medical versus cultural model (deafness vs deafhood)

In a message dated 1/12/2007 7:35:25 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, browneyedgirl65@ writes:

Let me thank you for such a nicely organized and laid out site.
I am starting to learn ASL with this and I'm finding it to be a wealth of information in addition to the lessons.

I did have one thing I wanted to quibble a bit about. First, let me give you my background. I was born deaf (also the rubella epidemic) with 90db loss in both ears. However, through some quirk I was very successful academically with the mainstreaming project. I never did learn ASL (or any of the coded signs SEE, PSE etc), and in truth I've never met other deaf (deaf or Deaf) folks except online and that happened during the most recent Gallaudet protest. (Yes, the whole [false, I know] "not deaf enough" thing was almost enough to make me throw my hands up and forget about the whole thing again.)

In any case, I have never accepted a "pathological" or "medical" view of my being deaf; it's simply that I never really realized how else I could be, if that makes sense. I've never hid the fact that I was deaf, never called myself anything other than deaf, never was shy about arranging things in school so I could function (sitting at the head of the class, getting copies of notes from the instructor and so on). I never considered it a disability and in sixth grade I kicked out the so called support services which still insisted I needed more speech therapy despite the fact that no one has ever had difficulty understanding me since I was a small child.

I give that background to point out why I thought these comments were insufficient. You say:

"People who feel that being Deaf is about "language, culture, and a
visual orientation to life" subscribe to the "cultural model" of
Deafness...People who feel that "deafness is problem to be solved"
subscribe to the "pathological model" or the "medical model" of
deafness and are not culturally Deaf."

I agree that I am not culturally deaf (yet; I hope to be bicultural eventually but I recognize that I'm severely handicapped by not being fluent in ASL and perhaps never being as good as a native speaker) but that is only through the fact that I was never exposed to the culture or concept throughout my education.

I do think there is a third category, of deaf people in transition, or deaf people who do accept that they are deaf, but are unable to sign .or do not sign well. I've seen people who use PSE or SEE rejected as not being Deaf. As you should know from your wife, the vast majority of the rubella babies wound up being mainstreamed and isolated from deaf culture. It still happens today, even moreso since many residential schools have closed down. Some such students will of course accept the colonization but there will always be some going "Well, nothing is wrong with *me*, it's these dimwits I have to educate that I'm not some helpless creature..."

Ah well, it's a huge topic and I suppose any sort of summary, as you must do on a short webpage will still leave someone's feathers ruffled somewhere. But still, it's very slightly annoying also to find that the lesson plans are oriented toward hearing students (!). I refuse to sign I HEARING in the exercises! :-)

In any case, I do enjoy your website overall so in closing let me thank you for all the work you did in setting it up. (I do websites, so I know!)

--Cindy

Hi Cindy!
You make a bunch of great points.
One of the next revisions of the site will be to include "substitution" vocabulary to expand the range of applicability to each student's situation. For example: "I HEARING (HoH) (DEAF)" and also to include more "response" vocabulary, for example, "OH-I-SEE."
Now, regarding the medical vs cultural models: Those models are not "categories." They are polar opposites on a continuum of thought regarding the state of being deaf. The models are "opinions" about a condition. They are not states of being. There are other labels for states of being: "oral deaf," "signing deaf," "native ASL user (MOTHER/FATHER DEAF), HH (hard of hearing), "grew up oral, now learning sign (mainstreamed).
So we need to realize that the direction you are going is not the same as where you are on the path. You are heading in the direction of Cultural Deafness you are following the map that says this is the way to go. Whereas the person standing next to you on the path is holding onto a different map that says surgery or oralism is the way to go. You both can be standing in the exact same spot on the path but hold different maps (models). Meaning you can both "not know sign language" but have chosen destinations that are in different directions.
For example a person can have a full head of hair yet have the opinion that being bald is sexy. Just because he or she has the opinion doesn't mean that the condition is true. The stronger his or her opinion, the more likely he or she is to get out the clippers and get busy. This is somewhat reflected in your situation. You have come to have the opinion that being Deaf is about "language, culture, and a visual orientation to life" that doesn't mean you are culturally Deaf (yet), it just means you subscribe to the idea (opinion) that being Deaf is okay, (just as being bald is sexy, heh) and therefore you are accessing my website and learning ASL.
Since those two models are on the ends of the continuum that means there are many other opinions partway between the two. Some physically deaf people love knowing and using ASL but also choose to get a cochlear implant. That doesn't mean they don't value their ASL skills and their relationships with other Deaf, rather it means they believe their path lies somewhere between the two ends of the spectrum.
Take care,
Cordially,
Bill
(Dr V from lifeprint.com)

The Medical Model versus the Cultural Model: