�Deaf Culture 101�

A brief introduction

Illinois School for the Deaf

www.asl.neu.edu/ festival/images/EYE13.gif

17 February 2006

“Community” and “Culture” Defined:

• A community exists when a group of people are aligned together with common goals, common understandings, and the ability to make decisions about their own lives.
• A culture exists when a group of people exhibit similar standards of learned behaviors, values, and a similar “blueprint” for how they solve problems.

​

Illinois School for the Deaf

Illinois School for the Deaf

Deaf Community

(Deaf culture)

The Deaf Community

and Deaf Culture

The Deaf Community

• Padden’s definition
• “the deaf community is made up of not only Deaf people--those who commit to ASL, but also other active participants in the community, hearing relatives and spouses of Deaf people and their signing co-workers and friends.”

​

Illinois School for the Deaf

Source: Padden (1998) p. 80

Community or Culture?

• Location
• Education
• Goals
• Politics
• Supportive allies

​

Illinois School for the Deaf

Criteria for community:

Community or Culture?

• Language
• History
• Values and traditions
• Norms for behavior
• Art

• Literature
• Sports
• Publications
• Shared experiences of hardship
• Success stories

Illinois School for the Deaf

Criteria for culture:

Criteria for Culture: Language

• American Sign Language is the heart and soul of Deaf Culture.
• ASL has rules:
• NMGS (nonmanual grammatical signals)
• Phonology
• Morphology
• Syntax and Grammar
• Semantics
• Name signs
• Cultural humor

​

​

Illinois School for the Deaf

Criteria for Culture: History

Historic Figures:

• Laurent Clerc
• Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet
• Charles Marshall
• Robert Weitbrecht
• Fred Schreiber
• I. King Jordan

Significant Dates:

• 1817
• 1839
• 1864
• 1880
• 1972
• 1990

Illinois School for the Deaf

How many of these people and dates do you know? Part of our regular curriculum?

Criteria for Culture: Values�What do we cherish?

• Eyes
• Hands
• ASL
• Residential school connections
• Bonding (with Deaf people)

​

• Socialization activities (with Deaf people)
• Detailed information
• Visual accommodation
• Equality
• Accessibility

Illinois School for the Deaf

Criteria for Culture: Traditions

Respect for elders within the Deaf community

• Advice and counseling
• Role modeling

Attendance at Deaf events

• USADSF (formerly AAAD) tournaments
• Bowling Leagues and poker games
• Reunions
• Homecoming

Shared information: “high-context” culture

Illinois School for the Deaf

Criteria for Culture: Norms for behavior

• Deaf support Deaf (collective)
• Different definition of what is rude
• “Straight talk” (misunderstood as blunt/rude)
• Celebration of within-culture births and marriages
• Long good-byes
• Well-lighted areas; Inside lights on while driving at night
• Removal of visual obstructions and visual noise
• Visual alarms and signal systems
• Round seating arrangements
• Loud music (if music is used)

Illinois School for the Deaf

Criteria for Culture: Marriage

• It is estimated that 9 out of 10 members of the American Deaf community marry other members of their cultural group.
• Many D/deaf couples also wish for a deaf child so that they may pass on their heritage and Culture…the same values that hearing parents want to instill in their children.

Illinois School for the Deaf

Criteria for Culture: Art � De’VIA

• Deaf View/Image Art
• Depicts the Deaf experience
• Represents years of oppression and misunderstanding

Illinois School for the Deaf

Illinois School for the Deaf

Chuck Baird, Art No. 2, 1994, Acrylic, 24" x 30" (Courtesy of Jaime Harter)

Betty G. Miller , Ameslan Prohibited, 1972, ink on paper, 20" x 18"  (Courtesy of Sandi Inches Vasnick)

Ann Silver, Deaf Identity Crayons: Then & Now (Crayon Box Series), 1999, Mixed Media, 20" w x 16" h

Susan Dupor, Family Dog, 1991, Acrylic, 61" x 58"

Criteria for Culture: Deaf Theatre

Illinois School for the Deaf

Criteria for Culture: Literature

• All ASL literature is on video or shared in person
• ASL literature includes, but is not limited to:
• poetry
• folklore and legends
• fairy tales and fables
• satire
• historic “period documentation”
• biographies and autobiographies
• evolution of sign language
• story-telling
• ABC stories

Illinois School for the Deaf

ABC Story: "THE HAUNTED HOUSE "

A = A KNOCK ON THE DOOR�B = DOOR OPENS�C = LOOKING AROUND�D = HEAR SOMETHING�E = E-E-E-K!�F = LOOKING AROUND (the room)�G = ZOOM OFF (He sees someone)�H = HURRY ALONG (He decides he better)�I = IMAGINE (He begins to, fearfully)�J = ART on the WALL (He notices it)�K = SMOKING a cigar (picture of a man)�L = PICTURE IS ON THE WALL�M = M-M-M-M-M (The man hears a sound)

