1
00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:13,990
I'm Deaf.

2
00:00:14,610 --> 00:00:16,470
I'm profoundly Deaf.

3
00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:22,790
My parents didn't know I was Deaf
until I was 18 months old.

4
00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:27,257
My parents' world fell apart,

5
00:00:27,257 --> 00:00:32,270
primarily because of the hearing society's
view on Deafness as a negative.

6
00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:37,430
My doctor, an ear, nose
and throat specialist,

7
00:00:37,430 --> 00:00:41,160
told my parents that I should not
learn sign language,

8
00:00:42,170 --> 00:00:46,015
because it would make me isolated
from the hearing community.

9
00:00:46,015 --> 00:00:51,160
I had to learn to speak and to read lips
to fit in with hearing culture.

10
00:00:52,630 --> 00:00:53,630
So I did.

11
00:00:53,630 --> 00:00:59,160
I grew up learning to speak and read lips,
trying to fit in with hearing society,

12
00:01:00,540 --> 00:01:02,850
and man, it was a challenge.

13
00:01:03,470 --> 00:01:04,480
Frustrating.

14
00:01:05,050 --> 00:01:08,830
Communication was not always there
with a hundred percent access.

15
00:01:10,500 --> 00:01:15,270
When I was three years old,
I spoke my first word - boat.

16
00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:19,680
My parents were driving,
and out the window,

17
00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:22,510
I saw a boat and kept repeating the word.

18
00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:27,760
That's, I guess, why I have
a 29-foot cruiser today.

19
00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:30,920
(Laughter)

20
00:01:34,260 --> 00:01:39,100
My parents, upon looking back, realized
that the doctors didn't really understand

21
00:01:39,100 --> 00:01:42,750
the critical part of language
development for infants.

22
00:01:43,850 --> 00:01:47,890
It's so critical that Deaf babies
have a first language,

23
00:01:47,890 --> 00:01:49,440
American Sign Language.

24
00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:54,000
It's a natural, visual language
for them to develop as a basis,

25
00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:57,260
and then they can learn
to speak and read lips later in life.

26
00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:02,980
That's the most important part
for Deaf babies -

27
00:02:02,980 --> 00:02:07,230
to have that critical access,
that first language.

28
00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:10,190
Today, I'm 53 years old.

29
00:02:11,660 --> 00:02:13,380
I'm proud to be Deaf.

30
00:02:14,910 --> 00:02:18,290
American Sign Language
is something that I greatly value

31
00:02:18,290 --> 00:02:21,346
because it flung the world
wide open for me,

32
00:02:21,346 --> 00:02:23,500
even more than I had before.

33
00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:29,315
I love American Sign Language,
Deaf culture and Deaf history,

34
00:02:29,315 --> 00:02:30,660
and the Deaf community.

35
00:02:31,650 --> 00:02:33,850
We know we're not disabled.

36
00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:38,463
We just have a different language.

37
00:02:38,463 --> 00:02:40,460
We know who we are.

38
00:02:41,870 --> 00:02:44,600
We can do everything just as you can.

39
00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:55,580
We have successful Deaf attorneys,
Deaf doctors, scientists, engineers,

40
00:02:55,970 --> 00:02:59,880
college professors, athletes, actors -

41
00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:04,770
we even have a Deaf receptionist
in the White House.

42
00:03:11,430 --> 00:03:13,760
When I talk about culture,

43
00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:17,470
what do I mean by
that I love Deaf culture?

44
00:03:18,010 --> 00:03:21,242
We have a culture,
just like any other group -

45
00:03:21,242 --> 00:03:24,080
Hispanic, Asian, Black -

46
00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:27,240
they value their language
and their own culture

47
00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:31,450
such as we value our own Deaf culture
and our own language.

48
00:03:34,210 --> 00:03:38,960
Let me give you some examples
of normative Deaf culture.

49
00:03:41,750 --> 00:03:43,880
We can be really blunt.

50
00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:46,166
(Laughter)

51
00:03:46,166 --> 00:03:48,590
I mean, if you come up to someone Deaf,

52
00:03:48,590 --> 00:03:52,320
they'll say, "You've gained weight!
Wow, you've gotten fat! What's wrong?"

