Loss of Culture?

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sugriesinger

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With all of the technology and all that may be just over the horizon, how will this affect Deaf culture. If hearing loss or deafness is "cured" will culture be lost? Is there a way to keep Deaf culture and use all of the technology that could become available? What are people's thoughts on the new technology and what the effects are? Any thoughts would be great!

Thanks!
 
Many audists would love to see Deaf culture to be destroyed.
 
i don't think deaf culture will ever come to an end. ci's don't make a person hearing and there are many ci users who still continue to participate in their local deaf community despite being implanted. i also don't think there will come a day when all deafness is cured. there will always be some types of deafness that can't be eliminated or reversed by science.
 
Hear Again said:
i don't think deaf culture will ever come to an end. ci's don't make a person hearing and there are many ci users who still continue to participate in their local deaf community despite being implanted. i also don't think there will come a day when all deafness is cured. there will always be some types of deafness that can't be cured by science.
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However, the more children who are implanted, the more pressure for them to take the oral-only route is gonna happen and then we will have a generation of deaf people who have little or no knowldge of Deaf culture and ASL. Also, if the number of ASL users get smaller will the services that so many deaf people fought for dwidle and then there will be little or no support for those who struggle with oralism?
 
shel90 said:
However, the more children who are implanted, the more pressure for them to take the oral-only route is gonna happen and then we will have a generation of deaf people who have little or no knowldge of Deaf culture and ASL. Also, if the number of ASL users get smaller will the services that so many deaf people fought for dwidle and then there will be little or no support for those who struggle with oralism?
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i just don't see that kind of thing happening. ci's and other forms of technology aren't going to change deaf culture. there will always be deaf children who can't qualify for a ci, do not wish to be implanted or whose parents are strongly opposed to ci's. as for asl, there will always be a need for it -- especially for those who are culturally Deaf who cannot be taught to voice or lipread.
 
Hear Again said:
i just don't see that kind of thing happening. ci's and other forms of technology aren't going to change deaf culture. there will always be deaf children who can't qualify for a ci, do not wish to be implanted or whose parents are strongly opposed to ci's. as for asl, there will always be a need for it -- especially for those who are culturally Deaf who cannot be taught to voice or lipread.
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Unfortunately I have seen it start to happen first hand. I am the only Deaf undergrad at my large University. I have fought for supports and I currently rely on someone at another local University to book my interpreters because there is no one at my school to do it. My Access counselor has said that over the last 5 years she has seen the number of Deaf students dwindle and the amount of deaf students with CI's grow. As a result the school is not equipped to handle my access concerns and they are passed off to someone at another school who volunteers her time to help me with interpreters.

We used to have someone that booked interpreters for our school but there is no longer a need for the position so I have to go elsewhere for interpreter support.
 
JennyB said:
Unfortunately I have seen it start to happen first hand. I am the only Deaf undergrad at my large University. I have fought for supports and I currently rely on someone at another local University to book my interpreters because there is no one at my school to do it. My Access counselor has said that over the last 5 years she has seen the number of Deaf students dwindle and the amount of deaf students with CI's grow. As a result the school is not equipped to handle my access concerns and they are passed off to someone at another school who volunteers her time to help me with interpreters.

We used to have someone that booked interpreters for our school but there is no longer a need for the position so I have to go elsewhere for interpreter support.
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That;'s what I am seeing with the support services for deaf children. It is a shame!
 
I do go to a hearing school. I have an interpreter to rely on in cases if i don't understand something. But I will NEVER let go of my deaf culture.

As many of us will probably agree the same like I say that: Deaf culture is important to me. Because its like another family to go to. Home away to home. As much as I also have my hearing culture, that's also important to me. Being in the hearing culture and being in the deaf culture takes alot of work and balancing. But I will never let go of my deaf culture. Because I grew up in both worlds. And gave me great memories to live by. And I continue to stand by it.
 
JennyB said:
Unfortunately I have seen it start to happen first hand. I am the only Deaf undergrad at my large University. I have fought for supports and I currently rely on someone at another local University to book my interpreters because there is no one at my school to do it. My Access counselor has said that over the last 5 years she has seen the number of Deaf students dwindle and the amount of deaf students with CI's grow. As a result the school is not equipped to handle my access concerns and they are passed off to someone at another school who volunteers her time to help me with interpreters.

