Melissa
Pursell
Joshua
Cochran
Honors
101
November
11, 2013
Society Swap: A Reversal of Roles
In a normal everyday hearing
society, it's hard to imagine the struggle of going through it as a deaf
person. Such as having to pick up a pen and paper just to ask for a cup of
coffee. It's those everyday tasks that are incomprehensible to a hearing
individual. What would happen if the roles were switched? What if vocal speech
is not the main source of communication?
"About 2
to 4 of every 1,000 people in the United States are "functionally
deaf," though more than half became deaf relatively late in life; fewer than 1 out of every 1,000 people in the United States
became deaf before 18 years of age."(How Many) These numbers would make you believe that
there is more acceptance and accommodations for the deaf. Unfortunately this is
not the case. It is sad to know that we accommodate people from an entirely
different country better than we do our own citizens. Although it has drastically
improved over the years, they are still far from being treated equal to hearing
individuals. The U.S. is the melting
pot of people, but fail to see that they need to accept all of their own people
before they say that they will help and accept people of a different country.
Hearing people do not understand the
pain that deaf people go through. Hearing people end up taunting the Deaf
people and ignore them because the lack of understanding what is going on, or
it makes for an uncomfortable environment. When the hearing do try to
accommodate the Deaf, they end up yelling at them or moving their mouths
extremely slow because they assume the Deaf will be able to lip read. Deaf
people need to explain over and over that they do not understand, and tend to
start using pen and paper as their main source of communicating. Deaf people
will admit, as technology improves, it has gotten easier to get by in the
hearing world. They no longer need an interpreter everywhere they go, and they
also are becoming more independent. That is, if they will work with the technology.
Technology is becoming stronger and stronger so that anyone can comunicate with
a deaf person if they have the technology or something to take with.
When using the Video Relay System
(VRS) which is a way to communicate via phone, you sign to a screen which is
sent to the interpreter and then finally the interpreter tells the hearing
person what the Deaf person wants to say. Usually the hearing people get fed up
waiting for a response because everything goes through the interpreter making
it take longer than a one on one discussion.
" A lot of modern technology is
ideally suited for deaf culture. Text and instant messaging, for example, are
beneficial to deaf people because they allow conversation between people
regardless of whether or not they are deaf and they do not require the use of sign language. However, within the deaf
community not everyone
is accepting or open to technology bridging the gap between the hearing and the non-hearing. There
are two groups within the community with differing opinions on the matter. There are
people who refer to themselves as deaf with a lower
case 'd,' and there are the Deaf with a capital 'D.' The Deaf group is one that
takes pride in
traditional forms of communication amongst deaf people and limits the use of
technology as a way of communicating."(Technology for the Deaf)
Many
Deaf people view technology as a threat mainly because the way of living will
change and that makes them feel extremely uncomfortable.
However in a hearing community,
technology is welcomed with open arms. Hearing people tend to do things that
are generally not appropriate for the Deaf community, such as texting while
eating with a friend or stopping mid conversation to answer the phone. These
major technological barriers will be a stepping stone to see whether or not
hearing people will be able to make it in the Deaf world.
This is where I came up with the
idea of changing roles. There are so many factors of entering a community that
is not your own. Although the Deaf are accustom to joining the hearing
community, it will be interesting to see how a hearing individual will act when
entering a Deaf community. The volunteer will be a friendly and outgoing
individual, in the hopes they will carry over their personality into the new
community.
In the reversal process it is believed
that the hearing person will make no initiative in communicating and will be
like a fly on the wall. They will most likely not know how to cope with the new
environment and will be flocking to the other hearing people (if any) in an
effort to not be awkward. Another possibility is that they will try to leave
the event early by maybe even coming up with an excuse. For the Deaf people,
they are extremely blunt and this might create a weird vibe with the hearing
people. The Deaf ask things that are somewhat inappropriate for a
"typical" conversation, if they believe you might be pregnant, they
will ask you if you are pregnant. In the Deaf society that is how they avoid
awkward situations down the road.
