Deaf Citizens Research Articles

Falling through the Cracks: Deaf New Americans and Their Unsupported Educational Needs

Members of the Deaf New American community reported they arrived in the United States with no formal education, unable to read or write in their native language, and had zero fluency in English. Efforts to educate them have floundered, and the study aims to find out why and how to fix the problem. Interviews of eight Deaf New Americans yielded rich data that demonstrates how education policy in the form of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and other laws fail to address their needs, because these laws do not include them in their coverage. The study’s main findings are the deleterious effect of the home country’s failure to educate their Deaf citizens, America’s failure to provide accessible and effective instruction, and the combined effect of these institutional failures on the ability of Deaf New Americans to master English and find gainful employment. This article is an argument for a change in education policy that recognizes the unique nature of this community and provides for a role of Deaf educators in teaching Deaf New Americans.

ON THE USE OF SIGN LANGUAGE IN TEACHING HEARING-IMPAIRED CHILDREN

Teaching children with hearing impairment for a long time, mainly a verbal form of education is used in Kazakhstan, based on the development of auditory perception. Subsequently, along with a relatively small number of positive cases, we have a number of generations of deaf citizens who are not able to read and write correctly, express their thoughts, etc. Grown - up children with hearing impairment, despite the efforts of sign language teachers and teachers, still communicate with each other in sign language and use written speech when communicating with hearing people. At the same time, the role of sign language in teaching the deaf cannot be overestimated, since it meets the special educational needs of children with hearing impairment. This article discusses traditional and alternative approaches to teaching the deaf; provides a brief overview of the existing normative legal acts regulating the status of sign language; presents the results of a survey of teachers on the use of sign language in teaching deaf children; identifies strategic aspects and conditions for using of sign language in educational organizations.

Disservice to Society: A Transnational Analysis of the Canadian Hearing Services


 
 
 This paper expresses a growing sentiment the author felt as an employee of Canadian Hearing Services, one that is only implied in the Deaf Citizens petition. Namely, that the current operation of CHS is contributing to a disconnect from the Ontario and Canadian deaf communities, but it also signifies a disconnect from something bigger—what the author calls the global deaf network or what Murray (2007) calls “the transnational Deaf public sphere” (p.4)— and therefore the actions taking place at CHS reverberate beyond provincial and national borders. In applying a transnational analysis, the author explores the connections and linkages between CHS and a deaf network that exists globally, which includes CHS’ past participation in large international deaf events and the role of CHS offices in bringing together people who have unique and important experiences engaging with global deaf spaces and networks, and consider if the changes recently implemented at CHS signify an organizational withdrawal from these global spaces and networks. While this discussion only scratches the surface of possible connections linking CHS to a global deaf network, the author aims to add their voice to those calling on CHS to rebuild bridges that have previously linked the organization with deaf networks at local as well as global levels.
 
 

The social construction of 101 non-emergency video relay services for deaf signers

How the police prepare for and engage with a citizen who is deaf and uses British Sign Language (BSL) is a national problem. From the perspective of deaf sign language users, the police remain largely inaccessible and unprepared in how to accommodate their linguistic needs. Four regional forces have responded to this issue by introducing a local solution, a bespoke 101 non-emergency video relay service (101VRS). Independent VRS companies function as the auxiliary service, mediating video calls to a 101 helpline. This service was identified as a simple solution that relied on minimal resourcing and input from the police. In using Pinch and Bijker’s social construction of technology (SCOT) framework, we look at competing interpretations of the 101VRS concept and how this has led to a range of intended and unintended solutions and problems (Pinch TJ and Bijker WE (1984) The social construction of facts and artefacts: or how the sociology of science and the sociology of technology might benefit each other. Social Studies of Science 14(3): 399–441). To maintain the investment in improving access to the police, we recommend harmonization of 101VRS nationally, and ongoing consultation with how front-line services can become better prepared at assisting deaf citizens.

A importância da libras no processo de inclusão social do cidadão surdo no Brasil: da escolarização até o mercado de trabalho

This article clarifies the inclusion of deaf students in society, agreeing with the importance of this right, and thus, in a succinct way, highlights the legal bases that ensure the right from education to the labor market, defines what inclusion is, difficulties faced by deaf and / or deaf citizens in this process, exposing the importance of the school and the teacher in this process of social inclusion. The research was carried out through bibliographic surveys by means of true and legitimate documents. It is considerable nowadays, to defend that education is a right of all, and that it is ensured in the Federal Constitution, taking care not only to guarantee entry, but to structure it so that it remains and is successful in that school path, at different levels of education when it is known that Brazil has advanced in terms of the creation of laws, protection and protection for people with deafness.

