The transcript is for hearing people who do not know American Sign Language (ASL). Please note that I am a bilingual user. Therefore, English may be flawed, but basic information from the video. If you need more clarification about the sentences, please contact me.
Introduction:
Welcome to the Deaf Table Talk with Dr. Toby. Today we will discuss a new topic. The topic is Deaf people are Outsiders.
Outsiders
Outsiders are like outside. You know the word “outside.” The outside has many cars, grass, houses, ample space, land, etc.
Inside means inside of the house. I live with furniture, things, a bathroom, sleep, etc. It is only for my family. My friends can join us because we know them and allow them to enter our house. We will not let anyone who we don’t know into our home. Outside is an open space for everyone.
You are wondering why I am talking about it. Hearing people view deaf people as outsiders from their world. For years hearing people have had the custom of hearing and speaking. It is their routine every day, 24/7, 365 days, to have a habit of using hearing and speaking. They can hear many different things, such as noises, music, etc., since hearing people created in the world around 6 thousand years.
Of course, there were disabled and deaf people in those years. However, there are not much of documents about it. There are some disabled and deaf people in the bible. God created a different types of people, including disabled and deaf people.
However, hearing people are custom to using their speaking and hearing. They interact with each other in their world. However, when a deaf person comes into their world, they would stun and let each other know about the deaf person. They say there is a deaf person. How? Is the deaf person normal? They are not sure what to do with a deaf person because they never see it before.
Hearing people have a list of things that believe deaf people cannot do anything due to lack of hearing. So they are wondering what the deaf person is like because of deafness.
Assumptions
Assumptions mean they believe deaf people could be something or cannot do something, such as assuming that the deaf can’t do something.
Deaf People are: Not fully competent human beings
Hearing people view deaf people are not fully competent human beings. It means deaf people are not ordinary from the perspective of hearing people because of their lack of hearing.
Deaf People are: Who cannot hear cannot think
I find it odd that hearing people believe deaf people cannot think because of a lack of hearing. According to the research, when we think something, it develops a language. If we speak, we can build hearing, such as hearing people’s view that if deaf people cannot talk and hear, they cannot think. When hearing people look at deaf people, they believe that deaf people cannot do anything, handle anything, do anything, or cannot understand the law, etc., because deaf individuals cannot hear. So, deaf individuals couldn’t speak or hear, and they could not think.
Deaf People are: Not allowed to vote (the 1800s)
In the 1800s, deaf people could not vote because hearing people believed they could not think right. However, today, deaf people can vote.
Deaf People are: Not allowed to own real estate
Hearing people believe Deaf people could not own a house, business, or anything because they could not think clearly. Hearing people believe they could not think that they could not hold things.
Deaf People are: Not allowed to make wills
Hearing people believe deaf people cannot create a will to give to their family when they die, such as if they fail, we provide our house and thing to my children because deaf people cannot think right. However, today, deaf people can make a will with an attorney.
Deaf People are: could not achieve immortality
General churches believe deaf people cannot become good morals due to a lack of thinking about acknowledging excellent and evil because it requires deaf people to think and have knowledge of good and evil. Many people view deaf people cannot understand their morals. Today is better. Deaf people know and understand. When we explain morals, they understand. Deaf people do understand it.
The Middle Age
Long ago, hearing people view deaf people cannot understand anything. During middle age, that time there was a man named Augustine. Around 300-500 AD, Augustine mentioned that deaf people could not become Christians because they could not speak and hear, such as deaf people could not sign or speak sacraments. Sacraments allow people to confess their sin, belief in Jesus, Lord’s prayer, the Apostles’ Creed (creed means “I believe” and have a list for us to sign/speak), etc. So, if deaf people cannot talk about sacraments, they do not have good morals. It is what happened in the past.
However, today, many deaf people now can understand and can confess, sign the creed, Lord’s prayer, etc., including any church practices or customs. Deaf people can participate in churches more than in the past.
Deaf People are: A potential burden upon the community
Hearing people view deaf people as a burden to them. How? They have to provide different services that deaf people need to access communication, education programs for the deaf, and various services deaf people need. They feel burdened to support them, not only deaf people but also people with disabilities, wheelchairs, and blind people. They had to provide services for them.
