by Kristina Flores

Just like members of other minorities, such as Hispanics and African-Americans, Deaf people experience some of the same oppression and hardships. Although the attempts to "fix" members of and obliterate the DEAF-WORLD are not as highly publicized as problems with other minorities, they still exist. Throughout time, hearing people have been trying to destroy the DEAF-WORLD with the eugenics movement, the mainstreaming of Deaf children into public hearing schools, and cochlear implants.

Overall, the eugenics movement was meant to discourage Deaf people from socializing, intermarrying, and reproducing with each other. But these goals are very much unachievable. When Deaf children are growing up in a residential school, they have no choice but to socialize with other Deaf children. Since they all pretty much use the same language, socialization is not a problem for them. Because these children grow up with others who use their language, they tend to remain close to their friends and often intermarry. Many people, including A. G. Bell, were opposed to Deaf marrying other Deaf. Bell said that sign language "causes the intermarriage of deaf-mutes and the propagation of their physical defect" (Lane, 1996:382). Bell also claimed that society was condoning the spread of "a defective race of human beings" by allowing Deaf people to socialize with each other (Jankowski, 1997:53). Since others too saw deafness as a physical defect, they agreed with Bell and started adopting oral schools for the Deaf where signed language is prohibited. If oral schools ended up being the only schools for Deaf, then their signed languages would have diminished along with a part of their heritage and culture. A long time ago, many laws were passed that discouraged Deaf from marrying and reproducing (Lane, 1996:380). Even though the percentage of Deaf children born to Deaf families is far less than that of Deaf children born to hearing parents, the fact remains that people believed that Deaf marriages produced Deaf children. So the fact that laws were passed to sterilize Deaf people shows again the attempts to do away with Deaf people and the DEAF-WORLD. Even as recently as 1992, researchers at Boston University claimed to find the gene responsible for a common type of inherited deafness. The director essentially stated that these findings would lead to genetic engineering, which in essence, would eradicate many Deaf people. These researchers want to insert genetic material to prevent hereditary hearing impairment (Lane, 1996:385). Really, they want to stop deafness before it starts. The eugenics movement takes on many forms, but they are all aimed at destroying the DEAF-WORLD.

Mainstreaming Deaf children into hearing public schools, with or without interpreters, has the potential to abolish the DEAF-WORLD. A Deaf child's natural language is American Sign Language. Therefore, they should be exposed to and taught as much ASL in school as possible. When Deaf children are mainstreamed into public schools, they lost contact with other Deaf children with whom they can associate and sign with. Many Deaf adults have remained friends with people they met while attending residential schools. For parents that have children with other disabilities, mainstreaming has an inherent attraction, but the movement has caused disruptions in the education of Deaf children (Padden, 1988:115). Deaf students cannot be compared with any other group of students. They do not regard themselves as handicapped, but as a linguistic and cultural minority, who have the need and right to go to school together and to live in a community with others of their kind (Sacks, 1990:138). If mainstreaming were to become standard for educating Deaf children, residential schools would no longer be needed. Then, those important bonds and friendships that were once made only at residential schools cannot be made at all. Mainstreaming Deaf children delays language acquisition because unlike hearing children, the Deaf children cannot hear what the teacher is teaching and cannot just pick things up like hearing children can. The Deaf child must rely on the interpreter, if there is even one present. Right now, there is a shortage of interpreters all over. If all Deaf children were mainstreamed, the shortage would increase and the majority of the children would be in a hearing classroom with no interpreter. The fact that mainstreaming has been happening and will continue to happen is contributing to the eradication of the DEAF-WORLD; Deaf children need to be with other children who use the same language and can share in the same experiences. If children are mainstreamed, they are being deprived of the opportunities to learn about Deaf culture and Deaf heritage. Placing a Deaf child into a classroom where he can see that he is different from the other children may have some psychological affects on the child. That child should be around other children like themselves. It can boost self-esteem and make learning easier if they are in a more comfortable, natural environment. Mainstreaming Deaf children into public schools can rob them of the chance to learn and grow up in a place rich in Deaf culture and values, such as a residential school. Story telling in American Sign Language is a huge part of sharing culture at residential schools.As is other cultures, stories are carriers of history and vital means of teaching the wisdom of the group for those who do not have Deaf families (Padden, 1988:38). If Deaf children do not grow up instilled with Deaf values and knowledge of their culture, then the hearing world is one step closer to stamping out the .

Cochlear implants are probably the most well known devices for the destruction of the DEAF-WORLD. A cochlear implant is an electronic device that is surgically implanted in the inner ear. It converts sound to electrical signals that in turn stimulate the auditory nerve (Lane, 1996:141). Medical professions, who are almost always uneducated about other options for Deaf children, often tell parents to have their child receive cochlear implants so the child will be more "normal." Since the vast majority of Deaf children are born to hearing parents, they are also uneducated about the options for their Deaf child. They trust the medical professions to tell them what to do.The doctors want to "fix" Deaf people by inserting the cochlear implants. The main purpose of the implant is to move the child out of a linguistic and cultural minority and into the majority culture. Essentially, doctors and those who defend the implant are supporting the eradication of all Deaf people. If every child had the implant, then eventually (in the doctors’ perfect world) there would be no Deaf people. But this is unrealistic and ridiculous. In the Deaf Community, the cochlear implant is perceived as especially agonizing because unlike hearing aids that can easily be taken off, cochlear implants are surgically implanted. Many Deaf adults see the implants as an affront to their self-worth and they are deemed offensive to their culture (Jankowski, 1997:144). In 1995, the World Federation of the Deaf stated that, "...cochlear implants will not help the language acquisition of a Deaf child and can harm the emotional/psychological personality development and physical development" (Lane, 1996:392). This statement comes from people who know about Deaf people and Deaf culture. The risks dealing with the implant far outweigh the benefits. In fact, after ten years of experimentation with the implants with over a thousand children, not one single case has been reported of a child acquiring oral language with the implant (Lane, 1996:395). Implanted children have trouble learning English and ASL both. These children might fall between the two cultures and have none that is really their own (Lane, Cochlear Implants, 1992:90). If the implants continue to be inserted into the Deaf, the most distinguishing characteristic of Deaf people, the fact that they cannot hear, will become more and more obsolete until the DEAF-WORLD will no longer exist.

So, the hearing world's attempts to eradicate the DEAF-WORLD have been numerous. But maybe there is a reason the hearing world has not been successful in their attempts. The DEAF-WORLD has a long, rich, and interesting history that should not and cannot be eliminated. The eugenic movement, mainstreaming, and cochlear implants have yet to prove that the culture of Deaf people can be taken away from them, which is ultimately a wonderful thing.

Bibliography

Jankowski, Katherine A. (1997). Deaf Empowerment: Emergence, Strugge, and Rhetoric. Gallaudet University Press, Washington DC.

Lane, Harlan (1992). “Cochlear Implants are Wrong for Young Deaf Children.” Viewpoints on Deafness. Ed. Mervin D. Garretson. National Association of the Deaf, Silver Spring, MD. 89-92.

Lane, Harlan; Hoffmeister, Rob and Bahan, Ben (1996). A Journey Into the DEAF-WORLD. Dawn Sign Press, San Diego, Ca.

Padden, Carol and Humphries, Tom (1988). Deaf in America: Voices from a Culture. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.

Sacks, Oliver (1990). Seeing Voices: A Journey Into the World of the Deaf. Harper Perennial, New York, NY.