CHAPTER 55:

"What is Deaf culture? Has anyone studied it from a sociological perspective?"

Sociological perspective about any subject varies widely but it is all the same in a sense that people act the way they do with a list of reasons. Put a hearing persons life into a sociological perspective within our own "classification" of species, their are clics/groups of people that have formed based on what that group have come up with. For example, in high school there was the jocks, preps, and geeks. These groups formed by characteristics or personalities that have been established.
Although deaf community is a different group of people in hearing peoples world, people who are deaf have groups within their culture as well.

CHAPTER 54:

"What are some of the biggest problems faced by late-deafened people?"

A rule to deafness is the later the age of deafness the more difficult it is to adjust, which holds true to just about any other disability that a person may have. The later in life that a person experences something they have never before is going to be a challenge to over come. Being a late-deafened person whether it was progressively, suddenly, or genetically if you are over the age of 18 it is going to be challenging.
I have heard people say that one should learn a second language at a young age because they will have more of a chance becoming fluent at that language. I think this could have something to do with the classifications but I cant be positive because the deaf community is so complex!
Another problem that I could strongly relate to for a late-deafened person would be not being able to function as "normal" hearing people anymore. The thought of how often we (hearing) people take for granted our voice and the ability to communicate, for late-deafened a person who has already experienced that but can no longer would be a very big challenge for me!

CHAPTER 53:

"Are hard-of-hearing people part of the Deaf community?"

Before reading this chapter I reflected on the previous chapter that said non deaf people were apart of the deaf community so I assumed that the question starting off chapter 53 would be easily answered. However, after reading this chapter I realize that the deaf community never really ends, there is always something that sets another individual apart from all. Although this chapter states that hard of hearing people can be apart of the deaf community if they choose to be but many dont want that classification of and consider themselves individuals. To me when I read these chapters I think that the reason there is a constant battle between the differences of people is based upon the past and what has already been determined.

CHAPTER 52:

"Whats the difference between 'hard-of-hearing' and 'deaf'?"

Although, I am not part of the group of people who try and complicate the deaf community I will agree that the deaf community is complex. The classifications that the deaf community has given to themselves is numerous. There is so much now to deafness and the classification of the level of deafness a person has, perhaps because over time people have asked questions that could be answered without going into great detail. Unfortunately that does not happen very often. When I think about the words "hard-of-hearing" I think of a person who has trouble hearing certain things but deaf never crosses my  mind. When I think about the word deaf I think of a person who was either born without the ability to hear anything or over time hearing loss has completely disappeared.

CHAPTER 51:

 "I know that the Deaf community includes both "deaf" and "hard-of-hearing." What other categories are there?"

This chapter has the same reaction from me in chapter 49, there are so many categories depending on other factors within the deaf community. Upon reading this chapter I didnt put the deaf community into perspective but I realize now that beyond the categories of different types of deafness other people are within this community. The deaf community includes a number of hearing people such as: families, friends, parents, and professionals.

CHAPTER 50:

"Is deafness 'bad karma'?"

 When I think about deafness, a curse never enters the thought process. While I was reading Chapter 50 I understand why deaf people have their guard up to people/things outside of their norm. I couldnt believe what I was reading, Im not sure if its only me who feels this way but deafness is  not a curse or punishment from a previous life. This chapter is not to enjoyable to read but it is interesting to see what people say about deafness.

CHAPTER 49:

"How do people become deaf?"

This chapter is filled with information that explains the different levels of deafness. I feel that this is a great chapter for people who are seeking information on deafness because it explains each category of deafness. For example, congentially deaf and adventitiously deaf. These "categories" go even more in depth, Adventitious deafness is someone who becomes deaf after birth. Adventitious deafeness can be either prelingual which occurs the first three years of a childs life and postlingual which occurs after the age of three. It doesnt stop here though, postlingual deafness gets divided into more detail. Postlingual deafness is now subdivided into childhood deafness, pre-vocational deafness, or post-vocational deafness which all vary with different ages.
The more I read this chapter I couldnt put it down, I still am researching more information on each category. Prior reading this chapter I didnt realize that there was so many different classification within deafness. Also, I thought that deafness was hereditary for the most part but now I know there are more underlying factors that I did not even take into account.


Interesting Fact: More males than females are born-deaf and early-deafened, but since women tend to outlive men, there are more late-deafened elderly women than men.