53
00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:53,430
(Laughter)

54
00:03:53,430 --> 00:03:55,030
Hearing people will not say that.

55
00:03:55,030 --> 00:03:56,570
"Oh, you look good."

56
00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:00,680
If that's a bad haircut,
you know, we'll tell you.

57
00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:02,480
"Those clothes aren't right for you."

58
00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:03,840
(Laughter)

59
00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:06,590
Hearing people are so nice, culturally.

60
00:04:06,590 --> 00:04:07,770
(Laughter)

61
00:04:07,770 --> 00:04:10,500
"Oh, you look good," is all they'll say.

62
00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:13,530
It's nice to get that honesty.

63
00:04:15,500 --> 00:04:18,202
We typically are very detail-oriented.

64
00:04:18,202 --> 00:04:21,110
If someone passes away,
we'll ask questions.

65
00:04:21,110 --> 00:04:23,826
"What's wrong? What happened?
How'd they die?"

66
00:04:23,826 --> 00:04:25,714
and ask for a lot of details.

67
00:04:25,714 --> 00:04:30,010
But in hearing culture, they'll say,
"Oh, I'm sorry that they passed."

68
00:04:33,650 --> 00:04:36,200
If a hearing student
comes into my classroom,

69
00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:40,869
they'll say, "I'm so sorry
I was late," and sit down.

70
00:04:40,869 --> 00:04:46,290
But if a Deaf student comes
into my classroom, they'll say,

71
00:04:46,290 --> 00:04:48,580
"Oh, sorry I was late.
You've got to know why!

72
00:04:48,580 --> 00:04:51,826
A truck on the highway
that was full of egg crates fell over,

73
00:04:51,820 --> 00:04:54,770
and the police and ambulances
came in and blocked the road!

74
00:04:54,770 --> 00:04:58,410
I couldn't get through" - and on
and on for two or three minutes,

75
00:04:58,410 --> 00:05:00,460
and then they end with, "Sorry I'm late."

76
00:05:00,460 --> 00:05:02,270
(Laughter)

77
00:05:02,270 --> 00:05:04,152
That's part of our culture.

78
00:05:04,152 --> 00:05:07,130
We value that information sharing.

79
00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:13,270
Let me tell about our five-stage goodbye.

80
00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:17,716
If hearing friends come over
to my house for a party,

81
00:05:17,710 --> 00:05:20,784
they'll stay about an hour,
hour and a half, and they'll leave.

82
00:05:20,784 --> 00:05:21,780
"Bye."

83
00:05:21,780 --> 00:05:22,802
"Oh, okay."

84
00:05:22,802 --> 00:05:26,360
But if my Deaf friends come over,
they will stay forever.

85
00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:27,360
(Laughter)

86
00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:28,450
I mean, forever.

87
00:05:28,450 --> 00:05:30,570
Even if I'm urging them to leave!

88
00:05:30,570 --> 00:05:32,910
(Laughter)

89
00:05:35,050 --> 00:05:37,850
If we're in a restaurant together,

90
00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:40,383
we'll be talking,

91
00:05:40,383 --> 00:05:43,100
and the manager will come up
to the table and indicate,

92
00:05:43,100 --> 00:05:44,960
"We're closing in about five minutes."

93
00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:45,950
"Okay."

94
00:05:45,950 --> 00:05:49,340
But we don't leave - we still talk
for another 10 to 15 minutes.

95
00:05:49,340 --> 00:05:50,380
Then we realize it,

96
00:05:50,380 --> 00:05:52,780
and we step a little further
away from the table,

97
00:05:52,780 --> 00:05:55,510
but we're still talking
for 10 or 15 more minutes,

98
00:05:55,510 --> 00:05:56,570
sharing information.

99
00:05:56,570 --> 00:05:59,120
Then we're standing by the door
in a group, talking,

100
00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:01,510
and the manager's
angrily shutting the lights off

101
00:06:01,510 --> 00:06:03,210
and motioning us to leave.

102
00:06:03,210 --> 00:06:04,450
That's the third stage.

103
00:06:04,450 --> 00:06:08,820
Then we're out in the parking lot,
and that's our fourth stage of goodbye.