We used to have someone that booked interpreters for our school but there is no longer a need for the position so I have to go elsewhere for interpreter support.
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my experience has been different. i'm the only deafblind student at my university.

however, there has been a growing influx of Deaf students at my university's d/hoh program. 95% of them sign and use asl while 2 of them have ci's.

incidentally, one that has a ci also uses asl and terps since he is only able to hear environmental sounds.

my university has a person on staff who works full-time arranging interpreter and captioning services for students.

i should also mention that due to more and more elderly people losing their hearing and vision, there has been an increase in the number of clients who attend our local deafblind center and participate in the deafblind community (albeit the deafblind community is still rather small).
 
i should also mention that just because a child is implanted doesn't mean they will never participate in Deaf culture or sign. there have been many cases where a child decides as an adult that they do not wish to continue wearing their ci and start using asl and/or participating in Deaf culture as a result.
 
I would think it because there are less childern with an illness that cause deafness now days than it was back in the 30's 40's 50's 60's 70's that the Deaf Commuities is shrinking?

I was born deaf so I am not an "ex-hearing turn to deaf" but almost all of my deaf friend were all "ex-hearing" then became deaf at 1-9 years old because of an illness and I would think with a better medince now days there are less chance of children getting the illness that cause the deafness like it did back in the early years.

I don't research in this field but it my theory as why the Deaf Commuties is shrinking. I am not a professor or anything like that but just a thought.


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Hear Again said:
i should also mention that just because a child is implanted doesn't mean they will never participate in Deaf culture or sign. there have been many cases where a child decides as an adult that they do not wish to continue wearing their ci and start using asl and/or participating in Deaf culture as a result.
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I agree but that means there would be more and more deaf people who learned ASL late and arent really able to express themselves in ASL like the native ASL-users. I am pretty fluent in ASL but I couldnt sign like the native ASL users. Those are the ones who create ASL stories, songs, and poems which are a vital part of Deaf culture. The less native ASL users, the artistic aspect of ASL will shrink and that breaks my heart because it is so beautiful. Already got enough hearing people as it is.
 
shel90 said:
I agree but that means there would be more and more deaf people who learned ASL late and arent really able to express themselves in ASL like the native ASL-users. I am pretty fluent in ASL but I couldnt sign like the native ASL users. Those are the ones who create ASL stories, songs, and poems which are a vital part of Deaf culture. The less native ASL users, the artistic aspect of ASL will shrink and that breaks my heart because it is so beautiful. Already got enough hearing people as it is.
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you do have a point there, shel. i agree.
 
i also wanted to mention that as long as there are premature infants like myself who lost their hearing as a result, there will always be an incidence of big "d" Deaf.
 
Hear Again said:
my experience has been different. i'm the only deafblind student at my university.

however, there has been a growing influx of Deaf students at my university's d/hoh program. 95% of them sign and use asl while 2 of them have ci's.

incidentally, one that has a ci also uses asl and terps since he is only able to hear environmental sounds.

my university has a person on staff who works full-time arranging interpreter and captioning services for students.

i should also mention that due to more and more elderly people losing their hearing and vision, there has been an increase in the number of clients who attend our local deafblind center and participate in the deafblind community (albeit the deafblind community is still rather small).
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The difference is that here in Canada we don't have a Deaf/HOH university or program. The closest thing we have is York University which has a Deaf Ed masters program so they get a lot of Deaf students as a result. A lot of Deaf Canadians for to NITD, Gally, or CSUN as a result - and our government will pay for it since we don't have a Deaf post secondary institution or program.

The one Deaf school we have in our Toronto school board for grades 1-6 will be closing shortly since enrollment is down and there isn't any way to keep the program going. The 1 ASL using pre-school we have in Toronto doesn't have any Deaf children enrolled, they are all hearing.

I got to University of Toronto. One of the largest Universities in Canada. I am the only Deaf undergrad student and there are only 3 Deaf grad students. I think it's sad!
 
i'm confused, jennyb. you said that the only asl using pre-school in toronto only has hearing students. what do you mean by hearing? hard of hearing? children with ci's?

i think one of the reasons why our experiences differ is because here in the u.s. we have the americans with disabilites act which guarantees services for the deaf, hard of hearing, deafblind, etc.

i'm also fortunate enough to attend the second largest state university in wisconsin. we have 30,000 students and although i am the only person who is deafblind, there are about 80 or so deaf and hard of hearing students in the d/hh program.
 
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