My Journey as a Deaf Person

Hello everyone! I am Hala Somo and was born and raised in Batnaya, small farming village, in northern Iraq. I did not have a formal education because there was no deaf programs in my hometown. When I was twelve, I moved  from Iraq to America, where I picked up basic American Sign Language (ASL) and English vocabulary terms in middle school. But, in high school, I quickly got better at ASL and English. ASL makes my life better because it exposes me to Deaf community and culture. I am always willing to learn, socially and involved well with Deaf people because I want to explore my identity as a deaf person more. Also, I am highly motivated and enthusiastic to educate hearing people about deaf people’s preferred education methods which is ASL.

   I realized my purpose to educate hearing and deaf people about audism, that means deaf people face oppression. In junior high school, I tend to go to Deaf starbucks in Mission Valley, San Diego on every Friday. On one Friday, I got flyer from somebody hand out of the flyer about Audism Unveiled and I did not know what was Audism meant. Several people stated, “it was great watching the film and it influenced me.” My oldest sister and I decided to go to buy a ticket and watched Audism Unveiled movie event in University of California, San Diego (UCSD). This film of Deaf people discussing audism, and shared their experience growing up Deaf community in a hearing world. I just sat and watched the film impacted me much, and helped me understand how the whole of Deaf people’s experience hard time through with hearing family. I did not realize how deaf people have experienced audism. For instance, over the years I did not know that my family oppressed me as a deaf person, however now I wake up and realize their ignorant actions. I realized that I felt sub-human for many years. I understood the word “audism” thanks to this movie. Deaf people often face the negative perspectives from hearing people, who look at us Deaf people with sorrow and pity. Hearing people think the Deaf life, or the Deaf experience is pitiful,  and those who are deaf are no good, if they speak and hear. The hearing people thought that would better off  if ‘deaf could hear and talk’ and forced judge deaf people’s on our ability read lips so that they should fit the hearing society. Because hearing people belief had forced those who don’t speak that means D/deaf people are sub-human. I learned this impactful message from watching the video. Please take a look at the video I just posted.

Video source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCnyt2Ag1cw

This video shows that all D/deaf people have experienced audism of no signing allowed. Due to the fact that those who were deaf did not use their hands and used force oral school, their hands were swatted with rulers. In many difference ways throughout human history, with things like religion, medicine/science and others, there was constantly attempts being made to cure deafness and support oral for deaf people. This video exposed learning purpose to education parents and hearing people have to acknowledge that they need to less audism. They need to let deaf people enjoy their life, and that means being allowed to use their hands, and sign all the time. Sign language is very special and beautiful because they let us connect with deaf people. We need more hearing people to support ASL.

    Hearing people tend to pity deaf people, however they should imagine living as a deaf individual without acknowledge their use of sign language, or their struggles with equal access communicate. How does this make Deaf people feel? They sometimes feel a struggle to express themselves. Although, hearing people can become involved in the Deaf community and become allies for the Deaf community and show support,  and learn not to think that deaf people are sub-human. My blog will talk about the deaf people’s experience of oppressions and educate to power that acknowledgement to stop audism by hearing people.

For the stop audism,

Hala Somo

We Need to Raise Awareness on Audism

According to Tom Humphries, audism is complex definition that puts a negative, prejudge, oppressive attitude toward deaf people and develops discrimination based on a person's ability, or lack of ability, to hear. This is because people who are not deaf have not heard of audism and may not realize that this form of discrimination exists. This term was added in addition to the many different forms of oppression, the others being racism, sexism and ageism. It also means that people who could speak and hear, or have excellent in english skills, are superior to others. I would say most Deaf people  have experienced audism, because many people are ignorant when it comes to audism in a hearing family, the government, doctors, or religion because most people are not educated what audism means. Audism was coined in 1970’s, so many deaf people don’t know what audism means today. Deaf people often have hard time identifying audism, so my blog will raise more awareness on audism.

         Paul Kiel, American Sign Language Instructor/Deaf Culture &History Lecturer, Quincy University. 

