Chapters 32-36 For Hearing People Only

I want to first state…these were the chapters I have found to be the most interesting, answering many of my questions I have had hidden in my head, sharing stories that left me quite angry….that people could be so cruel!

Chapter 32 Can’t all Deaf People read lips??

            I to had the misconception that if you were deaf…..you had the ability to read lips! Boy was I wrong! I have seen many people “exaggerate his or her mouth movements and talk abnormally slowly” when talking to a deaf person or someone with a hearing problem. Many times I have seen on skits on television. Embarrassed to say that I thought it was funny….then. I have tried doing that type of “talking” across a classroom with someone else and when they would “talk” back, I had no clue what was being said. Never thought of how it affected deaf people. The statistic, that only 30% of deaf could read lips, was a bit staggering….thought it was more than that. Never considered homonyms much less the fact that a person’s speech pattern would and does add to the problem. If you are lip reading in your family, it is easier to read their lips than that of a stranger. You are used to that “speaking”.

            I have and can read lips from time to time myself. Either on tv because it was on mute, or if I wanted to know what someone is talking about in a conversation and they were not near me. (Yeah I know…eavesdropping). To assume that this is or could be the way a deaf person can know what someone else is saying 100% of the time is now a  pretty crazy idea. I learned that when lip reading, or as the book says, “speechreading”, they read the entire face and body language as well as watching the lips. There is also observation of what the person may be holding and or the surroundings in order to understand what is being said. That makes sense to me…makes common sense. I need to keep this in mind when communicating with a deaf person who may not know ASL and pass the word on to others so as they do not make the same assumption.

Chapter 33 Why don’t deaf people like speech pathologists?

            I think this chapter is the one that really made the hair on my neck stand up the most. I am the child of 2 teachers, and I can’t believe some “teachers” and or speech pathologists could act this way.

            I thought that if a child was deaf, the school system worked with them on ASL. I was not aware that a speech pathologist worked with them to talk. I was correct in that the final decision of whether or not a deaf person “talks” is theirs and theirs alone.

            I am sure, that as a parent, it is difficult to learn that your child can’t hear. I am sure that from that moment on, a parent will do anything to help their child communicate with the hearing world. As a parent you will need to have someone “measure and chart the pattern of hearing loss – its range, its severity, and the amount of residual hearing.” That is what an audiologist can, do as well as make the recommendations as to what to do.

            In come the speech pathologists to do their work. I know that a child learns to talk from what they hear. So how can a speech pathologist “teach” a child how to talk in some “semblance of the “normal” speech of hearing people”? It is surprising that there is any degree of success! If you can’t hear then how can you learn to talk?

            It really bothered me, as stated in the book, that some speech pathologists “have contempt” for the deaf clients, like they are “defective”! It goes on to state “there’s no point in exerting ourselves, since these deaf people aren’t going to amount to much, anyway”. This is where being a child of teachers comes in. I know my mother would never think that of any child with a disability. I was in school with children in wheelchairs, one who was born without eyes, and I, nor my teachers never once thought they were “defective” or not going to “amount to anything, anyway”! Somebody needs to get these people out of the classroom!

            The man who shared how he was “punched” by his therapist is shocking! I just can’t imagine any of my teachers hitting a child to get him to say or do something correctly. “Abuse” is right. Thank goodness things have changed and the speech therapists today are more caring and sensitive, not angry with the deaf student.

            The whole point of the speech pathologist, as I understand, is to take the deaf child and work with them to the best of their ability to teach them to talk. Hitting, putting them down, and in some cases humiliating them has thankfully gone away. The client, a deaf person, needs to have a good relationship with the therapist, not fear them as I sure many did.

            I wonder how the parents of some of these “abused” children felt if and went they heard about the punching and such? I know my mother would tear someone up as she has done a time a two when I was in school and bullied. I think I would react the same way if it were my child.

Chapter 34 Is it wrong to expect a deaf person to talk if we have heard her speak?

