This blog examines the implications of current trends in American Sign Language (ASL). I will attempt to discuss what I learned from Hawai'i.
While I lived on Maui in Hawai'i, I learned a lot about hiding the Native Hawai'ian language and culture. Hiding an issue regarding a teacher's proficiency in Hawai'ian, for example, is being dishonest. Hawai'i is the land of aloha, the most important word that must be experienced and understood. It's ineffable, indescribable, and undefinable.
In 1978 Hawai'i adopted both English and Native Hawaii as its official languages--official bilingualism. To what extent can our American society hide the Hawai'ian language and culture? Why would we? What do we gain or lose from abandoning the Native Hawai'ian language and culture?
During this summer, we will discover how our American society allows such a powerful organization like the Alexander Graham Bell Association hide ASL and be dishonest about our being Deaf--our condition that makes our life human, our language human, and our leisure human. ASL, above everything else, is human.
ASL is a particularly powerful political instrument, a vital tool in communication, and a vital part of educational success. ASL politics is therefore an art, and much like any art, ASL politics requires practice and exercise.
The question remains the same: Why do we allow our free society to hide and oppress our language and culture, ASL? Hiding ASL is not healthy...not honest...not very aloha!
Friday, May 30, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Deaf Leadership or Doofus-ness?
I first became involved in Deaf leadership conferences in the 1970s. I went to the Eastern Conference of the Junior National Association of the Deaf in Portland, Maine; the Youth Leadership Camp (YLC) in Pengilly, Minnesota; and two conventions of the National Association of the Deaf (1972 in Miami Beach and 1978 in Rochester). When I was elected Student Body Government (SBG) President at Gallaudet University, I went to work as a camp counselor at the YLC. The theme for Deaf leadership conferences throughout the 1970s was something like: "PROVE DEAF CAN DO" the ways hearing people do. I enjoyed meeting and making friends with these " ... DEAF CAN DO" people, and we learned a lot about ourselves!
In the 1980s I became an educator, teaching the Deaf at Kendall Demonstration Elementary School and then Gallaudet University. I loved my students and I've been following their careers, which is my personal and professional joy.
In the 1990s I began to advocate for the more widespread use and acceptance of American Sign Language (ASL), and it's been an uphill battle. There are (yes, I am using the present tense for this verb) plenty of naysayers out there who believe rather firmly that ASL is somehow like the manual alphabet, in that ASL is, supposedly, a type of "word-sign" dactylology. They pride themselves in their own ability to sign in English word order and they regard this as being some kind of indication of competence in being a Deaf leader. They intentionally refrain from using 100% ASL with hearing people.
There exists this difference between using ASL and signing in English word order. I have seen first-hand different "leaders" to which the Deaf community has had to exercise forbearance and patiently endure. It was not all that long ago when the Deaf community was sharply divided and the political climate was very socialistic--although the politically correct term used then and still used today is: "progressive."
Those of us who stood against oral-only education, signed English, and cochlear implants were regarded as being either "mavericks" or even "gesture-using Neanderthals." We have endured these slights, and have succeeded in moving ourselves forward in a manner that has been positive and essential for all the Deaf.
The reason I even refer to this example of the past is that when we, the Deaf, either forget or just don't know the history of our language and anti-Deaf cultural oppression, we are becoming susceptible to repeating the same mistakes. This has been true throughout history and still holds true today, to wit, at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in New York, where President Alan Hurwitz of the National Technical Institution of the Deaf (NTID) is well known for his Deaf (?) leadership--Or is he simply a doofus whose leadership is perfunctory and amounts to mere pro-forma consistency with committee reports?
I find it necessary to criticize and spew cynical tirades about what needs to be done about the quality of Deaf leadership. Someday, the Deaf community will be a group without any "doofai." We can get there if everyone will just use ASL. What's Deaf leadership? And, what are you doing to make ASL better?
In the 1980s I became an educator, teaching the Deaf at Kendall Demonstration Elementary School and then Gallaudet University. I loved my students and I've been following their careers, which is my personal and professional joy.
