Deafness is a disability that causes an human or an animal to lose their ability to hear. This could be caused by many different reason like an injury to the head, or someone could be born without their hearing. People who are Deaf tend to communicate using sign language and some can even learn to speak and to read lips. Deaf people aren’t illiterate and have made a huge climb since the 1800’s when they were considered “dumb” because they couldn’t speak. The main breakthrough for the deaf community came in 1857 with the opening of Galluadet University; the first university for the deaf in America.
There are two types of deaf people; Deaf and deaf. Deaf people, big ‘D’, are classified as people who choose to be involved with the deaf community. These people are okay with their deafness and took the time to understand it and to learn about it, they are content with themselves. These are the people whom you may see using sign language in the mall, or at a park ,or wherever it is you may see them. Deaf people are the more optimistic type of people and were most likely raised by a supportive family; deaf or hearing. Having a supportive family is important for any person especially if that person is deaf. That person needs their family to go on this journey with them and to learn to understand the culture, the language, just as well as themselves.
The second type of deaf person is the small ‘d’, deaf. These are the type of people who don’t come to terms with their hearing loss;they think they’re is something wrong with them and that they need to be fixed. These are the type of people who may have been raised by unsupportive hearing families who don’t want their child to be ‘different’. Also, these are people who may have become deaf later and life and wish to go back to their normal lives. ‘deaf’ people tend to get cochlear implants, these are small machines which a doctor surgically installs into the person ear, however, they are high risk for not being successful. These people also turn away from sign language and try to learn how to speak and lip read instead,which is far more difficult because if they have never been able to hear they don’t have a basic thought process. They tend to shy away from the deaf community.
Deaf or deaf all deaf people are involved with technology. There are many deaf technologies that hearing people have never even heard of before like the TTY and the Ntouch. The TTY is an older type of deaf technology which consisted of two deaf people communicating through a keyboard and a computer screen Then the message would then be relayed through an operator from one deaf person to another. The Ntouch on the other hand is a much more modern development and involves a camera and a TV screen. This device is used inside the home like the TTY but instead you can communicate with a hearing and deaf person or a deaf and deaf person unlike the TTY which is two deaf people only. The Ntouch also doesn’t involve an operator and is easier to use.
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