Diana Cruz

Professor Conroy

30 September 2019

English 11000

Is being Deaf really a Disability?

     The concept of being deaf is usually associated with the idea of being a disability by the hearing community. Deaf people do not consider being deaf a disability, they see being deaf as part of a culture. Deaf culture consists of the behaviors, social beliefs, history, values, etc.. of people affected by deafness who mostly use sign language as a means of communication. A lot of deaf people do not see being deaf as a disability because they can function and live just as well as a person who can hear would. People who are deaf find comfort in being able to communicate with other people who are deaf.

     In the Time Magazine article “Science gave my Son the Gift of Sound” by Lydia Denworth, Lydia’s son named Alex was a deaf child. Right before Alex turned 3 years old the mother heard about the cochlear implant, a surgically implanted device that can send electrical signals to the auditory nerves that provide a sense of sound to the recipient. Lydia then began to research the cochlear implant and learned about the debate involving the controversy on the usage of a cochlear implant within the deaf community. Eventually, Lydia decided to get the cochlear implant for her son and although he can’t hear perfectly he has been progressing well. His mother does want to get him involved in learning American Sign language to gain a better understanding of deaf culture.

     In the New York Times article,“ Unlocking the World of Sound for Deaf Children” by Jane E. Brody, Jane is a speech pathologist who talks about the benefits of cochlear implants. She also talks about the stories of people who have received cochlear implants and how getting the cochlear had changed their lives for the better.

     The academic journal “Deaf Culture and Academic Culture: Cultivating Understanding Across Cultural and Linguistic Boundaries” by Catherine 0’ Brien, Crystal Kroner, and Peggy Placier, did a study in which a group of deaf people and hearing people had to work together analyzing a scene given to them. They then had to answer a series of questions regarding deaf culture.

Analysis of “Science gave my Son the Gift of Sound”

     The author for the Times Magazine article is Lydia Denworth. Her audience consists of people who want to learn about the cochlear implant specifically parents who may be considering it for their child due to a hearing impairment or people who are interested in learning about her findings regarding the controversies of the cochlear implant. In the article, Lydia states “In other reports about the controversy, I found cochlear implantation of children described as “child abuse.” Many deaf people believe that making a child get a cochlear implant is something that should be frowned upon because it does not allow the child to have to freewill to decide whether or not they want a cochlear implant.

     The tone in the Time Magazines article “Science gave my Son the Gift of Sound” is informative. The author goes into the backstory of her son but also the history of the cochlear implant. According to the article, “cochlear implants arrived in the world just as the Deaf Civil Rights movement was flourishing. It was evident that the author wanted to inform its audience about the cochlear implant in a well-informed manner.

     The purpose of the article is to inform parents about the history of the cochlear implant and its controversies as well as to share her son’s story and relationship with the cochlear implant. This is conveyed when Lydia states “after 12 months of using the cochlear implant, the change was almost unbelievable. His expressive language had risen to the 63rd percentile and his receptive language to the 88th percentile. He was actually above age level on some measures. And that was compared to hearing children.” With this being said she wanted to point out that even with all of the controversy regarding the cochlear implants she is glad that she made her son get it as he is progressing wonderfully.

     The genre of this article is a narrative. It is a narrative due to Lydia talking about her son’s life story. For example, Lydia states “ It wasn’t until that January night in the kitchen that Alex was totally and obviously unresponsive to sound.” Recollecting these events allows the reader to understand where the author is coming from on a more personal level. The medium is a magazine. This type of magazine specializes in writing informative articles on current events in the world.

     The author’s stance is that getting a cochlear implant does not mean you have to lose deaf culture or force someone to lose deaf culture because at the end of the day you are still deaf. For example, the author states “I never wanted us not to be able to communicate. Even if Alex might never need ASL, he might like to know it.” The language use is professional.

Analysis of Twitter post by Elia Winters

     In a Twitter post by Elia Winters, she talks about how parents who can hear and have a child who is deaf will most likely jump to the conclusion that being deaf is something that should be looked down upon or something that needs to be fixed.

     In the Twitter post by Elia Winters, her audience consists of people who believe cochlear implants are solutions to being deaf. Winters states “But when Deaf children are born to hearing parents, there can be a knee-jerk “fix it” response.” Winters is trying to state that hearing parents of deaf children are quick to associate people who are deaf as something that makes someone “broken”.

     Winters’s tone in the post is assertive. She is passionate about her stance regarding deaf not being a disability and is very understanding of deaf culture. This is proven when Winters states “The Deaf community would probably disagree with you. Please, do some research. Many Deaf people do not consider it a disability to be fixed.” This implies that she has done a lot of research on the community herself as is very sure of her beliefs.

     The purpose of this social media post is to state the commodities people who have a deaf child have. Most hearing parents have the same argument regarding being deaf due to ignorance. She wants people to understand from the deaf perspective. She says “Please, do some research” emphasizing the hearing community to educate themselves.

     The genre of this post is social media and the medium is a post. It was a post used to raise awareness for how ignorant parents who can hear can be when getting a deaf child. This post was done on Twitter a social media platform that millions of people use on a day to day basis.

