A Journey Into the Deaf World by Harlan Lane - Book Report/Review Example

 A Journey Into the Deaf World More than introducing readers to the idea that the Deaf world has its own unique signed language, the authors of A Journey Into the Deaf World are concerned with exposing the entire almost underground society in which Deaf people live happy successful lives. Following a brief introduction of the authors Harlan Lane, Robert Hoffmeister and Ben Bahan in appropriately polite Deaf etiquette, which includes the naming of affiliations (schools attended) and experience/entry into this world, the book describes the physical entrance to a representative Silent Club, using language that reminds us of the speakeasys and other secret or semi-legal societies that have existed throughout time. This type of description immediately calls to mind the questionable nature of such a place and illustrates the hearing world’s tendency to vilify anything not familiar to them. The rest of the book attempts to explain how this negative attitude developed in conjunction with the development of signed languages as well as to provide a more complete, more accurate picture of what life is like with the Deaf world. It does this by presenting various aspects and concerns of the Deaf world, both as they function independently of, yet are ruled by, the hearing world. How American Sign Language (ASL) functions as a complete language system, establishing culture and values in much the same way as spoken languages is the focus of the first segment of the book while the second segment is devoted to those aspects of the Deaf world that are still misunderstood or deliberately mishandled by the hearing world. The third segment is devoted to establishing a healthier, more complete future for those coming into the Deaf world by establishing a more widely accepted culture that provides Deaf people with greater and more equal chance at success and happiness with adequate education and appropriate support. Although the first segment is devoted to discussion of signed language, the topic goes far beyond the mere communication of events. As it is discussed by the authors, ASL is a fully functioning language, just like the spoken languages of English or French. As such, it has its own grammar system and several forms of dialects, apparently determined partially by where one went to school, when one entered the Deaf world and the variety of signs that might have been used in the home prior to entry in the Deaf world. Like other languages, this language conveys a great deal of the culture, values and history of the society that uses it, often indicating for the ‘listener’ various bits of information about the speaker that hearing people are able to pick out through audible cues. This is often done through many of the same channels, although it isn’t usually recognized as such. Where hearing people might be able to pick up on a vocal inflection such as a Southern drawl or Boston twang, Deaf people are able to discern between the motions expressed in one area of the country from the slightly different expressions used in another area. While hearing people are able to determine what portion of society an individual speaker might come from by their choice of words and word order (grammar), Deaf people are able to determine how long an individual has been a part of the Deaf world or what their experience of it has been by the same grammar structure comparison used by hearing people. Grammar in the Deaf world is shown to share many characteristics with spoken language, but this is not necessarily English. The history of ASL has its foundations in France and still bears many resemblances. Word order tends to depend upon whether a person grew up with ASL as their native language. Verb tense and direction of action in ASL are typically communicated through the directional movement of the hands rather than through specific changes in the signs used, just as other languages use the same root word, but conjugate the endings to reflect more precise meaning. However, this type of directional grammar is usually most understood by native speakers, while those who have been in the Deaf world for a long time tend to only recognize some improper tense and pronoun usages, meaning even they are missing out on a great deal of the depth of expression available to them. Facial movements also play a large role in conveying precise meaning. Having proved the concept that ASL is a true cultural language, capable of the full depth and range of spoken languages, the authors move on to discuss the rich variety of life to be found in the Deaf world. Far from being the shady underground cellar of misery that is often envisioned by those in the hearing world, the Deaf world has found many unique ways to overcome the challenges of their particular minority. Because the majority of people born Deaf are actually born to hearing parents, it is difficult for Deaf communities to find each other. Likewise, people who become Deaf during their lifetimes have difficulty navigating their way through to the safety of the Deaf world itself. The residential Deaf schools are one means by which they work to provide the support system such permanent alienation from the majority of society requires. Through these schools, several organizations have been established specifically for Deaf people, including sports teams, social clubs and political groups. Deaf artists present various types of visual arts, theatre and literature designed for hearing and Deaf education and enjoyment. This section finishes with a world tour of the Deaf world, pointing out the importance and current