Photo courtesy of ABC Family
During the January 3 premiere episode of Switched at Birth, Starry Night, Bay told Emmett toward the end of the show that she can’t mentally check out when she wants to. This is a crucial moment that shows how hearing people aren’t always able to “turn off” the outside world. It’s much like a Deaf person being ultra-sensitive to movement – it distracts them from being able to fully pay attention to conversations.
As a hard-of-hearing person, this scene was particularly interesting to me because I can relate to both deaf and hearing individuals. If I want to completely check out and ignore all that is happening around me, I simply turn off my hearing aids. I’ve never thought about it much from a hearing perspective, and it’s truly interesting how the show is able to depict the viewpoints of both Deaf and hearing people.
The latest episode of Switched at Birth, The Tempest, shown on January 10, heavily focuses on the hearing perspective; one that I strongly believe is equal to the Deaf perspective, and necessary to show. This is demonstrated clearly by showing a significant language barrier between Melody and Bay, as well as subtle hints of cultural discrepancies.
In regard to the language barrier between Melody and Bay, the viewer is exposed to the hearing perspective, and how they feel when they are left out or belittled. Unfortunately, a number of Deaf and hard-of-hearing people are guilty of consciously leaving hearing people out of conversations and exploiting the ability to sign.
I admit I have done this from time to time. Is this wrong? Definitely!
There’s really no excuse for this, and it needs to be changed on a cultural level. Ostracizing hearing members who legitimately want to socialize with Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals is something I frown upon – cultural assimilation should be about meshing, not excluding.
This brings me to my next point – the medical point of view. With respect to the cultural discrepancies on the show, the issue is rooted in the sensitivity of speech therapy for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. The seeds were planted in an episode shown last summer where Emmett spoke. This raised a valid concern among Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals – is the show legitimizing the use of speech over the preservation of ASL?
Nonetheless, it’s interesting how Melody tells the story about what Deaf parents typically tell their children about speech therapy. I think back to what my Deaf father told me about his speech therapy horror stories. While I think back to my speech therapy experience, I realize I was fortunate to have had excellent speech therapists that made speech therapy fun.
I realize that this isn’t the case for everyone and combined with the perception that speech therapy is not necessary due to ASL being our primary language, the medical point of view that says speech therapy is necessary still generates much distaste throughout the Deaf community.
Purple Digital Media Coordinator Corey Axelrod is a regular contributor to the Purple Blog. Corey’s views and opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Purple Communications. Watch for more reviews as Switched at Birth season two continues! Follow Corey on Twitter @coreyaxelrod.
I agree with certain points of this post. For instance, I agree that we should not be exploiting our ability to sign when we are in the presence of those who are not as fluent in the language. It almost appears like the dinner table syndrome in reverse. We must be supportive of our friends who may not be as fluent and have a willingness to help mentality. When Marlee Matlin (aka Melody) signed so fast that Bay was completely lost, it was almost a slap in the face. If she had taken the time to slow down and make sure Bay understood, perhaps that would have helped? Of course Daphne’s mom was told by Bay not to interpret for her, that set her up to look somewhat bad, for lack of a better term. Had Bay asked Daphne’s mom for help, she could have helped in a subtle manner to help out so as not to alienate Bay’s situation further with Melody.
As for speech therapy, I am very thankful I went. It was definitely fun and I have my therapist to thank for that. If I wasn’t able to speak I don’t think I would be as successful independently. I’m fortunate I can go back and forth in the deaf and hearing communities.
Here is a question for anyone who reads this and please have an open mind, the question is not to say this is better or that is better but rather to gain insight on your thoughts on the issue: Do you think you would be more successful if you had gone to speech therapy? I realize the parents are the ones making the decision in most if not all cases but have you ever thought about not having to deal with pen and paper or using your phone to communicate to someone in front of you? Something interesting to research would be does speech therapy improve one’s ability to succeed in life? Or does speech therapy give you a better chance at better jobs, etc?
I can tell you that most businesses, if they have a deaf person employed who does not speak or does not speak well, there are instances where they will place them in a position that does not deal with the general public. I find that insulting but I can understand why.
Again, this is not to say being able to speak is good or bad but there are instances where being able to speak affords you more opportunities. It’s a shame. That is why I am hopeful the US government improves our ADA and helps businesses hire more of us, whether you speak or not. Give us the chance to show that being deaf doesn’t mean we can’t do it. All we need is an opportunity. I’d love to see a deaf person be a CEO of a hearing company. It would be nice to see a deaf person be the CEO of Microsoft, or Dell, so on and so forth.
Justin,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the show and with related topics. I agree with you that it is somewhat condescending for deaf and hard-of-hearing people to be ostracized due to their hearing loss. Fortunately, there are companies out there like Purple that enable communication access for everyone. This is one of the reasons I am proud to work at this company. Communication access for everyone is key, and is paramount to enabling deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals the opportunity to advance in their careers.
Again, thank you!
Corey Axelrod
Purple Communications – Digital Marketing Coordinator