Do Not Put Words In My Mouth

 
The Deaf may be mute, but they do have a voice. Although they were so repressed by people like Alexander Graham Bell and the other oralist, throughout the late 1800s and most of the 1900s, by the 1960s, the Deaf finally had their language. They finally had their voice; this came in great part through linguist and author, William C. Stokoe. In an article A True Pioneer, about William Stokoe, Jane Maher writes "Through the 1950s, most educators at Gallaudet College condescendingly considered the signs used by deaf students among themselves as a poor substitute for speech. This all changed, however, starting in 1955 when William C. Stokoe arrived at Gallaudet College (later Gallaudet University) to teach English, specifically Chaucer. for when he was first exposed to deaf people signing, his own education in Old and Middle English triggered a disparate response within him. While most of his colleagues conformed to current conventional theory and dismissed signing as mere mimicry of speech, Stokoe saw something startling, something different; he saw in signing the elements of language." (Gupress)
Stokoe was fascinated with the gestures and signs the Deaf used to communicate. Within the signs and body language, Stokoe recognized "[...]phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics [...]", all the elements of a fully developed language. (Gupress) "Seeing Language in Sign rewards the reader with a rich portrayal of an undaunted advocate who, like a latter-day Galileo, pursued his vision doggedly regardless of relentless antagonism." (Gupress). Throughout his research and his plight, William Stokoe was employed as an educator at Gallaudet University. The first, and only, University for the Deaf.
Eventually, partly because of Stokoe, Gallaudet University (in view of the entire nation) experienced the most successful movement to date, for Deaf or otherwise. Deaf people were completely tired of having hearing people think they know what is best for them, so when in 1988, after a hearing person was elected as President again (and there were a few Deaf people in the running), the entire student body and some staff members, initiated the DPN movement, a milestone in history for the Deaf. When DPN was over, Gallaudet University had their first Deaf president, Dr. I. King Jordan.
American Sign Language continues to thrive these days. It is the primary language used by the Deaf community. Now, "University of Washington researchers are working to ensure that cell phone communication through American Sign Language (ASL) becomes a reality in the United States."(Gale) Wow, think about it...Alexander Graham Bell’s invention of the telephone, which he worked so hard on, primarily to help the Deaf and rid them of this "poor substitute for speech" (Gupress), has now progressed to accommodate American Sign Language...a Deaf man’s voice.

Sources:

http://gupress.gallaudet.edu/Stokoecompliments.html

"Sign language on cell phones." A S H A Leader 3 Mar. 2009: 5. Gale Power Search. Web.

I see

When a person looses one of his 5 senses, i.e. hearing, smell, touch, sight, or taste, it is said that the remaining four senses take up the flack, if you will, for the sense that is lost.  For example, if one were to  experience 100% loss of visual acuity, and he is standing in a room full of boots, he may not see the boots, but he will know he is standing in a room full of leather.  He would be able to smell the leather.  Same principle for Deaf people.  Obviously, they are missing one of the senses, hearing.  The rest of their senses are heightened.  They can feel someone walking down the hall, before you see them enter the room. They can feel the a song playing in the background as it dances and vibrates through their body. Their vision is heightened as well.  American Sign Language is a visual and gesteral language.  It is the language that feels natural  to the Deaf. "Deaf people interpreted normality in a different way.  They argued for the Deaf community as a legitimate cultural group, distinguished by deafness in reasonable and not abnormal ways. Most Deat people both actively and passively resisted the attempts to deny them this cultural identity, preferring to attend residential deaf schools, join Deaf clubs and churches or synagogues, marry other Deaf people, and communicate primarily in sign language." (Burch, 4)  The Oralist movement took that away from them for many, many years.

     "Oralist, as they came to be called at the time, had a strong weapon in their arsenal: the highly visible and vocal advocate Alexander Graham Bell, who took on deaf education as a personal cause, in part because he had a deaf mother and a deaf wife." (Padden, 48).  But anyone who encounters a person that has been reared in an oral  environment could maybe understand where Bell was coming from.  Considering the fact that Deaf people were considered dumb, or were thought of as bruts, and Bell's mother was Deaf, one would have to think that Bell only wanted the best for her.  The best for his wife as well. I know several people who grew up in main-stream and/or oral environments.  If I didn't know they were deaf, I would never guess.  One of my assignments in “Deaf Culture” class, was to interview a "deaf" person.  We met at a local McDonalds, so that she could take her two young daughters along. I watched her interact with the girls, who did not appear to know sign language.  I saw her place her order with the attendant, who did not have a clue the lady he was waiting on was deaf.   During the interview, I watched in awe as she carried on... not hearing a sound...yet NO ONE knew that but she and I. She is a master at reading lips, and her own voice is beautiful.  No one could ever think she is dumb, a brute, broken or special.  She is just a beautiful woman. A productive member of society.  I believe this is what he wanted for his mother, his wife, and the whole Deaf world.  But why should he have that choice.  He himself was not Deaf, therefore, how could he truly know what is best for the Deaf.

Sources:
Burch, S. (2002). Sign of Resistance. New York: New York
     University Press.

Padden, C. a. (2005). Inside Deaf Culture. Cambridge: Harvard
     University Press.