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No. 4, 2000
Cyber page: Articles from the Internet.
Identity
and Deafness: Who am I?
For
many deaf and hard of hearing children, it is often not deafness
itself that causes most of their problems. Rather, it is the
impact on their identity caused by parental and professional
reaction to their deafness. I explained in an earlier column
that the typical hearing person handicaps the development
of the deaf or hard of hearing child, leading to a confused
identity and poor self-concept. In general child development
studies, there is o question at all about the direct relationship
b between healthy identity development and good academic functioning.
The less worthy a child feels about oneself, the more likely
the child will do poorly in school. We need to re-explore
the topic of the deficit model vs. Difference model to put
this column into perspective. The deficit model of deafness
assumes the problem lies within the deaf child and that the
child much be "rehabilitated" in order to reduce
the effects of deafness, while rendering the child powerless.
Powerlessness is a killer of self-esteem. In the case of aboriginal
children, their language and culture were considered "defective",
and they were packed off to residential schools in order to
assimilate them, or make them "white". The disastrous
consequences of this approach require no further description.
In contrast, the difference model, while acknowledging the
existence of deafness, considers it secondary to everything
else and allows the child to exercise some control. It assumes
the problem lies outside of the child in his/her immediate
environment and that the environment must be modified in order
to accommodate the child without "fixing" the child.
"Fixing" sends a powerful message to the child in
the sense that there is something "wrong" with him.
He is constantly reminded of it by professionals and parents,
creating a cumulative negative effect on his self-concept.
I remember my mother telling me that if I didn't do well as
a mainstreamed student I'd end up in a school for the deaf,
while at the same time, she would make grotesque motions with
her hands, as if signing was some kind of a contagious disease.
Gradually I become ashamed to be seen in the public with other
deaf children and to use my hands to communicate. I even went
so far as to remove and hide my hearing aid in my pocket while
attending regular schools, thereby defeating its purpose.
This charade of passing of as a "hearing" person
in order to look "acceptable" reached a point where
I couldn't handle it anymore and told my counselor that I
was leading a phony life. I was trying to be someone else
I really wasn't. The counselor wisely suggested that I should
follow my heart. As a result, I made a 180-degree turn, and,
against my parents' wishes, took the plunge into the Deaf
world, where I completed my higher education and my identity
transformation into a happy and fulfilled deaf person. This
story is no different from that of thousands of other Deaf
and hard of hearing persons. Yet, there are still many deaf
and hard of hearing persons who were not as fortunate as I
was or who made a similar transition too late in life. I keep
coming across young deaf or hard of hearing adults who have
vague identities, lack direction in their life, are inept
communicators and feel powerless about their own lives. Every
time I meet any one of these, I feel an overwhelming sense
of sadness and frustration in seeing such promising young
people being "wasted" in this fashion all because
of the ongoing ignorance about what deafness is really life.
I recall a situation at the Alberta School for the Deaf back
in the early 1980's in which, in a misguided efforts, a small
group of parents of deaf students tried to get most Deaf teachers
fired, because they wrongly believed that these theaters were
the reason for their children's poor literacy. Fortunately,
this effort failed, but its effects on the students, especially
those parents were behind this effort, were negative. It told
them: "Deaf teachers make lousy teacher." "Think
twice before becoming teachers of the deaf." And "You
can't count on your parents for support if you want to become
teachers of the deaf." Even to this day, there are people
who influence parents into believing that American Sign Language
and Deaf culture are not good for their deaf or hard of hearing
children and they would be better off n trying to avoid them
as much as possible. They encourage the parents to opt for
either the oral approach or sign-supported speech. When parents
and professionals are "confronted" by ASL or Deaf
culture they tend to lash out against them without fully understanding
or appreciating that their own children, like most deaf persons
and many hard of hearing persons, would likely become ASL
users and part of Deaf culture one day. They also do not realize
that their opposition could harm or I impair these children's
identity development. These children are very sensitive to
and pick up easily on such negative "vibes" and
views, internalizing them throughout their childhood. As a
result, many develop identity problems from trying to reconcile
these negative perceptions with heir experiences with ASL
and Deaf culture. The high rate of mental health problems
among the Deaf and the hard of hearing is not surprising.
What can be done to ensure that Deaf and hard of hearing children
develop positive self-concepts and strong identities? Professionals
need to be educated about taking a more ethical and positive
view of sign language and the Deaf community. We need to clearly
convey the message that Deaf culture adds to, rather than
detracts from, the child's development and to instill in parents
and professionals the realistic expectation that their deaf
and heard of hearing children may likely become ASL users
and a part of the Deaf community without being negative about
it. Parents need to understand that all the options are not
necessarily bad ones and that each hcild is unique. Above
all, these children should be allowed to take the lead in
making communication choices in order to reduce their powerlessness.
Parents, professionals and children need to meet and interact
with Deaf and hard of hearing adults in order to learn from
them. There is a need for more Deaf and hard of hearing persons
employed in significant roles, far beyond tokenism, to work
with such families. Both professionals and parents need to
make these children feel good about their deafness without
hiding or denying it and to be proud of their difference as
are aboriginal children about their own differences from the
white people. They will always be deaf or heard of hearing
and different, no matter how "hearing" they become.
I once said in an earlier column: "it is far better and
easier to prepare them for a life as strong confident Deaf
persons who can succeed in a hearing world rather than as
weak imitations of hearing persons who, for the most part,
have a good chance of becoming misfits in a hearing world."
I still stand by this.
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It Takes a Village to Raise a Deaf Child
