Disabled or Different - Grade: A PDF

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This essay is the collection of multiple sources that was given throughout the course along with sources that were not given to formulate the essay ....

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Disabled or Different According to the Hearing Loss Association of America, “About twenty percent of Americans, forty-eight million, report some degree of hearing loss, and sixty percent of the people with hearing loss are either in the workforce or in the educational settings.” The deaf community has its pros and cons. However, they can reap the benefits from the Americans with Disabilities Act, have empowerment, be affected by audism, and have conflicts of being seen as a distinct culture and disabled group. In this essay, different perspectives will be displayed to help prove how being labeled as “disabled” could be a good and bad thing for the Deaf Community. The topics being discussed with help show how the conflicting beliefs can lead to the feelings of empowerment and equality among the American Deaf community, while at the same time further embed within main streams of society's attitude with paternalism and audism towards the American deaf community.

There are lots of resources provided to those who are deaf or “disabled” through the Americans with Disabilities Act, also known as ADA. The Americans with Disabilities Act is “a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public. The purpose of the law is to make sure that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else (adata.org).” In this quote, whoever is disabled could rightfully be included in this act. The deaf community being labeled as “disabled”, in this case, could be a beneficial thing because they can reap the benefits of what the ADA has to offer towards them. However, some of the deaf community may feel that the ADA is another way of society classifying the deaf as a disabled group. Although some of the deaf do not

like to consider themselves as disabled, this is the act that allowed them to have equal and more opportunities than those who aren’t disabled. The Americans Disabilities Act provides the deaf with equal employment opportunities which means that their deafness can not be considered as factor to dictate their eligibility for the job, nondiscrimination on the basis of disability by state and local government which gives the deaf, also considered as disabled in this act, have access to the same services as those who can hear, public accommodations allows the disabled, to have access to public places, and finally telecommunications provides the disabled with ways of communicating with hearing and non hearing people in long distance or local areas. It seems as though the whole purpose of the ADA is to give the disabled a sense of equality. With extra benefits from the ADA, the deaf can also feel empowered due to what all the government has to offer them because of society considering them as disabled. There are plenty of accommodations made because of the deaf, such as educational services, vocational services, direct payments, mental health services, legal services, interpreter services, and many more. Within the work field and educational field, the deaf has a Vocational Rehabilitation agency working on their behalf to help them go from school to work or school to postsecondary school. If the deaf happens to fulfill all requirements by the Vocational Rehabilitation agency then they are able to proceed to their desired career or school. If they choose to go to a public college not intended for the deaf under Section five hundred and four of the nineteen seventy-three Rehabilitation Act their rights are protected, because “educational institutions may not refuse to admit Deaf students or neglect them in their recruitment effort (Lane, Hoffmeister, and Bahan 344).” Once the deaf student attends the public college and graduates they struggle to find employment or remaining employed, and according to National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes (NDR), “ In 2014, only 48% of deaf people were employed, compared to 72% of

hearing people(Garberoglio, Cawthon and Bond 2).” Of course, this was due to the rate that the deaf are unable to complete a task without special accommodations. Due to a deaf person's inability to hear they can sometimes experience audism. “Audism is defined as discrimination that is based on a person's ability, or lack of ability, to hear(deaf websites.com).” Audism can play a major effect on the deaf because they can become insecure with communicating with family, friends, or strangers. “A survey conducted in 2007 found that six in ten people with hearing loss had displayed some of the symptoms associated with depression(beyondblue).” Communication is essential in a mute person life because it allows others to understand them and vice versa. However, audism continues to affect the deaf community, because some of them feel and are treated inferior to those who have the capability of hearing and speaking well. As a result, they become insecure, isolate themselves, and show signs of depression. As this may be a man versus man conflict there are others conflicts that arise within the Deaf Community of being seen as both a distinct culture and a disabled group. The deaf culture can be seen as a distinct culture because they believe in teaching their child American Sign Language and informing their children about their culture. However, one of the things they oppose is the use of cochlear implants, but those can hear strongly disagree. The hearing world believes the deaf should provide their kids with both the opportunity of hearing and learning American Sign Language because they will have an advantage than if they were deaf. All in all, the deaf community being labeled as “disabled” can be seen as a good an bad thing. The good thing about being labeled as disabled is that they are able to have educational opportunities, acts made just for them in order for them to be treated equally, and also financial assistance. Also if they take advantage of these rights they should consider themselves as

disabled too. However, the deaf being labeled as disabled can cause others to look down on them and feel they can not perform tasks effectively as those who are capable of speaking and hearing well. If you take advantage of the benefits offered in the ADA then a person is technically considering themselves disabled, because people can choose whether they would like to participate in things available for the disabled. If anyone decides to question whether a deaf person is disabled or different it is dictated based on the deaf individual himself or herself.

Works Cited: “What is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)?” ADA National Network. https://adata.org/learn-about-ada Hearing Loss Association of America. Basic Facts about Hearing Loss, 20052017.http://www.hearingloss.org/content/basic-facts-about-hearing-loss https://adata.org/learn-about-ada. Garberoglio, Cawthon, et. al. Deaf People and Employment in the United States: 2016.

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 2016. https://www.nationaldeafcenter.org/sites/default/files/resources/Deaf%20Employment %20Report_final.pdf Audism. Deaf Websites. 2005-2016, http://www.deafwebsites.com/deaf-culture/audism.html Anxiety and Depression in People who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. Beyondblue, 2004. https://das.bluestaronline.com.au/api/prism/document?token=BL/0692...