« Syncretism and Pi | Main | A Historic Day in the Control Room »
Where Silence Is Golden
January 29, 2005
I recently started a refresher course in American Sign Language. More than 30 years ago (yes, that long) I learned sign language at my high school. My school was a mainstream magnate school for the deaf/hearing impaired in the western suburbs of Chicago. There were over 100 deaf students. Some of the students took advanced science and math classes - I interpreted for those classes. Many of my friends were hearing impaired. They could speak and sign, we communicated using voice, gestures, lip reading and sign. We signed word for word what we spoke. Hearing and deaf could communicate easily, what you lost in sign you could make up with voice or lip reading. This was termed Total Communication. I had many hearing impaired friends. I was Maid-of-Honor for my best friend who was hearing impaired. My world was richer - I hope their world was richer as well.
On the other hand, a change was sweeping through the deaf community. The profoundly deaf students used a particular type of new sign language called American Sign Language (ASL). ASL is a complete language in itself. It has its own grammer, vocabulary and cueing. It is NOT signed english. I had learned signed english. ASL was in its infancy in my school. Signed english is an exact word for word translation of every english word, even its tense is exactly signed.
In 2005 signed english is like speaking King James english to pre-teens. It is so ollllld!
More importantly, signed english is now termed offensive. It does not recognize Deaf Culture.
A new book Where Silence Is Golden reviewed by the WSJ (subscription required) highlights the war for and within the deaf world. It worries about Deaf Culture. It worries about the loss of ASL. The authors while condemning deaf schools of old, charterizing them "as an asylum where their bodies are managed and rendered powerless." probably abhor the mainstream model that my progressive high school modeled. Deaf schools - manage with power and control: Mainstream schools - slowly dilute the power of Deaf solidardity and uniqueness by intergrating students into a hearing community.
New worries now assualt Deaf Culture. The Orlando Sentinel in this article highlights these worries. The deaf worry about losing Deaf Culture through technology. Today the deaf can use email, text messaging, SMS, video relay and closed captioning to communicate with each other and a hearing world. To many deaf people are choosing to communicate with these new methods and not come together as a Deaf community. ASL is on the decline.
I find this debate interesting. Are the deaf to be "in the world and yet not of the world", or are they to be a protected minority - isolated in their solidarity.
I plan on blogging about this more. Its an important question for all minorities that face technolgical advances and medical miracles.