In the reversal process the hearing
person will be given no prior knowledge of the etiquette and will have to go
based on instincts of right and wrong. Deaf people are a part of the hearing
community even if they do not wish to be, so of course they know how to get by
day to day in the society. This makes one fault in the experiment, because
hearing people are almost never a part of the Deaf community and would not have
the same knowledge of getting by in that system. Which makes it unfair because hearing people
are not automatically accustom to the Deaf rules and will be using whatever
background knowledge that they have on this subject. For the Deaf they are
always a part of the hearing world and they know the rules of how to interact
with others.
This will give a better
understanding into the what hearing people think it is like living as a Deaf person
and vice versa. There are many myths about the Deaf in the hearing community
and those myths can make communication between the two very uncomfortable. For
example, Deaf people do not automatically know how to read lips and they have
to be willing to take the time to watch carefully to your mouth if they do
know. " It’s estimated that lip-readers can understand only 30% of the
conversation taking place. That’s like missing two of every three words
being spoken!” (Myths about Deaf People) As you might imagine, lip-reading is
not the most efficient means of communication.
Although there are many ways to
create the communicational bridge between Deaf and hearing, there are certain
preferred ways. Such as taking the time to communicate through pen and paper,
that is if you do not know American Sign Language. It is the most courteous
option. Also if you do know a little ASL you should be aware that some deaf
individuals do not know sign language and get by with other means of
communication. If going to a new place with a different language, one would not
yell at the other person in the hopes that they will understand better. If that
were the case, the native would most likely have some select words to yell
right back. Just because the Deaf cannot hear the yelling, they will notice
your exasperation in talking and will view it just as rude.
"If you start to show frustration they
will know.
”Since Deaf people live everyday in a visual
world, they are expert at detecting human emotion
by understanding people´s expressions and body language. They will be able very quickly to tell if someone is tired, or
upset, or anxious or angry. If you are impatient or annoyed by the fact that the Deaf person does not understand
everything straight away, they will
know it immediately. Be aware of your facial expression and your body language'" (A Website Devoted)
Will
there still be these precautionary measures if the roles are reversed? Of
course, there will be no escaping the uncomfortable vibe the Deaf feel when
communicating with hearing that has been there since the beginning of deaf and
hearing interactions. Also you can never fully prepare for what the hearing
people already know about different communities. People of many different
cultures react to new surroundings very differently. We will see if someone who
thrives in a hearing world will take their energetic and positive attitude and
bring it to the new community.
In
my experiment, I had a volunteer named Catherine, with no background knowledge
of Deaf community and how to interact. I took the volunteer (Catherine) to a
barbeque hosted by the Arizona Deaf and Blind school (ASDB) alumni, it might
not have been the most ideal situation for this experiment, but it had to
suffice. It was not the most energetic crowd, and of an older generation.
However, it was a small group so it was easier to observe the interactions. The
Deaf individuals accepted her as well as any new comer, they asked many
questions in ASL until realizing she did not understand, she did not even
notice they were making the initiative to interact. So she did not make an
attempt to talk to them, because she did not understand."They kept staring
at me, I didn't understand sign language so they only communicated with me if I
used a pen and paper."(Catherine’s Experience)
As
two different communities come together time and time again, there are
unexpected events that happen. No one can fully prepare for any social
interaction that occurs, because it will vary, day to day, person to person.
There is no way that one can predict every single detail that happens. All that
you can do is prepare yourself for what could happen and maybe have a little
background knowledge of the community you are about to step foot into. Besides
that just try to make the best of the situation.
Works Cited
"A
Website Devoted to Those People Who Want to Learn More about British Sign
Language and Deaf People." Ten
Things to Know If You Have Deaf Customers. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013.
"Catherine’s Experience."
Interview by Melissa Pursell.
"How Many Deaf People Are
There in the United States." How Many Deaf People Are There in the United States. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec.
2013.
"Myths about Deaf People (and
The truth)." If My Hands Could Speak. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
"Technology for the
Deaf." Technology for the Deaf. N.p., 2005. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
