All that i can ever be is nothing more than myself
RSSPosts tagged with "ASL"
deaf teacher. hearing students.
you know whats annoying? anytime i talk to people and tell them im a teacher, they assume i teach d/Deaf children. people also like to ask it really awkwardly, they hesitate, and ask, “is that for the…(then they overly mouth ‘deaf’ and point at their ears)” FYI if you are going to ask just come out and say, “hey you teach hearing or deaf?” thats not offensive, just inquisitive.
anyways, i correct them and say, no, i teach hearing kids.
and their first reaction is, “OMG how do you do that??” and then they ask, “oh well you must teach them sign language right??”
is that all im worth?? first my ability to teach hearing children is called into question and then my only valid contribution is to teach them sign language.
i am a deaf teacher. in a hearing kindergarten and first grade class. i communicate with them orally. i am one of three teachers, the other two of whom are hearing.
i hold my own. i work hard everyday. i am just as good as any other teacher and i teach them just like any other teacher. i am not isolated from my students or the other teachers. i am my students favorite teacher, they always ask me to stay longer and to come more often. i am the best student teacher my head teacher, in her 22 years of teaching private early elementary, has ever had.
i do my job. i love my job. and i do it well.
take me seriously.
it bothers me when hearing people start preaching about Deaf culture.
there is a difference between educating someone and full out preaching.
it bothers me when i see hearing people who think themselves allies write things like, “Deafness is not a disability! and screw all stupid ignorant parents who force their poor deaf child to be isolated and grow up alone!”
some d/Deaf people DO consider themselves disabled. and thats not a bad thing. its a persons identity. and theirs to choose. and yeah, some parents are uneducated about Deaf culture, or even deafness in general, but that means they are just as uneducated as you were at some point its not your job to call them out as being horrible. and growing up oral doesnt mean a child needs your pity. instead advocate for the childs right to equal access to everything.
a better way to say something like that is, “Deaf culture does not view being Deaf as a disability. It is important to educate parents of deaf children on the ways of Deaf culture so that they can provide their child with the best access to language.” then refer them to such and such d/Deaf person.
d/Deaf/ HOH people are all different. and its not your job as an ally to preach, educate and refer yes, but i see ASL students getting all huffy and offended and angry and going over board with out any acknowledgement from any d/Deaf people, and often they say things offensive to deaf and HOH people. You get angry? think about how we feel, we live it.
reasons why its important to teach inclusively about d/Deaf/HOH people in Deaf studies classes. and to teach how students should react to lack of Deaf knowledge in the hearing community.
ASL with “FF-want?”
From a recent Skype video chat from a friend of mine, Andrew mentioned he’d like to see ASL as a required language in schools all over the country. Hmmm. He got me thinking (and thinking is something I don’t do often — so pay attention, this is going to be good).
Now that I think about it, high schools offer a lot of foreign languages. Spanish, French, German, Russian, Latin — whoa, waitaminute. Latin? With all due respect to the classics, what use does the average high school student have for Latin?
SIGNLINGOPHOBIA
(Note; this is not an official word but a playword. I originally came up with signphobia. Apparently, it seems signphobia means fear of sign boards or ad boards.)
Now you’re thinking, what the heck is signlingophobia, Mike?! Allow me to explain. I believe all of you know what is phobia. Let’s take a look at SIGNLINGO, shall we?
SIGN- Reference of Sign Languages
LINGO- Spanish noun for Language
Combination: SIGNLINGOPHOBIA. And the meaning? You guessed it right! Signlingophobia is the fear of Sign Language.
If you ask me, why would there be signlingophoia? Because—
- Audism exists
- Audists fear/hate sign language
- Oralism is preventing sign language and an access to understand what’s being said.
- there are so many people who believes sign language would delay English/native language acquisition or speech skills.
- there are also people who does not like sign language
I’m pretty sure many of you have heard about myths and stories about Deaf people (especially black Deaf people). For some reasons, black Deaf people getting insulted because people think they are making “gang signs” . Not to mention, self-pity deaf people blaming the language as the source of illiteracy.
