Fig. 16
This photo shows a crying Deaf baby who is not allowed to sign. However, the non-Deaf baby is happy and signing "I Love You". This is extremely ironic because parents of Deaf babies usually pursue the medical route instead of teaching their child sign language and integrating them in the Deaf community. On the other hand, a non-Deaf baby is often encouraged to learn sign language, along with their native spoken language because it gives them an advantage and makes them seem smarter.
While I encourage non-Deaf children to learn ASL, I strongly believe that it is wrong that Deaf babies are denied the right to learn their natural language.
While I encourage non-Deaf children to learn ASL, I strongly believe that it is wrong that Deaf babies are denied the right to learn their natural language.
Stereotypes and Assumptions
Society creates attitudinal barriers by changing assumptions into labels, resulting in stereotypes. Questions such as "Deaf people can drive?" and "Deaf people can take care of children?" are oppressive and limiting. Deaf people frequently have lower expectations because they are viewed as disabled. In the report Beyond Ableism and Audism: Achieving Human Rights for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Citizens (2013), the authors explain how children with speech impediments are assumed to have a greater difficulty learning, than children who are understood easily (p. 10). Because of the suspected learning disability, this child would not be expected to be able to complete the same tasks as the other child. A parallel situation in the Deaf-world is a Deaf person being judged based on their English skills. It is important to understand that English is often the Deaf person's second language, therefore they are still learning. These situations are common amongst Deaf people's experiences, as I often get a surprised reaction from people, when discussing what Deaf people are capable of. Additionally, I repeatedly get told that a Deaf person is "cute" after seeing him or her sign. Praising the Deaf person like they just preformed a trick is wrong and shows again that people lower their expectations when meeting Deaf people.
Society creates attitudinal barriers by changing assumptions into labels, resulting in stereotypes. Questions such as "Deaf people can drive?" and "Deaf people can take care of children?" are oppressive and limiting. Deaf people frequently have lower expectations because they are viewed as disabled. In the report Beyond Ableism and Audism: Achieving Human Rights for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Citizens (2013), the authors explain how children with speech impediments are assumed to have a greater difficulty learning, than children who are understood easily (p. 10). Because of the suspected learning disability, this child would not be expected to be able to complete the same tasks as the other child. A parallel situation in the Deaf-world is a Deaf person being judged based on their English skills. It is important to understand that English is often the Deaf person's second language, therefore they are still learning. These situations are common amongst Deaf people's experiences, as I often get a surprised reaction from people, when discussing what Deaf people are capable of. Additionally, I repeatedly get told that a Deaf person is "cute" after seeing him or her sign. Praising the Deaf person like they just preformed a trick is wrong and shows again that people lower their expectations when meeting Deaf people.