0:00:12.800,0:00:13.990 I'm Deaf. 0:00:14.610,0:00:16.470 I'm profoundly Deaf. 0:00:18.280,0:00:22.790 My parents didn't know I was Deaf[br]until I was 18 months old. 0:00:24.200,0:00:27.257 My parents' world fell apart, 0:00:27.257,0:00:32.270 primarily because of the hearing society's[br]view on Deafness as a negative. 0:00:34.440,0:00:37.430 My doctor, an ear, nose[br]and throat specialist, 0:00:37.430,0:00:41.160 told my parents that I should not[br]learn sign language, 0:00:42.170,0:00:46.015 because it would make me isolated[br]from the hearing community. 0:00:46.015,0:00:51.160 I had to learn to speak and to read lips[br]to fit in with hearing culture. 0:00:52.630,0:00:53.630 So I did. 0:00:53.630,0:00:59.160 I grew up learning to speak and read lips,[br]trying to fit in with hearing society, 0:01:00.540,0:01:02.850 and man, it was a challenge. 0:01:03.470,0:01:04.480 Frustrating. 0:01:05.050,0:01:08.830 Communication was not always there[br]with a hundred percent access. 0:01:10.500,0:01:15.270 When I was three years old,[br]I spoke my first word - boat. 0:01:16.360,0:01:19.680 My parents were driving,[br]and out the window, 0:01:19.680,0:01:22.510 I saw a boat and kept repeating the word. 0:01:24.680,0:01:27.760 That's, I guess, why I have[br]a 29-foot cruiser today. 0:01:27.760,0:01:30.920 (Laughter) 0:01:34.260,0:01:39.100 My parents, upon looking back, realized[br]that the doctors didn't really understand 0:01:39.100,0:01:42.750 the critical part of language[br]development for infants. 0:01:43.850,0:01:47.890 It's so critical that Deaf babies[br]have a first language, 0:01:47.890,0:01:49.440 American Sign Language. 0:01:49.440,0:01:54.000 It's a natural, visual language[br]for them to develop as a basis, 0:01:54.000,0:01:57.260 and then they can learn[br]to speak and read lips later in life. 0:02:00.360,0:02:02.980 That's the most important part[br]for Deaf babies - 0:02:02.980,0:02:07.230 to have that critical access,[br]that first language. 0:02:08.320,0:02:10.190 Today, I'm 53 years old. 0:02:11.660,0:02:13.380 I'm proud to be Deaf. 0:02:14.910,0:02:18.290 American Sign Language[br]is something that I greatly value 0:02:18.290,0:02:21.346 because it flung the world[br]wide open for me, 0:02:21.346,0:02:23.500 even more than I had before. 0:02:24.520,0:02:29.315 I love American Sign Language,[br]Deaf culture and Deaf history, 0:02:29.315,0:02:30.660 and the Deaf community. 0:02:31.650,0:02:33.850 We know we're not disabled. 0:02:35.160,0:02:38.463 We just have a different language. 0:02:38.463,0:02:40.460 We know who we are. 0:02:41.870,0:02:44.600 We can do everything just as you can. 0:02:48.720,0:02:55.580 We have successful Deaf attorneys,[br]Deaf doctors, scientists, engineers, 0:02:55.970,0:02:59.880 college professors, athletes, actors - 0:03:00.600,0:03:04.770 we even have a Deaf receptionist[br]in the White House. 0:03:11.430,0:03:13.760 When I talk about culture, 0:03:13.760,0:03:17.470 what do I mean by[br]that I love Deaf culture? 0:03:18.010,0:03:21.242 We have a culture,[br]just like any other group - 0:03:21.242,0:03:24.080 Hispanic, Asian, Black - 0:03:24.480,0:03:27.240 they value their language[br]and their own culture 0:03:27.240,0:03:31.450 such as we value our own Deaf culture[br]and our own language. 0:03:34.210,0:03:38.960 Let me give you some examples[br]of normative Deaf culture. 0:03:41.750,0:03:43.880 We can be really blunt. 