Chapter 26: Deaf Distaste for Reading

For me, I think that reading with my parents when I was little is what groomed me to enjoy reading.  Most Deaf children do not get this (I am still curious as to how it is possible to read to Deaf children).  If Deaf children are only exposed to reading and writing in educational settings, it makes sense that they wouldn't want to do it for fun, especially if they do not have a proficient grasp on it due to not enough time spent on it and "drilling" methods.

"If they never get beyond 'bad, mad, pad, and dad' or drills in sentence diagrams, they won't stick around to luxuriate in the delights of Jane Austen or Shakespeare.  Why bother?"--pg. 159, p. 4

I can see where it would make sense that reading is one thing that Deaf people and hearing people experience in the same way...if they had the same English backgrounds, and they do not.  I do not understand why anyone would think not being able to hear would make someone less intelligent.

I would say that literacy therapy is more important than speech therapy.  Once grasped, reading is something that Deaf people would be able to do without struggle due to not being able to hear.  Speech, however, will never match the level of hearing people.  Unless a Deaf person has an individual interest in learning how to speak, I do not see a reason to make them attempt it.  It seems like it would be very frustrating, especially if you have no desire to learn the skill.

I think there is a fine line of political correctness in every aspect of life and the story of the Deaf man on page 161 is walking rather close to it.  It is almost as if he is asking for separate but equal--which has been ruled as inherently unequal in regards to race in 1954 and Massachusetts marriage terminology in 2004--and I am glad that the authors point out that this man's view is not universal for the Deaf community.  I personally think that qualified teachers with positive attitudes should teach, regardless of their status as Deaf or hearing.