If you’re a proud Deafie from different country (I don’t care where you from), it’s time to show your sign language is the beautiful language. AND tell the world your sign language is nothing to be feared of. Because if you don’t—that’s the end of beautiful sign language as we know it.
Peace and Love,
MikePS: Did you know lexidactylophobia (fear of fingerspelling) exists?
Sammie Hicks keeps video diary of Cochlear Implant
Another story featured on the front page of a news website that shows the world just how great cochlear implants are.
I’m not Deaf, but I do have an opinion on them. I think if you want one, then do what makes you happy! But it should be the individual’s choice and theirs alone. So this little girl seemed to want one and that’s really awesome that she’s doing so well with it! I like a happy story as much as the next person.
My only problem is why is this the only kind of Deaf related stuff I see on the internet (That and the fact it was tagged “Deaf girl regains hearing” which I find to be really misleading)? Where was the front page article when Miss Deaf America wasn’t shown on TV signing our National Anthem? Where’s the research showing the wonders and benefits of ASL? Why is ASL only featured when it’s in a music video signed by hearing people? And I don’t feel like CI’s are accurately portrayed by the media either.
I dunno man, I just want everyone (including myself) to be educated and know both sides of spectrum and everything in between!
How about The Legalized Deafies get an expert computer hacker and fill Huffpost and every news website with all sorts of awesome information?
Ready, go.
[bolding mine]
perfect commentary on why these types of articles bother me.
The face of DEAF
Musing upon oppression and what ‘is’ Deaf.
_________________________________
Brilliantly and beautifully stated — if you only watch one VLOG this week, make it this one! You won’t regret the message!
that is the challenge!
i like this!
Being Deaf In College
I feel like I have to post this since he’s my former roommate in all, but this is a very, very touching article.
is that sarcasm? i cant tell. cause i thought this article was disgusting.
How so?
im all for letting people have their opinions and talking about their experiences and what not, but that article is so filled with internalized audism.
and why do articles about d/Deaf people always mention a silent world, i dont know about you but im pretty damn LOUD.
here are a few quotes:
“Being deaf especially sucks when it comes to love. You can’t ever love someone unless you’ve talked to them. So how do you communicate effectively? Everything I’ve ever thought of is awkward, because none of them are ever normal. Social norms are norms because they are what people expect.
I’ve talked to people “normally.” It’s hard, it’s error-prone, and we have to repeat a lot. That’s never a good recipe for love. It’s hard to have awesome conversations when you have to repeat every other thing you say and are never sure whether the other person understood.
I could try to find a deaf girl. However, I don’t want my kids to have an increased chance of deafness. Even if they come out hearing, we’d need to make sure they’re raised right - who will teach them how to talk? And I don’t identify with Deaf culture, which takes pride in being deaf. I accept that deafness is part of me, but it’s just there. Like the fact I have black hair.”
“I never considered myself part of Deaf culture. It arose because, I suspect, we were lonely. It’s the same for any minority. Except this time, Deaf culture came together because of a common language everyone could understand - American Sign Language. I’ve heard the stories. Deaf people entering college for the first time. Finding other deaf students. Suddenly, during their first sleepless night, they’re making up for all the conversations they had missed.
Some become angry at the hearing world. They went so long without feeling like they belonged. Without feeling loved.
Some don’t think deafness is a disability; it’s just a way of life. After all, we can do anything except hear. But I don’t want to be part of the Deaf world, which seems so cloistered sometimes. I want to be part of the larger world - and out here, not being able to hear is a pretty significant disadvantage.”
its so UGH. and now hearing people are reading this and thinking this is what all deaf/Deaf and HOH people feel. where is the balance?
this is pretty much how I felt whilst reading this article.
Yes, I get frustrated and pissy a lot. Yes, I have a lot of self-loathing. I’m sure I post more rants about being deaf on here than positive things - but that doesn’t mean I hate being deaf.