The knowledge of the Municipal Guard of Curitiba about the Brazilian Sign Language (Libras), deafness and deaf people.

In Brazil, there is a considerable number of deaf people, sign language users, who should have access to equal opportunities. However, sign language is unknown by the most Brazilian population, especially those who work in public institutions, and deny the deaf their rights to equality. Therefore, several professionals, among them, the municipal guards, are not prepared for the diversity. to investigate the knowledge of the Municipal Guards (MG) from Curitiba about the deaf, Brazilian Sign Language (Libras),and their service practices when they need to interact with deaf citizens. It´s a mixed crosscut study; data were collected by the application of a semi-structured questionnaire answered by 50 municipal guards, with questions on their knowledge about the deaf, the sign language and the service practices conducted by their corporation towards deaf people. Data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively by means of Bardin's Content Analysis. The results demonstrate that participants have a limited knowledge of deafness and Libras. Most members of the Municipal Guard have a view of deaf people and the Brazilian Sign Language based on an organic perspective of deafness, and it was also observed that during their service practices towards deaf people, many of them could not either interact or communicate with them.

A Look at the Tradition of Lack of Accommodating of Citizens with Disabilities in The People’s Republic of China

It is common to encounter a citizen with disability in everyday life. According to data from the second national survey of disabled people, the group accounts for 5.26% of the population of Guangzhou. Citizens with vision, hearing or physical disability accounts for the largest part of this statistic. Citizens with disabilities in The People’s Republic of China often are treated as inferiors. There is a history of complaints of a lack of physical and service related accommodation by this group. Citizens with disabilities state that it is very difficult to find a job because of the unfair treatment. Zhang Hai Di is a famous Chinese writer with severe disability. A true advocate, Di, devoted her life to helping peoples with disabilities to have the same rights as others. This acclaimed writer has played a critical role helping the government build many policies which have had some effects to the disabled people. There is still room for improvement in China (Wang,2017). For example, the majority of building are lack wheelchair accessibility. This is a serious problem for the blind and disabled citizens of The People’s Republic of China. Moreover, most signage and computers are not designed for the blind. Special phones for the deaf citizens are not common.

3006 Academic-Community Partnership and Capacity Strengthening for Deaf Community-engaged Research in the Dominican Republic

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Deaf communities in many low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) struggle to organize, advocate, and reach social and health equity in their nations. In the Dominican Republic (DR), the health and social status of Deaf citizens is unclear, which obfuscates action and advocacy based on data. A set of successful pre-existing US-DR partnerships that function well but were not previously connected, organized around submission of a community-based NIH research grant and pilot work to support it. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Adapting the Partnership Synergy Framework for this purpose, we evaluate the partnership, its evolution, and its experience in implementing formative research. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Our experience showed the local Deaf community organization easily recruited and interfaced with the Deaf community; presence of a trusted external organization facilitated entry of the PUCMM-UR research team; and stakeholders are enthusiastic about the partnership, its outputs, and the ability to recruit Dominican Deaf citizens into research. The partnership organized around production of an R21 to the Fogarty International Center (NIH), including Human Subjects certification, budget and scope of work negotiation, and inclusion of preliminary data. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: The engagement of Deaf communities globally is virtually non-existent in clinical and translational research. This partnership in the Dominican Republic shows that partners can organize around common goals and identify logistics required to produce pilot data and an NIH grant.

Equal Access to Make Emergency Calls: A Case for Equal Rights for Deaf Citizens in Norway and Sweden

It is stipulated that deaf citizens have equal right to use social services as other citizens. One social service is the access to make an emergency call. Deaf citizens who cannot hear and use a signed language to communicate have to make emergency calls in another way rather than relying on listening and speaking via a telephone. However, the possible ways to call are not the same for deaf citizens in all countries. This commentary shows that there are options dedicated for deaf citizens to make emergency alarms in both Norway and Sweden: via telephone typewriters, Short Message Service, and Video Relay Service, although the design of the respective options differs between the countries. However, it is argued that deaf citizens in Norway do not have equal access to make emergency alarms as other citizens in Norway, whereas the situation for deaf citizens in Sweden may be seen as equal compared to other citizens in Sweden, although there still are limitations.

