Disability

I found this video and I feel very torn about it. It's about a restaurant in Canada where all the workers a deaf and when customers come in they have to speak only in sign language. It has created a lot of jobs for the deaf community there but it makes me uncomfortable that people are coming to eat there to have the "deaf experience".

http://siz.io/s/meaningful-videos/v/new-toronto-restaurant-staffed-with-deaf-waiters?srctum

Blog post in Psychology Today about the idea of "Deaf gain." 

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/deaf-gain/201411/introduction-deaf-gain

What struck me most about Deaf Jam was how much Aneta and her peers' personalities came through in their signing, both while performing slam poetry and talking between each other. Aneta, in particular, had a certain rhythm in the way she communicated that was very engaging and expressive. In our conversations about speech and tonal patterns of Mawrtyrs, I was disappointed that we are the same in that way. Yes, voices are special and unique, but as a dancer, I feel I can understand people better when I know how they move. You know how you can recognize your best friend's walk all the way across campus? For me, knowing that sort of sets a tone for the rhythm of conversation with that person and their frame of reference.

As Kristin mentioned in class today, it certainly seems that Solomon relies a lot on analogy to promote "better" understandings of identities. In all probability, this is related to the fact that Solomon himself does not personally identify with many of the identities he writes about, and is likely trying to better understand them by equating them to the marginalized identities he does hold. Unfortunately, this is often erasing of some or many of these identities, or reduces one to an uncomfortable point. Though Solomon himself is not always the one writing them, his decision to include analogies brought up by others is just as destructive.

Really interesting to read about the complexity of Sign language across the globe; I'd like to know more about the history and evolution of Sign. Some thoughts/questions that came up while I was reading "Deaf": I wonder if communicating non-verbally changes one's structure of thought at all? (It does seem to activate different parts of the brain: "I could literally feel that a different part of my brain was working because I would get splitting headaches" (88) ). How do different Sign languages from all over the world influenced with one another? Are there more similarities between different Sign languages than spoken languages? The reason I ask is because there must be some sort of universality to body language and expression of emotions/ideas. 

Hey All, 

I promised that I would post this and Kristin said she will be looking for a more academic article written by a caregiver. I kept an online journal when my dad was sick that I updated daily with his progress. I don't write in it anymore but I wrote this post last year on the 4 year anniversary of his stroke. Re-reading it after being in Disability Studies has been an interesting experience but I hope you all won't think it's too terrible. Link here: (http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/brianhinchey/journal/view/id/5329d827e9cb6ad567212c6f)

Both of these pieces highlighted the many consequences to the growing population of older Americans. Emanuel and Silverstone both write that there will undoubtedly be challenges but they are impossible to predict and incredibly diverse. Silverstone speaks clearly about the changing needs of social workers and how the evolving field reflects the challenges Emanuel worries about. Like many of my classmates I am both frustrated and unwillingly relating to Emanuel's op-ed. I spent alot of time reading the reflections of my classmates and it was comforting to know that this isn't just causing me internal confusion.

Although I appreciated Harriet McBryde Johnson's resistance to dehumanizing Singer by labeling him a monster, I found myself incredibly angered by Singer's assertions around the value of a disabled life. This was, primarily, for two reasons: