start here?

go native

Ultimately, neither side is "right" nor "wrong," but the problem continues to be that the group in power (in this case the University) erases the experience of the dispossessed group (in this case the deaf population of students at the University). Therefore, I am more willing to err on the unfamiliar side (for this audience), on the side of the deaf students, whose voices are less likely to be heard by the institution in any form. Therefore, it may occasionally seem that I have overstated the case of the students or underestimated the good will of the institution to accommodate its deaf population. However, in the "deafened moment," in this moment of language's failure, this differend, it is more important to make the problem known than to risk silence in speaking only to the "right measure" and risk being misunderstood, or of accepting less than just accommodation. Kairos in the sense of contextual appropriateness requires clarity in description of the deaf students' perspectives and therefore may appear stronger than decorum requires. Such moments illustrate the problem of communication and I am suggesting the need to develop understanding between the population of deaf students and the institution - to move beyond the differend of the deafened moment and reach some form of dialogue.

back | map | next

john in context | jenny & sue
deaf:audist | hearing pedagogy | enfi | techno-teaching
city on the hill | "othered" outside
end | cited