Information about deaf awareness?

[william edwards]

hi my name is William, and im a student who is looking to teach my fellow classmates what its like to be deaf. I know they will not ever fully understand what its like and neither will I, but I want to understand deaf culture more and not see it in the way hearing people do.( I myself am a hearie) I working on an event where a deaf person will speak to my classmates, but also want to do some activities so they can understand better. I plan on getting earplugs( even though at would it would be hard of hearing and not deaf silence). could anyone give me an idea as to what activities I could plan. I need an inside perspective I want to do this right and change their perspective. all help is welcome.( and sorry if ive said something to offend anyone im really not trying to.)

 

[Sherlyn]

Hello William! I think a earplug works fine! Though it may not entirely portray how a deaf person hear, but any normal hearing person will be dumbfounded by being unable to hear clearly. You can make them put in ear plugs and you try to say a sentence normally. Make them read your lips and guess the word. You can even say it softly! Then proceed to ask how they felt and so forth.

Another way is to pretend like you are hard of hearing yourself. Do a skit, ask them to ask you questions and just keep saying "Can you repeat? I don't get you. Come again?". This will infuriate them (to a certain extent), but this is how people like us feel like. We tend to be unable to hear certain things correctly or we misunderstand certain words and that can put people off.

 

[Reba]

A short period of wearing earplugs can't possibly replicate the life-long experience of being deaf. It doesn't touch the day-to-day communications frustrations, family and social interactions, educational system failings, employment prejudices, etc. Some of the experiences are cumulative, so there is no way to experience them as a short-term recreation. At best, earplugs can roughly duplicate the lack of sound reception.

If you do decide on the earplugs, you can use a modified "It's a Deaf, Deaf World" role playing exercise that we used in an ASL immersion event. At various stations (tables) of a large room, role-play thru different life events (going to the bank, going to a doctor's appointment, being stopped by the police, conveying an important announcement to family members, interviewing for a job), and have each of the participants depend on an unfamiliar mode of communication, only. That is, signers aren't allowed to sign, oral/aural people aren't allowed to speak, and note-writing is restricted or limited.

To me, it's better to be exposed to the life stories and experience of real-life deaf people and taking heed of what they tell you without filtering it thru your hearing mind.

IMO