James.Womack@f14.n300.z1.fidonet.org (James Womack) (11/19/90)
Index Number: 11822
[This is from the Silent Talk Conference]
Ann,
Not all interpreters mouth while signing. It depends on who
they are signing for and under what circumstances. Often,
they do mouth, but infallibly.
Lipreading has its place for deaf people who have an aptitude
for it or are post lingually deaf. I never said it couldn't
be taught. If a deaf person has enough residual hearing or
has a demonstratable aptitude for learning lipreading skills,
I would be at the forefront of advocating that person to
receive such instruction. Otherwise, I strongly feel one is
wasting his/her life when the time could be used for teaching
something of more practical use.
I am post lingually deaf but cannot lipread worth a darn. I
just never got the hang of it. But on the other hand, I never
really received long term training in that area. I kind of
rushed through school two years after becoming deaf. I only
got two years of high school under my belt before entering
Gallaudet.
For a discussion like your and mine, something must be taken
into account. Deafness involves more than a clinical state.
It is a state of being. In my case, I am clinically,
culturally and socially deaf. This means I am deaf from a
medical standpoint, and deaf in my sense of cultural identity
in that I perceive myself as a deafie (as do most other
culturally deaf people). I associate mainly with other deaf
people who view themselves and are active members of the deaf
community. In short, I have a deaf mindset. On this basis,
your views and mine will stand in obvious contrast. Among
deafies, and no offense meant here, we view persons like you
as deaf with hearing minds. In that sense, to us, you are not
really deaf. Bear with me a bit, I am trying to clarify some
stuff I will be focusing on in a moment.
--
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