Essay about Deaf Movement at Gallaudet University Deaf...

In 1988, students at Gallaudet University came together to formed a single voice that was heard, but more profoundly seen, by the world. Now known as DPN (Deaf President Now), these deaf students formed a community with a cause. They affected pedagogy: abandoning classes, closing the gates to the school, refusing to budge until their demands were met. They altered the power structure and strengthened their own community: rejecting the newly appointed president and having many of the faculty join their cause. Not long into the protests, deaf schools in Canada and West Germany closed on their behalf, and the media swarmed in, fumbling in its attempts to get interviews from students who didnt speak and to record rallies in which†¦show more content†¦Deaf Awareness, Deaf Power, and Deaf Pride were now slogans often emblazoned on the shirts of the students at Gallaudet. Before this surge, deaf education in American schools, for well over 200 years, had gone by the hearing worlds dogma: oral communication, based on print-centered literacy, had always been strongly insisted upon, and manual, visual communication discouraged (if it was allowed at all). The reasoning was that if deaf people were to function and communicate, they must do so as if they can hear; if they cant get along in the hearing world, they cant get along at all, and knowing the dominant (hearing) cultures language, doing well with its literacy, is the key to getting along. By now, we easily recognize this argument. It is an argument that many current literacy and rhetoric studies are taking up-an argument that investigates the power, politics, and pedagogy of a dominant culture designed to keep that culture in a dominant position primarily through its language and rhetoric, its social grammar. Schools both implicitly and explicitly serve the dominant culture and instill that social grammar. Thus, education in American schools has explicitly prioritized the indoctrination of the English language over the use of American Sign Language (ASL). ASL relies primarily on vision, on seeing the world and language enacted; English, as a spoken language, arises primarily from hearing. AsShow MoreRelatedThe Deaf President Now Movement And Gallaudet University Protest3124 Words   |  13 PagesIntroduction: The Deaf President Now movement and Gallaudet University protest did not only achieve its aims, this revolution brought unity to the Deaf Community and awareness to the general public. This revolution grew into a civil rights movement, consequently enacting legislation, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and The Telecommunications Accessibility Enhancement Act of 1988, to benefit deaf and hard of hearing citizens as well as many other disabled Americans. The events of FebruaryRead MoreThe Deaf President Now Movement And Subsequent Gallaudet University Protest Affect Deaf Community1656 Words   |  7 Pagesthe ‘Deaf President Now’ movement and subsequent Gallaudet University protest affect the Deaf community in America?† Table of Contents â€Æ' Introduction: The Deaf President Now movement and Gallaudet University protest did not only achieve its aims, this revolution brought unity to the Deaf CommunityRead MoreRacial Stereotypes Of Deaf And Deaf868 Words   |  4 Pagesto be a great misfortune, but being deaf does not limit the abilities of a person. Members of the Deaf community consider deafness to be normal rather than a disability. A deaf people can do anything a hearing person can do, such as, drive, participate in group activities, communicate, and have normal lives. 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This early form of sign language was known asRead MoreHistory And Perceptions Of American Sign La nguage Essay2063 Words   |  9 PagesHistory and Perceptions of American Sign Language Sign language is one most common ways for deaf individuals to communicate without using of their voices. Different cultures and languages will typically have their own version of sign language so signs are not always universal, just like gestures are not universal. Signs are culturally bound in communication just like verbal languages and gestures are culturally bound. I will examine the history of American Sign Language, as well as how it has been