104
00:06:08,820 --> 00:06:11,948
And in our cars, still talking.

105
00:06:11,948 --> 00:06:13,420
We're still catching up.

106
00:06:13,420 --> 00:06:14,910
And finally, we leave.

107
00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:21,918
That's the reason we really depend
on each other to share information.

108
00:06:21,918 --> 00:06:23,040
For hearing culture,

109
00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:26,010
you, typically, can hear the radio
or talk amongst yourselves

110
00:06:26,010 --> 00:06:27,376
to get news and information

111
00:06:27,376 --> 00:06:32,280
whereas we rely on sign language
for our information, between ourselves,

112
00:06:32,280 --> 00:06:34,160
and that's how we communicate.

113
00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:37,040
That's the most important part
of our culture.

114
00:06:39,210 --> 00:06:44,690
Talking about sign language,
sign language is nothing new.

115
00:06:45,220 --> 00:06:48,230
It's been here for thousands of years.

116
00:06:49,530 --> 00:06:53,700
When we have to fight, almost daily,
to protect sign language,

117
00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:57,330
we experience a lot of oppression
and discrimination,

118
00:06:57,330 --> 00:07:02,540
just as any other cultural group
experiences oppression on their cultures,

119
00:07:02,540 --> 00:07:05,790
discrimination on their languages;

120
00:07:05,790 --> 00:07:07,170
we are the same.

121
00:07:08,220 --> 00:07:12,730
Looking back, historically, in 427 B.C.,

122
00:07:13,390 --> 00:07:19,080
in the essay Cratylus
by the Greek philosopher Plato,

123
00:07:19,930 --> 00:07:23,710
the character of Socrates is quoted,

124
00:07:24,820 --> 00:07:27,847
"If we do not have voice or tongue

125
00:07:27,847 --> 00:07:32,780
but we wish to communicate
our feelings and thoughts,

126
00:07:33,940 --> 00:07:35,390
what should we do?

127
00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:38,250
Such as those Deaf people,

128
00:07:38,580 --> 00:07:43,530
who use gestures, body language,
facial expression and movement

129
00:07:43,530 --> 00:07:45,310
to express their thoughts."

130
00:07:47,460 --> 00:07:50,920
That's the earliest documented
use of sign language.

131
00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:52,920
It's been here ever since.

132
00:07:55,610 --> 00:07:58,980
Here in America, in the 1700s,

133
00:08:00,540 --> 00:08:03,300
the island Martha's Vineyard

134
00:08:03,970 --> 00:08:10,180
had the largest rate
of generational Deafness.

135
00:08:10,180 --> 00:08:14,668
Every one out of twenty-five individuals
was hereditarily Deaf,

136
00:08:14,668 --> 00:08:18,600
and everyone on that island
both signed and spoke.

137
00:08:20,210 --> 00:08:23,700
Everyone, hearing and Deaf,
knew sign language.

138
00:08:23,700 --> 00:08:27,051
It was one cohesive community
that understood each other.

139
00:08:27,051 --> 00:08:30,880
The community's events, meetings -
everything was conducted in sign language.

140
00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:35,320
No barriers - Deaf people
were fully included and successful.

141
00:08:37,900 --> 00:08:41,200
Now, later on, in 1817,

142
00:08:41,929 --> 00:08:46,822
the American School for the Deaf,
America's first Deaf education,

143
00:08:46,822 --> 00:08:49,440
was established in Hartford, Connecticut.

144
00:08:51,260 --> 00:08:57,220
That's when many of Martha's Vineyard
residents moved to that school,

145
00:08:57,220 --> 00:08:59,750
and graduates from the American School

146
00:08:59,750 --> 00:09:04,430
went on to other states
to found Deaf schools all over the US.

147
00:09:05,470 --> 00:09:09,011
That was the most glorious moment -

148
00:09:09,011 --> 00:09:13,268
a well-educated Deaf community -
college educated,

149
00:09:13,268 --> 00:09:16,162
the establishment of Gallaudet University,

150
00:09:16,162 --> 00:09:18,900
the world's only liberal arts
university for the Deaf,

151
00:09:18,900 --> 00:09:21,030
founded in 1864,

152
00:09:21,570 --> 00:09:25,105
which provided a college degree
for Deaf individuals.