In the 1990s I began to advocate for the more widespread use and acceptance of American Sign Language (ASL), and it's been an uphill battle. There are (yes, I am using the present tense for this verb) plenty of naysayers out there who believe rather firmly that ASL is somehow like the manual alphabet, in that ASL is, supposedly, a type of "word-sign" dactylology. They pride themselves in their own ability to sign in English word order and they regard this as being some kind of indication of competence in being a Deaf leader. They intentionally refrain from using 100% ASL with hearing people.
There exists this difference between using ASL and signing in English word order. I have seen first-hand different "leaders" to which the Deaf community has had to exercise forbearance and patiently endure. It was not all that long ago when the Deaf community was sharply divided and the political climate was very socialistic--although the politically correct term used then and still used today is: "progressive."
Those of us who stood against oral-only education, signed English, and cochlear implants were regarded as being either "mavericks" or even "gesture-using Neanderthals." We have endured these slights, and have succeeded in moving ourselves forward in a manner that has been positive and essential for all the Deaf.
The reason I even refer to this example of the past is that when we, the Deaf, either forget or just don't know the history of our language and anti-Deaf cultural oppression, we are becoming susceptible to repeating the same mistakes. This has been true throughout history and still holds true today, to wit, at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in New York, where President Alan Hurwitz of the National Technical Institution of the Deaf (NTID) is well known for his Deaf (?) leadership--Or is he simply a doofus whose leadership is perfunctory and amounts to mere pro-forma consistency with committee reports?
I find it necessary to criticize and spew cynical tirades about what needs to be done about the quality of Deaf leadership. Someday, the Deaf community will be a group without any "doofai." We can get there if everyone will just use ASL. What's Deaf leadership? And, what are you doing to make ASL better?
Friday, May 23, 2008
Re-writing AGB's legacy and philosophy, and President Alan Hurwitz: A Brief Reaction
When I first read Dr. Alan Hurwitz's letter about the Alexander Graham Bell (AGB) plaque at the National Technical Institution of the Deaf (NTID) at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), I was disappointed by his tepid, indecisive explanation for only rewording the plaque about AGB and not removing AGB's name from the building, AGB--a person whose legacy and philosophy is far more engrossed by the specter of problems and oppression than Dr. Hurwitz's letter seems to let on.
In our American society we are always looking for the promise of what's coming up next in our future. AGB's promise is genocidal, and his work involved actually *creating* new forms of bigotry where none existed before, i.e., a "let's pretend they're not deaf" so-called strategy. So what RIT has been doing, in effect, is searching diligently (and implicitly), high and low, in order to find ways to continue to slip in the AGB strategy of suppressing American Sign Language (ASL) and oppressing Deaf people.
I applaud the Deaf studies faculty at Ohlone College for the the ripple effects they have launched by breaking ties with NTID. I expect to see more aggressive break-ups of this type because it is necessary to minimize the "plains de pechiez et plains de vices" philosophy ("full of sins and full of vices," anti-Deaf philosophy) among those who are committed to fulfilling--or attempting to rewrite--AGB's legacy and philosophy.
A friend of mine even suggested that we ask AGB's descendants to reword his tombstone to indicate that he provided no justice--AGB was the great exploiter of the small (as he saw us), causing the supposedly small people to exploit each other. President Hurwitz was therefore exploited by AGB, too, which is a very sad chapter in our intellectual life.
In our American society we are always looking for the promise of what's coming up next in our future. AGB's promise is genocidal, and his work involved actually *creating* new forms of bigotry where none existed before, i.e., a "let's pretend they're not deaf" so-called strategy. So what RIT has been doing, in effect, is searching diligently (and implicitly), high and low, in order to find ways to continue to slip in the AGB strategy of suppressing American Sign Language (ASL) and oppressing Deaf people.
I applaud the Deaf studies faculty at Ohlone College for the the ripple effects they have launched by breaking ties with NTID. I expect to see more aggressive break-ups of this type because it is necessary to minimize the "plains de pechiez et plains de vices" philosophy ("full of sins and full of vices," anti-Deaf philosophy) among those who are committed to fulfilling--or attempting to rewrite--AGB's legacy and philosophy.
