Understanding Deaf Culture by Paddy Ladd

In a moving conclusion, the authors describe their own very different pathways into the Deaf community, and reveal the confidence and anxiety of the people of this tenuous community as it faces the future.

Most triumphant is the story of the survival of the rich and complex language American Sign Language, long misunderstood but finally recently recognized by a hearing world that could not conceive of language in a form other than speech. They describe how Deaf culture and art thrived in mid-twentieth century Deaf clubs and Deaf theatre, and profile controversial contemporary technologies. Padden and Humphries show how the nineteenth-century schools for the deaf, with their denigration of sign language and their insistence on oralist teaching, shaped the lives of Deaf people for generations to come. Inside Deaf Culture relates Deaf people's search for a voice of their own, and their proud self-discovery and self-description as a flourishing culture. In this absorbing story of the changing life of a community, the authors of Deaf in America reveal historical events and forces that have shaped the ways that Deaf people define themselves today. It offers a beautiful introduction to the ways Deaf people effectively manage their lives in a world full of people who can hear. In addition to being used in college-level courses, this book can also help parents and educators of Deaf children understand the world of Deaf culture. Holcomb enhances the text with engaging stories interwoven throughout. As a member of a multigenerational Deaf family with a lifetime of experience living bi-culturally among Deaf and hearing people, author Thomas K. Among the issues included are an analysis of various segments of the Deaf community, Deaf cultural norms, the tension between the Deaf and disabled communities, Deaf art and literature (both written English and ASL forms), the solutions being offered by the Deaf community for effective living as Deaf individuals, and an analysis of the universality of the Deaf experience, including the enculturation process that many Deaf people undergo as they develop healthy identities. Introduction to American Deaf Culture is the only comprehensive textbook that provides a broad, yet in-depth, exploration of how Deaf people are best understood from a cultural perspective, with coverage of topics such as how culture is defined, how the concept of culture can be applied to the Deaf experience, and how Deaf culture has evolved over the years.

Understanding Deaf Culture by Paddy Ladd