Ni 1 Lee Ni Period 6 Ms. Pohan Jun 9, 2014 Silent Treatment Katherine’s face is dangerously close to my boobs. I’m sitting down with her cheek right on the base of my throat and her body sprawled out on the couch. After taking a deep breath, I belt out another line of “Rebel Girl” by Bikini Kill as loud as I can, making the vibrations in my throat as strong as possible. I don’t normally let people plant their faces inches from my breasts. Nor can I sing, but Katherine tells me she likes my singing. She can’t actually hear it, of course (thank goodness), but she can feel it. When I finish the song, she sits up. Mouthing some words, she holds a flat hand up to her lips, then moves it down, almost like blowing a kiss. Thank you. I raise one hand, preparing myself to tell her, “No problem,” but I can’t remember how to sign it. I know Katherine will understand me if I just say the words, but sometimes I think it isn't enough. Our main form of communication is writing. With pen and paper or a cell phone, we have no trouble conveying messages, but I can't help but feel that it's inadequate in a some way. This isn't the first time I've wondered about how we can better understand each other, but this I­Search assignment just gives me another reason to ask: how I can better communicate with my deaf friend? I first wanted to know the prevalence of deafness. In the United States alone, there are about 38 million deaf people (Harrington). Numbers pertaining to the use of American Sign Language, however, were so not concrete. A paper published in Sign Language Studies in 2006 by reseachers at the Gallaudet Research Institute at Gallaudet University, the only sign­language based university in the Ni 2 world, summarized this best. According to researchers, there has "never been a true study of ASL use in the general U.S. population," but the most widely accepted number is around 500,000 individuals in the United States (Mitchell, Young, Bachleda, and Karchmer). The answer seemed so simple. Of course the best way to communicate with a deaf person is through sign language, I thought. Through my search to find an interviewee who could tell me all about hearing and deaf communications, I found a company called Hands On. Hands On makes art and theatre accessible to deaf and hard of hearing individuals in New York by providing the best interpreters. One particular interpreter featured on the website was Stephanie Feyne, a woman with over 30 years of experience interpreting for theatre. According to the site, she became interested in ASL and interpreting after meeting Deaf actors and directors while studying acting in college. In addition to being the interpreter for the annual Shakespeare in the Park series (which I love), Stephanie learned ASL relatively late in life and became immersed in Deaf culture, so I thought she would be the perfect person to talk to. I searched the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) and found Stephanie's contact information. I sent her a quick email explaining my paper, and within a day I heard back from her. "You certainly are good at research, finding me like this!" read the first line of her email (Feyne). Unfortunately, Stephanie had a broken foot and was unable to go anywhere. We wouldn't be able to speak in person, but she was happy to talk to me over the phone. Stephanie also admitted that she did not necessarily consider herself an expert in Deaf culture. I noticed the capitalization of the "d" in Deaf. I'd come across this in my research as well. Clearly, there was some sort of distinction between "deaf" and "Deaf," and I sought out to find the answer. According to the Gallaudet University website, the term "Deaf" referred to a culture rather than Ni 3 the state of being inable to hear (Gallaudet). It implied that being deaf wasn't necessarily the main criteria for being involved in the Deaf community. "If you want a real expert in Deaf culture, why not speak to a culturally Deaf person?" Stephanie asked. She was kind enough to hook me up with her good friend, Malenie Chaitoo. According to Stephanie, "she's Deaf. She's fearless. She is a woman of many talents." After the bold introduction, I contacted Maleni and discussed how we would conduct the interview. We decided it would be best to talk through a video relay service. The next day, I received a call from an unknown number. "Hi, I have person using sign language on the line...One moment while I connect to your interpreted call," said a voice. A moment later, a different person greeted me. It was our interpreter. We jumped right into the interview. I first asked about her degree of deafness. Pause. "My level of hearing loss is profound...I have in my right ear a 107 decibel loss, and in the other ear a 110 decibel loss," she said (Chaitoo). Maleni explained that she was born deaf, but wasn't diagnosed until she was five months old when her parents sent her to a doctor after realizing that she did not respond to sounds. She now uses a hearing aid on a daily basis. The hearing aid allows her to identify some sounds that help her navigate safely, but she is unable to identify speech. I then asked about her family. Did she have any other family members who are deaf? Pause. "No, I'm the only the one in my family who is deaf. Well­­I'm sorry, let me back up for a moment." I couldn't tell if it was the interpreter was speaking for herself of Maleni. "One moment for the interpreter, please," she said. Pause. Maleni's large family was giving the interpreter some confusion. After a while, she clarified that Maleni's parents are both hearing. She has two older twin sisters who are hearing as well, but her two Ni 4 younger twin sisters are deaf. With her family being divided with deaf and hearing individuals, she uses different forms of communication. "My younger younger sisters and I attended the same schools as children and are able to communicate well using ASL," she said, "my mother and older sisters are less fluent, and my father does not know sign language" (Chaitoo). Maleni sometimes will speech read, or lip read, but it is often unreliable. A search on Wikipedia will tell you that only about 30% of spoken language is able to be seen (Lip reading), but according to Ruth Campbell, Ph.D and Tara­Jame Ellis Mohammad, Ph.D, that statistic is misleading. The ability to speechread is based on a myriad of factors, and any success rate is difficult to measure (Campbell and Mohammad). Unsurprisingly, gesturing is essential when talking to her father and other hearing people. “When I’m with Italians, I gesture a