            To start, I am impressed that Mr. Mindel is taking ASL in order to communicate with one of his employees! I don’t know of many bosses who would do something like this. I understand his questioning, if she can say some words, then why doesn’t she talk in basic conversation? The fact that he is sensitive to her and does not want to make her do something she may be uncomfortable doing is impressive. Many others would feel that she should talk since she can say some things….”selective speech”

            Having just learned that deaf children are taught speech and oral schools concentrate on speech training over reading, doesn’t mean they are good at talking. The training is not always effective, not all therapists are good, and there is” no consistent standard of quality”. Even with the best of therapists, it is difficult to teach good articulation and modulating of your voice when you have never heard your voice. I can remember the times I have heard a deaf person speak, it is monotone and can be difficult to understand. I always wondered if they are deaf, how could they learn to talk?

            With the monotone voice and the difficulty of others understanding them, many deaf have made the decision not talk so they won’t get the weird faces from others and be humiliated. The statement “they know that their voices sound harsh and unpleasant” somehow surprises me. I guess this is what they pick up when someone makes faces when they try to talk.

            A deaf person talking is like someone dancing in public. Just because you can tap and chair dance, it does not mean you will get up on stage and dance for everyone. If you’re deaf and can say a few words, it doesn’t mean you have to talk in order to communicate. If you are uncomfortable doing it, you shouldn’t be forced, demanded, or expected to do it. Can’t imagine any one would make someone….but this book has exposed many things I couldn’t imagine.

Chapter 35 You’re deaf, how come you can talk?

            Some deaf people have good speech skills from their training, while some do not. We come back to the fact that some prefer not to talk, even when most have “normal vocal apparatus”.

            I found the 7 distinct groups and labels the Deaf community recognizes interesting. Did not know about these.

1. The born-deaf (hereditarily deaf) who have the strong Deaf culture connection don’t like to talk unless with family member or close friends. Then label “Deaf”.

2. Labeled “deaf-speech”, these are people born deaf or early deafened. Good speech skills but use ASL. Sometimes they will use speech in public.

3. The HH-voice label is for those who went deaf  in later childhood, kept clear speech, but went to schools for deaf after going deaf.

4. The “ex-hearing” labels those progressively going deaf or late deafened adults.

5. The labeling “oral” is for those who are a deaf person from hearing family with oral background and aren’t fluent signers.

6. With a 60dB hearing loss and can use a phone with or without amplification and are also labeled “HH-voice”.

7. The most interesting label is “hearing-in-the-head” which refers to strictly oral-deaf people won’t learn to sign and are against the deaf community.

            Maybe I have had my head in the sand for all these years, but to think that the deaf have been so rudely treated and separated is mind boggling. I thought we got past that when special needs children were mainstreamed in the classroom. To think that someone would insist a deaf person to talk because “we heard you say other words” is crazy. It’s kinda like math. Many take different ways to solve a math problem, but as long as you solve it, it shouldn’t matter how you got there. If you are deaf, you can talk, you can sign, you can write it down….it shouldn’t matter how you communicate….but that you can communicate.

Chapter 36 What do you call a deaf person who doesn’t speak?

            I can’t remember a time when a deaf person was called “deaf-mute” or “deaf and dumb”, but in talking with my mother, she can. She can remember reading stories in which children were in state care, in deplorable conditions just because they were deaf! Parents were told there was nothing anyone could do for them so they might as well give the child away. I have heard about children who were in state care because they were crazy…and it turned out they were only deaf. There was the assumption that because they were deaf they would never learn anything and were treated like a caged animal.

            I saw a fact in the book that stated there is a 5% chance a deaf child can develop intelligible speech. Fact is, without hearing their voice, they can’t get the tone, pitch, inflection, or loudness a hearing person can. Many think they sound awful and thus choose not to speak.

            It is interesting that those who learn Sign as a first language, tend to “develop better speech than those who are given intensive early oral training without exposure to signing”. If you learn one language well, it is easier to learn another language.

            I agree with the thought in the book that instead of spending hundreds of hours on oral language, could the time be better spent learning better English skills in reading and writing? There is no crystal ball to determine what is best for each deaf child, since so many deaf choose not to talk because of embarrassment, shouldn’t we look at those facts and use the school time better and teach reading and writing better to them?

            I’ve seen Marlee Matlin on television many times. I have seen her sign and I have seen her talk. I even saw here on Dancing with the Stars! She is an amazing person and a great role model for anyone. As long as a deaf person can communicate, it shouldn’t matter if it is talking or signing, at least, in my opinion.