Blog 17, Week 5

After reading this weeks reading assignment I took issue with a statements that the book stated. It was contained in the Deafness or Hearing Impairment section on p. 88. The statement that I took issue with said, "Children who are deaf cannot hear or understand speech" (p. 88). Saying that deaf children cannot understand speech it totally incorrect. I've been taking American Sign Language for 3 semesters and I've learned that deaf/Deaf (there is a difference pertaining to how involved the individual is with the Deaf community) can understand speech even though they cannot hear it. The deaf/Deaf live in a hearing world, so many individuals have learned to function in it by learning to lip read. The Deaf community has a saying that says, "The only thing that we can't do is hear", therefore saying that they cannot understand speech is both incorrect and an insult. Speech is not solely verbal since a portion is also visual, so deaf/Deaf individuals are fully capable of participating in speech, if they so choose.