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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 8 page paper provides an overview of the reasoning behind the culture of American Sign Language, and the impacts for deaf Americans. In recent years, the call to put an "end" to deafness, especially in light of research by John Wheeler and the Deafness Research Foundation, has resulted in significant opposition by a large population of speakers of American Sign Language (ASL). Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Page Count:
8 pages (~225 words per page)
File: MH11_MHAmSiMo.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
American Sign Language (ASL). The development of cochlear implants and improved hearing devices has occurred with little recognition of the value of American Sign Language and the deaf culture
that has become prevalent in the United States (Tolson 58). Understanding the underlying principles of American Sign Language, including the phonology, morphology and the number of speakers throughout the
United States provides an interesting means of insight into deaf culture and the continuity within ASL speakers in challenges to Wheelers research to end deafness. The Deaf
Community Estimates suggest that upwards of 20 million people in the United States have some kind of hearing impairment, while only 2 million people lost their hearing before they learned
to speak and understand speech (Sandor 48). In response to the language needs of a large population of prelingual deaf individuals, the development and integration of American Sign Language
has been a necessary process designed to open language and communication systems to this population. At the same time, it has been recognized that deaf people who are fluent
in ASL are a relative cultural minority that also include their own social code, inclusivity and a cultural pride that distinguishes them from individuals who are merely hearing impaired.
In 1994, estimates suggest that upwards of 500,000 deaf Americans incorporated ASL into their daily communications, while many others utilized other forms of sign language and coping mechanisms like lip-reading
(Sandor 48). In a survey conducted by the U. S. Department of Education in 1993, researchers found that there were more than 20,000 deaf students in institutions of
higher education without specialized assistance and estimates suggested that the numbers would continue to grow to over 40,000 by the year 2000 (Jackman 10). The largest percentage of these
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