conditions of this world in France, Sweden, Europe, Kenya and the small country of Burundi. In doing this, the authors are able to point out that developed countries are progressing with research and are characterized by Total Communication, bilingual education and the ill effects of mainstreaming that serves to keep Deaf children from associating with other Deaf children. Deaf people in developing countries, on the other hand, have almost no resources and no communication with others. With the strength of the Deaf world in already developed countries well advanced, with the only major issues those being caused by the hearing world, the authors now turn their attention to that dividing line where the Deaf world and the hearing world co-exist. This conversation picks up with the effects mainstreaming has had on the Deaf world in terms of real assistance to the children involved. Although some Deaf people are able to learn how to talk, it is always a long and tortuous process that could be better spent on other, more fruitful and rewarding endeavors. By first presenting the individual stories of several Deaf people with a variety of backgrounds, and then discussing the various points raised in this discussion, the authors are able to prove that mainstreaming is actually causing a great deal more damage than isolation does. By sending Deaf children to the neighborhood school, it is virtually guaranteed that he/she will come into contact with few, if any, other Deaf children. Occasionally, the child will be placed in a specialized program for the physically impaired, frequently providing him/her with a less than average education when the child may be among the top ten percent of his/her class otherwise. Even when placed in a regular class, the Deaf student suffers severe handicaps in learning. The teacher cannot be understood, questions cannot be asked and answers cannot be received as easily or as quickly as hearing students and the Deaf child is often even denied the chance to learn ASL, or is perhaps provided a lesson on a scanty, once per week basis. Making things worse, the laws drawn up in the hearing world that govern children’s welfare make it difficult even for Deaf parents of Deaf children to provide for the welfare of their child as interpreters are not necessarily provided these children when integrated into the hearing classroom. Although placement options include residential and day school classes exclusively for the Deaf, the push for integrated mainstreaming has reduced support for these schools and the schools themselves have only recently begun to be directed by the Deaf. While it is recognized that the Deaf schools have had their problems, including lower than average academic test scores as a result of the shift from ASL instructed classrooms to orally instructed classrooms. Following a great deal of study, it was determined that children coming to school from Deaf households in which signing had been a part of daily living had much better academic results than those coming from hearing homes in which no signing had been present. Based on these results, schools began using Total Communication, a combination of signs and sounds, which further led to the development of Manual Coded English, or MCE. There are several problems with the MCE system, perhaps the largest of which is the fact that it is based on a hearing system rather than the naturally developed language of the Deaf themselves. This confusing, complicated mix of hand signs, sounds, lip reading, English, MCE, TC and ALS makes it very difficult for a Deaf child living in a hearing household with little to no adequate direction on how best to provide their child with the opportunities necessary for him/her to become successful. Effective learning depends a great deal on early acquisition of language skills, regardless of the language learned. These early skills are necessary as building blocks upon which students can base the new knowledge and achieve coherent meaning. To conclude their discussion on how the hearing world restricts and sometimes persecutes, however unwittingly, the Deaf child, the various ways in which Deaf children are evaluated upon the discovery of their inability to hear is illustrated. This includes the culturally and auditorily biased psychological, academic and intelligence tests. Despite their negative opinion of the hearing world’s action related to Deaf people, the authors determine the cause for the disastrous management of Deaf concerns is due to the incorrect attitude with which the hearing world approaches the concept of what it means to be Deaf. Because they approach the topic from the perspective that Deaf people are ‘impaired’, it is next to impossible for them to consider that they might be capable of determining for themselves the best way to raise a Deaf child. The difficulties experienced in the school systems also lead many Deaf students to drop out before completing their high school education, worsening the situation by confirming the public opinion that Deaf people are ‘impaired’. The book concludes with an examination into the future of the Deaf world based on the actions and events seen in history and the current trends in both the hearing and Deaf world regarding the various issues involved that explores this concept of ‘impaired’ a bit further. Because the medical world has always perceived disability as something to avoid or circumvent if possible, it is inconceivable to them to simply accept the idea that a person cannot hear and focus on teaching them those things that they will need to develop fully functional, happy and productive lives within the loving and rich