Page 99 - Reading Between the Sign Intercultural Communication for Sign Language Interpreters

84 Reading Between the Signs

Despite these new developments, Deaf culture has not disap-
peared. In fact, the need for Deaf culture may be even stronger
than in previous generations because, with the closing of many
state residential schools, the opportunities for enculturation are
now either lost or delayed for many deaf people. Our human hun-
ger to connect, to relate to people like ourselves, will never be
eradicated. For this reason a large majority of deaf people gravi-
tate to the Deaf community, regardless of educational background
or communication mode used by their parents or school.
There are certain periods when deaf people tend to become
enculturated: at birth (for those with Deaf parents); when placed
in a Deaf school at an early age; upon transfer from an oral or SEE
program to a Deaf school; and at young adulthood, either in a
college program with other Deaf students or when on their own
they seek out the Deaf community.
At whatever point the enculturation takes place, it must be
noted that Deaf culture is not a set of rules that deaf people must
formally learn, nor is it a mandate that all deaf people must fol-
low. As Padden and Humphries point out in Deaf in America, cul-
ture provides people with access to historically created solutions.
While the condition of being unable to hear may be extremely
disabling, the solutions devised by Deaf people over the years to
remedy this condition have resulted in the creation of a culture.
This culture has enabled them to lead full, rich, meaningful lives
in spite of the obstacles presented by hearing society. Deaf cul-
ture, then, is a compilation of experiences and solutions that Deaf
people have found to be effective in providing them with produc-
tive lives.
Every culture is made up of individuals, and within each cul-
ture there exist variations shaped by the background and person-
ality of its members. So, too, there is not just one homogeneous
Deaf culture. Although most of the elements mentioned in this
chapter should be easily recognizable to Deaf community mem-
bers from California to New York, regional variations do exist, as
do individual differences. There are also certain subgroups within
the Deaf community that may have a distinctive kind of Deaf cul-
ture (e.g., African American Deaf, Gay Deaf, Native American Deaf).
And just as in other cultures, differences in education and socio-
economic level may produce corresponding variations.
At the beginning of this chapter, we cited Japanese and French
cultures as instances where geographical perimeters define the

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