Deaf citizens as jurors in Australian courts: Participating via professional interpreters

Australian deaf citizens are currently not permitted to perform jury duty, primarily due to their inability to hear the evidence and deliberate without the help of interpreters. Although interpreters are routinely employed to interpret for defendants or witnesses in court, current legal frameworks do not permit interpreters to enter the deliberation room as a ‘thirteenth person’, for fear that they may influence the jurors in their decision-making. Other objections to allowing deaf citizens to act as jurors include uncertainty about their ability to participate fully in the discussions, the impact the deaf juror’s and interpreter’s presence may have on the dynamics of the deliberations and on turn taking, and the logistics and cost involved. Yet, deaf citizens see it as their right to be able to perform this very important civic duty, and recent decisions at the international level indicate that excluding deaf citizens from jury duty should be considered unlawful discrimination. This paper will present results from the analysis of the jury deliberations with one deaf juror and two Auslan interpreters, and from a focus group discussion with the eleven hearing jurors and an interview with the deaf juror about their experience. The jury deliberation is one section of a large-scale study on the participation of deaf jurors in a criminal trial with Auslan interpreters, in New South Wales.

"The World is Wide Enough for Us Both”: The Manitoba School for the Deaf at the Onset of the Oralist Age, 1889-1920

Historical research on the oralist era in North American deaf education has typically been undertaken through a national lens. This study asserts that a more localized and regional view of the communication methods practiced at deaf schools will aid in the creation of a more complex picture of how oralism spread in Canadian and North American deaf schools. Based on an analysis of the papers of the Manitoba Ministry of Public Works; the archives of Silent Echo, the Manitoba School’s newspaper; and published works by the school’s principals, this paper contends that strict oralism faced fierce resistance in Manitoba from both Deaf citizens and teachers, as well as the school’s hearing principal, before 1920. Principal Duncan McDermid and deaf teacher J.R. Cook published and republished arguments in the Echo against oralism and in favour of moderation in the sign debate. In consideration of all three characteristics of strictly oralist schools in the early twentieth century – a ban on sign language, separation of deaf students from Deaf communities, and the expulsion of deaf teaching staff – the Manitoba School for the Deaf emerges as an exception to the trend of encroaching oralism in Canadian deaf schools during the early twentieth-century.

Corpos-ouvidos destes tempos: implante coclear na mídia

Resumo Este artigo apresenta uma reflexão sobre as relações entre mídia e a fabricação dos sujeitos surdos. Do conjunto de materiais, recortamos do Programa Fantástico especificamente o quadro sobre saúde, na reportagem intitulada “Crianças que nasceram surdas escutam pela primeira vez”. Tornamos a mídia um campo social a partir das ferramentas teóricas foucaultianas – discursos e sujeitos – analisando textos e imagens, extraindo deles seus enunciados e os regimes de verdade que produzem, de forma minuciosa, com regularidade e suposta legitimidade, um padrão social de referência e correção por meio do implante coclear – corpos-sujeitos-ouvidos – desejável. Ainda é possível perceber a invisibilização da língua de sinais e a produção de discursos que tratam a surdez como uma deficiência, localizada em um lugar de possível correção pelo implante coclear Abstract This article presents a reflection about the relations between the media and the fabrication of deaf citizens. The set of materials, we cut of the program “Fantastic” specifically the presentment of health, story titled "Children that was born deaf hear for the first time". We make the media a social field from Foucault's theoretical tools – speeches and subjects – analyzing texts and images, extracting them their statements and the truth regimes that produce, in detail, on a regular and supposed legitimacy, a social pattern and correction by means of cochlear implants – body-subject-ears – desirable. It is still possible notice the invisibilization of sign language and the production of speeches that treat deafness as a disability, located in a place of possible correction by the cochlear implant.

Chinese Deaf viewers’ comprehension of sign language interpreting on television

Over 200 television channels in China broadcast news with signed language interpreting, making this one of the most visible forms of public accessibility for Deaf citizens. However, previous surveys have reported that most viewers have difficulty understanding the sign language interpreter. This experimental study examines how well a group of 49 Deaf individuals do, comparing their level of comprehension with that of twenty hearing viewers whose medium of access to program content is spoken Mandarin. All participants completed simple comprehension questions, in written form, after viewing twenty short news clips. These were shown once to the hearing viewers, and twice to Deaf viewers so as to compensate for any intrinsic difficulty related to the limited visual clarity of televised signed language interpreting. Results show that, even with interpretation, the Deaf viewers do not benefit equally from the news clips. Analysis of the interpretations suggests that the interpreters’ lack of Chinese Sign Language fluency might have contributed to the Deaf viewers’ lesser comprehension. In addition to insufficient training, the high pressure the interpreters experience in relation to interpreting in media settings might have a negative effect on the quality of their interpretation.

