Alexa Davis

We Are All the Same

is something flawed in them. According to Dennis, that is the exact opposite of how they feel.

Communication Comes in Many Forms

Deaf people utilize the tools that they have been given and the knowledge that they are capable of, and they value every person as the same: deaf or not deaf. Utilizing tools to help them communicate with English speaking or hearing people is a technique well practiced among the deaf community. Technology has made certain forms of communication a lot easier.

Because of the adaption and growth that Dennis went through growing up in a fully hearing family, and the amount of learning he had to do in order to communicate with them, he was able to translate that knowledge over into a family of his own. Teaching his kids how to communicate with hearing people via body language, writing, lip reading, or technology was natural for Dennis. It was an important skill that he was able to pass on because of his own personal experience. However, it was not the lip reading, or communicating that was the most important to him. He wanted to make sure that his kids grew up knowing their value as a person. He taught his children that being deaf is not a disability or disadvantage for them. He made sure they knew that their worth, abilities, and opportunities are not hindered by how they were born. Communicating with hearing people is a part of life and a given. He taught them not to be scared of that, but rather to embrace their value as just the same. “I feel like we [people] are all the same” Dennis stated.

Circumstances, routes in life, adaptions, certain opportunities, (etc.) may differ, but deep in the core of all people, we are all the same. We all feel the same. We all cry the same. We all dream the same. We all fall in love the same. And we all bleed the same. Learning to adapt to a hearing world is difficult. It’s a struggle, and it involves some serious dedication and frustration. When so many people around you are communicating the same way with each other, it can be easy to get mad and just give up because it is unfair. But deaf people do not really have a choice. Giving up is not an option for them, because so much of the world involves communicating with hearing people. They choose to persevere and adapt.

Many people think that calling deaf people “hearing impaired” is the respectful term. While that may be a true preference for some people of the deaf community, Dennis spoke in large for himself and the people in the deaf community that he knows. “We do not like to be called “hearing impaired”. That feels like you are saying that it is an impairment or disability. We are deaf. That is how we were born” Dennis said. To him, the classification of the word “impaired” makes a person of the deaf community feel labeled as a person with a disadvantage to the rest of the hearing world. He says that they feel like it would distinguish them into a certain group of things that they are “unable” to do. It makes them feel like they are seen as “missing something” or like there

A communication form like texting is a valuable tool for the deaf community when it comes to communicating quickly from far apart. One very helpful tool when it comes to having conversations over the phone is something called TTY calls. TTY stands for Telecommunications Relay Services. TTY allows people to talk on the phone with someone using text messages to translate out loud to the person on the other line. This service is available so that people of the deaf community can have phone conversations with English speaking or hearing people.

For the deaf community, finding services like Telecommunications Relay Services is just one form of adaption that the deaf community learns. For Dennis, it is a way in which he can communicate with the people that he needs to with a positive outlook. The determination that he has to set the standard for his kids in seeing themselves equally is a huge part of his life. Assisting his children in the confidence to have a conversation with anyone, whether they are deaf or not deaf, is a huge success for him. He wants his kids to understand his feelings that, deaf or not deaf, we are the same.

Break the Stereotypes: How Hearing People Can Better Understand

There is a lot of misinformation and stereotyping when it comes to the deaf community. Establishing more education on the topic of being deaf and ASL in general would tremendously help with this. Understanding the feelings and struggles of those in the deaf community is imperative to the growth of those trying to get away from this misinformation and stereotyping. Part of this understanding and communication comes from people being willing to treat every conversation, with every person, whether they are deaf or not deaf, with respect and openness. Taking on an attitude of acceptance is a huge part of this openness. There is a form of stereotyping that happens when one person treats another person in a conversation as if they are “lower” or “impaired”. It makes the other person feel as though they have some type of disadvantage in that conversation, the relationship, and even in life. In reality, however, that is not true at all.

Christine Leaf, an experienced ASL professor at the University of Evansville has seen and heard a lot of the struggles and stereotyping that the deaf community faces. Teaching ASL is teaching a language. ASL in the deaf culture is just another language, and deaf people want to be respected in conversations the same way someone who spoke Spanish would be. “they [people of the deaf culture] can’t understand why people don’t see that they are just like someone that is Spanish that comes to our country, or someone who is Italian or someone who uses another language. Their language is primarily used by hands, but it’s still a language. It has communication and meaning. And I think that’s one thing as a hearing culture, we don’t seem to always remember” Leaf explained.

The deaf community is still fighting hurts and stereotypes to this day. The deaf culture used to be seen as deaf and dumb. This goes way back in history to people assuming, not so much that they were just deaf and using another language, but that deaf people were just incapable of understanding. They were thought of “lesser” than a person that was able to hear. “[Hearing people] don’t even understand that there is a culture involved. We still go back to our old instincts of them not being “as good as”, and that has been a hard thing for the deaf community to have to overcome” Leaf described as she detailed the challenges the deaf community still has to face. For hearing people, beginning to understand the deaf culture, language, struggles, and stereotypes, can start the process of healing everything that has happened in the past and still happens now.

A person of the deaf community is not “lower”. They are not “impaired”. They are not at a disadvantage. They are not “unable” or “less worthy” of opportunities. They are the same. They just happen to have been born deaf. We are all the same. Deep down, every person is the same. It does not matter if they can hear or not. Dennis has faced some difficult obstacles in his life to get to where he is today and to raise his kids to where they are today as well. He didn’t have a choice but to overcome these challenges, but he has done it with dignity and determination to create a successful life for his kids and family. Every person deserves respect. Every person deserves positivity. Every person deserves openness and love. Deaf people should not be treated any different or lower. They deserve understanding and openness to growth from hearing people. They have overcome some huge obstacles. They have some very impressive communication skills and knowledge, and it is time that people start to see that.

Crescent Magazine is published 4 to 6 times via print and digital publication. during the academic year, beginning in September 2023 and ending with the April 2024 issue.

Crescent Magazine is published 4 to 6 times via print and digital publication. during the academic year, beginning in September 2023 and ending with the April 2024 issue.

Circulation is 1,200 when the issue is printed and mass emails are distributed to inform students and faculty when a digital issue is published.

Circulation is 1,200 when the issue is printed and mass emails are distributed to inform students and faculty when a digital issue is published.

Issues of Crescent Magazine can be found online at https://crescent.evansville.edu

Issues of Crescent Magazine can be found online at https://crescent.evansville.edu