My earliest memory of is audism when I was five, my mother often took me to go to many churches, where they would take out an image of the Virgin Mary crying tears of oil, and then I would be told a story about the Virgin Mary's struggles, that has drawn between forty to fifty of visitors to the Church in Iraq and Syria. Next,  my mother would take the oil and pour it in each of my ears and she prayed for my deafness to be fixed.  This made me feel uncomfortable because of the many hearing people that still looked at me if I could possibly now be able to hear, and then i would be seen as a "real" "fixed" person who could be involved in the hearing world.  

A Big Issue is the Culture Appropriation of Deaf Culture

Culture appropriation is when somebody takes an aspect of a culture that is not their own. For example, white people may think it's 'fun' to dress up as a "Arabian" terrorist, which may be popular in American culture, but they do not realize how much disrespect they show to people of the Arabian culture. They need to acknowledge that the Arabian culture is a custom and should respect their culture.

Some people have their own perspective on why deaf people become upset their cultural appropriation, but they do not have the authority or experience to understand what this means.

Parallel to this example, this can be seen that many hearing take over 'Deaf videos on YouTube' as on their own native language, American Sign Language, (ASL). I see many people excited about learning ASL. I appreciate to see that many people are interested in learning ASL, even though the amount of teaching videos on Youtube from students who are unqualified is an example of cultural appropriation. These people making the videos are a not qualified to teach the language, and many are just ASL students; meaning their teaching videos are often filled with errors and teaching mistakes. I strongly suggest  these people who want to learn ASL learn from someone who has an ASL teaching and certification, not an ASL students. According Rob Nielson, a deaf teacher, he claims that ASL students who create or teaching others who are teaching using incorrect vocabulary and grammar on YouTube are supporting inequality. A person becomes qualified to teach ASL, only after they are properly trained, evaluated, and processed, and have had a large amount of knowledge about Deaf culture and Deaf community.

                                                    ASL with Rob Nielson, Youtube

Another instance of cultural appropriation, was mention by Kristin Henson, a hearing student who learned ASL from deaf people at RIT. Without taking ASL classes or credentials, she decided to make videos that were offensive, and published the book,  "Super Smutty Sign Language" to start a movement of learning dirty sign language. This is so awful to see a hearing person creates something like this, and it is even worse that there has been over two million views on her video on Youtube, Twitter, and Facebook. Many hearing people think ASL is entertainment and not a true language. Also she was making money off our native language culture appropriation. She may try to raise awareness on sign language, but ASL is not a dirty language. It’s a beautiful language that should not be part of entertainment.

Dirty Signs With Kristin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEIArQUgzH0

Hearing People Should Think Twice Before They Take Over ‘Deaf Job’

Hearing people have plenty of jobs. There is many deaf people who struggle to find jobs. In my opinion, this is the fault of hearing people, because they push deaf people out and take over. Why can’t they leave deaf people alone and allow deaf people to make their own life? Successful, you know what I mean? Why? I really am disappointed. When hearing people learnAmerican Sign Language (ASL), it’s good to socialize with deaf people that helps to communicate without depending on pen and paper. It can be cool,  also a chance to meet more deaf people on their side, too. It also helps me to feel comfortable with hearing people, however I believe that many Deaf feel that it is ‘not right’ for hearing people take “paid ASL teaching jobs” that could be performed by a Deaf person. It is not only about ASL teaching, but also many hearing people take over “Deaf jobs". Jobs like ASL teaching, teachers of the Deaf, acting roles as a deaf person, and many other jobs are often taken by hearing people. I’m extremely disappointed to see that hearing people take over ‘Deaf jobs” because the economy told makes it even harder to survive without a proper job, especially if you are a Deaf individual. At least nine million of the Deaf people live in United States, we have experienced discrimination by hearing people, as many of the Deaf face unemployment and low earnings. Is it really fair for hearing people to get the job that was really made for a Deaf person?  Deaf people want to work, but most employer continue to discriminate against them, because they underestimate deaf people abilities.

By Jim, deaf actor: Please see Transcript:

https://fookembug.wordpress.com/2008/01/29/why-did-hearing-people-take-over/

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it shows that “17.6 percent of persons with disability were employed, in 2013. In contrast, the employment-population ratio for those without a disability was 64.0 percent.” For further information, please see: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/disabl.pdf

        These statistics show that those who have hearing loss, including members of the American Deaf community, experience heavy employment discrimination in terms of looking for work on a daily basis. This has to stop from hearing people who are leaving deaf people no other options then to serve underemployment and work low paying jobs, which is insufficient to pay back for the higher cost of living these days.

