Deaf Protestors at Alexander Graham Bell Convention

Today (July 27) a small group of deaf protestors showed up at the site where the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing was holding its 2007 Summer Conference (July 27-28). Some of the protestors were confronted by hotel management staff, resulting in unpleasant moments. Protestors attempted to distribute flyers and engage convention attendees.

The protestors at the AG Bell conference are deaf people who have been hurt by the impact of oralism, or being denied sign language, on their lives. Some have been hurt academically. Others have been hurt socially. All are concerned with what they see as the growing popularity of baby sign language for hearing babies, while more deaf babies are being implanted and not exposed to sign language.

Deaf people are discussing the irony of encouraging hearing infants and toddlers to use sign language, while encouraging deaf babies through the auditory verbal method, to only use speech and sound. This irony was first exposed through Amy Cohen Effron's vlog, "The Greatest Irony," (Available with voice interpretation) and illustrated by a cartoon by deaf cartoonist Maureen Klusza.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Today's parents of implanted deaf babies are making choices. Some are choosing to raise their children totally orally, without sign language. Others are choosing to raise their children with both sign language and spoken communication.

It should not be a choice, say the protestors. Sign language is the deaf child's natural language. In at least one foreign country, sign language exposure for deaf babies is mandatory. The thinking goes, even if you can hear sound, you are still missing something. You are still deaf even with an implant or a hearing aid. You are especially deaf when the implant or hearing aid is not being used.

For many deaf people, particularly those who had grown up orally, sign language has been the key to several things: a social life. a better education. personal happiness. a sense of belonging.

Once again, the deaf community is divided over an issue. Some, filled with pain and anger over their life experiences, support the protest. Others, also with pain and anger, may agree with what the protestors are saying but may not agree with the tactic of conducting a public protest. (Update: I personally do not agree with the tactic of conducting a protest. I understand the feelings of the protestors, but I do not support the tactic of protesting.)

The protestors are directing their anger at AG Bell, when oralism is actually the result of a combination of factors. It is the result of the combination of medical professionals, teachers of the deaf, and parents all wanting the deaf children to be "normal." The protestors are arguing that it is perfectly normal to be deaf and use sign language. Thanks to modern technology, a deaf child growing up today who communicates only through sign language can have just as good a life as a deaf child who grows up communicating only through voice.

Regardless of whether you support the protest or not, it is important to read the many blogs on this issue and try to understand the depths of the pain that deaf people feel over how they have been raised, and treated, by hearing people.

In my opinion, no deaf poem expresses the feeling of what it means to be deaf, and probably the feelings of the protestors and the bloggers who are writing about their growing up oral experiences, better than the classic poem "You Have to Be Deaf to Understand," written by Willard Madsen in 1971. This poem has been reprinted frequently on the internet. Here it is:

What is it like to "hear" a hand?
You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to be a small child,
In a school, in a room void of sound --
With a teacher who talks and talks and talks;
And then when she does come around to you,
She expects you to know what she's said?
You have to be deaf to understand.

Or the teacher thinks that to make you smart,
You must first learn how to talk with your voice;
So mumbo-jumbo with hands on your face
For hours and hours without patience or end,
Until out comes a faint resembling sound?
You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to be curious,
To thirst for knowledge you can call your own,
With an inner desire that's set on fire --
And you ask a brother, sister, or friend
Who looks in answer and says, "Never Mind"?
You have to be deaf to understand.

What it is like in a corner to stand,
Though there's nothing you've done really wrong,
Other than try to make use of your hands
To a silent peer to communicate
A thought that comes to your mind all at once?
You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to be shouted at
When one thinks that will help you to hear;
Or misunderstand the words of a friend
Who is trying to make a joke clear,
And you don't get the point because he's failed?
You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to be laughed in the face
When you try to repeat what is said;
Just to make sure that you've understood,
And you find that the words were misread --
And you want to cry out, "Please help me, friend"?
You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to have to depend
Upon one who can hear to phone a friend;
Or place a call to a business firm
And be forced to share what's personal, and,
Then find that your message wasn't made clear?
You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to be deaf and alone
In the company of those who can hear --
And you only guess as you go along,
For no one's there with a helping hand,
As you try to keep up with words and song?
You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like on the road of life
To meet with a stranger who opens his mouth --
And speaks out a line at a rapid pace;
And you can't understand the look in his face
Because it is new and you're lost in the race?
You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to comprehend
Some nimble fingers that paint the scene,
And make you smile and feel serene,
With the "spoken word" of the moving hand
That makes you part of the word at large?
You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to "hear" a hand?
Yes, you have to be deaf to understand.

****

Blogs covering the AG Bell Protest, in order of appearance

Amy Cohen Effron - Post 1 Post 2 Post 3
Oh I see