153
00:09:25,105 --> 00:09:28,290
Many Deaf graduates
from the American School for the Deaf

154
00:09:28,290 --> 00:09:30,327
went to Gallaudet University.

155
00:09:30,327 --> 00:09:33,460
It was the best time for us.

156
00:09:34,270 --> 00:09:38,552
We had access to education;
we were successful business owners;

157
00:09:38,552 --> 00:09:42,060
we conducted business
and our lives on equal footing.

158
00:09:44,510 --> 00:09:46,314
66 years later,

159
00:09:48,224 --> 00:09:49,594
in 1880 -

160
00:09:50,064 --> 00:09:53,064
that was the year we will never forget.

161
00:09:53,064 --> 00:09:58,450
It's indelibly etched on our minds
within the Deaf community.

162
00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:04,350
The world delegates
convened in Milan, Italy,

163
00:10:05,030 --> 00:10:08,920
for the Second International Congress
on Education of the Deaf.

164
00:10:11,010 --> 00:10:15,407
There, the delegates voted
to forbid sign language,

165
00:10:15,407 --> 00:10:19,347
and mandated that Deaf children
learn to speak and read lips,

166
00:10:19,347 --> 00:10:21,846
just as hearing society does,

167
00:10:21,846 --> 00:10:25,190
and that's what vastly
changed the Deaf world.

168
00:10:26,060 --> 00:10:31,420
The result of the impact on America
was that they fired all Deaf teachers,

169
00:10:32,140 --> 00:10:33,843
most of whom couldn't speak,

170
00:10:33,843 --> 00:10:36,150
and replaced all of them
with hearing teachers

171
00:10:36,150 --> 00:10:39,360
who taught Deaf children
how to read lips and speak.

172
00:10:41,180 --> 00:10:44,300
The impact was felt worldwide,

173
00:10:44,890 --> 00:10:50,520
and that was the darkest,
most oppressive era of the Deaf world.

174
00:10:51,210 --> 00:10:54,070
Job opportunities vastly declined.

175
00:10:54,070 --> 00:10:57,848
The world's hearing
and Deaf were rent apart -

176
00:10:57,848 --> 00:11:02,560
our world using sign language,
hearing world using spoken English -

177
00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:06,270
and it was the darkest time
we've ever been through.

178
00:11:10,900 --> 00:11:16,640
Finally, in 1960, at Gallaudet University,

179
00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:21,750
an English professor, Dr. William Stokoe,

180
00:11:23,270 --> 00:11:29,260
recognized that Deaf students on campus
were signing very fluently and similarly,

181
00:11:29,260 --> 00:11:32,120
and recruited two Deaf researchers
to work with him.

182
00:11:33,060 --> 00:11:39,440
They researched American Sign Language
and finally proved definitively

183
00:11:39,440 --> 00:11:42,390
that American Sign Language
is its own language -

184
00:11:42,390 --> 00:11:47,800
its own grammar, syntax,
morphology, mouth movements,

185
00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:52,380
hand shape, locations,
and the Five Parameters of Sign,

186
00:11:53,870 --> 00:11:57,000
spatial movement, facial expression

187
00:11:57,390 --> 00:12:01,456
and that it was not a form
of English, after all.

188
00:12:01,456 --> 00:12:06,290
It was a completely different
and separate language with its own rules.

189
00:12:06,790 --> 00:12:10,930
People would assume that sign language
was based on English, but it was not.

190
00:12:11,870 --> 00:12:18,860
That, finally, brought our Deaf community
back to where it should've been all along.

191
00:12:19,910 --> 00:12:23,260
The use of ASL flourished.

192
00:12:27,380 --> 00:12:31,190
At that time, many children
who had Deaf parents,

193
00:12:32,850 --> 00:12:35,400
that had been born into that Deaf world,

194
00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:37,820
had American Sign Language
as their first language,

195
00:12:37,820 --> 00:12:39,920
and they had grown up
in the Deaf community.

