Nyemiah Jackson

English 113B
Professor Santosh
May.12,2016
Wanting The Deaf to Fit in with The Hearing World
In high school as most of my friends took Spanish or French. I took sign language and I
did not know much about the subject walking in, but the day I learned about cochlear implants
and hearing aids and how the deaf culture did not accept them I really did not understand why
they did not want hearing aids or cochlear implants in their culture, but then I understood when
more people would talk about it. The problem was that the hearing world wants them to be fixed
and deaf people dont want to be fixed if youre born deaf then youre born deaf no need to fix it.
In the hearing world everyone is considered equal but once it comes down to the deaf world
people in the hearing world aren't so open minded to learn their language, so in order for them to
be able to fit in with the hearing world the hearing people wants them to wear a cochlear implant.
Which in the deaf world means that they should be fixed, which is not fair because not all deaf
people want to hear its part of their cultural and if people want to know what they are saying then
maybe they should ask or just learn.
Fitting in the hearing world is not for everyone, but more than 90% of deaf children are
born to hearing parents and 88% of parents dont know sign language. They are reluctant to
learn sign language because they are denying their child's deafness, or attempting to mold their
child into being normal (i.e. hearing), (Why Parents of Deaf Children Don't Learn Sign
Language by. Cassandra Shaw and Rhonda Buie). This is interesting to me because its true

hearing parents of deaf children dont want to learn the language because they want them to live
a normal life in the hearing world, but how can they live a normal life if they never learned their
own language which helps them communicate with anyone. I interviewed my high school sign
language teacher and asked her if her child was born deaf would she give her the cochlear
implant because she is hearing she replied, This is a
complex question because I was born in a hearing
world but I have family members who were born into a
deaf world so I think they would find it rude to give
my child the cochlear implant,(to the left is a diagram
of a cochlear implant and how it works) but I know
sign language and Im hearing so I would still teacher her sign language and when she got older I
would ask her if she would want the implant rather than doing what I think it right, I went on to
ask her would she have learned sign language if she wasnt a teacher and her child was born deaf
she answered, yes just because Im hearing doesnt give me the right to ignore my childs needs
how am I supposed to communicate with her if I did not know sign language. This is interesting
to me because normally in the hearing world people dont care to learn how to communicate with
the deaf world.
Communicating in the deaf world is not as hard and complicated as people make it out to
be. (To the left is Asl Alphabet chart) I can understand thats theres so many things to take in and
learn but you remember them more and more everyday by communicating with the deaf in
American Sign Language. Children who are CODA (Child of a deaf adult) grow up differently
than hearing children because they have to go through a world where they might have to interpret
what their parents have to say or have to sign what people are telling their parents. "What was it

like? If there's a question someone has about growing up with deaf parents, I've heard it. As the
older kid of a deaf dad and a hard-of-hearing mom, I hated
telling people about my family because it instantly became
the only thing anybody wanted to talk about. (What Its
Like Growing Up in a Deaf Family by Lilit Marcus) This
I

can understand because once you start talking about your

family and how they arent hearing. People find this intriguing because its different and not
many people know much about but once the questions start they just dont stop, but in the next
part of the article Ms. Marcus talks about how she met a new girl who just moved from India,
she then states, Suddenly, I stopped. I realized that I was doing to her what I resented people
doing to me. But Shefali didn't mind. "Does it bother you that I'm asking so many questions
about you and your family?" I asked her. "No," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Everyone's
interesting to someone Everyones interesting to someone would echo in my head from time
to time. (What Its Like Growing Up in a Deaf Family by Lilit Marcus). In the article she
understood why people were so interested in why things were different in her house and how she
was raised. It was because some people find sign language as an interesting topic and not
everyone is raised around it, but they understand every deaf person wants to live a normal life
like their hearing child but also dont want to be fixed.
Not everyone wants to be fixed said by almost every deaf person, but America
continues to push for them to be fixed they arent broken their just deaf. Deaf people didnt have
a problem being in a hearing world it seems like hearing people have the problem with deaf
people being here. Deaf people get married have kids gets jobs, so does society want them to be
fixed so badly. My whole life Ive lived as a Deaf person. I married a Deaf person, Ive worked

and associated with Deaf people, and Ive had no problem in this world."(understanding deafness
not everyone wants to be fixed by Allegra Ringo) this person states how everything in her life is
going great and they havent had any issues in this world so getting fixed isnt on her to do listen.
I went on to interview my sign language professor I asked her why she got the cochlear implant
if she knew it would cause a big problem in her culture, she replied well I wasnt born deaf but
it was kind of like I was I have tinnitus which is a ringing in the inner and it was so loud it gave
me headaches and I couldnt focus on the smallest things like reading or doing homework or
even cleaning my room, so I had it shut off and got the cochlear which lowers the ringing but
when I take it off I dont hear anything I sleep like a baby,(Firkins) I went on to ask her if it
angered anyone that she got the cochlear she replied, no I mean it angered my professor when I
was going to school because I was a deaf studies major why did I get the cochlear implant and
once I explained it to him he understood what was going on.(Firkins). The last question I asked
her is if her family deaf My boyfriend is hard of hearing and my son is hearing and the baby Im
going to have well we just have to wait and see for that one (Firkins). Also in the article Ringo
states, What may seem to a hearing person like an opportunity may be seen by some Deaf
people as a loss. This is very true because to hearing people they may think yeah deaf people
will be able to hear again but then its taking away everything they learned to love and its part of
their culture.
Deaf culture is different in many countries such as Japan. In Japan the deaf culture is
younger than the American deaf culture, but in japan many people think since they are deaf they
are non-academic. In which is sad because all deaf people are the same as hearing people but
japan doesnt care about that part their only concern is that theyre deaf. In the article Japanese
Deaf Culture it states But perhaps most surprising of all is that some of Japans Deaf are

