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Deaf Culture in America

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Deaf Culture in America
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Thoughts on Voices from A Culture When I finished reading the book I realized that I had just learned way more than I had been expecting. Just reading the first chapter was enough for me to be awestruck by the intricacies of the Deaf culture, but as I continued reading I realized that the depth and many levels of social structure are so detailed that being able to fully understand them would be simply impossible. I was very impressed with the amount of respect that the word Deaf conveys among the Deaf community. The first chapter to me seemed to be the most interesting. The many stories about Deaf children meeting friends and interacting shed a new light on the way that Deaf people learn to communicate. The word Deaf itself is used to communicate specific things. It not only describes a culture but it can be used to describe a single person or family at the same time. It seemed that the word itself was extremely multifaceted in its usage. The first chapter was intriguing for me to read. Learning about the ways in which Deaf children learn to communicate and behave was very informative. When I was reading the different stories about Deaf children meeting friends I would try to put myself in their shoes and almost see it from a different perspective. To be able to look at the world through a totally different mindset was challenge. Having never thought like that before I struggled to completely grasp the point that some of the stories were trying to get across. The story about the young child who was deaf and thought everyone lip read better than he did was an amazing story to me. That story got me to look at speaking from a non-auditory perspective. The ability to read lip movements and understand them without realizing that there was an auditory aspect that is attached is an extremely impressive feat. Many stories like this throughout the first chapter made me look at speaking, motion, gestures, and signs in a totally different way. I also liked the

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