Analysis Of Tom Humphries's Transition To The Death Community

Tom Humphries lost all of his hearing at the age of six from exposure to antibiotics. However, he was raised around hearing people. Both of his parents were able to hear. Tom entered the Death community while he was in college; his entrance wasn’t planed. It was more of an accident. He entered the Death community by learning the Death culture and being around other people who was like himself, but from different back grounds. Even though Humphries’ been death for most of his life, his transition to the Death community was still a challenging one. Tom didn’t know how to sign growing up and his parents didn’t bring him around other death people, so all of these things made Humphries membership in death community a harder one to come by. …show more content…
But, I believe the two most common ways are through school/education and friends. However, it can also be done through family, like it was shown in Carol Padden Case. In today’s society a deaf or hard of hearing people can also enter the Deaf community through technology, such as the internet or television. This is possible due to all of the background, support, and knowledge that can be found by just searching the words Deaf Community online. Someone can easily find things out and gain confidence about their community by seeing a commercial or searching the web. Sometimes a traumatic experience can also bring a deaf or hard of hearing person to the Deaf community. For example, maybe an individual suddenly loses their hearing in an accident and their parents have no idea what to do, so the individual has to go to the hospital and has to be around a medical team and other kids who are deaf and hard of hearing. It doesn’t always have to be Deaf and hard of hearing people that brings Deaf and hard of hearing people into the community; it can be the speech pathologists, psychologists, nurses, signing coaches, etc. as well. These people can give deaf and hard of hearing people the tools and knowledge to help them become more confident with their lack or nonexistence of