A friend of mine even suggested that we ask AGB's descendants to reword his tombstone to indicate that he provided no justice--AGB was the great exploiter of the small (as he saw us), causing the supposedly small people to exploit each other. President Hurwitz was therefore exploited by AGB, too, which is a very sad chapter in our intellectual life.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
The Everyday ASL: A Working Philosophy
Everyday ASL, short for American Sign Language, has had a lasting effect on the consciousness of humanity. Everyday ASL has a profound ability to ground the experience of being Deaf.
Everyday ASL can be by its very nature not satisfactorily described on paper ... and in ASL itself. It is the art of union with human language. The user of ASL is a person who has attained that lanuage union, or who aims and believes in such attainment.
The question that then follows: "What is language?" The answer becomes a bit of a circular experience, because to compare and contrast language, we need to distinguish between sound-oriented/linear and sight-oriented/spheric languages.
It can seem impossible to provide words (linear) for that which is expressed in signs (spheric). Both students of ASL and Deaf people reading and writing experience this linear-language-versus-spheric-language contrast. Everyday!
Defining ASL is like defining an orange, from peel to seed. As a professor, my interest in everyday ASL grew and I have had some very profound experience. When I brought my Deaf guest, for example, to talk with my students, everyday ASL became the experience of reality.
Everyday ASL does not come when we are seeking it. It comes unaware and unannounced. Everyday ASL is not about using ASL but embracing the languiage and culture of the Deaf. At best everyday ASL informs us of something wonderful about being Deaf.
Everyday ASL can be by its very nature not satisfactorily described on paper ... and in ASL itself. It is the art of union with human language. The user of ASL is a person who has attained that lanuage union, or who aims and believes in such attainment.
The question that then follows: "What is language?" The answer becomes a bit of a circular experience, because to compare and contrast language, we need to distinguish between sound-oriented/linear and sight-oriented/spheric languages.
It can seem impossible to provide words (linear) for that which is expressed in signs (spheric). Both students of ASL and Deaf people reading and writing experience this linear-language-versus-spheric-language contrast. Everyday!
Defining ASL is like defining an orange, from peel to seed. As a professor, my interest in everyday ASL grew and I have had some very profound experience. When I brought my Deaf guest, for example, to talk with my students, everyday ASL became the experience of reality.
Everyday ASL does not come when we are seeking it. It comes unaware and unannounced. Everyday ASL is not about using ASL but embracing the languiage and culture of the Deaf. At best everyday ASL informs us of something wonderful about being Deaf.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Generation ASL
Standing with outright confidence, wonder and angst, I can tell, this fall will be the best yet. My colleagues and I are letting go our mindset of the "norm", and delving deep for broader linguistic and cultural consciousness. We don't know what we are doing, but understanding Socrates, the ancient Greek philosopher, as a wise one is one of our first steps. (Check Plato's book Cratylus and discover that Socrates knows deafmutes.)
Here we are, in the prime of our lives, with practically nothing to lose. We have aspirations, places to go, people to meet, and unknown adventures lurking like Kula, my yellow lab, out there. I believe that we are preparing ourselves for the experiences that will define American Sign Language (ASL) in the long run. One day we too, as our Deaf parents before us, will reminisce and remember our days of language and culture oppression.
Time is coming for our linguistic independence and cultural self-discovery. I know that I'm not the only one. We are being called to go out and manifest ASL, as we are supposed to do.
As older generations of the Deaf bicker over linguistic hinderances and cultural conflicts and rhetorical solutions, my colleagues and I are preparing for a greater social change. Greater because ASL isn't all theory and talk. We are collecting information that may reinforce our knowledge and communication.
Self-discovery is a re-discovered obsession for me. I don't want to live in the past and I don't want to sign in the English word order for the sake of someone ignorant and therefore rude. There's so much waiting for Deaf babies around every corner, under every rock, behind every tree. They're having so many opportunities and many voyages to embark upon.
As I'm joining the faculty at Western Oregon University in fall, my colleagues and I know that all Deaf babies have full potentials for ASL. We have so much to offer to these little people; they are the new members of Generation ASL.
