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.

Who is Bell?

Speech instruction to a deaf child.

Alexander Graham Bell was born in Scotland, March 3, 1847.  Mr. Bell, throughout his life, had his share of sad, sad times.  He lost both his brothers (Melvil James Bell and Edward Charles Bell) to tuberculosis.  His own son died in infancy, his mother was deaf and so was his wife.  Many people find it unbearable to handle the loss of a sibling, let alone one's child.  Mr. Bell truly suffered, one can only imagine.  In spite of all that, he was a scholar. He never stopped plowing ahead, trying to make the world better, and for some people he did. For others? Well..."Alexander Graham Bell is often portrayed as either hero or villain of deaf individuals and the Deaf community." Villain or Hero, no one can deny his Genius.(Marschark, Spring2005)

The telephone (1876) is his most memorable invention, of course, but it certainly wasn't his only invention. I am still baffled at the fact that I could hear my oldest son's voice...his voice (I would know it anywhere), over the telephone wire here in Texas, while he was thousands of miles away in Japan. That's amazing!  Still, in spite of all his success, Alexander Graham Bell couldn't find a way to make his mother, Eliza Grace (nor his wife, Mabel Hubbard), hear a single sound. Neither one of them was able to use his greatest masterpiece, his telephone. 

For his brilliance, his inventions, his teaching of speach to people with hearing disabilities, "Bell had the respect of the most prominent American eugenicists."  (Greenwald, Spring2009) So what did he do to the Deaf Community, that was so bad they condidered him a villain? He was the greatest advocate for Oralism, and that did not set well in the Deaf Community.  "Led by Alexander Graham Bell, oralists sought to integrate Deaf people into hearing society by teaching them speech and lipreading.  Strict oralists demanded the elimination of sign language, believing that it undermined English language acquisition and promoted Deaf separatism" (Burch, 5). 

Sources:

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

Greenwald, B. H. (Spring2009). The Real "Toll" of A.G. Bell: Lessons about Eugenics. Sign Language Studies, Vol. 9 issue 3, p258-265, 8p.

Marschark, M. (Spring2005). The Question of Sigh-Language and the Utility of Signs in the Instruction of the Deaf: Two Papers by Alexander Graham Bell (1898). Journal of Deaf Studies & Deaf Education, Vol. 10 Issue 2, p111-121, 11p.

Photo Source:

http://my.gallaudet.edu/bbeswebdav/institution/Deaf

Can You Hear Me Now?

When I was approximately 11 years old, I remember being in the canned food section of the grocery store "Levels" on Montgomery Street, in Fort Worth, Texas.  While my mother was carefully canvassing the shelves for whatever it was she was looking for, I noticed a Deaf man struggling to communicate with a woman in the same isle.  I was fascinated to say the least.  The woman gave him a dollar and he gave her a little card.  He made a gesture, which I now know to mean "Thank you." The Deaf man approached my mother and I.  Without taking my eyes off of him, I asked my mom for a dollar.  She rummaged through her purse, gave me the dollar and I quickly gave it to him. On the little card was the manual alphabet.  I immediately started to practice each and every letter. I had A-E memorized before we left the market.  I practiced for days, then months until I had every letter memorized.  Fast forward 38 years.  I'm now 49 years old and last semester successfully completed ASL IV. 

During my ASL classes, I was surprised to learn that Alexander Graham Bell was so disliked by a great number of Deaf Americans.  I have always considered Mr. Bell one of the great inventors. Along with electricity, the light bulb and written language,  the telephone is arguably one of the most important inventions for mankind.  He originally invented the telephone because he thought it would help Deaf people somehow.  Obviously, that was not the case.  I mean really, they couldn't hear.  Alexander Graham Bell's mother was Deaf and so was his wife.  So, it baffled many people that Mr. Bell tried so hard and succeeded in banning American Sign Language (or Sign Language of any kind) from educational schools or institutions.  Why would a man who became so rich and famous for facilitating communication, fight so hard to strip a culture (so close to him) from their natural language?

With my research, I hope to answer that question and many more.