0:03:43.880,0:03:46.166 (Laughter) 0:03:46.166,0:03:48.590 I mean, if you come up to someone Deaf, 0:03:48.590,0:03:52.320 they'll say, "You've gained weight![br]Wow, you've gotten fat! What's wrong?" 0:03:52.320,0:03:53.430 (Laughter) 0:03:53.430,0:03:55.030 Hearing people will not say that. 0:03:55.030,0:03:56.570 "Oh, you look good." 0:03:57.880,0:04:00.680 If that's a bad haircut,[br]you know, we'll tell you. 0:04:00.680,0:04:02.480 "Those clothes aren't right for you." 0:04:02.480,0:04:03.840 (Laughter) 0:04:03.840,0:04:06.590 Hearing people are so nice, culturally. 0:04:06.590,0:04:07.770 (Laughter) 0:04:07.770,0:04:10.500 "Oh, you look good," is all they'll say. 0:04:11.840,0:04:13.530 It's nice to get that honesty. 0:04:15.500,0:04:18.202 We typically are very detail-oriented. 0:04:18.202,0:04:21.110 If someone passes away,[br]we'll ask questions. 0:04:21.110,0:04:23.826 "What's wrong? What happened?[br]How'd they die?" 0:04:23.826,0:04:25.714 and ask for a lot of details. 0:04:25.714,0:04:30.010 But in hearing culture, they'll say,[br]"Oh, I'm sorry that they passed." 0:04:33.650,0:04:36.200 If a hearing student[br]comes into my classroom, 0:04:36.720,0:04:40.869 they'll say, "I'm so sorry[br]I was late," and sit down. 0:04:40.869,0:04:46.290 But if a Deaf student comes[br]into my classroom, they'll say, 0:04:46.290,0:04:48.580 "Oh, sorry I was late.[br]You've got to know why! 0:04:48.580,0:04:51.826 A truck on the highway[br]that was full of egg crates fell over, 0:04:51.820,0:04:54.770 and the police and ambulances[br]came in and blocked the road! 0:04:54.770,0:04:58.410 I couldn't get through" - and on[br]and on for two or three minutes, 0:04:58.410,0:05:00.460 and then they end with, "Sorry I'm late." 0:05:00.460,0:05:02.270 (Laughter) 0:05:02.270,0:05:04.152 That's part of our culture. 0:05:04.152,0:05:07.130 We value that information sharing. 0:05:09.320,0:05:13.270 Let me tell about our five-stage goodbye. 0:05:15.080,0:05:17.716 If hearing friends come over[br]to my house for a party, 0:05:17.710,0:05:20.784 they'll stay about an hour,[br]hour and a half, and they'll leave. 0:05:20.784,0:05:21.780 "Bye." 0:05:21.780,0:05:22.802 "Oh, okay." 0:05:22.802,0:05:26.360 But if my Deaf friends come over,[br]they will stay forever. 0:05:26.360,0:05:27.360 (Laughter) 0:05:27.360,0:05:28.450 I mean, forever. 0:05:28.450,0:05:30.570 Even if I'm urging them to leave! 0:05:30.570,0:05:32.910 (Laughter) 0:05:35.050,0:05:37.850 If we're in a restaurant together, 0:05:39.000,0:05:40.383 we'll be talking, 0:05:40.383,0:05:43.100 and the manager will come up[br]to the table and indicate, 0:05:43.100,0:05:44.960 "We're closing in about five minutes." 0:05:44.960,0:05:45.950 "Okay." 0:05:45.950,0:05:49.340 But we don't leave - we still talk[br]for another 10 to 15 minutes. 0:05:49.340,0:05:50.380 Then we realize it, 0:05:50.380,0:05:52.780 and we step a little further[br]away from the table, 0:05:52.780,0:05:55.510 but we're still talking[br]for 10 or 15 more minutes, 0:05:55.510,0:05:56.570 sharing information. 0:05:56.570,0:05:59.120 Then we're standing by the door[br]in a group, talking, 0:05:59.120,0:06:01.510 and the manager's[br]angrily shutting the lights off 0:06:01.510,0:06:03.210 and motioning us to leave. 0:06:03.210,0:06:04.450 That's the third stage. 0:06:04.450,0:06:08.820 Then we're out in the parking lot,[br]and that's our fourth stage of goodbye. 