Tag: deaf

Categories
Week Five

Deaf Representation – Curation

I am a part of the hearing community and  I am a student learning ASL, so I do not know everything about Deaf Culture. This blog is my freedom of expression and I only wish the same for the Deaf Community as well.

This week, I am writing about media sources I found while searching the web and other platforms. I compiled a list of six different sources that I think you all would like!

Vlog- ASL Stew

ASL Stew is a YouTube vlogging account ran by a husband and wife team. With over 16 thousands subscribers on YouTube alone, this couple uses their channel to advocate for Deaf education, culture and awareness. What I love most about this channel is that not only do they share inspiring and information content, they also share hilarious videos about some of the complications coming from one partner hearing and the other being hard of hearing.

Instagram – Equal Access Resources (@EqualAccess)

@EqualAccess is an account founded and ran by Brent Tracy. As a CODA (Child of a Deaf Adult) his first language is actually ASL. Due to this, he shares a truly unique perspective into the more particular and special aspects of ASL like the grammar as well as its quirks. His content is helpful, informative and gives a perspective one does not usually have access to when learning ASL.

News Source – Sign 1 News

Sign 1 News is an ASL based news broadcast powered by CNN. Like any televised news source there are photos, videos and more the difference being the anchor is signing. While this source does not only focus on deaf news it provides a unique experience and perspective into how the Deaf community and others are able to consume news in an accessible way. Additionally, each video broadcast uploaded includes a transcript below. Personally, I have been able to use these to quiz myself and practice my own understanding of ASL and feel beyond consuming news, it serves as a language enhancing tool for myself and others.

Image result for sign 1 news

Huff Post – American Sign Language Section

While the Huff Post covers various communities news, pop culture and more, they have beens sure to include that of the Deaf community as well. On their website they have an entire page dedicated to sharing only stories on the Deaf Community, its culture and more. Checking in here is a great way to ensure the news you consume surround the people and the culture extends past nightly news-like topics and extends to include the arts, celebrities, intersectional news and more.

Instagram – Matt Maxey @maxeymaxey

Matt Maxey is another Instagram account I came across in my research that connect ASL to other aspects of culture. He is a hard-of-hearing music lover who has made it his life work to unite ASL and Hip Hop Music. He has and continues to interpret concerts and awards shows such as seen on MTV. On his page he shares his journey and truly embraces all aspects of his identity including both his abilities and passion for music. As someone who is interested in interpreting at music and cultural events he is particularly inspiring.

Instagram – Stacey Abrams

Stacy Abrams is a deaf woman who has dedicated a lot of her adult life supporting and connecting hearing communities with Deaf communities. In starting the #WhyISign campaign, she has continued to include videos of ASL (and other forms of sign language) users from around the globe connecting many on this online platform. Her account is particularly special in that she includes the experiences of a vast variety of folks including parents, CODA’s, students (both hearing and Deaf), professionals and celebrities.

Let me know your thoughts which you found the most interesting.

Categories
Week Four

Deaf Representation in Media: Architecture

I am a part of the hearing community and  I am a student learning ASL, so I do not know everything about Deaf Culture. This blog is my freedom of expression and I only wish the same for the Deaf Community as well.

This week, I analyzed an article published by The Washington Post. Posted within the last few days, Matthew Davis’ article, “The Rise of Deaf Architecture” delves into the connections between architecture and functionality, specifically for the Deaf Community. Specifically, Davis focuses on the work of DeafSpace. DeafSpace is architecture of a building’s design so that people with different auditory abilities can still communicate without the need for vocalization.

Image result for deafspace
Photo taken from Google Photos. (via University of Notre Dame)

In examining the article, both in content and technicality, there is much to be gathered. First, I find it important to mention the sources informing the article. A majority of the sources mentioned in the article are from first hand interviews done by Davis. These sources are directly involved in developing the connection on Gallaudet’s architecture and the Deaf Community. Beyond these primary sources, however, these is no real attribution outside his touring, interviews and first-hand research. In some ways I believe this has heightened the quality of the piece in that it speaks to what is actually happening at the source of the topic. On the other hand, this may also shorten the credibility of the article in that it remains in it’s own bubble. To that extent, however, it should be noticed that due to less coverage, interest and so forth of the Deaf Community, perhaps there was not so much mainstream, reputable sources to connect to?

In connection to that thought, I found it interesting there were no links in the piece. Unlike many articles or media I typically read about news where there are at least one if not dozens of links, this piece does not have a single one. Again, I wonder if this is due to the specific nature of the topic or rather the typical oversight of the Deaf Community in learning and living spaces such as journalism and the media. Due to this lack of external sources I would argue nuance is lost on this piece for the most part. While there appear to be various ins for new ideas or tackling issues- such as how the school and community will handle the supposed, toward the end, Maiwald speaks about the impending issue that hipsters will take over. There is no further analysis or even a link to something that could be interesting or further informative to the readers about this issue.