Here we are, in the prime of our lives, with practically nothing to lose. We have aspirations, places to go, people to meet, and unknown adventures lurking like Kula, my yellow lab, out there. I believe that we are preparing ourselves for the experiences that will define American Sign Language (ASL) in the long run. One day we too, as our Deaf parents before us, will reminisce and remember our days of language and culture oppression.
Time is coming for our linguistic independence and cultural self-discovery. I know that I'm not the only one. We are being called to go out and manifest ASL, as we are supposed to do.
As older generations of the Deaf bicker over linguistic hinderances and cultural conflicts and rhetorical solutions, my colleagues and I are preparing for a greater social change. Greater because ASL isn't all theory and talk. We are collecting information that may reinforce our knowledge and communication.
Self-discovery is a re-discovered obsession for me. I don't want to live in the past and I don't want to sign in the English word order for the sake of someone ignorant and therefore rude. There's so much waiting for Deaf babies around every corner, under every rock, behind every tree. They're having so many opportunities and many voyages to embark upon.
As I'm joining the faculty at Western Oregon University in fall, my colleagues and I know that all Deaf babies have full potentials for ASL. We have so much to offer to these little people; they are the new members of Generation ASL.
Friday, May 16, 2008
ASL Dragon's Banner
An entertainment vlog by Carl Schroeder: Gisbatzed and Sooket came up with a new banner for ASL Dragon. This flag story is inspired by NoHear.com/.
Deaf Talk or ASL Talk
Deaf talk seemed to come on like the flu. Suddenly, out of nowhere, everyone was talking about being Deaf. DeafRead discussions changed from what's American Sign Language (ASL) into who's Deaf. And just like the flu leaves its victims feeling awful and helpless, such as the case for my being Deaf.
I don't clearly remember the actual conversations. I do, however, remember why I wasn't interested in all this "Deaf talk." When we were in Holland, my parents arranged that my sister Meriam and I enroll in Maryland School for the Deaf. This was the final step and my family moved to the United States.
When we were in Holland we knew about Gallaudet College (now University) in Washington, D.C., because we thought it was Deaf-centered, Deaf-operated and Deaf-friendly. However, when I went there in 1970's, I discovered that it was a place where hearing people decided how we the Deaf should communicate (Stimulaneous Communication and Cued Speech) and how Deaf Education should be set up (none of graduate school professors were Deaf).
When I became a faculty member of the English Department at Gallaudet in mid-1980's, I got evaluated against my ability to follow the university's communication policy (Stimulaneous Communication) and to teach the English language by the hearing Department members. It was an uphill battle.
Deaf talk is not quite Deaf-centered, Deaf-oriented and Deaf-operated; it is always about either an ability to restore hearing or an amplification. Deaf talk is pathological.
As time passed and I grew more and more comfortable with my life circumstance, I was also able to understand something I hadn't when my being Deaf was raison d'etre. Real life will be filled with moments of people using ASL. When this "Deaf talk" happens, I know I will be prepared...especially to defend ASL. I have already had a taste of this experience and I passed the test quite roughly.
I'd prefer ASL talk over Deaf talk.
ASL talk is something we've never done 20 years ago. We couldn't even come up with some neat comparison to a past language and culture experience to make us feel less awkward. It's helpful that every Deaf baby be exposed to the language and culture of the Deaf so that they could talk about their past experience when they're grown up.
(With cochlear implants, Deaf babies wear shoes in the bed. It continues to be the testing ground for their ability to adapt to these hearing ways. Very stressful and depressing. Ask these children with CI for the names of their friends at school! My best friends in Deaf school were Paul, Ben and Steve.)
I often wonder how Deaf people without ASL survive childhood and adolescence at all, don't you? I must admit that I personally was still an adolescent in my first years of college. My experience was diffuse--the hearing world didn't please me in almost any way. My experience was focused--my hearing professors could barely teach and communicate in ASL. I chafed under their direction and correction.
Yes, it took me over 30 years to be surprised at my own progress. From a struggling, marginal scholar, I had landed a tenure-track faculty position at Western Oregon University where I'll teach ASL and spearhead a newly formed academic program, ASL Studies. I went from constant denial of ASL in academic settings to become someone who is energized, excited, purposeful and even joyful in the language and culture I studied.