     Winters’ stance is that parents are ignorant about the topic of what it means for deaf people to be deaf. She states “That response comes from lack of education about Deaf community and culture. Language development is crucial to human development.”She’s talking about how just because someone is deaf doesn’t mean their life is over. People who are deaf just have to develop language skills just like everybody else.

Analysis of the article “Unlocking the World of Sound for Deaf Children”

     In the article “ Unlocking the World of Sound for Deaf Children” by Jane E. Broody, Jane’s audience consists of parents who have a child born with a hearing impairment. According to the article Jane R. Madell, “a pediatric audiology consultant and speech-language pathologist in Brooklyn, N.Y., wants every parent with a child who is born hearing-impaired to know that it is now possible for nearly all children with severe hearing loss to learn to listen and speak as if their hearing were completely normal.” She is very credible and knowledgeable when it comes to the topic of cochlear implants.

     Jane’s tone in the article is informative. She informs the audience of what a cochlear implant is. Jane states in the article “A cochlear implant bypasses the non-functioning hair cells of the auditory system and transmits sound directly to the auditory nerve so that the brain can process it. Implants can be inserted in babies before they can walk.” She is informing her audience what a cochlear implant is which gives a sense of reassurance to the audience.

     The purpose of the article is to inform the audience about the benefits of a cochlear implant. She informs the audience about other people’s experiences receiving the cochlear implant. For example, she mentions Dr. Buragaras story “She said it made medical school a lot easier and enabled her to work in obstetrics, a field that involves emergencies, loud operating rooms and the use of face masks that make lip reading impossible.” Having the cochlear implant has provided many with lifelong success.

     The genre of this article is personal health and the medium is a newspaper/magazine. The text states “Every baby born in the United States is supposed to be screened at birth for hearing loss.” This shows that parents had to take it upon themselves to do this for their child. All to understand their child’s health and make sure they did not have any issues. The article is posted on the New York Times a well-renowned newspaper company that specializes in current news and trends.

     The stance of this article is that cochlear implants are very beneficial to people who have issues with hearing. For example, Jane states that “According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, children with profound hearing loss who receive implants before 18 months of age “develop language skills at a rate comparable to children with normal hearing.” The intended audience consists of students who are not informed about the deaf community.

Analysis of Deaf Culture and Academic Culture: Cultivating Understanding across Cultural and Linguistic Boundaries

     The authors of this journal were Catherine O’Brien, Crystal Kroner and Peggy Placier. The intended audience for this article was for people in the education field. According to the journal “The findings are positive enough to suggest future directions for theater as a classroom tool to make visible the situations of students whose identities and cultures continue to position them as outsiders to academic culture.” Overall the intention is for educators to further investigate ways hearing students and deaf students can work together.

     The tone for this journal is formal. The tone is formal because there was a study done in the journal. The study required the students participating in the study to act out a scene. For example in the text it states “less than 50% of DHH students who received special education services graduated from high school” The journal is providing us with statistics on the circumstances of the students at the school.

     The purpose of this journal was to create ways for students to learn about deaf culture. For example in the journal it states “The purpose of our study was to design, implement, and evaluate a workshop based on Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed (1982) as an alternative way for students to learn about and be able to discuss the experiences of students who are Deaf in the hearing culture of higher education classrooms.” Many students are ignorant about deaf culture and so this study was able to help with that.

     The genre of this journal is study and the medium is a scholarly journal. In the article, it states “This exploratory study examined student responses to an interactive theater performance about the experiences of deaf students in the hearing culture of higher education.” The type of genre is helpful as it allows for one to be able to make conclusions

     The stance of this journal is that it is possible for deaf people and hearing people to work together. According to the journal “Peers of deaf students can play a role in lessening the challenges they face as students at a hearing university” This allows for both groups to work together effectively

Compare and Contrast

     The Times Magazine and the New York Times article are both extremely similar. They both talk about the benefits of receiving a cochlear implant. The academic journal and Twitter posts are also very similar in itself as they both talk about the ignorance of the hearing community towards the deaf community. The intended audiences for the magazine and the New York Times article are both parents of children who have hearing impairments. The academic journal’s audience is more towards fellow students.

Works Cited

Brien, Catherine 0′. “Deaf Culture and Academic Culture: Cultivating Understanding Across Cultural and Linguistic Boundaries.” Shibboleth Authentication Request, web-a-ebscohost-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=78e091a4-54a8-4fba-901f-478abf5e8d19%40sdc-v-sessmgr01.

Brody, Jane E. “Unlocking the World of Sound for Deaf Children.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Oct. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/10/08/well/live/unlocking-the-world-of-sound-for-deaf-children.html.

Denworth, Lydia. “Deaf Culture and Cochlear Implants: Genocide or Salvation?” Time, Time, 25 Apr. 2014, time.com/76154/deaf-culture-cochlear-implants/.

Winters, Elia. “And I Don’t Think They Are. But When Deaf Children Are Born to Hearing Parents, There Can Be a Knee-Jerk ‘Fix It’ Response.” Twitter, Twitter, 29 Apr. 2017, twitter.com/eliawinters/status/858384280426348544.