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Deaf identity

Fitting in | The 'Deaf ghetto' | A question of understanding

Many deaf people believe that to be part of the Deaf community you have to involve yourself in it politically and culturally. However, most deaf people are brought up in a hearing family and 90% of deaf children now go to a mainstream school.

So how important is communication through BSL in defining an individual's deaf identity? And is there a risk that deaf children who don't sign will be caught in 'no man's land', fully accepted neither by the hearing world nor by the Deaf community? VEE-TV hosted a discussion on the subject with Mat White, Elaine Bush, Steve Tyler and Louise Mudie.

Mat is a successful digital media programmer and his girlfriend Elaine is a student. Both were brought up using oral communication but later learned BSL.

Mat wears a hearing aid and enjoys music. He has good lip-reading skills but, he says, 'Speech, telephone, radio and even my parents' voices come through as a stream of unintelligible rubbish to me. For this reason I embrace BSL and the Deaf community. Deaf people see me as I truly am.

Fitting in

'I don't like being in a group of hearing people for more than 10 minutes, simply because I can't understand anybody so I can't join in. Before I learnt BSL I didn't feel I could fit into the Deaf world either because I couldn't sign. And so I became really, really keen to sign because I saw people just like me who could sign. They fitted in very well with the group, and they enjoyed themselves and had a great time. I felt I wanted that, but I've also maintained my relationship with my closest hearing friends through other activities.'

Elaine agrees that many deaf people feel more comfortable with others who are deaf. 'The main difference between being in the hearing and the deaf community is that a lot of deaf people in a hearing environment will find it difficult, with communication problems. But in the Deaf community everyone's the same. Everyone wants to make themselves understood, so they try hard.

'But I don't think there's one correct group that a deaf person has to fit into because there are different degrees of deafness and different personalities. I believe that anyone who can see themselves as a deaf person and be proud of it can say that they belong to the Deaf community.'

Both Steve and Louise were born into hearing families and brought up using oral communication. However, while Louise later learned BSL and regards herself as having a strong Deaf identity, Steve continues to use speech and regards himself as having no Deaf identity.

The 'Deaf ghetto'

Says Steve: 'I chose not to learn sign language because I was brought up in a hearing world and I didn't know any deaf people. I do not think I have a Deaf identity and I don't feel as if I belong anywhere – I'm an outsider to both the hearing and the Deaf worlds. Hearing people get cross when they have to repeat everything they say and most Deaf people switch off when I tell them I can't sign.

'I feel being oral is important and a great advantage to deaf people. In an ideal world everyone, deaf and hearing, would be taught sign language from an early age, but from a practical point of view I'm not sure if that is possible. The fact is we are all in a hearing world, so we should adapt as best we can to that world.

'Sign language is fine for the deaf to communicate with each other but they should be oral to communicate with the hearing. They shouldn't shut themselves away in a "deaf ghetto" lifestyle.'

A question of understanding

Louise attended a mainstream school where sign language was banned. 'If pupils were found using sign language they would have to write lines saying "I must not use sign language at school,"' she says. 'I didn't know that I was labelled as disabled until I was 15 and filling in the application form for Doncaster College. One question asked if I was disabled in any way and I was about to put "no" when my mum stopped me and explained that deafness counts as disabled. I knew I was different from hearing people but honestly I didn't have a clue I was classed as disabled, never mind being aware of Deaf identity.

'It wasn't until I got to Doncaster College that I finally realised what Deaf identity is. It's as if I opened up to myself and discovered what was missing. From there I never looked back and I really love being in the Deaf community and us being together like a family.

'I'm not saying my hearing parents don't understand me – they are brilliant and supportive – but understanding is more important and I get that from the Deaf community. It was such a shame my Deaf identity was hidden until I was 16 years old.'

If you'd like to join in the debate on Deaf identity, check out the message board.

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Links

About Deafness
http://deafness.about.com/cs/communication/index.htm
US website with comprehensive links to articles and resources on many aspects of communication including the auditory-verbal learning method, cued speech, signed English, speechreading and lipreading.

Baby Signing in The UK
www.nuwesgroup.com
Offers personal accounts from parents teaching their baby to sign using a recent US invention: Baby Sign Language.

British Sign Language Info Web
www.bsl-infoweb.org.uk
A basic guide to BSL. Includes descriptions of grammar and syntax, diagrams of a wide list of basic signs, plus links to theatres providing BSL-interpreted performances.

BSL Alphabet
www.foot-print.demon.co.uk/bslsite/bslindex.html
Letters of the alphabet animated in BSL.

BSL Now
www.bslnow.co.uk
Details of the 'BSL Now' campaign for the official recognition of BSL, plus information on marches and an online petition.

Cued Speech
www.cuedspeech.com/index.html
US website offering a comprehensive source of information and articles about the use of Cued Speech.

