Struggles that Deaf people have
BOOK 1
Supporting points
This book is one that shows the struggle that Deaf people have had and the effort they are willing to make themselves heard in a world that is full of hearing people. This book is a reflection of a protest for “deafhood” and its rights. This book incorporates the works of great scholars in the Deaf Studies and puts their work into a platform of talking to each other. This means that it shines a light on many controversial issues that were present in the time of the protests and continue to affect the Deaf community today.
Thoughts
These scholars are seen to provide varying answers to may provocative questions from the boundaries to Deaf identity and the field covers. How do they relate with others and themselves in terms of gender, class, family, race, and national identity? How do they relate to their disability? What form of activism do they pursue in their bid to have their voices heard? The two chapters open interesting and engaging lines of questioning that makes the book a useful tool for teaching.
In addition, the reader can understand from the text that cultural awareness is a journey that is the central part for those in the society to cover first that they may also maintain a positive sense of self-identity and even Deaf identity. In addition, the ASL is language whose understanding can help those in the hearing division understand cultural values. Media like literature and arts from the Deaf culture are pivotal segments of cultural awareness; hence should be taken as a means of communication and are appreciated.
Book 2
Main points
The chapter introduces us to the map of culture, an inquiry into the basic units of culture that can be used in understanding the outlines of any culture. It is meant to capture the business of life as people in all cultures live. What is important to note is that, like parts of speech, culture expresses the notion that an abstract entity (aka noun) can still be made into a quality (adjective). This means that a segment or body can be used to describe a quality, but still fail to define the other qualities present in it. For instance, should a message be sent across cultures, it has a high tendency to be misunderstood by many, negatively affecting the image and face of the individuals.
However, what is common in all cultures is that the behaviors related to the literature are the norms of the culture; hence the theme of behavior is common, though as different cultures vary, behaviors vary as well. The same would go for a hearing person who cannot possibly imagine a life without a cell phone and view it a great misfortune to be deaf, yet the latter is perfectly fine without it. Those in their community who still hear them are considered hard of hearing, but never deaf. Language is registered to be the most organized form of human interaction.
The Deaf society can ttbe mapped into the map of culture through sociological studies where one must first understand there is a difference between an institution and a culture, where the former is made by the latter. The chapter also does well to highlight that the society today is such that for one to be recognized as Deaf, their primary influence would be the school they learnt to communicate in rather than the family.
Book 3
Supporting points
The two chapters all in all help in explaining Deaf people from a cultural point of view, and how the culture has developed over time. Moreover, here are analyses on many aspects of Deaf community, the cultural norms, and literature both in English and ASL, and the solutions that are offered by the community for effective living. And basically how their experience makes them grow healthy identities. The author truly engages the reader with his own experience and perspective being a member of the Deaf community and also helps the reader learn new ways that the Deaf people can live efficient and happy lives in a world full of those who can hear.
Thoughts and challenges.
Holcomb does well to state the difference between being deaf and being hearing impaired. Deaf has been described to be a physical loss of hearing while someone in the Deaf community is someone who uses ASL. In this chapter, he uses Jerome’s 90 percent formula to distinguish the difference between the deaf and their hearing family. It explains that most Deaf people are born to hearing parents, making family dynamic adjustments when a deaf child is born.
This shows there are different experiences for people born deaf, based on their families. Those who are born with hearing are mostly bilingual and bicultural. However, those born deaf with deaf parents do not change anything in the family dynamic and tend to have it easier than those born with hearing parents. He examines that to be part of the Deaf culture, one needs to extend themselves completely to the Deaf community, meaning exhibiting interest in the culture, have friends who are already part of it, just to mention but a few.
In addition, the author does well to show his understanding of the Deaf society as to explain the diverse labels in the Deaf culture, the most common being hearing impaired, hearing, hard of hearing and hearing impaired but does so within the context of the culture. He explains that the Deaf community does not accept the term hearing impaired and is often discouraged. Hard of hearing, on the other hand, is used in the community. They are thought to going through similar experiences to those of hearing people by the deaf. He highlights that it has continuously been debated whether this label is based on the level of hearing or social and cultural basis.
Hearing is the term used to refer to those who neither are deaf or are hard of hearing and are seen to have different interests with those in the deaf community. The last label, hearing but is used for those who show a healthy positive attitude towards the deaf and respect for deaf culture in general. It is, therefore, correct to say that based on the text; Deaf people take pride in their identity as belonging to the deaf community and do not believe to be disabled, rather as a linguistic minority.