isolating themselves: predominantly young people identify as hard of hearing or hearing

impaired...over deaf and do not join deaf groups. Why are younger deaf avoiding the traditional
deaf organizations (Monaghan, 2003)? The Tokyo Association of the Hearing Disabled,
formerly known as the Tokyo Association of the Deaf, changed its name solely to attract the
youth that did not refer to his or herself as Deaf (Monaghan, 2003). It is important to note that
not every Japanese youth has denounced, or failed to identify, with Deaf., Well to start off this
interested me in the beginning because in America the deaf culture is if your deaf or hard of
hearing or a hearing person who wants to be a part of the deaf culture can but to basically be
turned away from the deaf culture because they are a part of the deaf world. I went to ask one of
my friends their impact on being in the deaf culture even though she is hearing she states well at
first it was awkward for me because I honestly thought they would shun me because I was born
hearing but I knew quite a bit about the deaf culture world, but once I got more relaxed and
started understanding what people were talking about I felt like I do fit in and I noticed that they
were just like everyone else in the world and that I shouldnt be scared about anything. Here in
America everyone (almost everyone) is treated equally, but in the deaf world that cant always be
said.
For the deaf community isnt as easy as people think it is to find a simple job there are
about 400,000 deaf people in the US and its required when a deaf person applies for a job for the
manger to ask if they want an interpreter present or not. We have the ADA (Americans with
Disabilities Act) which basically means you cant discriminate against anyone with disabilities.
In Israel there is a total of 100,000 deaf or hard of hearing people. They are the only country to
make the deaf talk in order for them to get jobs even though theres a law that states how you
must treat everyone equally. This is sad to me because most of the deaf people in any country

dont really know how to speak properly so for people to force them to speak isnt fair. If people
really cared on what deaf people have to say in that country, they would have learned the
language its not that difficult. Co-workers often expect deaf people to process knowledge and
communicate as quickly as someone with normal hearing., yes I understand they want to have
them live a normal regular life just like a hearing person, but people keep missing the point of
them not being hearing yes they understand arent hearing but they were born deaf in a deaf
world so its not as easy to adjust to a hearing world, but for us yes its easy because this is the
way we were born so its just an everyday thing for us but to put someone thats deaf in a job and
say speak is very different than anything Ive ever heard. Another thing I found in this article is
Although many deaf people want to work, hiring managers may regard your disability as a
weakness why would being deaf be a weakness? They can see work their hands and walk so
what part makes them weak oh its the part where they cant hear that makes them weak. I find
this sad because nobody wants to be labeled as weak. Its like saying someone is good enough
for the job because of their disability. In all honest I wish this world could understand where all
deaf people are coming from they live in the same world as everyone else they werent born on a
different planet and I dont understand why people think its just weird for them to have a normal
conversation and just stare I know many people dont know this but staring when a deaf person is
having a conversation is considered very rude in their world.
The deaf world is a world with many different cultures and things to learn. Many people
fear them or label them as different. People who fear they deaf have no reason to fear them they
live an everyday life just like everyone else in America they work they have family they pay bills
so for people to fear them or label them doesnt make sense to me. Living in the hearing world
you would never notice how hard it is to live in this world as a deaf person with everyone trying

to fix them or help them hear but people still continue to try to make things that will fix them no
matter how many times the deaf say they dont want to be fixed, but in the hearing world the
only thing they hear is the deaf do want to be fixed, but if they took the time and moment to sit
down and actually have a conversation with a deaf person they would understand that these
people really dont want to be fixed they are the same as me anything I can do they can do to but
thats a dream world almost everyone deaf person lives in because the hearing world barely want
to take time out of their day just to say hello to a random stranger but the day everyone
understands the world of the deaf everything will be better.

Work citied

Shaw, Cassandra, and Rhonda Buie. "Why Parents of Deaf Children Dont Learn Sign

Language." N.p., n.d. Web.

Marcus, Lilit. "What It's Like to Grow up in a Deaf Family." Teen Vogue. N.p., n.d. Web.

29 Apr. 2016.
Ringo, Allegra. "Understanding Deafness: Not Everyone Wants to Be 'Fixed'" The

Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2016.

Wallace, Matthew. "Japanese Deaf Culture." / Japanese Sign Language. N.p., 20 Aug.
2011. Web. 17 May 2016. <http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/topics/japanese-deaf-

culture.htm>.
Media, Demand, and Ralph Heibutzki. "Problems Faced by Deaf Individuals in Finding
Jobs." Work. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2016. <http://work.chron.com/problems-faced-deafindividuals-finding-jobs-23030.html>

Pictures

"Cochlear Implants: Surgery - Risks - NYEE." New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of
Mount Sinai. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2016. <http://www.nyee.edu/patient-care/medical-

information/c/cochlear-implants>.
"Sign Language." Sign Language. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2016.
<http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/topics/wallpaper1.htm>