Look, as far as I’m concerned, I’m still on my holiday break from solid blogging – and next week it’s pretty much nothing but editing and preparing for the start of classes again for me. So, don’t expect my usual updates or essay-length blog-posts, beyond some favorite YouTube videos. I’m meant to be on a break! Gah…
But I was intrigued by an interchange on Facebook. In response to this news item, a bit of a discussion got going. Childhood deafness gene uncovered on BBC News:
A new genetic fault which may account for some cases of inherited deafness has been revealed by Dutch researchers. It means that parents with the hereditary condition may be able to predict more accurately the chances of passing it on to their children.
The new find, documented in the American Journal of Human Genetics, could even one day contribute to treatments, say the scientists. One child in 750 is born with severe hearing loss or profound deafness.
Joey Haban, of http://newly-nerfed.net wrote in response to Facebook comments about the BBC article:
I don’t take issue at all with the fact that most hearing people can’t conceive of life without hearing. Of course it’s a strange, foreign, and frightening notion. My problem is when deaf people who don’t feel that way (which, again is not all of them) are judged from a hearing person’s perspective. Look at it this way: to them, it’s like a black person being offered a pill that will turn them white. “Why don’t you want it? Your life will be so much easier!” Deafness is as much a part of some people’s identity as race is to others.
My first response to a few people’s comments which were less than complimentary to Deaf culture, was to refer to Oliver Sacks’ Seeing Voices. It’s a little dated now, dealing with things like the protests at Gallaudet University in the 1980s, but back when it was printed in 1989, I was studying sign language.
I briefly studied Auslan (Australian sign language) at TAFE, back when I was starting out as a teacher, because hearing difficulties are found in significant numbers in remote communities in Australia. As an English as a Second Language teacher, I thought it would benefit my teaching to gain a better understanding of the Deaf culture in my country. It was only for two years, part-time, but I really enjoyed it and the challenges it presented. My career has since demonstrated that indeed, you never know where you’re going to end up as an educator!
A colleague of mine in Kalgoorlie, learned sign-language directly from the parents of one of her students who was profoundly deaf. We discovered that although there were some signs we had in common, there were some that didn’t match at all, which introduced me to the influence of dialect in signing. There’s a few films (beyond fictional ones like Mr Holland’s Opus and Children of a Lesser God) that have been up for awards and have been commended for the way they approach Deaf culture – ‘Sound and Fury’ – Oscar for Documentary. The Australian documentary – ‘Welcome 2 My Deaf World‘.
So – is there a place for Deaf culture in skepticism? Can we say that Deaf people can’t be skeptics, that there aren’t frauds, scams, concerns about the paranormal and pseudoscience that affect them as well? Or is there a bigger division that is being formed, one that skeptics aren’t addressing?
At the Skeptic Zone presentation at Melbourne University, we had an Auslan signer at the front of the stage during Dr Rachie and Richard’s talks. We’re still working on transcripts of our podcast, being aware that our show may be of interest to those if it wasn’t just in audio form.
I’d be interested in learning if it’s like ongoing discussions on “whether the small number of people who identify as skeptically-minded somehow means we naturally tend towards promoting the stereotype of the ‘bearded-white man’ or the token ‘hot woman’ by default at conferences” [my response was 'oh please, no...' to this parody by Blag Hag of Atheist Barbie]…
…or even what I see as a far bigger issue of “can we ever have female representation as skeptics – when women are not represented fairly in society anyway?” [Post by I Doubt It on The tilted playing field]. Are there are other people who have views about how this is another minority group (is it?) within skepticism?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s funny this came up because I have been mulling over some kind of skeptical presentation for deaf people, possibly in concert with Barbara Drescher at Cal State Northridge which has a very large deaf student population. Absolutely there are frauds and scams that affect the deaf community — some of them are specifically targeted to deaf people, in fact. Part of the reason they are successful is because of some of the traits of Deaf culture: information sharing is of highest priority, but for some Deaf people it is only valuable when it comes from other Deaf people. Conversely, information might not be examined closely if it comes from a trusted source. Deaf culture is a collectivist one, which makes sense given deaf history, but there is also a not undeserved stereotype of gossip and misinformation spreading like wildfire through the community.
It’s hard to address these topics without being seen as unfairly characterizing an entire group of people, and obviously I’m making generalizations here. But after years of interpreting and teaching in the deaf community, to me this is just a fact of being part of it, and I think it deserves respectful and honest attention. It’s why the last thing I did before I had to stop teaching was design a web research course that focused heavily on critical thinking and analysis of information.
This discussion definitely got me thinking about a few things, and I’m glad to see this commentary on it. I would especially love to hear any d/Deaf skeptics’ views on this.
Regarding the last point, Kylie, we certainly must acknowledge that men in the skeptical community are far more learned, polite and accepting of minorities than the religious conservatives that I mentioned in my example. I’ve not felt personally slighted in the skeptical/atheist/scientist community. Sometimes I felt _overly_ welcomed because I was not a white haired, bearded male. The image of the “hot woman skeptic” is another matter entirely.
What do you think of the image of the ‘hot woman skeptic’ stereotype? Is it an issue? I have known some women who have been prejudiced against, so I guess I don’t see any arena as completely immune. :/
Hi All.
Hey Kylie a fellow Perthskeptic here,
I’m currently studying Auslan cert 2 and am invloving myself in the Deaf culture more and more everyday. I’m studying to be an Auslan interpreter and will eventually be working as one in perth. I’ve probed my Lecturer now and then about religion whithin the Deaf community and what it represents. Whether or not there is a higher percentage of religious belief in the community and how it’s viewed, (whether the Deaf turn to Religion for guidance in their lives or away from it because they find something in their culture makes them less open to the idea) As of yet i haven’t asked enough Deaf people about Skepticism and what it means to them. All i know so far is that there is no sign for the word “Skeptic”.
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