Deaf Books
www.deafbooks.co.uk
A comprehensive list of books on sign language, produced in association with Amazon. Contains everything from practical guides to studies of the communication and culture of deaf people.

Deaf Club
www.deafclub.co.uk
Deaf internet search engine with comprehensive links to Deaf media and culture in the UK, including a section on BSL. Offers subscription to a weekly e-mail update on the latest international news on deaf issues.

Deaf Mall
www.deafmall.net
US portal providing links to general information and resources on sign language and oral methods of communication.

Deaf Sign
www.deafsign.com
Information, contacts and discussion on issues related to deafness and sign language. Includes a guide to BSL and fingerspelling, plus online sign-language tests and games.

Deafbase
www.deafbase.com
Portal to deaf and hearing-impaired information and directory, providing links and resources on BSL and other communication methods.

Hearing Exchange
www.hearingexchange.com
Online community for the exchange of ideas and information on hearing loss. Includes several articles on the debates around communication for deaf and hearing impaired people.

Jim Cromwell
www.jimcromwell.mcmail.com/indexnew.htm
Lively homepages from an advocate of some the latest communication software with a step-by-step guide to using your hyperterminal as a textphone. Also includes a beautiful set of photographic images of BSL fingerspelling.

Lipreading Teacher
www.lipreading-teacher.co.uk
Information about lipreading, speechreading, and hearing loss in general. Includes a downloadable tutor providing an in-depth introduction to lip-reading classes.

Oral Deaf Education
www.oraldeafed.org
US website offering useful information about how schools use the auditory-oral method of teaching deaf children to listen and talk. Also includes general information about deafness, cochlear implants, hearing aids, the law, and other related topics.

Royal Association for Deaf people (RAD)
www.royaldeaf.org.uk/stage1.htm
RAD's list of BSL courses throughout the UK.

Books

Let's Sign: BSL Building Blocks Tutor by Cath Smith (Illustrator) (Co-Sign Communications, 2001) £19.99.
BSL tutor including a background and brief history of BSL and its importance to deaf people's lives. Comes with a mini CD-Rom containing moving image video-clips of the signs.

Let's Sign: BSL Building Blocks Student Primer by Cath Smith (Illustrator) (Co-Sign Communications, 2001) £4.99.
Designed to accompany the above tutor, or can be used alone as an easy reference of signs for class or home.

Linguistics of British Sign Language: An introduction by R Sutton-Spence and B Woll (Cambridge University Press, 1999) £16.95.
Provides support for learners of British Sign Language and others interested in its structure and its use. It assumes no previous knowledge and contains more than 300 illustrations.

Sign Language Link: A Pocket Dictionary of Signs by Cath Smith (Co-Sign Communications, 1999) £5.99.
An introduction to sign vocabulary for Stage 1 and others on introductory courses.

Sign Language Link: Desk Edition by Cath Smith (Co-Sign Communications, 1999) £8.99.
Large-print, spiral bound BSL dictionary for people with a visual impairment. Contains 1000 everyday words with 360 illustrated descriptions of movement, non-manual features, variations and context. Includes an index on deafblind communication.

Signs Make Sense by Cath Smith (Souvenir Press, 1990) £9.99.
A lively introduction to the principles and grammar of BSL. Signs are grouped according to type with illustrations of how facial expressions, fluid hand- and finger-movements and placements are used and combined.

Start to Sign! by Richard Magill, Anne Hodgson (Royal National Institute for Deaf People, 2000) £13.
The Royal National Institute for Deaf People's BSL textbook for beginners, with photographs of more than 900 signs and information about the development of BSL and its grammar.

Sign Language Companion by Cath Smith (Souvenir Press Ltd, 1996) £10.99.
A BSL handbook aimed at young people, allowing for regional variations with signs that link ideas and concepts and can be constructed in conversation. Topics covered include family and friends, behaviour, sharing ideas, food and drink and feelings.

The Lady In Green by Anthony J Boyce & Elaine Lavery (British Deaf History Society Publications, 2001) £16.95.
A biography of Mary Hare, one of the leading pioneers of oralism in the first half of the 20th century. The book contains accounts of her life, written by ex-pupils.

Organisations

See Find out more for all the main organisations run by or for deaf people.

British Deaf Association (BDA)
1–3 Worship Street
London EC2A 2AB
Voice/Text: 020 7588 3520
Fax: 020 7588 3527
E-mail: info@bda.org.uk
Website: www.bda.org.uk
Run by and for deaf people to ensure those using sign language have the same rights and entitlement as other citizens.

The Federation of Deaf People
PO Box 11
Darwen
Lancs BB3 3GH
Fax: 01254 708071
E-mail: contact@fdp.org.uk
Website: www.fdp.org.uk
Campaigns for the recognition of BSL and for the rights of deaf people in general.

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