        Hearing people should be not allowed to take “deaf jobs,”  because these hearing people have many opportunities to find jobs anywhere. In contrast, Deaf people should always be able to work “deaf jobs” because hearing people can go get any number of other jobs that require the ability to speak and hear. Jobs involving ASL that don’t require the ability to speak and hear are ideal for Deaf people and should thus be filled by Deaf and not hearing. In many years and today, we deaf people have experienced discrimination by the hearing people's views negative that Deaf can’t do anything.

Is It Okay to Use the Word ‘Hearing Impaired’?

Many hearing people do not realize that the term ‘hearing impaired’ is considered highly offensive to deaf people’s self esteem, because it’s just like "deaf-mute" and ‘"deaf and dumb", which are also are inappropriate labels. Also, the term ‘hearing impaired’ is an old-fashioned way to label people with any level of hearing loss, as does not accept for culture identity. Most doctors who use the term hearing impaired because they focus on the fact Deaf person’s ear need to be fixed and view hearing impaired as an individual unable to hear, speak, and therefore cannot and not properly function.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/mar/02/storytelling-takes-on-new-dimensions/

This magazine, The San Diego Union-Tribune, recently published this magazine spread. I think this is awesome to read about a young guy name is Armando Bravo, who created skits of an art form storytelling in American Sign Language (ASL) to deaf children. However, the author views on the deaf children and deaf adult are labeled 'hearing impaired.'

According, Deaf blogger Mark Levin, who opposes hearing impaired, explained “while the mainstream public and doctors may view Deaf people as having something wrong with them, we (Deaf and hard of hearing individuals) don’t view ourselves in such a manner. We’re fully able to function in society without being “fixed”, nor do all of us want to be fixed. Doctors and audiologists, who insist on fixing the problem, rather than working towards a common understanding, are part of the problem.” This quote points out that doctors think deaf and hearing impaired mean the same thing, it is a medical term to use ‘hearing impaired’ and some medical professionals feel they need to fix the hearing impaired. Sadly, these hearing people still are labeling hearing impaired as a deaf people and feel they subhuman. The use of hearing impaired may be considered less blunt by many hearing people, but within the Deaf community, it is an inappropriate term and sign of ignorance.

Hearing impaired makes deaf people feel less than a person, and may make there self esteem low, and that they need to be fixed. We need to get rid of labels like "hearing impaired" and focus using the label "deaf", an much more appropriate term that defines a cultural identity, not a medical issue.

Deaf Like Me, Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/deaflikeme/?fref=ts

The Starkey Hearing Foundation Does Not Deserves The Support of the Deaf Community

"Starkey Hearing Foundation" is an organization who with the mission statement: "we are all  about bringing understanding between people through caring and sharing. We believe caring develops trust and by sharing we find our humanity. We believe by growing engagement in this cause that we can increase tolerance and respect for life." The people of this organization are very proud to have created a system in which they hand out hearing aids to deaf children worldwide, and started to use an idea called ‘inspiration porn", a created term to describe the use of inspirational pictures or statements to inspire individuals to do something good for the world. However, not only is the use of this word wrong, but the foundations mission statement is not accurate.

Their mindset is based on the idea that a hearing aid is how you ‘fix’ deafness, because it is seen as a "disability." However, they are ignoring the fact, that when we will take those hearing aid off, then we are still Deaf.  We deaf people  are fully able to fully of function in society, WITHOUT a hearing aid. The Starkey foundation need to learn to see Deaf people, more than their inability to speak or hear.

https://www.starkeyhearingfoundation.org/who-we-are

   The "California association of the Deaf ", (CAD) position on the Starkey Foundation, is not anti- hearing aid, but a disagreement on their labeling of ‘inspiration porn’, a term that is really not appropriate for Deaf children. Additionally, the CAD wrote that It is also these people who involved in this job to give free hearing aids, should really inform themselves about the benefits of American Sign Language, and learn how Deaf people who do now have access to their native language often suffer with their identity, and may have issues connecting with hearing individuals.