0:06:08.820,0:06:11.948 And in our cars, still talking. 0:06:11.948,0:06:13.420 We're still catching up. 0:06:13.420,0:06:14.910 And finally, we leave. 0:06:17.240,0:06:21.918 That's the reason we really depend[br]on each other to share information. 0:06:21.918,0:06:23.040 For hearing culture, 0:06:23.040,0:06:26.010 you, typically, can hear the radio[br]or talk amongst yourselves 0:06:26.010,0:06:27.376 to get news and information 0:06:27.376,0:06:32.280 whereas we rely on sign language[br]for our information, between ourselves, 0:06:32.280,0:06:34.160 and that's how we communicate. 0:06:34.160,0:06:37.040 That's the most important part[br]of our culture. 0:06:39.210,0:06:44.690 Talking about sign language,[br]sign language is nothing new. 0:06:45.220,0:06:48.230 It's been here for thousands of years. 0:06:49.530,0:06:53.700 When we have to fight, almost daily,[br]to protect sign language, 0:06:54.600,0:06:57.330 we experience a lot of oppression[br]and discrimination, 0:06:57.330,0:07:02.540 just as any other cultural group[br]experiences oppression on their cultures, 0:07:02.540,0:07:05.790 discrimination on their languages; 0:07:05.790,0:07:07.170 we are the same. 0:07:08.220,0:07:12.730 Looking back, historically, in 427 B.C., 0:07:13.390,0:07:19.080 in the essay Cratylus[br]by the Greek philosopher Plato, 0:07:19.930,0:07:23.710 the character of Socrates is quoted, 0:07:24.820,0:07:27.847 "If we do not have voice or tongue 0:07:27.847,0:07:32.780 but we wish to communicate[br]our feelings and thoughts, 0:07:33.940,0:07:35.390 what should we do? 0:07:36.080,0:07:38.250 Such as those Deaf people, 0:07:38.580,0:07:43.530 who use gestures, body language,[br]facial expression and movement 0:07:43.530,0:07:45.310 to express their thoughts." 0:07:47.460,0:07:50.920 That's the earliest documented[br]use of sign language. 0:07:50.920,0:07:52.920 It's been here ever since. 0:07:55.610,0:07:58.980 Here in America, in the 1700s, 0:08:00.540,0:08:03.300 the island Martha's Vineyard 0:08:03.970,0:08:10.180 had the largest rate[br]of generational Deafness. 0:08:10.180,0:08:14.668 Every one out of twenty-five individuals[br]was hereditarily Deaf, 0:08:14.668,0:08:18.600 and everyone on that island[br]both signed and spoke. 0:08:20.210,0:08:23.700 Everyone, hearing and Deaf,[br]knew sign language. 0:08:23.700,0:08:27.051 It was one cohesive community[br]that understood each other. 0:08:27.051,0:08:30.880 The community's events, meetings -[br]everything was conducted in sign language. 0:08:30.880,0:08:35.320 No barriers - Deaf people[br]were fully included and successful. 0:08:37.900,0:08:41.200 Now, later on, in 1817, 0:08:41.929,0:08:46.822 the American School for the Deaf,[br]America's first Deaf education, 0:08:46.822,0:08:49.440 was established in Hartford, Connecticut. 0:08:51.260,0:08:57.220 That's when many of Martha's Vineyard[br]residents moved to that school, 0:08:57.220,0:08:59.750 and graduates from the American School 0:08:59.750,0:09:04.430 went on to other states[br]to found Deaf schools all over the US. 0:09:05.470,0:09:09.011 That was the most glorious moment - 0:09:09.011,0:09:13.268 a well-educated Deaf community -[br]college educated, 0:09:13.268,0:09:16.162 the establishment of Gallaudet University, 0:09:16.162,0:09:18.900 the world's only liberal arts[br]university for the Deaf, 0:09:18.900,0:09:21.030 founded in 1864, 0:09:21.570,0:09:25.105 which provided a college degree[br]for Deaf individuals. 0:09:25.105,0:09:28.290 Many Deaf graduates[br]from the American School for the Deaf 0:09:28.290,0:09:30.327 went to Gallaudet University. 0:09:30.327,0:09:33.460 It was the best time for us. 0:09:34.270,0:09:38.552 We had access to education;[br]we were successful business owners; 0:09:38.552,0:09:42.060 we conducted business[br]and our lives on equal footing. 0:09:44.510,0:09:46.314 66 years later, 0:09:48.224,0:09:49.594 in 1880 - 0:09:50.064,0:09:53.064 that was the year we will never forget. 0:09:53.064,0:09:58.450 It's indelibly etched on our minds[br]within the Deaf community. 0:10:00.160,0:10:04.350 The world delegates[br]convened in Milan, Italy, 0:10:05.030,0:10:08.920 for the Second International Congress[br]on Education of the Deaf. 0:10:11.010,0:10:15.407 There, the delegates voted[br]to forbid sign language, 0:10:15.407,0:10:19.347 and mandated that Deaf children[br]learn to speak and read lips, 0:10:19.347,0:10:21.846 just as hearing society does, 0:10:21.846,0:10:25.190 and that's what vastly[br]changed the Deaf world. 0:10:26.060,0:10:31.420 The result of the impact on America[br]was that they fired all Deaf teachers, 0:10:32.140,0:10:33.843 most of whom couldn't speak, 0:10:33.843,0:10:36.150 and replaced all of them[br]with hearing teachers 0:10:36.150,0:10:39.360 who taught Deaf children[br]how to read lips and speak. 0:10:41.180,0:10:44.300 The impact was felt worldwide, 0:10:44.890,0:10:50.520 and that was the darkest,[br]most oppressive era of the Deaf world. 0:10:51.210,0:10:54.070 Job opportunities vastly declined. 0:10:54.070,0:10:57.848 The world's hearing[br]and Deaf were rent apart - 0:10:57.848,0:11:02.560 our world using sign language,[br]hearing world using spoken English - 0:11:03.000,0:11:06.270 and it was the darkest time[br]we've ever been through. 0:11:10.900,0:11:16.640 Finally, in 1960, at Gallaudet University, 0:11:18.480,0:11:21.750 an English professor, Dr. William Stokoe, 0:11:23.270,0:11:29.260 recognized that Deaf students on campus[br]were signing very fluently and similarly, 0:11:29.260,0:11:32.120 and recruited two Deaf researchers[br]to work with him. 0:11:33.060,0:11:39.440 They researched American Sign Language[br]and finally proved definitively 0:11:39.440,0:11:42.390 that American Sign Language[br]is its own language - 0:11:42.390,0:11:47.800 its own grammar, syntax,[br]morphology, mouth movements, 0:11:47.800,0:11:52.380 hand shape, locations,[br]and the Five Parameters of Sign, 0:11:53.870,0:11:57.000 spatial movement, facial expression 0:11:57.390,0:12:01.456 and that it was not a form[br]of English, after all. 0:12:01.456,0:12:06.290 It was a completely different[br]and separate language with its own rules. 0:12:06.790,0:12:10.930 People would assume that sign language[br]was based on English, but it was not. 0:12:11.870,0:12:18.860 That, finally, brought our Deaf community[br]back to where it should've been all along. 0:12:19.910,0:12:23.260 The use of ASL flourished. 0:12:27.380,0:12:31.190 At that time, many children[br]who had Deaf parents, 0:12:32.850,0:12:35.400 that had been born into that Deaf world, 0:12:35.400,0:12:37.820 had American Sign Language[br]as their first language, 0:12:37.820,0:12:39.920 and they had grown up[br]in the Deaf community. 