Deaf+Enough?

media type="custom" key="3170722" **Monday, February 9, 2009 Workshop 1: Deaf Enough?** CODA are deaf enough. Members of the ASL fluent are deaf enough. How about someone with profound hearing loss, those who are hard of hearing or parents of deaf children who communicate well with their sons and daughters. Are they deaf enough? Students attending schools promoting total communication, are they deaf enough? These questions represent a diverse population of people who may or may not be part of the in-group Deaf Community. Speaking of Community, are the Deaf part of a culture or a community? This workshop will present the features of the deaf vs. the Deaf. It will distinguish between those members of our population who are clinically deaf but may not be Deaf enough for entry into the Deaf Culture. "The term 'Deaf' has nothing to do with the degree of hearing loss...the terms 'deaf' (little "d") and 'Deaf' (big "D") are also used and have much different meanings," [|ideamarketers.com].

Facilitated by guest presenter Tammy Ranello, parent of a profoundly deaf child and co-chair of a local advisory group for parents of children with special needs, Parents Educating Parents (PEP), and Professor Suzanne Carbonaro of the Department of Communication and Journalism at Rider University and co-chair of PEP, this presentation will discuss the inner workings of the Deaf community and their effects on technology used to aid the deaf, language, pure deafness and status. Whereas our speaker, Tammy Ranello, feels that technology in bridging the gap between hearing and deaf people, it is also causing a sense of denial of the true Deaf Culture who encompass about 10 percent of our population. After experiencing ridicule following a promise that her son would be "embraced by the Deaf community", Tammy offers a first hand look at the difference between the deaf and the Deaf. She will also discuss the stigma given to hearing parents of deaf children that they are "lazy" when it comes to learning the language and protocol for "bringing up deaf".


 * Deaf Enough?** dissects the essay "Deafness and the Riddle of Identity"-- by Lennard J. Davis in //Bridges Not Walls// by John Stewart and will reveal the much debated controversy that surrounds the deaf population. You can review the probes at the end of the passage in the text to reflect on their meaning and relationship to your views of Deaf Culture and identity. Additional reading for this workshop can be found by taking these links: [|wikipedia.org] and [|deafculture.com]. Additionally, for some further background on Jane K. Fernandes from blogger's point of view by taking this [|DeafDCBlog link]. Please respond to the discussion question above under "Discussion" on this page and complete your response before Thursday, February 5th. We look forward to your openness and questions during this interactive workshop.

Speech Banana (audiogram) Please access the slide show by taking the link: 