DEAF CULTURE QUIZ
To be taken after viewing the documentary “Through Deaf Eyes.”
True or False:
1. Q: The only communication mode the Deaf community utilizes is Sign
Language.
2. Q: The Deaf community has its own culture.
3. Q: Deaf people, as a whole, are good lip readers.
4. Q: If I don't know sign language, mouthing words to a deaf person is
the best way to communicate.
5. Q: The words "Signer" and "Interpreter" mean the same thing and can
be used interchangeably.
6. Q: Deaf people, because they can't hear, are better readers than
hearing people.
7. Q: Hearing aids correct a person's hearing.
8. Q: A TDD is a device that allows deaf people to watch television.
9. Q: American Sign Language is a complete language with its own
grammar.
10. Q: Deaf people are allowed to drive.
11. Q: 90 % of deaf and hard of hearing children have deaf parents.
12. Q: If a deaf person is having difficulty understanding you, talking
louder helps.
13. Q: If you don't know how to sign, using an interpreter is the best
way to ensure communication with a deaf person who signs.
14. Q: The clarity of a deaf person's speech and his/her ability to
lip-read is directly related to intelligence.
15. Q: Most deaf people can read or write English as well as their
hearing peers.
16. Q: For many deaf people, ASL is considered their first language, and
English their second language.
17. Q: When using an interpreter, it is appropriate to look at and speak
directly to the deaf person.
Select the best answer:
18. Q: When watching a person sign, it is best to focus on the signer's:
A. Hands
B: Chest area
C: Facial expression
D: All of the above, simultaneously
19. Q: If your path is blocked by two signers having a conversation with
each other, you should:
A. Wait until they stop signing before you pass through.
B: Bend down as you walk to avoid passing their signing space.
C: Give up and go back.
D: Go ahead and walk through quickly.
20. Q: Historically, deaf people have faced job discrimination in the
following:
A. Obtaining employment.
B: Being offered job-related training opportunities.
C: Receiving equal access to information on the job.
D: Being given career advancement opportunities.
E: Receiving promotions to supervisory and managerial levels.
F: All of the above.
1. Q: The only communication mode the Deaf community utilizes is Sign
Language.
A: False
The Deaf Community includes hard of hearing people who do quite a bit of
voicing. Plus there is writing and typing (texting). Are we
considering fingerspelling as part of sign language? I do.
It is a common "aspect" of American Sign Language.
The
"Rochester method" is a communication mode/teaching methodology that
focuses on fingerspelling and speech but not sign language.
2. Q: The Deaf community has its own culture.
A: True. But that culture is also influenced by the larger
culture in which the Deaf community is embedded. A piece of stew
meat is still a piece of meat, but it is influenced by the stew in which
it simmers.
3. Q: Deaf people, as a whole, are good lip readers.
A: False
Compared to what? What is grading scale at which we determine
"good?" In general lipreading is not very effective as a means of
communicating for most Deaf people. That isn't good. Many
hard of hearing (not deaf) combine lipreading with use of their residual
hearing to help them effectively understand what is being said.
4. Q: If I don't know sign language, mouthing words to a deaf person is
the best way to communicate.
A: False
Writing is generally the best way to communicate. But what if you
are just trying to say "thank you?" I dare say it is more
effective to mouth the words "thank you" in response to a Deaf person
holding the door open for you than it is to whip out a pad and pen and
write the words "thank you." But the effectiveness of mouthing
only applies to certain very common phrases in high context situations.
The moment you enter into a low context situation or use unfamiliar
phrases it becomes very difficult to understand mouthed words. I
have met certain deaf people though for whom the mouthing of words is a
VERY effective method of communicating.
5. Q: The words "Signer" and "Interpreter" mean the same thing and can
be used interchangeably.
A: False.
You can be a signer without knowing how to interpret.
6. Q: Deaf people, because they can't hear, are better readers than
hearing people.
A: False.
The average reading level of Deaf people is much lower than that of
Hearing people. Hearing people have the advantage of an extra
input channel (hearing) during infancy that helps facilitate cognitive
development. Having a well developed cognitive base (understanding
of things) helps develop reading skills.
7. Q: Hearing aids correct a person's hearing.
A: False.
If you are blind, turning on the light doesn't make you see.
If you are deaf, increasing volume of sound doesn't make you hear.
However, if you are hard of hearing and not deaf, modern hearing aids
can be very effective in helping bring your hearing up to levels that
are considered normal. So, yes, hearing aids do "correct" hearing
for some people. Digital aids can now screen out certain types of
background noise, as well as amplify sounds from in front of you while
dampening sounds from behind you. They also can amplify just certain
sounds and not others. For example, you can raise the mid tones
and not the high tones or vice versa. Note: Hunters and spies use
listening devices (built on the same principles as hearing aids) to
increase their hearing beyond the ability of "normal" people.
