Deaf Community Reflection

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Within the Deaf Community, there are many different opinions on the best way to provide for the Deaf community due to the diverse backgrounds and opinions of Deaf people. The challenges the Deaf community faces can become even more controversial when hearing people attempt to provide solutions without consulting Deaf people on their own culture and suggestions. However, ever since I started learning American Sign Language, the information I learned regarding Deaf culture caused me to develop opinions, especially regarding the use of sign language or oralism with a Deaf child and sending a Deaf child to a hearing school or a Deaf school. My additional learning through the workbook sections, class decisions, and the attendance at Deaf church …show more content…
While the workbook does not directly support sending Deaf children to Deaf schools, it is a strong supporter of Gallaudet University and the history, community, and culture created by and surrounding Gallaudet. Gallaudet itself is Deaf school, and so by supporting the only Deaf University in the world, it is in a way, supporting sending Deaf children to Deaf schools. The workbook focuses on how Gallaudet is able to be such a thriving community because it is focused on providing an excellent education experience for Deaf students. It is not focused on providing a great experience for hearing students while also trying to provide for Deaf students. Because Deaf schools are able to focus on providing for Deaf students instead of as an afterthought, I believed Deaf schools provide a better, more productive environment for their students. In class, we discussed not only the importance of being able to provide the information to students in sign language but also focusing on teaching students the information instead of teaching them English. In my opinion, hearing schools seem more likely to focus solely on trying to perfect a Deaf student’s English than providing them a sufficient education in subjects including math, science, and history. Additionally, we discussed the challenges of socializing as a Deaf student at a hearing school. If …show more content…
While Mark Drolsbaurgh did have a much better social experience at Gallaudet since it was a Deaf college, his education benefited greatly from attending a hearing school. Despite his requests to transfer to the Deaf school, his Deaf parents refused because his education was years more advanced. His book drew attention to the fact that Deaf schools are often used as a location to send Deaf students who are unable to function at a hearing school. Because of the current lack of understanding of the importance of Deaf schools and hearing schools’ desire to receive funding, some Deaf schools are unable to provide quality education to their students. The question of providing a rigorous education and providing for students who are linguistically behind because of a lack of communication throughout their childhood remains as a challenging question for Deaf schools. Because of the challenges facing Deaf schools mentioned in Deaf Again, I have begun to consider whether or not I believe Deaf programs at hearing schools to be sufficient sources of education for Deaf students. While I have become unsure of the benefit of hearing schools’ Deaf programs, I still believe that Deaf schools are a good and necessary option for Deaf

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