Hello. My name is Eric Babb. This is my first video clip on my vlog. I'd like to discuss about an article that I read last summer. The article's topic was about how Deaf people should approach hearing people on a daily life. This article was very interesting.
The article said normal hearing people generally deal with other hearing people through their spoken language. For example, there was a hearing employee working as a cashier at a store. The cashier saw a customer walked in the store. The hearing cashier greeted customers with the usual "Good afternoon, how can I help you today..." This means the cashier expected the customer to reply back back to the cashier in a spoken language. The customer replied back to the cashier in the same spoken language saying "I'm doing fine. I need your help with different issues." That is how hearing people deal with each other daily.
Ok. If there was a deaf customer in the same picture. The deaf customer walked in the store. The hearing cashier had been dealing with different customers through their spoken language all the day. The hearing cashier saw the deaf customer walked by him. The hearing cashier did the usual greeting to the deaf customer by asking the customer "How can I help you?", "Do you need any help?", or other ways to greet them. The deaf customer didn't reply back to the cashier in any spoken language. The hearing cashier puzzled and assumed that maybe the customer didnt hear him because of a noisy enivornment. So the cashier spoke a bit louder. The customer still didn't reply back to the cashier. The deaf customer kept on walking and noticed something at the corner of the deaf customer's eyes. The deaf customer saw the cashier moving their lips and realized that the cashier was talking to him through a spoken langauge. The very next step deaf people, in the general, do is informing a hearing person that he/she is deaf by pointing their ears, using a body gesture asking the hearing person for a pen and a piece of paper, moving their mouth to tell them that he/she cannot speak, or use many other methods to inform them that he/she is deaf.
From my point of view, the 1st 3 approaches should not be used by a deaf person. I'll explain you why.
Okay. When a deaf person uses the "pointing to ears" approach to a hearing person, the hearing person becomes puzzled and normally dont catch the body gesture at their first attempt. Then the hearing person realizes that the person is deaf and starts to feel pity for the deaf person. The "pointing to your ears" approach would make a deaf person downgrade themselves to a less person and upgrade a hearing person to a "better" person because of their ability to hear. The hearing person pities the deaf person and thinks that the deaf person is no good. The "pointing to ears" approach draws hearing people focuses on the deaf person's ability to hear negatively. The ability to hear shouldn't be matter and needs to be thrown out of the picture.
If a deaf person tells a hearing person that they cannot speak, it means the approach draws hearing person's focus to the deaf person's ability to speak negatively. The approach encourages a hearing person to pity the deaf person because they cannot speak.
The "a pen and a piece of paper" body gesture means a deaf person has to put all of their efforts to simply communicate with a hearing person. It is a hassle for them.
The 1st 3 approaches are not the best ideal approaches for us. The 1st 3 approaches should not be used by a deaf person at all. The article, that I read last summer, made a good suggestion. It explains that in the general deaf people at a deaf-related events usually use American Sign Language (ASL) to each other since it is a common language at deaf-related events. On the other hand, a hearing person usually speaking to another hearing person through a spoken language. It means ASL and spoken English functions equally for both of the groups. If a hearing person choose to speak in their native language, a deaf person should be able to choose to sign in their native sign language too. Both of their native languages are equivalent to each other.
I know that many hearing people don't know how to sign which is fine because deaf people, in the general, don't know how to speak too. Whenever a hearing person speaks to a person, the hearing person generally expects that person to reply back in the same spoken language. A deaf person should do the same thing by signing to a person and expects that person to reply back in the same sign language too.
So if a hearing person speaks to a deaf person and expects the deaf person to speak back to the hearing person, the deaf person should reply to the hearing person in their sign language and expect the hearing to reply back in the same sign language. Of course, the hearing people would be confused and puzzled if a deaf person signs to them because the hearing people use a spoken language daily and all the sudden someone just used a sign language to the hearing person instead of using a spoken language. That created a confusion for the hearing person.
Creating a confusion for them is a good thing. Because it will lead them to a curiosity in your sign language. It also shows them your confidence and your pride to be a deaf person. There is no shame to be a deaf person. The ability to hear should not matter. You should be proud to use ASL as your language as much as hearing people are proud to use spoken English as their language.
The article suggested me to use that approach and I was really curious if that approach really does work. So I went to Home Depot to buy a measurement tape on the same day. I went in a Home Depot store and saw a hearing employee walking by me. I went to that hearing employee and signed directly to him by saying "Hello. I need your help to find a measurement tape." That hearing employee looked at me with a puzzling look on his face because I didn't speak with my voice and used my hands to speak with him. He couldn't understand me because he didn't know how to sign. Then he realized that I am deaf who uses a sign langauge. I continued to sign to him as I expected him to reply back to me in a sign language. He used a body gesture to tell me to wait while he was pulling out his notepad from his pocket.
I was amazingly surprised that he was making efforts by taking out his notepad himself so he could communicate with me through his notepad. In the past, I always had to make efforts to communicate with other hearing people through a pen and a piece of paper. Now the table turned around to him and it made him to make efforts instead of me which was really nice.
Anyway. The hearing employee wrote on his notepad and it said "Hello, how can I help you? I am sorry that I can't sign." I was amazingly surprised that he actually apologized to me that he doesnt know how to sign. I remember from my childhood years to today, I had to point my ears to "apologize" to hearing people that I cannot hear. I had to apologize to them many times. But with the hearing employee at the Home Depot, it's totally opposite. He apologized to me that he didn't know how to sign which was really nice. So I went ahead and communicated with him through his notepad and went on with my measurement tape hunting. He helped me to find a measurement tape. That experience went beyond my expection.
I noticed that the attitudes between the old approach and the new approach are so different. With the old "pointing to ears" approach, you end up getting pities from them. With the new "signing to them directly" approach; you end up getting respects from them and having them to put their efforts in communicating with me. Which approach do you think is better? Of course, the new approach is a lot better than the old approaches.
From now on, I will not use the "pointing my ears" method or use the "a pen and a piece of paper" method anymore. I will sign to hearing people directly to shake their world. I totally love to see their facial expressions after I shake their world. But the bottom line is it is really nice to create a curiosity from them. I am glad that the article introduced that approach to me. I thanked the article for teaching me the new approach.
If you have any suggestion, know any better approach, would like to share your experiences, or would like to give me some feedbacks; help yourself to add your comment by clicking the link below the video clip. I'd really like to discuss about this topic. Im looking forward to seeing your comments.
Thank you.
Will this work for us to using sign language to approach with hearing people? Let see what their react will be.
She smile.