N = he LOOKS-AT the painting again�O = HOLE (He notices it in the painting)�P = PERSON SWINGING IN THE AIR (dead)�Q = It is the QUEEN�R = Hanging by a ROPE FROM THE CEILING�S = She has HUNG herself�T = SUDDENLY�U = GLANCING TO THE RIGHT�V = A PERSON STANDING there�W = The person PLACING A CURSE ON THE MAN�X = The man's LEGS ARE SHAKING�Y = He orders the person to STAY where he is�Z = He holds up a cross and ESCAPES!

​

Illinois School for the Deaf

ABC Story: "CAR RACE"

A = COMPETITION (It's a race)�B = LOW SLEEK RACING CARS�C = WHEELS (vibrating)�D = STICK SHIFT (vibrating)�E = EEEEEEEK! (wheels screech)�F = Spectator's EYES watch the cars�G = Cars ZOOM past�H = Winning driver says "I BEAT YOU" to another driver�I = I-I-I (he displays a very large ego)�J = The other driver is JEALOUS�K = and says "Boy he thinks he's KING of the road"�L = SWELLED HEAD��

M = "M" (missing from text)

N = Second driver LOOKS BACK to what had happened in the race�O = "O" (missing from text)�P = "P" (missing from text)�Q = He put the KEY into the ignition and started the car�R = READY to go�S,T = (two hands on the steering wheel)�U = He LOOKS AT the dashboard�V = STUCK (something wrong with car)�W = WORRY�X = HELD IN ABEYANCE�Y = WHY didn't he win?�Z = "Z" (shaking his head, meaning "too bad")

​

Illinois School for the Deaf

Criteria for Culture: Sports

• USADSF (United States of America Deaf Sports Federation (formerly AAAD- American Athletic Association of the Deaf)
• Deaflympics (formerly World Games of the Deaf)
• Deaf individuals who excel in “hearing” sports
• Luther Taylor
• William Hoy
• Dick Sipek
• Kenny Walker

​

​

Illinois School for the Deaf

http://www.usdeafsports.org

Illinois School for the Deaf

Host sites of future Deaflympics

Illinois School for the Deaf

Illinois School for the Deaf

http://usadb.org

Illinois School for the Deaf

Illinois School for the Deaf

61^st Annual CAAD Basketball Tournament

March 3-5, 2006

​

Hosted by Greater Indianapolis Deaf Club

April 5 - 8, 2006

USADB Basketball Tournament

St. Louis, Missouri

Upcoming events!

Illinois School for the Deaf

Illinois School for the Deaf

Deaf Umpires Association

Illinois School for the Deaf

Criteria for Culture: Publications

• NAD Broadcaster (NADmag)
• Newswaves
• Deaf Nation
• Silent News
• Deaf Life
• Specific organization publications
• IDHHC Insider
• ITAC Newsletter
• RID Views
• Local publications

Illinois School for the Deaf

Criteria for Culture: Publications

Illinois School for the Deaf

Criteria for Culture: Organizations

Illinois School for the Deaf

Deaf-Friendly Educational Technology

Illinois School for the Deaf

Smartboards: the latest innovation in classroom technology!

Deaf Friendly Technology

Illinois School for the Deaf

TTY and Relay 711

Pagers

Computers and Internet

VP and VRS

Empowering us to an equal playing field

Criteria for Culture:�Shared experiences of hardship

• The point of all hardship stories is to give support within culture and to share the common frustrating experiences in every day life, such as:

​

Illinois School for the Deaf

• Stores and Malls
• Insensitivity among coworkers and/or colleagues
• Service related industries
• Medical emergencies

​

​

• Airports
• Hotels
• Family reunions
• Church

Criteria for Culture: Success Stories - Miss Deaf America

Illinois School for the Deaf

Miss Deaf America 2004-2006

​

Miss Black Deaf America

Summary: Deaf Culture

Culture results from a group of people coming together to form a community around

• shared experience
• common interests
• shared norms of behavior
• shared survival techniques

​

Such groups as the deaf, seek each other out for social interaction and emotional support.

Illinois School for the Deaf

“Enemies of the sign language, they are enemies of true welfare of the Deaf… As long as we have Deaf people on earth, we will have signs …It is my hope that we will love and guard our beautiful sign language as the noblest gift God has given to Deaf people.

​

​

​

Illinois School for the Deaf

George Veditz NAD President, 1913

(as translated by Padden in Padden and Humphries 1998, 36)

Nancy Kelly-Jones