And it all started with a question, an innocent-seeming question between Deaf talk and ASL talk.
I don't clearly remember the actual conversations. I do, however, remember why I wasn't interested in all this "Deaf talk." When we were in Holland, my parents arranged that my sister Meriam and I enroll in Maryland School for the Deaf. This was the final step and my family moved to the United States.
When we were in Holland we knew about Gallaudet College (now University) in Washington, D.C., because we thought it was Deaf-centered, Deaf-operated and Deaf-friendly. However, when I went there in 1970's, I discovered that it was a place where hearing people decided how we the Deaf should communicate (Stimulaneous Communication and Cued Speech) and how Deaf Education should be set up (none of graduate school professors were Deaf).
When I became a faculty member of the English Department at Gallaudet in mid-1980's, I got evaluated against my ability to follow the university's communication policy (Stimulaneous Communication) and to teach the English language by the hearing Department members. It was an uphill battle.
Deaf talk is not quite Deaf-centered, Deaf-oriented and Deaf-operated; it is always about either an ability to restore hearing or an amplification. Deaf talk is pathological.
As time passed and I grew more and more comfortable with my life circumstance, I was also able to understand something I hadn't when my being Deaf was raison d'etre. Real life will be filled with moments of people using ASL. When this "Deaf talk" happens, I know I will be prepared...especially to defend ASL. I have already had a taste of this experience and I passed the test quite roughly.
I'd prefer ASL talk over Deaf talk.
ASL talk is something we've never done 20 years ago. We couldn't even come up with some neat comparison to a past language and culture experience to make us feel less awkward. It's helpful that every Deaf baby be exposed to the language and culture of the Deaf so that they could talk about their past experience when they're grown up.
(With cochlear implants, Deaf babies wear shoes in the bed. It continues to be the testing ground for their ability to adapt to these hearing ways. Very stressful and depressing. Ask these children with CI for the names of their friends at school! My best friends in Deaf school were Paul, Ben and Steve.)
I often wonder how Deaf people without ASL survive childhood and adolescence at all, don't you? I must admit that I personally was still an adolescent in my first years of college. My experience was diffuse--the hearing world didn't please me in almost any way. My experience was focused--my hearing professors could barely teach and communicate in ASL. I chafed under their direction and correction.
Yes, it took me over 30 years to be surprised at my own progress. From a struggling, marginal scholar, I had landed a tenure-track faculty position at Western Oregon University where I'll teach ASL and spearhead a newly formed academic program, ASL Studies. I went from constant denial of ASL in academic settings to become someone who is energized, excited, purposeful and even joyful in the language and culture I studied.
And it all started with a question, an innocent-seeming question between Deaf talk and ASL talk.
Monday, May 12, 2008
the Problem of Listening and Speaking
The philosopher Epictetus advises: "First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak."
A few weeks ago there was a little schoolgirl with cochlear implants speaking some French. I would not want to disagree with her as to the meaning of her speaking ability, but we do not always extend the same courtesy to amateurs. All I can say from my French courses at Gallaudet College (now University): "Ceci n'est pas francias."
I know from my personal experience. After four semesters of French with straight A's, I went to Paris for vacation. Oh my goodness, I could barely understand anything there. It was an ego-bruising experience for me. The French language is much more alive than it appears in textbooks and on paper.
A good parrot can listen to a phrase said in English again and again before it speaks. Does the parrot make any meaning? What does it mean when a parrot says "Polly wants cracker," for example? One may be amused, but he or she remains clueless about it.
French people, Deaf and hearing alike, are totally clueless when they saw this vlog with a CI schoolgirl uttering something "francias." What is the purpose behind her action? What does it mean when she listens to and speaks in French? For which audience does she do it? Well, she might deserve a round of plauses, but there's definitely no handwave from around the world.
That's the problem of listening and speaking for the Deaf.
A few weeks ago there was a little schoolgirl with cochlear implants speaking some French. I would not want to disagree with her as to the meaning of her speaking ability, but we do not always extend the same courtesy to amateurs. All I can say from my French courses at Gallaudet College (now University): "Ceci n'est pas francias."
