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Deaf Culture In America

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There were two aspects I found interesting and novel about the lecture. For one, it was interesting how language plays into government and law. Laws concerning language are not archetypical laws. Therefore, I was unfamiliar with laws and policies that dealt with languages specifically. One of such laws was the Milan conference. In this international conference, held in Milan, Italy, oral education was proclaimed to be superior to sign language. Although there was backlash by Deaf individuals, use of sign language in Deaf education was being forbidden in many countries. It was interesting to learn that such a conference did exist, which reflects the dominate view towards sign language and Deaf education during that time period. I do not think …show more content…

Up until now, my exposure to Deaf culture was primarily through the book, Deaf Again, that discussed Deaf culture in America, and even more specifically the Northeastern region. Even though the focuses of the book and lecture were different, I was able to see many parallels in the struggles they faced and through this gain insight into the universal aspects of sign languages. For example, Dr. de Quadros discussed the increasing academic success of Deaf individuals in Brazil when there was none previously. Deaf Again similarly discussed the theme of higher education for Deaf individuals and having pride at the increasing professional success of Deaf community members. Additionally, she discussed the debate with cochlear implants. She seemed to have the similar view that even with cochlear implants, it is important to allow Deaf children to access both languages to ensure they are able to form a solid language base. All of this, allowed me to broaden my perspective to a more global level. In doing so, I was also able to see the common aspects that Deaf individuals all around the world experience. I realized that prejudices towards Deaf individuals are not something that can be altered by merely changing the perspectives of people in America, but rather people all over the world. This more global perspective instigated me to research into Korean Sign Language. I am now curious to see the similarities and differences between the Korean and American sign languages and their respective

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