Deaf Essay

Deaf history month is celebrated every year from March 13th to April 13th according to byui.edu. Sign Language is a big part of our country; it’s the fourth most common language and is over 200 years old. Also, in the US alone, there are more than 1,000,000 people over the age of five who are deaf (research.gallaudet.edu)! Although all of these people are unable to hear sound; they have a life that is just as rich as any hearing person. Many deaf people are involved in the communities of the Deaf. They are able to attend school with other hard of hearing kids, order take out pizza over a videophone, have great friends, see movies, watch TV, and even drive (National Association of the Deaf)! Deaf people are capable of doing virtually anything …show more content…
At some times deaf people do need a little extra help from interpreters. However, they are able to communicate in many ways besides talking that hearing people who do not know ASL can understand. By writing things down, acting things out and even using gestures deaf people are able to communicate with non ASL people and are capable of almost all the things that hearing people are. Before the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) was created many people who were deaf did not have the same rights of equality that hearing people did. Now, there are laws that are in place to help the deaf which surprises many people. There are currently laws that require businesses of a certain size to have ways for the deaf to communicate to them. There are also laws for all franchises which states that they can not discriminate against working with deaf people or hiring them. These laws and many more enable the deaf to have a normal life that isn 't so different from ours which can be really surprising to some …show more content…
It has even been proven that they can be better drivers as they are not distracted by talking on the phone or other noises in a car. Next, all deaf people do not read lips. “Some Deaf people are very skilled lip readers, but many are not. Only about 30% of spoken English is visible on the lips. This is because many speech sounds have identical mouth movements. For example: p and b look exactly alike on the lips” (signsoflifeasl.wordpress.com). Third, deaf people are no less intelligent than anyone who is hearing. “Hearing loss is not representative of intelligence or ability. Deaf people can do everything a Hearing person can do, except hear as