I know from my personal experience. After four semesters of French with straight A's, I went to Paris for vacation. Oh my goodness, I could barely understand anything there. It was an ego-bruising experience for me. The French language is much more alive than it appears in textbooks and on paper.
A good parrot can listen to a phrase said in English again and again before it speaks. Does the parrot make any meaning? What does it mean when a parrot says "Polly wants cracker," for example? One may be amused, but he or she remains clueless about it.
French people, Deaf and hearing alike, are totally clueless when they saw this vlog with a CI schoolgirl uttering something "francias." What is the purpose behind her action? What does it mean when she listens to and speaks in French? For which audience does she do it? Well, she might deserve a round of plauses, but there's definitely no handwave from around the world.
That's the problem of listening and speaking for the Deaf.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
The Hoax of the Century: Hearing Implants
While many people may fantasize about marketing cochlear implants to parents of Deaf newborns, several American Sign Language (ASL) groups advocate that the lifestyle isn't for every Deaf baby who can "listen and speak" ... "on cue." To this end, our American society is far from shy when it comes to realizing that hearing implanted people do not hear the way hearing people normally do. "We are against hearing implanted babies to acquire ASL because it is an uphill battle," They reasoned implicitly, "We must fight against their being Deaf."
Most parents of hearing implanted babies are selected for ignorance and feeblemindedness. For example, there was a single mother who wanted her sons to hear her for the first time but she failed to realize that what her boys heard was synthetic. Synthetic sounds are like instant tea or McDonald's Big Mac.
Let me explain that Deaf babies are not generally born to be hearing. Actually, 80 percent of the hearing implanted people I met in these past two months told me some horrified stories about mapping. Most of them became depressed and frustrated.
Cochlear implants (CI) is a billion-dollar business that has captured wide public attention, most average people aren't aware exactly how big a role CI corporates play in deception and advertising industries. We need to push to see to it that hearing impanted people get compensated for their "listening and speaking" efforts.
The public looks for truths in a big way. It helps parents of Deaf babies draw the line between perception, which could involve gruesome struggles, and reality. But what precisely are the realities of being a hearing implanted baby? More to the point, what is life like for these implanted babies, and what options exist for parents who want to give their baby a lot more work than they realize. It can sometimes take two years to prep for a 20-second near-native pronunciation scene, a share of the hoax.
Yes, it's the hoax that inspired a great many people and institutions. Gallaudet University in Washington, DC, for example, got inspired to uphold this hoax with its master plan for Sorensopn Language and Communication Center (SLCC) to lure hearing implanted people to walk through the language and culture of the Deaf showcase. The effort by Gallaudet University in promoting such a hearing perception has absolutely nothing to do with higher learning. CI is best understood in the English phrase, "keeping up with the Joneses."
Yes, hearing implant for Deaf babies is a hoax, a high profile hoax, the hoax of the century.
Most parents of hearing implanted babies are selected for ignorance and feeblemindedness. For example, there was a single mother who wanted her sons to hear her for the first time but she failed to realize that what her boys heard was synthetic. Synthetic sounds are like instant tea or McDonald's Big Mac.
Let me explain that Deaf babies are not generally born to be hearing. Actually, 80 percent of the hearing implanted people I met in these past two months told me some horrified stories about mapping. Most of them became depressed and frustrated.
Cochlear implants (CI) is a billion-dollar business that has captured wide public attention, most average people aren't aware exactly how big a role CI corporates play in deception and advertising industries. We need to push to see to it that hearing impanted people get compensated for their "listening and speaking" efforts.
The public looks for truths in a big way. It helps parents of Deaf babies draw the line between perception, which could involve gruesome struggles, and reality. But what precisely are the realities of being a hearing implanted baby? More to the point, what is life like for these implanted babies, and what options exist for parents who want to give their baby a lot more work than they realize. It can sometimes take two years to prep for a 20-second near-native pronunciation scene, a share of the hoax.
