If I had gone to a hearing college instead long ago? I believe that the fact I had attended deaf colleges played a major role in my becoming part of the deaf community. Instead of being Jamie, the deaf student who struggled to keep up and fit in, in a deaf college I could be Jamie, just another deaf student.
As Elizabeth launches her exploration of the second cochlear implant generation, the identity question again comes to mind. Will deaf students who can hear so well, don't need support services,and don't have to struggle to communicate (according to commenter #8 on Elizabeth's blog, who wrote "They don’t struggle to understand peers, teachers, or parents.") or get along with hearing students, want to go to deaf colleges or colleges with large deaf programs? These are students who are more likely to identify with the hearing world than the deaf world even if they are still deaf with the implants off. I know because that's what I was like before I went to college. I still remember the early years of the deaf students in college telling me that I wanted to be "hearing."
Before I went to college, I felt like a hearing child trapped in a deaf body. That was the result of my "older generation" struggle to communicate, to hear, to fit in. Judging from what the parents are saying on MishkaZena's site, it sounds like their children will not know this type of struggle.
Ironically, that type of struggle is part of what leads deaf people to identify themselves as deaf. It is what has created a shared bond among deaf people. Without that type of struggle, will the new CI generation identify as deaf? This is what is scaring the older generation of deaf people so much - the thought that fewer and fewer young deaf people will choose to identify as deaf.
Because, functionally, they are hearing people.
Friday, January 11, 2008
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"(F)unctionally, they are hearing people."
No. They will NEVER be accepted as fully Hearing people. Hearing people will always find an excuse to dismiss those who aren't PERFECT in their eyes. At best, they might be accepted half-heartedly as Hard-of-Hearing.
Will they be accepted as fully Deaf people? Probably NOT and that is unfortunate.
Do they have ACCESS to full, spoken language? Maybe. It depends. Some will. Some won't.
Do they have access to full SIGNED language? YES. They do. And no matter how they fare with spoken language, they should have the RIGHT to SIGN!!!
Why ONE way of communication??? Why not BOTH???
No matter their skills? Why not ACCESS to the Deaf Community, no matter what is "best" in Hearie Society?"
World is changing. And it is OK.
I never took a psychology course, but I think that "Deaf" identity is overblown. We all are born with personalities/identities. Yes, I believe that we are born with identities already formed in us. What changes all the time is ATTITIDE/PERSPECTIVE. So we have Deaf perspective, not Deaf identity. So when we find the perspection (or philosophy, depending on your perspective) attractive to us, we change our thinking to fit any philosophy (like adopting ASL, joining deaf clubs, etc.) and then we'd call it "Deaf Identity".
As for 21st century's CI deaf people, well, kudos to them. They have more opportunities than we late 20th century's deaf people have had and we should be happy for them. We should stand up and give them a round of handwaving.
Well, I have a son who is hard of hearing (very mild hearing loss). He functions quite well in quiet environments. He talks well. However, he is a teenager now and he does not fit in his high school. He has been lonely and depressed. He has no hearing friends, just a few deaf/hoh friends outside of school. He will be attending the school for the deaf in our state in a week. He does know some sign language. So yes, kids with the CI can have the same struggles with identity. . .I also have a deaf son who so happens to have the implant. He is doing great with his implant. He just started at the school for the deaf a week ago and he loves it! He fits right in.
I noticed that many of the kids who received the CIs late in their age are getting depressed and lonely.
We will see these six to 12 months-months-old CI infants in about 10 years from now. Eventually, we'll know the answer.
We are in 21st century right now.
World is changing which is exciting to all of us.
White Ghost
People with CI implants know they are not hearing. They are reminded of it every time their battery dies, or when they shower or sleep. I myself am a CI user who identifies as deaf, and the friends I have who are CI users also identify as deaf, most of them realizing and accepting this in their teenage years. It is a difficult place to be in because we are deaf people who hear. Try explaining that to a hearing person- it goes right over their head. I attend RIT and it seems like a happy medium for me, as a CI user. I take classes at RIT with the hearing folks, as I have all my life, but I hang out at NTID, my connection to my deaf side. If only all CI users had access to a situation like this, where they could touch on both sides of themselves- the 'hearing' and the deaf.
Such deaf people who are functionally hearing people will find themselves in the middle as fencesitters.
They will know two sides very well. One side is what it is like to be "deaf" as defined by both the hearing world and the Deaf. The other side is what it is like to be "hearing" as defined by the hearing world and the Deaf. That's actually FOUR different definitions.
For the new CI generation who will become adults in the next decade, these adults will probably end up redefining what constitutes "access" to language.
Why ask us if you already know the answer to? Hearing? If so, why are they signing up with DeafRead? The new imposition of pre-eugenics movement against signing culture has arrived here apparently.
drmzz, are you implying that DR should be only for signing culture? I, on the other hand am finding it to be a learning experience to read about "other" deaf people. Who says there is only ONE way to anything? More power to them for being brave to explore other options. Obviously many have looked to ASL as one possible option but opted out or included it along with what they chose. If DR only allowed signing cultures to post about signing cultures issues only, the deaf community would be no better...they would be considered "Hearingist". I'm sure there's a better term than that.... :)
And DR would become a dull read if it was just all Deaf culture and ASL. Everybody happy and everything's just hunky-dory. Like the '50's, the quiet life.
Challenge is what we all need.
Certainly, people need to be a bit more open-minded about these new challenges people face today and into the future. Apparently there are some people who fear change thinking it's all about eugenics. It's about more choices and greater accessibility.
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