Through Deaf Eyes A Photographic History of the American Deaf Community

Introduction DEAF PEOPLE AND VISUAL COMMUNICATION Human beings are social animals who communicate with each other almost constantly through sounds and movements. From the moment we are born, we are engaged in the learning and use of one or more complex languages. This imperative to employ language is deeply embedded in our genetic heritage. If two infants are placed together in isolation, they will begin to create their own language. So fundamental is the need to maintain communication with others that one of the most severe punishments we can inflict is solitary confinement. Language is most often conveyed via speech and hearing, but we can just as readily use gesture and sight. Native Americans, for example, created relatively complex gesture languages for intertribal communication as well as for ritual use. Australian aborigines developed sign languages for use when speech was ritually taboo, such as during mourning periods for women or initiation ceremonies for men. Some linguists theorize that humans communicated via gesture for thousands of years before they developed speech. In this 1907 school photograph, students and their teacher pose for the camera. All but two of the boys (first row, right) are able to be still for the seconds the shutter is snapped. Their signing to each other is captured and produces a double image. (Gallaudet University Archives, #13747-18, Washington, DC; from the Alice Teegarden Album.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ However, most sign languages, especially the most complex among them, have been developed by Deaf communities. Just as geographical and cultural conditions that isolate populations have led to the creation of distinct spoken languages, so has the physical and social condition of not hearing led to the creation of Deaf communities and sign languages. Hundreds of sign languages are in use around the world today. While each is distinct, all use the shape, orientation, position, and movement of the hands, as well as subtle uses of facial expression and movement of the head and body. Combinations of these elements make possible a variety of linguistic expressions as unlimited as the combinations of sounds used in spoken languages Deaf people also cultivate, to varying degrees, the difficult arts of lipreading and speaking (tasks made more or less challenging by, among other factors, the degree of deafness and the age at which deafness occurred). Lipreading is difficult and imprecise in any language, and it is made even trickier by the many sounds and words in English that look identical on the lips. Sole reliance upon oral communication has been more common among some populations than others, such as those people who became deaf as adults. The more common alternative for people deaf from an early age has been to cultivate a means of communication better suited to the visual sense, in other words, some form of gestural language. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE Whenever significant numbers of deaf people have congregated in one place, as in large cities or in residential schools, Deaf communities that rely on naturally evolving sign languages have come into existence. The little-known history of the American Deaf community parallels the experiences and struggles of other minority groups. Deaf Americans have organized politically to protect and promote their interests; formed local, state, and national organizations; established newspapers and magazines; founded schools; and gathered in churches where American Sign Language was the language of song and sermon alike. The great majority have found not just their friends but their spouses within the Deaf community. American Sign Language (Gannon, Jack R. is the author of 'Through Deaf Eyes A Photographic History of the American Deaf Community', published 2007 under ISBN 9781563683473 and ISBN 1563683474.