lot,” she joked. Paired with her ability to speak and write, Maleni has almost no trouble communicating with hearing individuals. That it, only if the other party wants to carry a conversation. "When people hear me or when I walk into a job interview with my interpreter and they realize I am deaf, they panic," Maleni said. I thought back to my first encounter with Katherine. Two years ago, when she and her mother had moved to Westchester, my mother drove my brother and I up there to have dinner with them. I met her mother first, then Katherine introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Katherine," she said, shaking my hand. Her voice was deep and sounded heavy in the back of the throat. I couldn't place her accent, and I found it strange that she had one when her mother spoke English flawlessly. When I was told she was deaf, I don't think I panicked, but I did wonder if the talk over dinner would be awkward (which it wasn't). I asked Maleni exactly what was the distinction between being deaf and being apart of Deaf culture. “Deaf culture is grounded on language,” she said. “Without ASL, there would be no Deaf culture.” Of course, there are some other aspects that distinguish Deaf community from the hearing one. Ni 5 Aside from language, ideology and customs are other factors that make Deaf culture unique. Flickering the lights or stomping one's foot to get someone's attention are just such examples of things that are commonly used deaf people, but maybe not by hearing ones. In addition, Maleni noted that "some people certainly identify as Deaf. It is still viewed as a disability, and people need to realize that deaf people are fully capable." When I called Stephanie the next day, she reminded me that she is not an expert in Deaf culture. However, she is a hearing person who “invited [herself] into the community” (Feyne) and has extensive experience in both the hearing and deaf world. Though Stephanie is fluent in ASL and may be a part of the culture, she notes that she lacks the shared experience of deaf individuals that brings them together. “It’s like in the gay community. The majority of deaf individuals and LGBT individuals do not identify as their parents do.” I found it interesting that Stephanie mentioned the gay community. 90 to 95 percent of deaf people in the U.S. are born to hearing parents (Harrington), and though I did not research any statistics about the LGBT community, it is easy to imagine a similar figure for gay and lesbian individuals. In the article “Defiantly Deaf,” Andrew Soloman draws the same analogy, stating that it is that shared experience of being simply different that draws the communities together (Soloman). Stephanie then detailed her history with sign language and the Deaf community. Though she was conversationally fluent in ASL within years of learning it, she says that she didn’t experience a shift in perspective about communication until she started interpreting. “It became so much more than just signs and grammar. Suddenly, I had to evaluate the meaning of signed messages to be absolutely accurate. That’s when I realized that communication is deeper than just words or hand gestures.” The rest of the interview comprised of Stephanie giving examples of miscommunication. In one such example, one of Stephanie's interpreting students accompanied someone to the doctor. The doctor Ni 6 had found early signs of cancer in the patient, but said it was superficial and asked the patient to come back for another checkup. The interpreting signed the literal sign for "superficial," and the patient did not go back to the doctor's office for months. Stephanie explained that in medical terms, superficial means "skin­deep," but to the deaf community, the literal sign suggests "Oh, it's no big deal." "Comprehension about culture is equally important as comprehension about language," said Stephanie. She continued with her insightful comments, but ultimately ended with a statement that naturally concluded the interview. “I think the Deaf community is a wonderful community, but it is a community that needs to be allowed to speak for itself,” she said. As I reviewed the notes I had taken during both interviews, I realized that I had taken a bigger bite than I could chew. I had certainly learned a lot about Maleni and Stephanie, but what was the final, grand conclusion that I was suppose to come to? I listened over my interview with Maleni, and one line in particular gave me the answer. I had asked her about the use of speech reading by Deaf people. How common is it? What were some of the difficulties of speech reading? The interpreter did a wonderful job conveying Maleni's answer. With an exasperated sigh, she said, "You know, I can't answer that. We are all individuals, and you have to remember that. We all have different experiences and different educations; I can't answer that" (Chaitoo). Individuals. I realized that there was no definitive statement about Deaf culture I could make that would wrap up this paper nicely. I can't speak for the Deaf community. Stephanie and even Maleni cannot speak for such a large group of individuals, each with their own unique experiences. So I narrowed the scope and thought about my original intention of this paper. How can I better communicate with my deaf friend? The only person who could answer was Katherine. I sent her a text Ni 7 asking her I could better connect with her. With a wicked sense of humor, she replied, "Stop giving me the silent treatment ;)" (O'Brien). I think we're doing just fine with communication. Ni 8 Works Cited Campbell, Ruth; Mohammad, Tara­Jane Ellis. “Speechreading for information gathering: A survey of scientific sources.” University of College London Division of Psychology and Language Studies, n.d. Web. 27 May 2014. Chaitoo, Maleni. Telephone Interview. 20 May 2014. Feyne, Stephanie. "Re: Research Paper Interview." Message to author. May 2014. Email. Feyne, Stephanie. Telephone Interview. 21 May 2014. Gallaudet. Gallaudet University. n.d. 22 May 2014. Harrington, Tom. "Deaf population of the U.S." Gallaudet University Library, n.d. Web. 20 May 2014. “Lip reading.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, n.d. Web. 28
May 2014. Mitchell, Ross E.; Young, Travas A.; Bachleda, Bellamie; and Karchmer, Micheal A. "How many people use ASL in the United States?" Gallaudet Research Institute. Gallaudet University, 21 Febuary 2005. Web. 28 May 2014. O'Brien, Katherine. Cell Phone Text Message. 25 May 2014. Soloman, Andrew. “Defiantly Deaf.” New York Times, 28 August 1994. Print. 27 May 2014.