A Deaf Adult Speaks Out

12. A Look Back and a Look Ahead

121 A Look Back and a Look Ahead In 1980, I wrote that this book was a chronicle of deafness as seen through the eyes of a deaf adult who has known neither the conveniences nor joys of normal hearing or speech. However, the wheel of fortune descried that I should be born of a deaf family; therefore, I never noticed my own handicap nor came up against discrimination or unfair treatment until I began my own personal contacts with hearing people when I entered school. With this as my background, it was to be expected that I felt more handicapped from the treatment I received at the hands of hearing people than from my deafness. During all the years since this initial impression, I have become more firmly convinced that the real ills of deaf people lie more with minority group dynamics than with their deafness, and that these problems will not cease until the attitude toward deafness by the hearing majority changes. During the 1970s, this attitude did begin to change. Hearing people have begun to be aware that their traditional treatment of deafness has not produced the results they had anticipated. During the same period of time, several other minority groups became more vocal and militant, and good things began to happen to them. As responsible deaf leaders became more articulate, hearing political and community leaders listened to them, and good things began to happen to deaf citizens. 116 A Look Back and a Look Ahead I117 The government has begun to be more aware of the principles of consumerism, so more and more deaf persons have been asked to serve on advisory committees and/or in positions where they could participate in decision and policy making, for no one knows more about a particular problem than one who is directly affected by the problem. Though it was a relatively unknown practice until recently, several deaf persons have been appointed to chief executive positions in educational programs for deaf children. A deaf educator coined the term "total communication" for a new concept in educating young deaf children. Success begat success and total communication is sweeping the nation like wildfire. Many homes where young deaf children are living are using total communication, and these children are enjoying total involvement with their families, a situation very rarely experienced before by deaf children having hearing parents. This total involvement is carried over into educational programs employing total communication, and parents and teachers can see that the children are different and more nearly normal in their progress and achievement. New projects utilizing novel concepts are infiltrating the adult deaf community. Special television broadcasts for deaf citizens are increasing in number and quality; the shows put on by the National Theatre of the Deaf, which are intended for the edification of the hearing public, are also enjoyed by deaf audiences; and cultural opportunities are increasing for deaf adults through local efforts by continuing education agencies. The growing number, availability, and professionalism of interpreters for the deaf mean that many programs which formerly limited their appeal to hearing audiences are now open to deaf audiences. Long a small minority in the ranks of traditional educators, our hearing friends who obtained their empathy for deafness from close contacts with deaf people, such as being members of families with deafness, or because of a rare knack for understanding, find their numbers now being swelled with newcomers to the field who, along with their training, have had practicum experiences not only with deaf children but also with local adult deaf communities. And, deaf adults are finding many more new hearing friends and champions. Many hearing readers of this book have asked me the same 118 IA DEAF ADULT SPEAKS OUT question over and over again, in different forms. The general inquiry goes like this: You have shown anger at the treatment of the deaf minority by the hearing rnajority, and criticized the actions of hearing professionals working with deaf people. Now, what would you suggest for me, as a hearing person, to do ifI wish to mingle or work with deaf persons? It would be impossible for me to give a definite answer to this question, with a suggested sequence of steps to take, 1, 2, 3, etc. I believe that, in the final analysis, it is a matter of having the right attitude toward deaf persons. If you treat this venture as an...