However, today is better. There is an Americans with Disabilities Acts (ADA) law to support by enforcing any places to provide the service. They have funds for it. It depends on the location. For example, if anything is federal, they give the fund for the service, such as schools and colleges are federal, so they must provide the services. If location businesses and others, they have to create the fund to provide the services.
They view deaf people as burdened by providing them the services to sustain deaf people’s communication with hearing people.
Deaf People are: Incompetent
Hearing people believe that deaf people cannot do anything and are not competent to do anything, not able to promote the job, and other things. The mindset that deaf people can’t do anything. Today is better, yes. However, some hearing people still believe deaf people can’t do anything. Other hearing people think deaf people can do anything.
Deaf People are: having difficulty getting a driver’s license and insurance.
Around the 1960s and 1970s, deaf people had difficulty getting a driver’s license and car insurance. However, today is better. All deaf people can get it.
Hearing’s View on Deaf
The summary is that hearing people view deaf people as abnormal because they can’t speak and hear. Without speaking and hearing, deaf people cannot think, according to hearing people. Therefore, hearing people believe it is impossible for deaf people to think something and how to handle anything, serious issues, how to read or write, etc. Therefore, hearing people feel that deaf people need their help or limited services for deaf people.
So, it is what hearing’s view on deaf. Hearing people created everything in their world. When a deaf person into their world, hearing people have to limit deaf people in their world, such as limited services. Deaf people are not fully part of the hearing world because hearing people view deaf people as unable to do anything like hearing people. However, not all hearing people view it that way, only some hearing people support deaf people.
What about the hearing churches?
So far, I have discussed hearing people’s perspectives on deaf people. Hearing people view deaf people as inferior to hearing people because deaf people cannot do anything like hearing people. They also believe deaf people cannot do anything or think because they cannot speak or hear.
What about the hearing churches? You know when we believe that churches should be love, grace, and mercy toward deaf people. It is not valid. Even though we know that hearing people have a burden or responsibility to show love and grace to deaf people, not all churches have that. Most of the hearing churches still hold the belief that deaf people cannot do anything.
I have talked with deaf people about their experience in churches. According to some deaf people, hearing churches have limited services for the deaf and require deaf people to be “inclusive” with them in the hearing churches and hearing services together with the interpreter service. Hearing churches do not allow deaf people to have their own service or church because they require them to be inclusive with them.
It is unfortunate that some hearing churches closed/cut the service for the deaf. It could be the reason due to funds or not wanting to be a burden for the deaf people in their churches. They feel they are not called to help deaf people. So, they decided to cut the deaf ministry. Some churches kicked deaf people out of their churches and ordered deaf people not to come to their churches.
My personal belief of the reason why hearing churches closed the deaf ministry is they view deaf people as a marginalized group. Therefore, they don’t feel like they want to help deaf people.
Hearing Control Deaf
I have summarized these issues about hearing churches and public hearing people. In their view, we, deaf people, are outsiders. It means they control us. How? They limited our services, education systems, and control on how to provide what we need. For example, how they provide what we need in the services or not, such as, they decided to give us a virtual relay interpreting service that we don’t want and prefer in person interpreter. They could choose to add a closed caption, but sometime they decided not to. They don’t consider how we feel. We are outsiders, and in hearing people’s view that we are not essential to them. They prefer their only-hearing people to us because they can hear and speak. They can support each other. While they are together, they put deaf people aside from their group.
So, if deaf people want to set up a deaf ministry in hearing churches, hearing churches control deaf ministry, such as they tell us what we need to do and can’t do something in the church. They required us to be inclusive of them despite being from different cultures and languages. They control us because they believe we can’t do anything.
Conclusion
The conclusion of this issue is, what can we do? It is tough. So, we, deaf people, are outsiders and stuck in the hearing world. It is a similar idea if people from other countries come to America and American people control them, such as a control to provide limited service or not, green cards, limited jobs, and limited length of living in America in 6 months or one year. So, they decided the limit services.
Even though we, the deaf people, who are citizens of the USA, are treated the same as immigrant people in limited services. However, it depends on the city’s location and state, which has an excellent support system for deaf people. But other areas are oppressed by deaf people. The churches are the same thing.
In the next vlog, I will make a video about what we can do about the deaf ministry in the hearing churches. Thank you for watching! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me through email, leave a comment here, or inbox at any time.
ILY
Deaf Table Talk with Dr. Toby 
Leave a comment