Page 96 - Reading Between the Sign Intercultural Communication for Sign Language Interpreters

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American Deaf Culture

This chapter is written from two perspectives, one from the inside
and one from the outside. The insider to Deaf culture and coau-
thor of this chapter is Dr. Thomas K. Holcomb, a distinguished
educator from a respected and well-known Deaf family. Not only
has he taught Deaf culture to both deaf and hearing students, but
he has also lived it. Having learned it from his parents and grand-
parents, he now passes it on to his own children. I, on the other
hand, am an outside observer who has been studying Deaf cul-
ture for more than twenty years. Consequently, my focus may be
drawn to aspects of Deaf culture which are most at odds with my
own mainstream way of doing things. If Deaf culture were a house,
Tom would examine its familiar contours from residing within its
walls, while I, as a visitor, would notice this piece of furniture or
comment on that structural element—items that strike me as
unique. Yet all the while, we would both be describing the same
house.
When one speaks of French culture or Japanese culture, it is
relatively easy to pinpoint the central locus from which the cul-
ture springs. Not so with Deaf culture. Since it is not based on a
geographical location, what then constitutes its boundaries? Who
are the insiders? What is the basis for its cohesiveness? What val-
ues does it promote?
The following elements are often identified as the core of Deaf
culture: fluency in ASL, residential school experience, and Deaf
parents. It must be noted, however, that most deaf children have

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