Diversity in the Deaf Culture
Those unfamiliar with deaf culture are unaware of the vast diversity that exists within the deaf community. Deaf diversity includes differences that are cultural, social and personal. Some of the most important deaf diversification are the choice of communication method, variance in educational levels, degree of hearing loss, lifestyle choice, nationality, age, openness to medical intervention and geographical location.
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Diversification
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Choices of communication among the deaf include the use of American Sign Language (ASL), other types of sign language, lip reading and oral communication. Educational levels are also diverse among the deaf, just as they are in the hearing world. Some deaf people are educated in schools primarily for the deaf, while others are educated in integrated classrooms with hearing students.
The degree of hearing loss from person to person also causes a status difference among the deaf. The Canadian Encyclopedia describes the differences between profound deafness, moderate deafness and hard of hearing, and the effect each diagnosis has on the person's ability to communicate through speech.
Choices
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Lifestyle choices are also diverse within the deaf culture. Some deaf choose total integration with the hearing world, marrying and working with hearing people. Other deaf individuals spend their lives primarily within the deaf community.
Nationality is as much a form of diversity within the deaf community as it is in the hearing world. Differences of religion, skin color, custom, as well as gender and sexual preference all play a part in deaf culture just as they do elsewhere.
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Considerations
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Age is also a factor; younger deaf people have more advantages than their older counterparts had in terms of better education, more public awareness of deafness due to social media and advances in medical treatment of deafness.
Geographical location and economic status also play a big part in the diversity in deaf culture. In large centers, education of the deaf begins with diagnosis. In smaller centers, or in families with lower incomes, access to services and products for a child with hearing loss may seem very unattainable, according to studies conducted by Thomas N. Kluwin, author of "American Annals of the Deaf." In isolated areas, early education is often nonexistent, and many deaf children miss out on the advantages it provides in terms of language and social skills.
Considerations
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Higher education is often problematic for deaf people. Although many colleges have programs for the deaf, Gallaudet, in Washington, D.C., is the world's only university strictly for the deaf. It educates deaf, hard of hearing and hearing students together, but the majority of the students are deaf. It's a private university, and many deaf individuals simply can't afford to travel there in the pursuit of higher education.
Insight
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According to Shelli Delost and Sarah Lashley of MacMurray College, medical treatment for deafness, such as cochlear implants, is a cause of intense controversy and much diversity. A percentage of the deaf don't consider deafness to be a handicap. They were born deaf, they adhere to a deaf culture, and they are violently opposed to any attempts to "fix" deafness, in spite of the fact that cochlear implants make communication with the larger hearing world much simpler.
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References
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