Hearing Impaired Rights
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Many people look at basic sign language as if it were not even a language at all however sign language can bridge the communication gap between those who can hear and those who cannot. There should be equal opportunities for both deaf and hearing people. Deaf people are weakened in our society by the effects of discrimination and exclusion. In order to achieve a greater sense of the deaf culture, hearing people need to recognize American Sign Language in its own right. The principle of empowerment of the deaf community by broadening the number of people with whom they can communicate, would lead to greater independence for the deaf community. Think about it something as simple as going out with your hearing friends for dinner and a movie can be quite difficult for a deaf person. How many local theatres offer aid to the deaf? How many times have you seen a movie in the theatre with closed captioning? How often have you seen wheelchair accessibility in the theatre? Chances are you have always seen wheelchair accessibility but never seen any deaf services offered. Our deaf communities are being discriminated against and a lot of people don’t even know it.
The knowledge of basic sign language can benefit society whether some realize how much it can or not. Many people in the deaf population have learned to lip read quite well, but if they cannot see the lips of the person speaking, they are pretty much in the “dark” about what is being said, it is impossible to read more then one set of lips at a time so if trying to speak with a group of people they again are left in the dark. The deaf population may be discriminated against because most people cannot communicate with them. Sign language enables deaf people to communicate more freely than lip reading. Lip reading is the hearing community’s answer to the deaf problem. Lip reading is not the answer to better communications with deaf and hard of hearing people, lip reading is the hearing man’s way to communicate with deaf people but no vice versa.
There are many business owners that discriminate against the deaf because of their own disability of not knowing how to communicate with the deaf. To me it seems that the deaf are not the ones with the disability here, it is those who cannot communicate or wish not to learn how to communicate with them that have the disability. It is sad when we know we live in a world that can make adjustments for people in wheelchairs and crutches and walkers but cannot make adjustments for those who cannot hear. Imagine if more businesses invested in their staff and trained them in American Sign Language, they could them employ more deaf people and even further meet the needs of deaf customers at the same time.
Yes, those who are deaf can learn sign language to communicate with other deaf people, but what about the rest of the world. How are the deaf to communicate with the rest of the world if the rest of the world does not know or does not wish to learn sign language? It is wrong to think that only the deaf should know sign language.
There are many ways someone could learn to sign. For one, there are many courses out there that teach signing to people that can hear. Taking a class can give a person that extra boost when they are learning. Second, learning alone can be another great way to learn if you do not like the classroom atmosphere. There are many people out there who just do not have time to take a class but can study in their own time and at their own pace with videos or even sign language dictionaries.
America was built upon the thought that all men were created equal and since the time of our forefathers that belief has faded. The hearing impaired and the hearing should be considered equal in everything. It is true that some deaf people are weakened in today’s society because of discrimination and exclusion, but if everyone just took a little time to learn some basic signs then I think that would begin to disappear. Teaching a basic sign language in our school systems would be a huge step towards creating equal rights for our deaf communities.
If interested in more information on deaf and hearing impaired rights mentioned in this article please visit this website at www.nad.org or send an e-mail to gingershomeinteriors@yahoo.com
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