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7 language in deaf communitiesArthur Allen, “Sound and Fury,”] from salon.com, May 24, 2000. ”For many deaf people, the ‘fixing’ of the deaf by the hearing is a form of baby-snatching. . . . For years, a deaf educational system and culture have grown up around the use of American Sign Language, and many deaf people see themselves as a ‘linguistic minority’ rather than a disabled group.” Popular opinion has it that cochlear implantation, a procedure that can provide significant hearing ability to deaf people, is a wonderful medical breakthrough. For many deaf people, however, the procedure is seen as a threat to individual growth and cultural identity. Arthur Allen’s report provides a detailed look at the controversy.
For Response1. Why does Harlan Lane oppose cochlear implants? What are the objections that he and many in the deaf community make? Do you agree? Why or why not? Do you know any deaf people who believe differently than you do? What are their arguments? 2. From what you have learned reading Allen’s article, would the opponents of cochlear implants feel differently about them if the procedure was guaranteed to provide a hearing ability that would be considered within the range of normal among hearing people? Why or why not? 3. There are many aspects to the controversy about cochlear implants; one aspect that Allen focuses on has to do with the fact that the optimal age for receiving the procedure is far earlier than the age at which informed consent can be given. Parents, however, are routinely in charge of making all kinds of medical decisions—major and minor—for their children. Why is this situation considered different? Do you think informed consent should be given priority over the rush to perform the procedure at the earliest possible opportunity? Why or why not? Research the question thoroughly (you may want to use the links in Allen’s article to get you started) and write an essay in which you argue for your position, providing support from your research. Marvin Miller and the officers of the Laurent Company, “ Laurent, SD: A town for signers,” from the Official web site of Laurent, SD, updated frequently “Our community in our organizations, events and in the arts is filled with evidence, indeed signs, telling us that we are much closer to signing than we are to deafness. Audiograms tell nothing about who we are. Sign language tells so much about us; it is a gauging lens through which we understand and communicate with one another.” This web site is the home of a grand-scale project, the creation and construction of Laurent, SD, a new town in which the principal language of everyday life will be ASL, American Sign Language. Town organizer and founder Marvin Miller states emphatically that Laurent is not a town for the deaf; it is a town for signers whether they be deaf or hearing.
For Response1. Why does Marvin Miller insist on referring to Laurent as “a town for signers” rather than “a town for the deaf”? What is the distinction? Why does it matter? 2. If you are a signer, would you consider living in Laurent? Why or why not? If you are not a signer but are interested in learning, would you consider living in Laurent? Why or why not? If you do not sign and learning ASL is not in your plans right now, speak with someone (deaf or hearing) who does use ASL and find out why he or she would or wouldn’t live in Laurent. Discuss your ideas and opinions with two or three classmates. 3. Laurent is planned as a town where all official business will be conducted in ASL. As you may know from other chapters in the text, this restriction raises legal questions. Certainly the possibility of conducting all everyday transactions in ASL would be very appealing to people whose primary language is ASL, but can such language policy be mandated? In this respect, is ASL different from English in the United States or French in France? Why or why not? On the web site, follow the Discussions link to Building Laurent and then to the thread U.S. Constitution. Read the posts, and write your own response (you do not have to submit it to the site) to the discussion. Base your writing on what you have read and studied about this issue so far and on your own experiences, whatever they may be. |