It can be hard for sure, but I think I have a pretty fulfilling life (to a point. it is not fulfilling sitting around job hunting ok) - I do a lot of the same things hearing people do. One of the major things you’ve probably noticed by now, is going to concerts which I hope you have noticed and realized that clearly being deaf doesn’t affected my ability to listen to and enjoy music.
This article for me, while it ended on an okay note, was painful to read. It was so negative. That quote Elle pulled about love & relationships was horrible - anything romantic-ish (???? there has got to be a better word for it because it is NOT romance, far from it) that I’ve done has been with hearing guys. I communicate with hearing people, and for me it is so much more than just talking. I read body language, I read your signals. Maybe you can’t whisper sweet nothings in my ear, but that’s not really a big deal.
The fact that this guy says it is just a part of him, that’s just there, to me that shows how much he doesn’t realize it impacts his life. How much it can impact his life positively. You don’t have to be a part of Deaf culture to be okay with your deafness - I am not a part of it, for no specific reason, and I am okay with my deafness. And I don’t think it’s this cloistered world either, and you folks on tumblr have shown me that.
If I was a hearing person reading this, with no knowledge of deafness, I would think that this is the worst life ever. It isn’t inspirational. It isn’t educational. It is just about how much this guy sees his disability as an enemy.
^^^^
accurate post is accurate.
Being Deaf In College
I feel like I have to post this since he’s my former roommate in all, but this is a very, very touching article.
is that sarcasm? i cant tell. cause i thought this article was disgusting.
How so?
im all for letting people have their opinions and talking about their experiences and what not, but that article is so filled with internalized audism.
and why do articles about d/Deaf people always mention a silent world, i dont know about you but im pretty damn LOUD.
here are a few quotes:
“Being deaf especially sucks when it comes to love. You can’t ever love someone unless you’ve talked to them. So how do you communicate effectively? Everything I’ve ever thought of is awkward, because none of them are ever normal. Social norms are norms because they are what people expect.
I’ve talked to people “normally.” It’s hard, it’s error-prone, and we have to repeat a lot. That’s never a good recipe for love. It’s hard to have awesome conversations when you have to repeat every other thing you say and are never sure whether the other person understood.
I could try to find a deaf girl. However, I don’t want my kids to have an increased chance of deafness. Even if they come out hearing, we’d need to make sure they’re raised right - who will teach them how to talk? And I don’t identify with Deaf culture, which takes pride in being deaf. I accept that deafness is part of me, but it’s just there. Like the fact I have black hair.”
“I never considered myself part of Deaf culture. It arose because, I suspect, we were lonely. It’s the same for any minority. Except this time, Deaf culture came together because of a common language everyone could understand - American Sign Language. I’ve heard the stories. Deaf people entering college for the first time. Finding other deaf students. Suddenly, during their first sleepless night, they’re making up for all the conversations they had missed.
Some become angry at the hearing world. They went so long without feeling like they belonged. Without feeling loved.
Some don’t think deafness is a disability; it’s just a way of life. After all, we can do anything except hear. But I don’t want to be part of the Deaf world, which seems so cloistered sometimes. I want to be part of the larger world - and out here, not being able to hear is a pretty significant disadvantage.”
its so UGH. and now hearing people are reading this and thinking this is what all deaf/Deaf and HOH people feel. where is the balance?
”Low Functioning” is how we vilify a Deaf person who seems uninformed and inactive.
“Militant” is how we vilify a Deaf person who seems over informed and overactive.
“ZIP-YOUR-MOUTH” is how I tell villains who vilify to FSH!
Deafhood: diverse not divisive.
-
ewitty
Inspired by:
[“Slut” is how we vilify a woman for exercising her right to say “yes”. “Friendzone” is how we vilify a woman for exercising her right to say “no”.]
(via ewitty)
About All that i can ever be is nothing more than myself
22.
Feminist.
Deaf.
<3 Tattoos.
<3 Books.
Teacher.
Feminist.
Deaf.
<3 Tattoos.
<3 Books.
Teacher.