196
00:12:40,260 --> 00:12:42,810
Those individuals
took on the responsibility

197
00:12:42,810 --> 00:12:46,698
as our first interpreters
because of our worlds being so separate,

198
00:12:46,698 --> 00:12:52,120
and communicated between both
the hearing and Deaf worlds.

199
00:12:54,470 --> 00:12:58,490
But we didn't have enough,
we needed more interpreters.

200
00:12:59,780 --> 00:13:04,537
There was a baby boom
and we needed more interpreters,

201
00:13:04,537 --> 00:13:07,510
so finally, in the 1970s,

202
00:13:08,930 --> 00:13:13,225
college programs were established
nationwide, all over the US,

203
00:13:13,225 --> 00:13:14,600
to train interpreters,

204
00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:19,022
and many students who are hearing,
with no prior knowledge of sign language,

205
00:13:19,022 --> 00:13:21,390
entered those interpreter
training programs

206
00:13:21,390 --> 00:13:26,300
but realized that you can't learn
the cultural nuances of the language

207
00:13:26,300 --> 00:13:28,024
in two or four years,

208
00:13:28,024 --> 00:13:33,040
because of the deep roots of our language
and the cultural implications.

209
00:13:36,380 --> 00:13:40,120
The interpreters, themselves,
experienced challenges

210
00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:44,820
learning to interpret
between Deaf and hearing cultures.

211
00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:51,250
Over the years,

212
00:13:51,250 --> 00:13:53,630
as the interpreting field has grown,

213
00:13:53,630 --> 00:13:55,940
you'll be seeing a new movement -

214
00:13:58,460 --> 00:14:03,300
Deaf individuals taking on
the responsibility to be interpreters.

215
00:14:03,980 --> 00:14:06,710
American Sign Language
is their first language.

216
00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:11,553
A full understanding of language
and culture, intrinsically.

217
00:14:11,553 --> 00:14:16,730
They take signed language
and interpret it to a hearing interpreter,

218
00:14:16,730 --> 00:14:22,661
who will then translate it
to spoken English, and back and forth;

219
00:14:22,661 --> 00:14:25,420
a team of interpreters, Deaf and hearing.

220
00:14:29,190 --> 00:14:34,680
If you look back to the year 1880

221
00:14:38,010 --> 00:14:39,270
and to now,

222
00:14:39,660 --> 00:14:44,051
we're seeing more Deaf interpreters.

223
00:14:44,051 --> 00:14:46,470
We'll see them interpreting
in legal settings,

224
00:14:46,470 --> 00:14:48,860
in medical and hospital settings,

225
00:14:50,300 --> 00:14:55,390
working for a more complete interpretation
between our two separate worlds,

226
00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:57,600
interpreting back and forth.

227
00:14:59,730 --> 00:15:05,265
But in that year of 1880,

228
00:15:05,265 --> 00:15:10,440
if those delegates had never voted
to forbid sign language,

229
00:15:12,350 --> 00:15:15,450
remember the Golden Era
of the Deaf community -

230
00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:20,030
the Deaf teachers, the children
with full access to language,

231
00:15:20,030 --> 00:15:22,994
with everyone on one level playing field -

232
00:15:22,994 --> 00:15:27,719
if 1880 had never happened
and rent our worlds apart,

233
00:15:27,719 --> 00:15:32,700
suppose that had never occurred,
that that vote had never happened,

234
00:15:34,220 --> 00:15:37,880
would that mean that you would
be signing today along with us?

235
00:15:39,550 --> 00:15:42,320
Signing fluidly, we would be one world.

236
00:15:42,900 --> 00:15:44,700
We wouldn't need interpreters.

237
00:15:47,410 --> 00:15:50,372
We could go back to those days
of Martha's Vineyard,

238
00:15:50,372 --> 00:15:54,140
and have that experience
from then until now.

239
00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:59,480
It's a nice idea that we
would be one world with no barriers,

240
00:16:00,970 --> 00:16:03,250
back to our Golden Age

241
00:16:03,250 --> 00:16:06,760
of successful, well-educated
Deaf individuals -

242
00:16:07,670 --> 00:16:09,670
it's something to think about.

243
00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:11,480
Thank you.

244
00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:14,482
(Applause)