Reflections on Deaf Education: Perspectives of Deaf Senior Citizens

Parents with deaf children face many challenges in making educational choices, developing language and a sense of belonging. Other key aspects of life including concept development and social competency are also critical decision points faced by parents. Developing language, whether it is through spoken or signed modalities, is of utmost importance during the formative years and for many families with deaf children, there are no prior experiences with deafness, American Sign Language, Deaf culture, or the deaf community. This study aims to understand the educational and familial experiences of older deaf citizens by examining the meaning of being deaf and members of biological and cultural families, and the concern for education of young deaf children as constructed by deaf senior citizens from both deaf and hearing families. For the purpose of obtaining both childhood and educational experiences of older deaf citizens and examining what advice they would offer to families of today with deaf children, a qualitative design was implemented in which 13 participants participated in focus group and individual interviews. Themes that emerged from the data include, but are not limited to, community-based learning, the value of communication, involvement with other deaf individuals, importance of family communication and signing, sibling involvement and including deaf children as true members of a family. One recommendation made by the deaf senior adults was that families with deaf children engage with deaf seniors more frequently as a valuable resource.

Emergency situations and deaf people in Israel: Communication obstacles and recommendations.

The absence of the ability to hear sounds in deaf people is an obstacle to optimal communication in a predominantly hearing world. Emergency situations harbor sufficient challenge for the hearing person and pose even greater barriers for the deaf and hard of hearing. During disasters and emergency situations, deaf people have great difficulty in obtaining and sharing information, increasing their dependence on others. This article focuses on the experience of deaf people during a period of security threat, when missiles from the Gaza strip were aimed at the civilian population in Southern Israel, in 2009. The aim of this article is to illustrate the complexities that deaf citizens experienced, and describe their coping mechanisms. A qualitative study including 15 heterogeneous-background Deaf participants interviewed by a researcher that belongs to the deaf community using a multiple-method facilitated questionnaire. Data was analyzed using grounded theory methodology principles. Main categories that arose from data analysis were communication problems during emergencies, the pager as a questionable warning device about emergencies (due to timing and content/context issues of its use), and the implications of the location of deaf people at time of emergency. Various channels for conveying information should be examined and created in order to maximize the heterogeneous deaf community's ability to receive vital information during an emergency. Professional sign language interpreters are necessary during emergencies, helping to reduce both dependence on informal sources (such as family members, including minors, friends, neighbors, by-standers) and risk. The development of new technologies may bear potential help for deaf persons during emergencies. Being a socio-linguistic minority, it is recommended to ensure these technologies will be accessible to the whole deaf community.

Song Without Words: Discovering My Deafness Halfway Through Life

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Book ReviewsFull AccessSong Without Words: Discovering My Deafness Halfway Through LifeJeffrey L. Geller, M.D., M.P.H., , Roger Peele, M.D., and Nicole Sakla, B.S.Jeffrey L. GellerSearch for more papers by this author, M.D., M.P.H., Editor, Roger PeeleSearch for more papers by this author, M.D., and Nicole SaklaSearch for more papers by this author, B.S.Published Online:1 Jan 2014https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.650110AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail by SheaGerald; Boston, Da Capo Press, 2013, 291 pagesAt the age of six, a young boy named Gerald Shea contracted scarlet fever and was left partially deaf as a result. Remarkably, however, for nearly three decades he did not realize he had a substantial hearing handicap. Instead, he thought he had a cognitive disorder that he addressed by testing the “melody” of vowels in words that he would hear until the choice of consonants made sense. These constructed vowel melodies are what Shea referred to as “lyricals.” For example, when Shea heard “Gerry, when you’re in a baa you’ve got to taa to pee,” using lyricals, he eventually translated what he had heard into, “Gerry, when you’re in a box, you’ve got to talk to people.” Unfortunately, conversations would typically carry on before he could make the translation. Despite this substantial handicap, he was among the top students at Andover, Yale, and Columbia Law School and had a successful international practice in law in the United States and Europe that often required him to hear accurately.Within those three decades, he worked 16 hours a day trying to make sense of the world around him. After discovering that he was deaf, he noted that his handicap led to “time lost as a child, a student, a lover”—as a fact, and not with any self-pity.The most imperative lesson to be taken from this autobiography is that the knowledge of being hearing handicapped does not solve or in any way eliminate the problems experienced by the 30 million partially deaf citizens in this country. When Shea finds out what his real handicap is, challenges remain. In addressing these challenges, he meets a psychiatrist, Peter Melanson, who was training to be a brain surgeon and slowly became deaf beginning in his mid-twenties. Dr. Melanson realized his deafness could have lethal consequences in an operating room and switched to the field of psychiatry, which he could successfully practice with mechanical aids. Dr. Melanson suggests that Shea be sensitive to what a life of lyricals can do to Shea’s life if he insists on not recognizing the limitations of his hearing. He ends their only meeting by giving Shea a bear hug.This candid and charming memoir reminds us that our brains are a language acquisition device. Partial deafness can lead to a limited life, or it can lead to a constant search for the meaning of life’s endless mysteries. Shea’s life is defined by the latter.Dr. Peele is with the Department of Psychiatry, George Washington University, Washington, D.C. Ms. Sakla is with the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park.The reviewers report no competing interests. FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited ByNone Volume 65Issue 1 January 2014Pages e10-e10 Metrics The reviewers report no competing interests.PDF download History Published online 1 January 2014 Published in print 1 January 2014

LINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTER SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETERS RUSSIAN LANGUAGE

The article is devoted to the actual direction of modern linguistics – describing the features of Russian sign language identified by the analysis of theoretical and empirical lexicographical sources, as well as in the process of communication with native «speakers» – people using Russian sign language as native language. Another purpose of the article is detecting and confirming the practical significance of such research – solving problems of social adaptation for hard of hearing people. The paper presents the results of linguistic research of Russian sign language that the developers of the computer Russian sign language translator rely on: peculiarities of lexis, word derivation, morphology and syntax of sign language for deaf citizens of the Russian Federation are described. Approaches to developing a system for computer sign language translation used by the employees of the Institute of Social Rehabilitation, Novosibirsk State Technical University, are justified in the paper. The results of the research can be interested to specialists studying and describing lexical and grammatical systems of Russian sign language, developers of the system for a two-way machine translation from Russian spoken language to Russian sign language and vice versa, sign language interpreters and teachers of sign language. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2013-7-28

Reconsidering Sound and the City: Asserting the Right to the Deaf-Friendly City

The sensory turn has made a pronounced attempt to broaden the focus in social and cultural geography to encompass the entire sensory spectrum, with the aim of counterbalancing what is perceived to have been the disproportionate attention granted to visual geographies and the act of seeing. In respect of critically understanding the geographies of difference that characterise Deaf citizens' experience in the contemporary city, this paper calls for a moment in geography to take stock of the signature that visual awareness bears in the social life of the Deaf city, and also to consider the hearingness implicit in geographical commentary on the role of sound in the reproduction of place. Reading urban and public spaces from a Deaf-centred perspective, I draw on parallel discussions from social geography and Deaf Studies to critically deconstruct the phenomena underpinning the aural bias that is deeply embedded in the social fabric, and which finds continuous expression in the intangible aural architectures of modern life. Dispositions and attitudes towards the ‘normal’ hearing body and towards hearing ontological engagements with sound and speech serve to maintain the city's audist and phonocentric inclinations. Here, the manner in which the right to the Deaf-friendly city is jeopardised is made explicit through empirical accounts from Deaf people in Ireland and England whose everyday geographies are characterised by the negotiation of urban spaces that were designed according to the needs of an assumed homogenous hearing public.

Sind gehörlose Patienten in Deutschland über ihren gesetzlichen Dolmetscheranspruch informiert?

Deaf citizens are confronted with barriers in a health-care system shaped by hearing people. Therefore the German legislature provides a supply with sign language interpreters at the expense of the health insurances. The present study initially examines in how far the deaf are informed about this and use said interpreters. Traditional surveys are based on spoken and written language and therefore are unsuitable for the target audience. Because of this, a cross-sectional online study was performed using sign language videos and visually oriented answers to allow a barrier-free participation. With a multivariate analysis, factors increasing deaf people's risks not to be informed of the supply with interpreters were identified: Of 841 deaf participants, 31.4% were not informed of their rights. 41.3% have experience with an interpreter at the doctor's and report a mainly trouble-free reimbursement of costs. Young and modestly educated deaf have a higher risk of not being informed of the interpreter supply. Further information is necessary to provide equality of opportunities to deaf patients utilising medical benefits.

Accessibility of emergency communications to deaf citizens

Since 2001, the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Technologies (Wireless RERC) has taken an active role in promoting accessibility of emergency alerting systems for Americans with disabilities. Among federal government initiatives is a new rule that will take effect in 2010, requiring that emergency alerts be sent using Short Messaging Service (SMS) from all cell phone towers in areas affected by emergencies. This paper shares consumer input on wireless emergency communication via analysis of data gathered through the Survey of User Needs (SUNs) conducted by the Wireless RERC since 2001 and through focus groups conducted with deaf individuals.