[nfb-db] Deafblind Group Communication

[Mussie]

John,
I agree with your points that you aver. As an anthropology major and someone 
who approaches cultural studies with genuine interest and passion, I would 
personally insist that the label 'culture' is being overused by us 
nonscientists. We can label pretty much any set of characteristics that 
define us and set us apart from others as 'culture' even if we undergo the 
same environmental interaction and live within the same cultural geography. 
Yes, deaf-blind individuals may be labeled as a cultural group regardless of 
the circumstances under which they grew up and the geographic area they grew 
up inhabiting, but to constantly label every group of people based on 
certain characteristics and interests as a broad cultural entity makes 
little sense. Rather for me, abilities (sensory in this case) influence the 
development of our interests and attitudes.
Let me try to articulate something. The "ILY" is overused by deaf/deaf-blind 
individuals, but to the hearing community constantly saying "I love you" 
might sound weird. But it is the way the 'ILY' sign is utilized (given a 
special hand gesture) that we ultimately become accustomed to it and may be 
signing it with little regard to its meaning and/or purpose. Also, hearing 
people will often address you by your name or certain interjections, while 
signers would simply start talking right away when they are assured that 
your attention is on them. See the point? I mean, the ability to be able to 
hear shaping your attitudes and behaviors rather than you being a part of a 
distinct and major cultural entity. As individuals, deaf-blind people are 
part of mainstream American cultures and their ideas and thoughts may be 
either consciously or unconsciously reflected in their actions as 
individuals. For example, if you grew up in a collectivistic society where 
group priority is placed higher above individual needs, your 
behaviors/attitudes will, in effect, reflect your society's values 
regardless of your ability to hear or see.
So while I do not personally reject the 'culture' label, I would caution 
against its overuse and misapplication. Generally speaking, deaf people DO 
have values and beleifs reflective of the Deaf experience apart from the 
American way, but this is based on their inability to hear and, broadly 
speaking, talk that would have essentially eliminated their fuller 
integration into the hearing "culture". What becomes based on one's 
inability to hear and speak is a new form of subculture reflective of that 
person's accumulated life experiences based on hearing loss.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Lee Clark" <johnlee at clarktouch.com>
To: "'NFB Deaf-Blind Division Mailing List'" <nfb-db at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 09, 2009 5:56 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-db] Deafblind Group Communication


> Mussie:
>
> For me, cultural differences are major.  For example, I am a serious 
> writer
> and get published in the best places.  I happen to be one of the most
> well-known writers in the writing community here in Minnesota.  Yet I 
> don't
> enjoy the writing community at all.  I don't go to their gatherings, 
> events,
> socials, retreats, etc.  I've been invited to join boards, etc. of their
> organizations, but have always declined after my first and last experience
> being on one such board.
>
> Ii do go to some events, but it's only ddif there is a direct benefit for
> me.  I give readings to promote my books--to help the sales, which in turn
> will get more money for me.  I am always happy to accept a honorium for a
> presentation.  But many writers get out there much more than I do, to get
> together with people who share their interest in writing.  They go for 
> their
> personal need for socialization.  But dit's strictly business for me.  I
> never volunteer.  I never join them if I want to have fun.
>
> Why is that?  Because of the cultural differences.  Take board meetings.
> Hearing people conduct board business very, very differently from signers.
> Hearing people give speeches each turn--they would go on and on for ten or
> twenty minutes and the point would be very small.  Also, they do a good 
> deal
> of commiserating during the proceedings, and then after the meeting 
> closes,
> the room empties instantly.  Everyone rushes for the door and everyone is
> gone.  In the signing community, board meetings make rapid progress, with
> each turn in discussion usually taking only half a minute and dthe point
> gets through loud and clear.  After quickly wrapping up the business,
> everyone stays to chat with people leaving very, very slowly over an hour 
> or
> so after the end of the meeting.  I love this.  I love making very good
> progress in the meeting and getting a lot done and then Ii enjoy catching 
> up
> with old friends and sharing news and otherwise networking, and often a
> group would go out to eatd, etc.
>
> I am fortunate that Minnesota has about a dozen serious signing writers. 
> It
> is great to be with them when we get together--not only the same culture 
> but
> also the same interest.  But I also enjoy all of my signing friends who 
> have
> very different interests, and I find it enriching to learn about their
> interests.  My knowledge broadens far beyond what I would know if I was
> hearing and always hung out with other writers.
>
> In the mainstream, "interests" sort of becomes something like culture.
> Hearing people need reasons to get together.  This is because they really
> don't have a close knit cultural grounding to begin with.  So interests,
> hobbies, religion, etc. replaces culture for them.  But I already have a
> close knit culture and community, so "interests, etc." aren't as 
> important.
>
>
> I feel so richly fulfilled every time I socialize with other signers.  I
> always, always learn a great deal and have loads of fun.  The things that
> get shared are incredible.  For this reason, I often find myself in awe.
> Take my friend Sean who is crazy about bicycling.  He told me about this
> company that "tailors" bike frames for you.  He got one and built on it 
> and
> showed me his bike, what he called his pride and joy.  Instead of a
> ten-speed system, he uses fixed gear, which means there's only ONE speed.
> This means he can't turn it back to make it easier to go uphill--he has to
> use his strength.  Instead of shifting the gears of a bike, he shifts
> HIMSELF while his bike remains the same.  He did a test to compare whether
> fixed gear would ultimately slow him down during long bicycling trips.  So
> he timed himself cycling around three miles of hills, up and down, using a
> ten-speed bike, shifting the gears according to the terrain.  And then he
> timed himself using the fixed gear bike on the same route.
>
> Guess what?  The results were only ten seconds different.  This meant the
> ability to shift gears isn't such a big advantage after all.  And it also
> means our bodies sare more amazing than we think.  His body was able to
> adapt to the terrain, to rise to the challenges.  So he has been cycling
> fixed gear ever since.  That was a cool thing to learn, and it increased 
> my
> interest in cycling which I already had anyway.  I decided to go fixed 
> gear
> too, and I enjoyed many cycling adventures, including the 450-mile cycling
> trip between SF and LA in California.  Sean, for his part, learned a great
> deal about publishing from me.  He has produced a book of photographs as a
> result and he is writing a book, too.
>
> So we've both stimulated each other and broadened each other's interests 
> and
> experiences.  This is only odne example of many other relationships like
> this.  From what I know of and have read about hearing people in general,
> not many people get this kind of exposure to a truly wide range of things.
> True, they get some exposure at college when they take classes and they 
> may
> learn stuff from TV, but the learning experience is totally different than
> what you get with a good friend.  Hearing people seem to me, for the most
> part, very limited, going back and forth in their streamlined lives.  One
> reason I get published so easily may be because my writing has a lot of
> "real life" in it while many hearing writers write about the same things
> simply because they talk mostly with each other . . . about writing.
>
> Anyway: Yup, culture is important to me.
>
> John
>
>
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