0:12:40.260,0:12:42.810 Those individuals[br]took on the responsibility 0:12:42.810,0:12:46.698 as our first interpreters[br]because of our worlds being so separate, 0:12:46.698,0:12:52.120 and communicated between both[br]the hearing and Deaf worlds. 0:12:54.470,0:12:58.490 But we didn't have enough,[br]we needed more interpreters. 0:12:59.780,0:13:04.537 There was a baby boom[br]and we needed more interpreters, 0:13:04.537,0:13:07.510 so finally, in the 1970s, 0:13:08.930,0:13:13.225 college programs were established[br]nationwide, all over the US, 0:13:13.225,0:13:14.600 to train interpreters, 0:13:14.600,0:13:19.022 and many students who are hearing,[br]with no prior knowledge of sign language, 0:13:19.022,0:13:21.390 entered those interpreter[br]training programs 0:13:21.390,0:13:26.300 but realized that you can't learn[br]the cultural nuances of the language 0:13:26.300,0:13:28.024 in two or four years, 0:13:28.024,0:13:33.040 because of the deep roots of our language[br]and the cultural implications. 0:13:36.380,0:13:40.120 The interpreters, themselves,[br]experienced challenges 0:13:40.120,0:13:44.820 learning to interpret[br]between Deaf and hearing cultures. 0:13:49.240,0:13:51.250 Over the years, 0:13:51.250,0:13:53.630 as the interpreting field has grown, 0:13:53.630,0:13:55.940 you'll be seeing a new movement - 0:13:58.460,0:14:03.300 Deaf individuals taking on[br]the responsibility to be interpreters. 0:14:03.980,0:14:06.710 American Sign Language[br]is their first language. 0:14:07.640,0:14:11.553 A full understanding of language[br]and culture, intrinsically. 0:14:11.553,0:14:16.730 They take signed language[br]and interpret it to a hearing interpreter, 0:14:16.730,0:14:22.661 who will then translate it[br]to spoken English, and back and forth; 0:14:22.661,0:14:25.420 a team of interpreters, Deaf and hearing. 0:14:29.190,0:14:34.680 If you look back to the year 1880 0:14:38.010,0:14:39.270 and to now, 0:14:39.660,0:14:44.051 we're seeing more Deaf interpreters. 0:14:44.051,0:14:46.470 We'll see them interpreting[br]in legal settings, 0:14:46.470,0:14:48.860 in medical and hospital settings, 0:14:50.300,0:14:55.390 working for a more complete interpretation[br]between our two separate worlds, 0:14:55.880,0:14:57.600 interpreting back and forth. 0:14:59.730,0:15:05.265 But in that year of 1880, 0:15:05.265,0:15:10.440 if those delegates had never voted[br]to forbid sign language, 0:15:12.350,0:15:15.450 remember the Golden Era[br]of the Deaf community - 0:15:16.560,0:15:20.030 the Deaf teachers, the children[br]with full access to language, 0:15:20.030,0:15:22.994 with everyone on one level playing field - 0:15:22.994,0:15:27.719 if 1880 had never happened[br]and rent our worlds apart, 0:15:27.719,0:15:32.700 suppose that had never occurred,[br]that that vote had never happened, 0:15:34.220,0:15:37.880 would that mean that you would[br]be signing today along with us? 0:15:39.550,0:15:42.320 Signing fluidly, we would be one world. 0:15:42.900,0:15:44.700 We wouldn't need interpreters. 0:15:47.410,0:15:50.372 We could go back to those days[br]of Martha's Vineyard, 0:15:50.372,0:15:54.140 and have that experience[br]from then until now. 0:15:54.840,0:15:59.480 It's a nice idea that we[br]would be one world with no barriers, 0:16:00.970,0:16:03.250 back to our Golden Age 0:16:03.250,0:16:06.760 of successful, well-educated[br]Deaf individuals - 0:16:07.670,0:16:09.670 it's something to think about. 0:16:10.480,0:16:11.480 Thank you. 0:16:11.480,0:16:14.482 (Applause)