Yes, it's the hoax that inspired a great many people and institutions. Gallaudet University in Washington, DC, for example, got inspired to uphold this hoax with its master plan for Sorensopn Language and Communication Center (SLCC) to lure hearing implanted people to walk through the language and culture of the Deaf showcase. The effort by Gallaudet University in promoting such a hearing perception has absolutely nothing to do with higher learning. CI is best understood in the English phrase, "keeping up with the Joneses."
Yes, hearing implant for Deaf babies is a hoax, a high profile hoax, the hoax of the century.
The Deaf's Language Initiative: A Declaration of ASL Rights and Values
If we were to write preamble for our declaration of ASL rights and values, shall we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all languages are created equal, endowed with certain inalienable meanings embedded in all parameters of signs? Is ASL the distillation of language; the uproarious babble of our thoughts?
When in the course of communication, why is ASL confronted with oppression by dominant cultural groups against our being Deaf? Why is there increased emphasis on high technologies disseminated by the money-making corporates with the consequent distortion of ASL and the concurrent devaluing of cultural factors generated by ASL? Is it necessary to protect ASL the way we protect animals in extinct? Why are Deaf people encouraged to be as diverse as possible and to be distant from vernacular (or native) expressions in whatever competence is available that suppresses ASL?
Is it our habit to sign in the word order in the language of the power? Is English the lingua franca of the Deaf? Can technology bring about the enhancement of ASL, the language we know and use?
Professor H-Dirksen Bauman of Gallaudet University was working as a dormitory houseparent at a residential school for the Deaf where he realized whether ASL has literature. Yes, Bauman declares in his article, "Redesigning Literature: Poetics of American Sign Language Poetry," ASL does. If it were not for such a language oppression, ASL would teach us about us in schools, colleges, and universities.
We do need to draw up our declaration of ASL rights and values.
When in the course of communication, why is ASL confronted with oppression by dominant cultural groups against our being Deaf? Why is there increased emphasis on high technologies disseminated by the money-making corporates with the consequent distortion of ASL and the concurrent devaluing of cultural factors generated by ASL? Is it necessary to protect ASL the way we protect animals in extinct? Why are Deaf people encouraged to be as diverse as possible and to be distant from vernacular (or native) expressions in whatever competence is available that suppresses ASL?
Is it our habit to sign in the word order in the language of the power? Is English the lingua franca of the Deaf? Can technology bring about the enhancement of ASL, the language we know and use?
Professor H-Dirksen Bauman of Gallaudet University was working as a dormitory houseparent at a residential school for the Deaf where he realized whether ASL has literature. Yes, Bauman declares in his article, "Redesigning Literature: Poetics of American Sign Language Poetry," ASL does. If it were not for such a language oppression, ASL would teach us about us in schools, colleges, and universities.
We do need to draw up our declaration of ASL rights and values.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Protect American Sign Language
Moving from the island of Maui in Hawaii to the town of Dallas in Oregon was quite an adjustment for me. Despite of the adjustment, I have embraced Oregon and made continued efforts, both in my personal life and in the academia, to protect the language and culture of the Deaf, namely, American Sign Language (ASL).
I began to feel that the world was being overtaken by high technologies and changing the way the world defines and respects the Deaf. I've developed another sense. With the help of this sense I can be in touch with the Deaf around the world.
The laws of nature, our place in the world as Deaf people have been studied by scientists and philosophers for thousands of years. For example, 2,500 years ago Socrates, ancient Greek philosopher, knew about Deaf people. In Plato's book Cratylus, Socrates questions whether signs by the Deaf are meaningful.
Along with scientific and logical assumptions, quantifiable research and data offer a new discovery that the more scientists and researchers advance in their project, the more obscure and confusing they find the world to be.
Linguistics is the science of language and culture. It has undoubtedly brought enormous progress, yet it is limited. Linguistic findings of ASL, for example, cannot measure our inner world, our soul, behavior and sources of motivation. ASL requires information, knowledge and communication.
Our world has always looked for answers to the basic questions of ASL: What is it? What is the purpose of it? Why does it exist? Do we want to dissolve ASL?
In this world of high technology, some find temporary satisfaction in cochlear implants, measures aimed at "listen and speak," or reducing suffering by being silent. This process teaches our world to lower expectations for the Deaf and to waterdown Deaf Education.
