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Chapter 4 - Coggle Diagram
Chapter 4
Deaf peddlers
Peddlers typically found railroads, bus depots, and cars, would hand out cards that said they were deaf and had trouble finding jobs. these cards also tended to have the alphabet on them.
Deaf children were taught that this was bad.
As a counter action, some organizations handed out these alphabet cards for free.
Today peddlers have upgraded to little things to sell such as combs and bookmarks.
In 1997, 62 people were found in two small apartments. They were brought from Mexico illegally to beg for money and none knew English or asl. They were under the control of "kings" who didn't pay them and threatened them. To solve this, a group reported it to NYPD and hearing interpreters and deaf interpreters worked together to translate the Mexican sign language into asl into English.
Instead of being deported, some of these people decided to stay and still live here today.
Terminology
Deaf: cannot hear, cannot be "fixed", hearing aids may not help, some deaf people still have good speech, some prefer signing over speech.
Hard of Hearing: can hear some sounds, but not all, hearing aids can be helpful, hearing aids are not 100%, some understand a little bit of speech, some understand quite a bit, some have good speech, some don't.
Hearing impaired: A word used to describe all people with hearing problems, some deaf people prefer this word, some people prefer other terms.
Hearing impaired used to be the politically correct term, and many medical professionals still use it. However, it has faced some backlash because of its negative connotation. impaired implies a defect or malfunction.
Semi mute was used to describe babies born with hearing who lost it during infancy. Many children lost it to common diseases such as whooping cough and scarlet fever because medication was nonexistent.
Deaf Clubs
established in order to provide culture and social opportunities for deaf people.
Often held in the second story of store buildings or rented halls.
Provided a place to socialize with people who you related to.
Within deaf clubs, there were also subgroups such as poker, quilting, and scrapbooking.
Deaf club membership has dwindled since the early 2000s. This is likely due to more entertainment available more wildly. Also TTYs are more accessible now. Residental schools no longer educate the majority of deaf children as 75% are mainstreamed.
Religion
Religion has not always been accessible to those who are deaf. It wasn't until the middle nineteenth century when they began to improve.
Edward Miner Gallaudet is credited with making it accessible. He started a Sunday school for the deaf people in New York. He was a teacher, but abandoned that to become a priest and founded a church for the deaf.
Thanks to John W. Michaels, there were Baptist services established and he was appointed the first missionary.By the 1960s, there were 240+ classes because of his efforts.
It is said that religious interpreting was the forerunner of the interpreting profession of today. This is because they became proficient with practice, better than hearing pastors struggling with. These interpreters had a savior complex and thought they were saving the souls of the deaf by making sermons accessible.
In 1884, the first ordained deaf priest was Henry Syle. He lost his hearing due to Scarlet fever at age six. Thomas Gallaudet encouraged him on this journey. He completed a four year Yale degree in one year and got two masters degrees.
History
Deaf people were often isolated and spread out in the country. Some had schooling, and some stayed on the farm their entire life and communicated with home signs.
The world wars proved to be excellent opportunities for deaf people as they were not allowed to fight, but they could contribute efforts to the war. Many were hired to replace the men at war.
It is said that during WWI, between 500 and 1,000 deaf people lived in one square mile in Akron, Ohio typically for Goodyear. After the war, a lot of them were laid off, and then hired again for WWII.
The author of this book, Ron, his family lost their apartment to a family returning from war. Their furniture was held in the second bedroom, and after they returned, the landlord evicted them for making too much noise.
Fun facts
Gallaudet originally wanted to study the Braidwood method in England, but went to France instead. Clerc originally wanted to go to Russia instead of America. Imagine how different Deaf history would be.
Deaf people couldn't purchase life or disability insurance because they were considered high risk and accident prone. They thought this led to shorter life spans.
The idea of a separate society has been proposed for the deaf and some actually enjoy the idea.
Deaf Identity
Most deaf people do not consider deafness to be a disability. It is a culture with its own community. It is an identity.
Typically deaf people acquire culture in two ways: born to Deaf parents and are raised with it. The other way is going to a school for the deaf and being introduced there.