Saturday, March 13, 2010

E. M. Gallaudet: A Tad Disappointment

6 comments:

  1. Wow!!
    Thank for share with us...
    Deafnet

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  2. Thank you for sharing the iformation. It is difficult to see the book you show in your vlog; therefore, I would greatly appreciate it if you would be kind to furnish me with the specific source.

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  3. Please keep in mind that during that time (early 1890s) EMG was in a very complicated political struggle with AGB. During that time EMG and other people (including Amos Draper) were framing things politically in order to attempt to prevent AGB from gaining political power. In 1883, AGB wrote "Memoir Upon the Formation of a Deaf Variety of the Human Race". After that EMG and other pro-sign language people were attempting to deal with this politically and were framing things politically to prevent AGB and the Oralists from grabbing political power. That's probably why EMG wrote about marriages that way. Probably EMG did not believe that in his heart of hearts. It was all political.

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  4. Take Edward M. Gallaudet in the context of history: at that time families were ashamed of deafness whenever it arose and never spoke of it lest people think they had a "taint" in the family and their young adults might become less desirable for marriage.

    Eugenics that grew from Mendel's work was still new when Gallaudet was president of the college and it was a very popular topic of the day. Not enough data was collected then, so predicting deafness was not well developed.

    It was unheard of for us to consider ourselves not disabled, and that we would not be concerned about having deaf children but instead welcome them as we do hearing children.

    It was a time when education was becoming more important than skilled hands and deafness was seen as a real barrier. Like many other people of his times, EMG believed in eugenics and that people were bound by responsibility to avoid taints coming into their families or to carry them forward.

    Despite all this, EMG still believed in ASL and that deaf people were no different and no less than anybody else in intellectual capacity.

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  5. That is an interesting perspective. However, I could deem that Edward could done it as political correctness to maintain his own hearing society by believing this kind general philosophy at the time. I am sure that he understood how his deaf mother doesnt treat him differently as if he had a hearing mother. Maybe he tried to demonstrate that he was aligning to AGB's audience by supporting this idea to maintain his relationship with AGB's stakeholders, political interested parties, and so forth. The one gets a better civil right in the society, the right of marriage has changed as well.

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  6. I do understand u talk about it...Deaf person should married hearing person easy won't happen born become deaf..If same deaf married born become like geneation..I feel think not right...Understand many deaf people want like better married deaf person easy more communation,other many way..deaf person married to hearing married not easy how good understand communation???? I favor deaf married peroid..Yes,i do very interesting your story..U know that God did creator gift baby become deaf that it...I feel very sad this show book story..Wow..Thanks your sharing

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