Dakota Martin
Scott Temple
English 114-401
22 March 2013
Deaf
life in today’s society
There
is approximately 315, 536, 570 people in the United States of America at this
exact moment, and approximately 5% of
the world’s population is Deaf. Many people in today’s society are Deaf, or are
some sort of hearing impaired. Many deaf people in today’s society are looked
down upon and treated differently in schools and even the workforce.
Deaf
people have many different options when deciding what they should do about
schooling. Deaf people can go to regular hearing school, private school, or
even a school only designed for the Deaf. Whichever school a deaf person
decides upon will have a great effect on the person they become. School is as
important to deaf people as it is to hearing people. They will take part in
every subject, from learning the Alphabet to doing a vast amount of
mathematics. Deaf people have the same potential as hearing people. The only
ability that is not functional is the act of hearing. In today’s schooling,
deaf people are a huge minority and are treated in many ways unfair. For
instance; in schools, many deaf people are not put into regular classrooms
filled with hearing people. Instead, they are put into a classroom with people
who have different disabilities. “Some people in society regard the deaf as
handicapped, someone to be pitied as though there not independents capable of
looking after themselves and leading a good quality of life” ("How society
treats deaf people") Deaf people think that this is unfair and unethical
as they are missing the chance to interact with the hearing students.
Interacting with hearing students allow the deaf student to be accepted to the
hearing world. Which allows hearing people to fully understand that deaf people
are not dumb, or stupid, but that they are equally capable of preforming tasks
as a hearing person is. Along with school relations and interactions, the
workforce as a big effect on deaf people as well.
In
today’s workforce there are a lot of negativity toward deaf people and their
ability to work. Deaf people have a lot of trouble when it comes to applying
for a job, interviewing for a job, and even while on the job. Many of these problems
exist simply because the workforce is run by hearing people and everything in
the business world today is designed for the hearing. Business’s do not take
the time or consider the possibility that a deaf person might apply for the
position. So, when a deaf person is emailed for an interview because their
application is phenomenal, and they make their appearance, it is hard for them
to compare to the other hearing applicants, for the lack of an interpreter. If there is not an interpreter available, that
forces the deaf person to write everything down on paper, which normally
results in an answer of, “Were still taking other applications thank you for
your interest” which we all know as a line used to say sorry you’re not getting
the job. “I have had several bad experiences when going for an interview.
Mainly because I was embarrassed as I had to write down everything, due to the
lack of an interpreter”. (Smith) This is what puts the strain on, and isolates
deaf people from the hearing world. If businesses would take the time and put
forth the effort to make the business deaf able then they would have a more diverse
atmosphere and would be able to take advantage of the different ability’s,
instead of just limited to those of only hearing people.
Many
people would say, “Well hearing people are not all at fault”, which I agree, it
is not all hearing people’s fault. Hearing people have been brought up this way
since the late 1900’s to look down upon anyone, or anything that is not as
great as them, and if that means that a school of hearing people is not
associated with deaf people and that businesses have not hired a deaf person
before, then I can understand where hearing people would have an excuse for
their ignorance. In today’s society, it is inevitable for businesses to run solely
on hearing people, and for schools to not allow deaf students to associate with
hearing students. With this being said, hearing people need to become more
aware of deaf people and make a stand to change these things and for us to move
forward in this event, allowing hearing people to fully understanding and
accept deaf people in today’s society.
Works Cited
Admin,
, ed. "How society treats Deaf People." DeafServiceCenter.
deafservicecenter.org, n.d. Web. 22 Mar 2013. <http://deafservicecenter.org/deaf-people-society.htm/comment-page-1
Smith,
Steven. Personal Interview. 10 Mar 2013.
"Deafness
and Hearing loss." World Health Organization. WHO Media centre, 00 Feb
2013. Web. 22 Mar 2013. <http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs300/en/index.html>.
"census.gov."
U.S. POPClock Projection. United States Census Bureau, 22 Mar 2013. Web. 22 Mar
2013. <http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html>.
