This chapter spoke of a folk tale about Abbe de l'Epee supposedly the beginning of signed language and the first school. This story illustrates the importance of the story to the story teller. The person who told the story was an older member of the club that they were at and he told the story with great enthusiasm. The story seemed extremely meaningful to him and it taught about the Deaf culture and how it began. Also in this chapter there was a story about a deaf boy who was squirrel hunting and was captured by soldiers outside of his home. This young man was being accused of espionage and was facing his own death, but an officer who had a Deaf brother was able to confirm that the boy was deaf by testing him and his ability. This story