Our experience being Deaf teaches us that we have unlimited desires but there are only limited resources to satisfy them. This is the primary reason there is no way to completely satisfy all our desires and therefore avoid being silent. That is the subject of ASL. ASL answers the basic questions of Deaf life and guide us toward achieving unlimited satisfaction on a daily basis.
In my own way, I try to answer these questions from the sources of information at my own disposal. As a university professor of ASL, I formulate my own perception of the world based on my experience. Reality and everyday life constantly put this perception to the test, making me react, improve, or otherwise change it.
ASL is here to stay. I don't think I'm a lone "voice" in ASL anymore. As a university professor, I'm protecting ASL as fiercely as any wolf protects its pack. I'm ready to admit that I'm of the age, but carry the passion, eagerness, and youthful energy of someone half my age.
What have you done for ASL today? ASL is the inheritance I want to leave, a good world.
I began to feel that the world was being overtaken by high technologies and changing the way the world defines and respects the Deaf. I've developed another sense. With the help of this sense I can be in touch with the Deaf around the world.
The laws of nature, our place in the world as Deaf people have been studied by scientists and philosophers for thousands of years. For example, 2,500 years ago Socrates, ancient Greek philosopher, knew about Deaf people. In Plato's book Cratylus, Socrates questions whether signs by the Deaf are meaningful.
Along with scientific and logical assumptions, quantifiable research and data offer a new discovery that the more scientists and researchers advance in their project, the more obscure and confusing they find the world to be.
Linguistics is the science of language and culture. It has undoubtedly brought enormous progress, yet it is limited. Linguistic findings of ASL, for example, cannot measure our inner world, our soul, behavior and sources of motivation. ASL requires information, knowledge and communication.
Our world has always looked for answers to the basic questions of ASL: What is it? What is the purpose of it? Why does it exist? Do we want to dissolve ASL?
In this world of high technology, some find temporary satisfaction in cochlear implants, measures aimed at "listen and speak," or reducing suffering by being silent. This process teaches our world to lower expectations for the Deaf and to waterdown Deaf Education.
Our experience being Deaf teaches us that we have unlimited desires but there are only limited resources to satisfy them. This is the primary reason there is no way to completely satisfy all our desires and therefore avoid being silent. That is the subject of ASL. ASL answers the basic questions of Deaf life and guide us toward achieving unlimited satisfaction on a daily basis.
In my own way, I try to answer these questions from the sources of information at my own disposal. As a university professor of ASL, I formulate my own perception of the world based on my experience. Reality and everyday life constantly put this perception to the test, making me react, improve, or otherwise change it.
ASL is here to stay. I don't think I'm a lone "voice" in ASL anymore. As a university professor, I'm protecting ASL as fiercely as any wolf protects its pack. I'm ready to admit that I'm of the age, but carry the passion, eagerness, and youthful energy of someone half my age.
What have you done for ASL today? ASL is the inheritance I want to leave, a good world.
Monday, May 05, 2008
The ASL User's Lament
It's unbelievable, isn't it?
About the time the hands find
Parameters right from my mind
Behind the screen in DeafRead
I see and read you.
Between the blogs and vlogs
Among the bottles of beer
Over the olives and martini
I taste and drink you.
Inside the blogs and vlogs
On the shoulders of Eternity
Around my neck tightened collar
I feel and touch you.
Next to the cochlear implant writers
During their last ovations
Below the babble of vloggers
I don't and won't read you.
From the language and culture of the Deaf
To the Sidekick or Blackberry vibrating,
An hour after bewitching
I still hear and use ASL.
About the time the hands find
Parameters right from my mind
Behind the screen in DeafRead
I see and read you.
Between the blogs and vlogs
Among the bottles of beer
Over the olives and martini
I taste and drink you.
Inside the blogs and vlogs
On the shoulders of Eternity
Around my neck tightened collar
I feel and touch you.
Next to the cochlear implant writers
During their last ovations
Below the babble of vloggers
I don't and won't read you.
From the language and culture of the Deaf
To the Sidekick or Blackberry vibrating,
An hour after bewitching
I still hear and use ASL.
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