But again, if you are stone deaf, $4,000 worth of hearing aids is a
waste of money.
8. Q: A TDD is a device that allows deaf people to watch television.
A: False
A telecomunication device for the deaf (TDD) is used to allow deaf
people to make and receive phone calls to and from other TDDs.
Another term for TDD is TTY, which stands for "teletypewriter." A
TTY is
an electromechanical device that transmits and receives
messages coded in electrical signals carried by telegraph or telephone
wires. Teletypewriters
evolved from electromechanical devices into TDDs which are electronic
devices but many Deaf still refer to TDDs as TTYs.
9. Q: American Sign Language is a complete language with its own
grammar.
A: True
10. Q: Deaf people are allowed to drive.
A: True. But is it true for all countries throughout the world?
11. Q: 90 % of deaf and hard of hearing children have deaf parents.
A: False. Just the opposite. Approximately 90% of deaf
kids have hearing parents.
12. Q: If a deaf person is having difficulty understanding you, talking
louder helps.
A: False. But talking a little louder helps out hard of hearing
folks.
13. Q: If you don't know how to sign, using an interpreter is the best
way to ensure communication with a deaf person who signs.
A: True.
But wait a minute. The "best" way? When? The use of an
interpreter is often the "best" way to ensure communication with a deaf
person who signs. But how about all the deaf college students who prefer
real time captioning services? Why do those Deaf students prefer
real time captioning from a stenographer instead of an interpreter using
sign language? Because interpreters make lots of mistakes and are not as
precise as a stenographer in rendering your exact message into a
visually accessible form. Just because a Deaf person signs doesn't
mean that he isn't also able to make excellent use of English.
While it is true that many Deaf read at a fourth grade level or below,
it is a fact that there are many Deaf Ph.D.s out there.
14. Q: The clarity of a deaf person's speech and his/her ability to
lip-read is directly related to intelligence.
A: False.
The politically correct answer here is False. But at the back of
your mind you still aren't sure are you?
The fact that you put the word "directly" in the question above
indicates that you are hedging. Why did you put the word
"directly" in the question? Why didn't you just say "...ability to
lip-read is related to intelligence" without using the word "directly?"
It is because you know (or at least suspect) that intelligence is a
measure of cognitive ability and that cognition is involved in
translating and applying perception (that which is perceived, including
that which is seen). Thus if two people are faced with the same
cognitive task, the more intelligent of the two will, on average,
perform better. How do I know this? Because intelligence is
a measure of cognitive ability, remember? More intelligence means
more ability. So then, ask yourself, is lip-reading a cognitive
function? Does it involve cognition? At least indirectly?
But delving into such questions is beside the point. The point is
that many people are brilliant and yet can't speak worth dip. (Moses had
a speech impediment had to have Aaron as his "mouthpiece.") Other people
are idiots and yet can pronounce words quite well, (but what they say
isn't worth hearing).
15. Q: Most deaf people can read or write English as well as their
hearing peers.
A: False.
16. Q: For many deaf people, ASL is considered their first language, and
English their second language.
A: True.
17. Q: When using an interpreter, it is appropriate to look at and speak
directly to the deaf person.
A: True.
But it is sort of freaky if you "never" look at the interpreter and
"stare" at the Deaf person. So don't be anal about it. Just
remember that you are talking WITH the deaf person THROUGH the
interpreter.
Select the best answer:
18. Q: When watching a person sign, it is best to focus on the signer's:
A. Hands
B: Chest area
C: Facial expression
D: All of the above, simultaneously
Answer: C.
The word "focus" precludes being able to look at all of those areas
simultaneously. In general you focus on the person's face and let
your peripheral vision catch the rest. If you are a sign language
student just starting out, you might want to occasionally focus on the
hands to catch the fine details of how a particular sign is being made,
but you don't want to appear as if you are tracking a fly buzzing
around. Out in the world you want to be making eye contact and seeing
what people's expressions are indicating.
19. Q: If your path is blocked by two signers having a conversation with
each other, you should:
A. Wait until they stop signing before you pass through.
B: Bend down as you walk to avoid passing their signing space.
C: Give up and go back.
D: Go ahead and walk through quickly.
Answer: D.
If you just keep on walking at a steady pace, we can track you and shift
a bit at the moment you walk by--thus not missing any information nor
having to slow down our conversation.
20. Q: Historically, deaf people have faced job discrimination in the
following:
A. Obtaining employment.
B: Being offered job-related training opportunities.
C: Receiving equal access to information on the job.
D: Being given career advancement opportunities.
E: Receiving promotions to supervisory and managerial levels.
F: All of the above.
Answer: F
Notice how answer "E" is a subset of answer "D?"