Today, the United States requires high education for occupations. Many jobs ask employees to have a college degree but colleges and universities are extremely strict about having many extracurriculars and an outstanding GPA to attend their schools. This can be frustrating for someone who is dealing with impaired hearing because they struggle with being accepted in colleges they want to go to but the lack of education and help they receive from the world is unhelpful to them. Deaf students hope to get into their dream colleges like any other student but because there is no system to help the community of the deaf, it is even harder for them to attempt to get an education they deserve. Students who were able to have a better education in the beginning years of school should have easier access to better schooling as they become older. Getting into college is already a hard process but to be rejected from a dream school because of an illness is unacceptable. A person’s success is influenced by the world, for example, a deaf person might stop looking into schools because others have already rejected them because of their hearing, they could be the smartest person in the world and nobody would know since his or her application was declined. “Approximately 70% of the 123,000 deaf students enrolled in 2,300 colleges across the United States will not persist until graduation” (Smith, and Julia A.). This rate is growing very fast and should be considered through different facts. Is this all the education you can give deaf students? Are schools allowing these students to reach their highest potential?
So, people all around the world are filled with myths about the deaf, and with these misconceptions come more college administrators believing that students who cannot hear will suffer whilst trying to get a good education in classes. So, in order to help these students strive in their life, we should be allowing them to have an education where it is easy for them to learn. Deaf Schools have been around since the 1800s and were extremely helpful during that time but when more people became affected the population of deaf schools should have increased (Center, Clerc, and Gallaudet University). Deaf students face difficulties in their life that hearing people face as well. For example, in “Mother Tongue” author Amy Tan speaks on how her mother is faced with situations where her English was judged because it did not sound like others English. Tan’s mother is able to understand the language well but because her accent was strong people never wanted to speak with her even if it was about her health; they would go to her daughter. Tan sometimes even felt embarrassed that she did not speak English well but her mother did not let that stop her because in a way the way she spoke was her identity. She took care of her own problems because she is able to fight back when someone judges her (Tan). Now for a deaf person, when you become affected by this at a young age you never learn how to speak a language and usually uncomfortable with speaking. This is why deaf people should have more places to go to learn better ways to help them learn how to express themselves because it is not easy to do so when you do not have a voice. Creating a better education plan for these students will also help gain their knowledge of the world since they would be able to have better opportunities throughout the schooling journey. In the article “Strange Bedfellows: Deafness, Language, and the Sociology of Knowledge.” author Evans A. Donald, a professor of sociology at Mercer University in Georgia acknowledges the fact that the kids affected by deafness usually learn a language later in their life and evidently do not experience life the same way a person of hearing can because of what I stated earlier, they are not able to express themselves the way they want with a language they prefer. Evans also brings on the fact that some children who do acquire a language late do not even know the words of features of the face. The way someone is able to express themselves by his or her language will become the “limits of [their] world” meaning that the education someone gets in his or her lifetime will have an impact of their life as an adult. Also, the loss of hearing has also been known to cause psychological problems in people (“Consequences of Hearing Loss.”).
Deaf are known to have a greater rate of traumatic events in their life. Factors that contribute to their trauma include deprivation of language development, lack of communication within families, the poor involvement of parents, social isolation, and lowered self-esteem (Ridgeway 1993). As well as barriers to accessing services in American Sign Language, which severely limits Deaf individuals’ options for escaping from abusive relationships or other unsafe situations (Nosek et al. 2001). Sven Schild a psychologist at the California School of Psychology and Constance Dalenberg, a professor at the California School of Psychology found that a group consisting of 79 Deaf individuals, 20.6 percent of men and 37.8 percent of women reported a history of sexual assault, and 38.2 percent of men and 42.2 percent of women reported “other unwanted sexual experiences” (Schild, Sven, and Constance Dalenberg.). The increasing rate of traumatic events has also linked to deaf’s shortfall of natural rights. Hearing people are able to get what they want in an instant in public places and workplaces but a deaf person is not able to go to many public events without someone who is hearing because they would not be able to communicate with anyone, which brings me back to not having enough opportunities for the deaf community.
Deaf people and hearing are often faced with barriers between the two since neither understands each other. The Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that does tons of research to help and gives people a better understanding of what human rights consist of. They help communities of people with disabilities to have accessible articles and websites/commercials with sign language to try and help them gain the rights they deserve (“Sign Language Key to Deaf People's Rights.”). In an article “Sign Language Key to Deaf People’s Rights” the Human Rights Watch hopes to gain awareness of this language with publications in social media, websites, and more to help the people acquire the realization of fewer rights for the deaf. But, even with the help of the Human Rights Watch, employers give attitude or even more problems to people who are not able to speak to them. For example, a woman in Iran was given “insulting and heartbreaking behavior” when she was only trying to communicate with a social worker who legitimately “got mad” a woman for writing on a piece of paper. An on-call interpreter should be employed in workplaces to assure that deafs will not have to face unnecessary judgments and scoldings from strangers. In Russia, documents have been given where you see that information from deaf people has been withheld from them, information that they wanted but because companies do not have the right tools to help everyone health information gets interfered because of communication barriers between hearing and deaf people (“Barriers Everywhere | Lack of Accessibility for People with Disabilities in Russia.”).
Even with all the research that was done to convey that deaf people are in fact affected by the hearing community and are not getting the same opportunities school and work wise, some people do believe that the work, medically and educationally, put into the deaf population is enough. Aristotle thought the hearing was the only way to express and be able to understand feelings or complex thought so with his idea came to the phrase “deaf and dumb” (Hummel, 1993). A lot of misconceptions is what causes the assumption that medically people are doing all they can but doctors have improving technology all around them yet they use it for everything else but this illness. Since deafness is not deadly doctors find it not as important but it should not be this way. Uneducated people have posted on social media about all the things people have done to “help” the deaf but helping is not about bragging about it on media it is about being apart of a community and caring so much that people would do their best to help with anything. What many people around the world do not understand is that while there are helpful instruments for deaf but they do not work for all and a lot of people believe that they do. Everyone is affected differently by this illness, it is not one treats all and no treatment will be that way. But, why is it that for deaf people assume that if a deaf person does not have a Cochlear Implant they are not trying to get better (“Stereotypes and Misconceptions About Deaf People.”). A cochlear implant is a neuroprosthetic device that provides a sense of sound to a person with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss but unfortunately, this implant comes with risk and more often than not these risks are in adults (“Complications of Cochlear Implant Surgery in Adults and Children.”). While the chances of this working are pretty high, what happens medically for the people who do not gain anything from the implant? Also, another view of why a lot of people believe that deaf people do not help themselves is because they think that all can talk comfortably and clearly so why don't these talk? Well, many deaf people were affected at a young age and were never able to learn how to pronounce words correctly so deaf people often do not use their voice (“Stereotypes and Misconceptions About Deaf People.”). Deaf people should be able to have an interpreter whenever they want and not have to book them themselves. Another setback for the deaf is how society views these individuals, it is saddening that people do believe this stereotype but it is not true.
Schools are such an important part of everyone’s life so everyone should have the same opportunities but since people would not take the time to teach sign language, interpreters are necessary at schools. Without an education that you want you will succeed the way you know you can. Deaf students and people should be getting the same treatment as any other person on this earth because we live by our human rights and without allowing a community of people gets an education they want you are stripping them of their rights. Schools are not allowing these people to gain what they need to strive and be successful, interpreters should be a requirement for these people in all schools because it is what deaf students deserve. There are schools where deaf are able to go and learn but a lot of students are not able to travel long distances so schools should be way more common all around the world, not just the United States.