Overall I would not say this is a biased or persuasive piece- more of an informative one on a topic few make connections between or rather know about at all. Additionally, I find it important to mention the lack of bias in the piece may simply come from the fact the author is not a part of the deaf community. In small instances, as noted by commented “HobbertTheCat”, there are instance he miswrites in ways a member of or someone familiar with the Deaf Community and Culture would not.

Overall, if I were teaching media literacy to the journalist I would assign a C+ letter grade. I would grade accordingly because of the fact the spin on this story is almost lost due to oversight of the original idea. Additionally, there are no external links and only first-hand experiences, which is moderately concerning. However, the article is informative about what is going on with the plans for these new building designs, so I decided to add the additional points for the +/- system.

Categories
Week Three

Deaf Representation Analysis: News vs. Opinion

To begin this week’s post, I want to make sure that everyone reading this knows I am a part of the hearing community and that I am only a student learning ASL. This blog is my freedom of expression and I only wish the same for the Deaf Community as well.

This week I decided to study news or opinion/analysis articles and connect and elaborate on my previous ideas. Below I am putting two categories: news and opinion.

News:

  1. Time USA’s, “The Society’s Sean Berdy on ASL Representation, Teen Activism and His Buzzy New Netflix Drama”

  2. NBC’s, “The Hearing World Must Stop Forcing Deaf Culture to Assimilate”

https://www.google.com/search?q=sean+berdy&client=safari&rls=en&sxsrf=ACYBGNSeX7Gb2E8dDf-IUADLADqQNdyyGA:1567919674949&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=tsJOC8H5aV5RbM%253A%252CDh7m_7-z1fuDqM%252C%252Fm%252F0gytgrt&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kSS-eXm8E8WGf2Ju22JPxvs_sTGoQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjOw4v6u8DkAhU2CjQIHRKYBFcQ_B0wHHoECAkQAw#imgrc=tsJOC8H5aV5RbM:
Sean Berdy (via Google Images)

When reading the first article, I thought it would have been slightly more opinion-based, but as I read further it talks to how he feels and about how people in the Community are not to be treated like aliens, but like humans because we all go through this life one day at a time.

The second article, while I found a little difficult to read because of how many different topics were in the post, however, I did thoroughly enjoy reading it and how the author connected other similar occurrences in Hollywood to how the equal representation movement should also stretch to the Deaf Community as well.

Opinion:

  1. UC Santa Cruz’s, “Student Pushes for Authentic Representation of Deaf Community”                                                                                                                  **The video related to this link can be found at the bottom of the post. I definitely recommend viewing as it is informative and can shed a light on some Deaf Community do’s and don’t’s.
  2.  Verywell Health, Melissa Karp Aud, “Ways Deaf and Hearing Culture Are Different“

If you go to my YouTube history, you’ll find that I watch many ASL videos (mostly song interpretation). I have seen Chrissy Marshall’s videos before. Because I already had a connection between the video creator and the article I felt that it was challenging to distinguish it from opinion and news. I decided on opinion because the lists that she provides is in the ASL community and not so much universal. When detailing the differences in the Deaf Community vs. the ASL Community, there will always be minor differences in how the Community views themselves individually.

Finally, the reason I chose this last article to be opinion-based was because Melissa Karp studies the Deaf Culture, and while her knowledge in the field is credible, I felt that because of the post’s length, there just was not much to go on. I felt that it was more of a top 10 tips than something where there is hundreds of participants in a quantitative study.

When writing this post, I felt it was somewhat difficult determining if some of these articles were news or opinion because the two opinion articles come from either people in the Deaf Community or they are a medically-certified audiologist. Where as the two news sources were done taking more of an analytical approach so I feel that depending on viewpoints, the news and opinions can vary depending on who is believed to be the “credible source”.

**Dos and Don’ts of Interacting with the Deaf Community [CC]

 

Categories
Week Two

Deaf Representation in Media

When was the last time you saw a deaf person in the media? Go on, I’ll let you think. More than a month ago? Longer? With media being widely distributed between the masses and considering “nearly 20 percent of Americans live with some sort of hearing loss,” Lydia Callis told HuffPost, you would think that there would be a larger portion dedicated to representing this community and human experience.

Well-known deaf people include: Helen Keller, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, and Marlee Matlin, from left to right.

In growing up, children consume all sorts of media. From television to books to movies, children seek to see themselves represented. Growing up, did you ever want to become like someone you saw on the media? Did you ever see someone in the media like you who made you feel better about who you are? I would guess you answered yes to at least one of those questions, if not both. Now imagine growing up seeing little to no one like you in books, television, or movies. For the d/Deaf* and hard of hearing community, this is their reality.

The representation of the Deaf Community is important to me because this is where I see myself currently and in the future as an advocate. I want to make sure that every child growing up has a role model that inspires them and they can connect to.

*d/Deaf is about self-classification and expression. When using “d”eaf, this is typically a dissociated, whereas “D”eaf is more of a community. (Source)

css.php