society of the Deaf world. This attitude has led not only to the removal of language options to nearly a generation of young people denied ASL instruction, but has also led to numerous experiments and research into how to eradicate the Deaf world through science. The means by which they have worked to accomplish this goal have been truly frightening. The first means goes back to ancient times, restricting and preventing Deaf people from having children through various means and methods. Although this means of control has relatively fallen out of use in developed countries, they remain significant problems in less developed areas. The attitude behind the movement can still be traced in hearing cultures as well, though, and problems remain even in sophisticated settings. The second means is an experimental approach involving mechanisms called cochlear implants. These implants directly stimulate the inner ear to try to get the Deaf person to hear sound. According to the authors, the devices don’t work and testing has been conducted with almost no consent upon children in most of the developed countries despite widespread protests by Deaf people from around the world. Medical conventions discussing the benefits and drawbacks of cochlear implants have concluded that implants should only be conducted on adults who had lost hearing late in life and the benefits consist of a stronger ability to read lips and children should be fitted with the device “only after a six month trial of hearing aids with no success” (392). These conferences did not involve any representatives from the Deaf community, nor was anyone in the Deaf community asked for their opinions or experience. At the same time, the same perception of hearing loss as bad and hearing as good held in the medical community is fostered in the general population by the excitement and sponsorship of the media, always eager to extol the wonders of modern science and the ways in which it is making life ‘better’ for those less fortunate. Yet still no one enquires into the attitudes or feelings of the Deaf people directly affected. By contrast, the Deaf world operates from the attitude that being Deaf enables them to enter a unique society preserved specially for them, a completely different culture with a rich and varied history and a strong inner social support. Although they can’t hear, Deaf people are aware that they often have no disability in every other aspect of their lives. With the addition of ASL and a society that shares this complex culture and language with them, they are not disabled at all, merely different in the same way that Spanish and French neighbors are different. They speak different languages, but are otherwise much the same. One of the first goals in trying to change the way in which the hearing world approaches the treatment of Deaf children exists in changing the language systems used to refer to Deaf people. By consistently looping them in with the category of ‘disabled’ and ‘impaired’, the hearing world creates an almost self-fulfilling prophecy as more and more children are denied access to this world. Following this, Deaf people work to achieve the same fundamental rights awarded to the average citizen within their respective countries, including the ability to earn their own living and provide their own transportation. To enable Deaf children to take more active roles within their community and also to help them live happier, fuller lives, it is also important to change the educational system’s approach to the education of a Deaf child, including the instruction of ASL, the ability to access information and increased methods for Deaf people to function in everyday society. Ramps are built for citizens confined to wheelchairs and less research has been conducted on the use of the cochran implants than on the importance of early language acquisition. After reading this book, it is impossible to ignore the central facts – namely the withholding of language from students based on an outward ideal and the oppression of an entire population by another determined to carry out its own agenda regardless of the opinion of those most directly affected. Although the book is obviously written from a biased perspective, it is a perspective that is not often heard against the louder claims of the medical community and the news they put out. The isolation of the Deaf world away from the world of the hearing helps to contribute to these misunderstandings, indicating that perhaps the best way for these differences to be worked out, to provide a truly supportive and successful future for Deaf children, is to find ways of integrating more of the Deaf world into the world of the hearing, not by denying them their uniqueness, but by providing stronger means of communication between the hearing and the Deaf. However, even this has proven difficult as the greater number of uneducated and therefore underemployed Deaf persons helps to fuel the perception that Deaf people are ‘impaired’ and therefore not capable of knowing what is best for them. Admittedly, I was not aware of the high degree of complexity involved in ASL, nor was I aware of the close-knit community shared by Deaf people or the rich culture they inherit. However, I had never assumed that because I was not aware of these things that these people should be restricted by law, denied individual freedoms granted the average hearing citizen or that they were less capable than I of determining what was best for themselves and their children. Works Cited Lane, Harlan; Hoffmeister, Robert & Bahan, Ben. A Journey Into the Deaf-World. San Diego, CA: DawnSignPress, 1996. Read More