Chuck Baird: Deaf View Image Arts

People say that a picture or piece of artwork is worth a thousand words. That seems to hold true to Kendra Harness’ artwork. Kendra Harness is a deaf artist, who produced a piece of art by the name of Positive/Negative, made in 1989. Positive/Negative profoundly shows physical deaf experience, it focuses on the eyes and it includes blue and white, with one eye being in a negative format and the other not.

Everybody faces challenges and uncertainties and a daily basis. Fortunately, for hearing people their troubles can be trivial. For those who are in the Deaf and hard of hearing culture, however, challenges and uncertainties are not relatively trivial. Over the past several years, the Deaf community has been enterprising for culture awareness. Historically, the media have played an important role in the portrayal of deaf individuals. “Switched at Birth” is a television show that has helped shed some light on the Deaf culture. "Switched at Birth" has tackled many autistic beliefs toward Deaf people that are false and ignorant such as them not being able to drive, raise kids, and have jobs.

Edward Gallaudet’s work into the creation of Gallaudet University has led to the education of thousands of deaf people along advancements and progress in fields related to hearing status, both scientifically and socially.

Aarron Loggins or what he is better known as the “Deaf King,” is a Chicago, Illinois native musician. Born premature and deaf, Aarron learned American Sign Language at the age of three. Now he speaks English, Spanish, as well as Jamaican Patois. His passion for music and theater started when he was a teenager so he decided to Washington, D.C. where he attend Gallaudet University in 2004. Since then Aarron has performed for numerous companies, such as the National Theatre for the Deaf. He created several ASL music videos, and won numerous awards such as the National Theatre for Youth Service Award and the National Black Deaf Advocate Youth Leadership Award. Aarron Loggins, has become a major entertainer and advocate for the

Inside deaf culture is a very strong book written by carol Padden and tom Humphries in this book authors have tried to give a tour of the most important moments that has shaped the Deaf culture.

For a Deaf Son is a documentary about Thomas Thranchin, who was born deaf to hearing family. His father, a filmmaker, produced this documentary to offer an intimate look at how parents of a deaf child make decisions. The documentary is compiled together with interviews from audiologist, families of children with hearing loss, other expert in the field, as well as home videos of Thomas. Thomas was discovered to be profoundly deaf at the age of one and could only hear high frequency sound. This meant that with hearing aids on him, he could acquire speech and language with therapy. The other discussion that Thomas’ parent had to make is whether to educate their son in sign language versus strictly verbal speech. Both Thomas’ parents have different opinions on teaching him ways to communicate. The beginning of the movie, his parents had decided to enroll Thomas in hearing school so that he could learn to communicate with the hearing world that his family lived in. His mother also thought that by enrolling him in a teaching based classroom supported by sign would be an easier route for Thomas considering that he was deaf. Thomas’ father had then begun his research to figure out ways to unlock Thomas’ speech capacities and the outcome of those choices. The documentary

Laurent Clerc was considered as one of the first outstanding deaf teachers in the United States, considering that he was born in France. Clerc was born on a village over by Lyons, France in 1835. He was born with hearing, that is until when he was just a year old that he fell into a fire that led to him losing his hearing and smell. It would also leave him with a badly burned face on his right side, plus he would be scarred for life, which would something he would later be recognized for. At the age of twelve, Clerc entered into the Royal Institution for the Deaf in Paris, in which he was excellent in his studies. When he graduated, the school had asked him if he could stay at school and become a teacher, in which he would accept.

Michelle Fletter had established the Deaf Coffee Chat at Stackbucks on March of 2010. The event is about people socializing and meeting new people by using sign languages. The event is a great way for hearing people who are learning sign language to better their skills to become good with the language. I am very grateful that my professor recommended me to the Deaf Coffee Chat because I would never have met wonderful people at the event.

Through the deaf eyes is a film about what is like to be deaf; it also tells us about the history, as well as challenges deaf culture has faced. It speaks about Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc the creators of the first school for the deaf, also deaf clubs, and people today who have changed perspectives of the deaf community. Gallaudet University was the first environment where deaf community can come together and begin their history and culture teaching deaf children how to speak would benefit them more in the future; however that was not the case, and many thought it was a waste out time as they got older. They feel that they should have focused on sign language, so that they can learn more instead of spending years on learn to

My view while watching the documentary was what I had expected it to be. I found that I actually already knew a lot of the information discussed in the film, not a lot was new. I still found myself “rooting” for the deaf community. I felt angry when the hearing word made the deaf world believe that ASL was wrong, and felt proud as the Gallaudet University fought to have someone from their world

In the essay, “Deafness/Disability - problematising notions of identity, culture and structure, Mairian Corker focuses on the tension between Deaf and disabled people. As Corker analyzes the division between Deaf and disabled people she reflects on Margaret Archer’s views. Corker explains that Margaret Archer viewed “ the structural (‘parts’) and cultural (‘people’) domains are substantively different, as well as being relatively autonomous from each other” (Corker 2002). Throughout her essay Corker talks about the different theories in Deaf studies and disability studies to explain the same issues. These issues include identity, culture,

Prior to reading these chapters I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I have never really been exposed to the Deaf- World. I have watched shows such as Switched at Birth, but I know that it doesn’t completely portray the real Deaf- Community. I was extremely interested in seeing their side of the story and gaining insight on the life they live. I decided to read chapters one, and two. The first chapter is an introduction into the Deaf World, in a story format it shows major differences between the world of the Deaf and the hearing. While the second chapter talks about the struggles of a deaf child, and mainly the two different approaches between deaf and hearing parents. Overall, the beginning two chapters of A Journey into the Deaf- World

Beethoven is well known for his deafness and his ability to still create many compositions although he could no longer hear. His deafness depressed him immensely shown by a letter written to a one of his friends named Franz Wegler, in which he wrote, “I must confess that I lead a miserable life. For almost two years I have ceased to attend any social functions, just because I find it impossible to say to people: I am deaf.” (“Ludwig van Beethoven Bio”, 2017). Although he was going deaf from 1803 to 1812 he continued to write

While watching “History: Through Deaf Eyes” by PBS, I learned a lot about deaf culture and history. I already knew about certain events, like the rise of oral teaching and the protest for Gallaudet; however, listening to the stories from people who experienced these events gave me appreciation I did not have before. Also, learning how technology shaped deaf history was also very interesting, as well as the various options for deaf children today.

So, I stood up and talked to people and they were very welcoming, and it made me more relaxed. They understood that I was a ASL student and one of the people I talked to even knew Rusty. After the intermission was over it back to not understanding a thing that the speakers were saying. It was like I game where I had to laugh and cheer when everyone else did. But I was enjoying myself a little more after chatting with a few people. After this event I felt like I got a little taste of what Mark had experienced in the book Deaf Again, but the roles were switched I was hearing in an all deaf environment instead of being deaf in a hearing environment like mark was. Although this type of event could have scared me away from future deaf events it didn’t. The reason why I am looking forward to events like this in the future is because I’m going to persevere and improve so next time ill understand a little more and sooner or later ill understand everything that’s going on. Knowing how bad my ASL is makes me just want to get better. Therefore, there are many things I could improve onto make my future experiences better and I’m looking forward to the next