“Where is Deaf Identity in an Aural Society?” is a TED talk presented by a guest speaker, Lauren Stevens, published on 16th November 2017. The main message that the video is conveying is the absence of understanding and awareness of hearing impairment as its own culture, particularly in a world where the spoken word is familiar to most people. Lauren Stevens educates the audience, informing them that “we can make communication accessible to those who do not communicate aurally and by doing so it would break down language barriers and open doors for deaf culture awareness,” as stated in summary below the video.
Ms. Stevens introduces herself as profoundly deaf, meaning that she cannot hear at all. She explains how she has practiced talking and hearing in order to communicate effectively with the hearing society. Ms. Stevens pops a question to the audience “when you encounter a deaf person, how do you initially perceive them?”. She asks the audience whether they perceive deaf people as members of a particular culture, normal members of society, or less able. The speaker was diagnosed with profound hearing loss at ten weeks, and is the only family member with a hearing problem. She goes ahead to state that she has encountered all the perceptions that society has over deaf people.
Speaker Lauren Stevens goes ahead and explains the dilemma that her parents faced of either raising her with New Zealand sign language or enrolling her into early intervention programs. The parents met two opposing views; the deaf community informed them that if she did not learn the sign language, they would deny her rights as a deaf child, hence, stripping away her deaf identity. On the other hand, the hearing world argued that if she did not acquire auditory and verbal skills, she would be held back in many areas of development. The parents were determined to make her learn spoken language. Hence, the speaker was admitted to St. Gabriel’s School for the Deaf for an extensive auditory-verbal program from five months until she was five years old.
Ms. Stevens was using hearing aids but later received a cochlear implant that helped her hear some things clearly, like a clock ticking. However, in a large group of people, she cannot depict where sound is coming from, and she feels like people are just yelling, hence making her remember that she is still deaf to be a part of the hearing society. Ms. Stevens explains that she viewed the deaf community as more disabled than she was at some point and wanted to associate more with the hearing world. This changed in the university, where she learned sign language and interacted with other deaf people. Hence feeling like she belonged, and realized that deafness is not a disability.
My thoughts are that people in the hearing world should view the deaf as ordinary people and stop treating them as disabled. The speaker points out that she was once dismissed at a career expo simply because she mentioned that she was deaf and was told that a career in communication would not suit her. All deaf people should be allowed to develop their cultural and linguistic identity since research has shown that they are more likely to succeed in academics if they learn how to sign, read and speak.
People in the hearing world should stop treating the deaf as disabled and allow them to learn signing language, reading, and speaking. It will be easier to create a world with no language barriers and create more awareness of the deaf culture. The main takeaway includes; most people perceive the deaf as less able, which should not be the case since they are normal like others, only that they were born different. Secondly, it will be necessary for the deaf to learn how to communicate with the hearing world, hence removing the communication barrier. Lastly, deafness is not a limitation, and the deaf can live a normal life like the rest if they stop considering themselves as disabled.