Recently, a video has been posted on ASLized.com, a video informational site dedicated to the education and promotion of Deaf culture and especially Deaf literature; this video (link below) is called Early Intervention: The Missing Link. It emphasizes the negativity that overwhelms new parents who find out their baby has been born deaf. For centuries deafness has been labeled by the medical community and hearing population at large, as a disability, a handicap, and a problem to be fixed. This problem, for many doctors, requires surgery and a cochlear implant along with life-long speech and physical therapy to be overcome, sometimes with great success and, more often than anyone would like, great frustration and failure.
The goal of this particular video, which in turn eagerly speaks for the Deaf community, is to say that disabilities and handicaps are far from the truth. Deafness is instead a culture built of people with similar experiences, traditions, habits, and most importantly, language: American Sign Language. This video urges parents to think of language opportunities rather than limitations. Teach your child ASL, a language that can be as easy and natural as English is to thousands of hearing Americans. This language can open up many doors for a child rather than trying to force them through only doors that require speech and hearing, doors they may never unlock. The maker of this video seems to think that if parents are introduced to ASL as an option and, even better, are introduced to a Deaf adult as a model for what their child can become, they won’t be afraid of deafness and make rash decisions about which linguistic route is best for their child. However, it is this point that should cause some hesitation.
I absolutely and whole-heartedly agree that Deaf people can become successful, intelligent members of society and have a whole list of shining examples, but I’m afraid these people may only be as good as their interpreters. Parents, I’m afraid, may still see Deaf people as somewhat foreign if an interpreter is required to communicate with them. They don’t hear the eloquence of the Deaf adult; they hear a hearing interpreter translating. As a person who has loved learning and using ASL, I could have a one-on-one conversation with a Deaf person and get to know them on a personal level, but not everyone has that luxury. I do know there are plenty of skilled interpreters who could easily make a person’s ASL come to life in English, but I’m afraid the less-experienced and less-qualified interpreters are often the ones being hired by many public establishments because of such limited budgets. Less-qualified means less expensive.
Hospitals have little money set aside for interpreters who are called not even once a year. More importantly, they are run by a hearing person who may have never encountered a Deaf person and who may feel translations come a dime-a-dozen-- if you know a few signs, you’re hired. Interpreters play a big role in representing the Deaf community and often don’t live up to the job requirements. Limited knowledge keeps everyone in the dark: the English isn’t right nor is the ASL. Unfortunately, it is usually the Deaf person who must suffer the consequences because they are the minority and must conform. If parents are to be truly informed on the best option-- linguistically, culturally, educationally-- their only real option may be to learn ASL themselves and study the Deaf culture so they understand, at least intellectually, what the options are for both sides.
(As a bit of a disclaimer, I don't want to come across as an antagonist of this video in any way, shape, or form, I loved it and thought it to be spot on. However, I know that simply introducing parents to the Deaf world may not be enough to make them choose a non-hearing route if they don't become involved with the Deaf world first.)
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