Guttural Voices
By now, many of you are aware of the article in today’s Los Angeles Times, and on the front page at that. The profile of Shawn McDonald (and by extension, a profile of his school), one of the team captains of California School for the Deaf, Riverside’s football squad, has already been commented on by Ridor and twice by Jamie Berke (here and here). I first became aware of the article when I received a page from a friend of mine who also subscribes to the Times. After my Sunday breakfast, I settled down with the paper, and of course, since it was on the front page, the article was one of the first things I read.
So what’s my verdict? Well, I’m somewhere between Ricky and Jamie (who seem to be angling for a third edition of their self-proclaimed “Great Blogger War”– popcorn, anyone?). While I agree with Ridor that the publicity is good for CSDR, and the article as a whole was fine, I agree with Jamie that parts of it threatened to overshadow the overall thrust of the article.
I saw it first and foremost as a profile of McDonald and his life, but of course, when it comes to deafness and such, there’s never any such thing. Unfortunately, the following phrases and paragraphs jumped out at me:
“‘CaaahhhIIIIhuuuuppuuu?’ he said, praying that the customers would understand: Can I help you?”
“…his new deaf friends highlighted their feelings by contorting their faces and making exaggerated, mime-like motions with their bodies.”
“Cubs coaches wanted a timeout. One of them waved, then stomped, then tried to shout. “Tieowwww! Tieowwww!” Timeout. Timeout.”
Guttural voices– words collapsed together, and people trying “to shout.” This is what we’re about? This is what deafness is reduced to– the act of speaking, or rather, trying to speak, through our vocal cords? ASL is mimelike? Signing is about “exagerrated motions?” These are the kinds of impressions you see from someone who either has had zero exposure to ASL and deafness, or has just started their first sign classes (I’ve taught ASL, and a lot of beginners are so entranced with the “beauty” and the “picture-like” qualities; it doesn’t hit them til later that it’s a language, and as such, deserves far more respect than they’re according it.).
Yes, I know the article as a whole didn’t focus on speech training or the lack thereof- but it might just as well have been. Instead of talking about how a team that is small compared with their opponents (and this is not unusual– there are small-town schools across the nation that have a limited number of players, or struggle to maintain a full roster, or don’t even have sports teams because they don’t have enough interested or capable players) is able to maintain a full schedule and compete, or about how deaf players compensate for being unable to hear plays or adjust for play on the field (gee, the huddle was supposed to have originated at Gallaudet– you’d think perhaps someone would have pointed this out to the author of this piece? Gallaudet, for that matter, has had a few winning seasons in its history, including beating teams such as Georgetown.), or about a player (McDonald) maturing and growing in the face of personal and familial adversity (which I believe was the author’s main intent in telling this story), the average hearing reader is going to come away thinking of deaf people as “the other.”
While I disagree with Jamie that the author shouldn’t have highlighted certain facts about the future students face (the sad fact is a number of students at Riverside and other schools will enter the blue-collar workforce or be chronically unemployed), I do think the author should have balanced this piece with more information about what being deaf is like for others– while we can’t hide the sad truths about life after graduation, we can certainly point out that there are plenty of places, from inner-city schools to poorly supplied rural schoolhouses, where students face a bleak future. There certainly was room to point out that for every person that faces an uncertain future, there’s another that will go to college and achieve success, whether that means returning to the schools to teach (John Castrese and Keith Adams didn’t just appear out of nowhere) or working with hearing people in all kinds of businesses and companies. This parallels the hearing experience to a degree.
“Could he ever buy a house?” There’s plenty of people here in L.A. alone whose ears work just fine who are asking exactly the same question. This is where the author failed– because the reality of being deaf, while at times frustrating and potentially bleak, is just as much the same reality the average person in this country faces.
So while I thought it was a nice piece in some ways, in other ways I think the author needs a crash course not just in writing on a piece of paper or knowing how to use an interpreter, but in what the reality of being deaf is. It isn’t about “guttural shouts” and English being a foreign language, it’s about the fact that somewhere out there is a hearing equivalent to Shawn– a football player who is hearing who struggles with school and life, who comes from a family with economic problems, who faces a future full of questions. How do we make life better for everyone, hearing or deaf? How can the hearing public be best educated about what life as a deaf person is like? How can someone reading this article best appreciate that the deaf person they meet is someone they can relate to, not someone they can make fun of or pity?
This is where I agree with Jamie: first impressions count, and for readers of today’s article who have yet to meet a deaf person, is this the first impression we want to give them?
I’m with you - very well written, Mr. Sandman!
It does paint a picture in hearing people’s mind like “Tsk, I can’t imagine what it’s like being deaf and trying to play like hearing kids! It’s good that they have something like this for those disabled kids…”
Umph. We all get that look, or even feel their vibes.
Heck, I was treated like a blind person when my son was in a hospital for one week where I asked a nurse where an ATM machine was. This nurse took MY hands - yes, you are reading this very CLEARLY - to the elevator, keep pointing every direction we were going!!!
I was in such disbelief, I had to refrain myself from laughing. (Yes, I pulled my hands away from her!). She even went further to give me INSTRUCTIONS on how to USE the ATM!!!
Do I look that stupid?!! Wow…
Anyway, yes first impression count – always!
I’m curious, though – what was Shawn’s response to this article, what were his thoughts? His family?
Thank you, Sandman. You really nailed it. I don’t normally read sports articles, but I was remembering what another blogger had complained about not too long ago - a similar complaint. So I read it to see how a deaf person (and by extension, the deaf community) would be portrayed.
Yes, very well written, Sandman! Perhaps you can use most of the posted information in your letter to the editor. I like your diplomatic, yet direct approach.
I’m wondering if somebody can contact CSD-R to find out the reactions of the entire school staff and student body, and Shawn as the subject of the article in particular.
Sandman - would you rather to read yet another “overcoming obstacles” story? The Shawn McDonald story was rather refreshing, albeit a dose of harsh reality or two thrown in.
Thanks for the compliments! I did write two letters– one to the writer, and one to the Op-Ed page. We’ll see if the letter to the editor gets published, and if either garners any attention.
IamMine, you should have asked the nurse to demonstrate how to use the ATM– with her passwords and info, of course.
Seriously, it’s amazing how mindless people can be sometimes. I remember early in my college career checking in for my flight to return home for vacation. I told the agent I was deaf and to let me know if there were any changes I needed to be aware of. When the time came to board the flight, the gate personnel beckoned me. Puzzled, I came forward, and was guided towards a wheelchair. #$%*@?!?
Kevin, “overcoming obstacles” is fine– I was okay with that portion of the story (Shawn’s personal struggles, his family’s socioeconomic status, etc.). I also was fine with the writer pointing out that many deaf (and not just at CSDR!) have limited lives after graduation– that is a sad reality that we can’t ignore or avoid (this is where reform of deaf education would help!). What bothered me was the unnecessary mention of what “deaf voices” sound like, the emphasis on words that emerged half-spoken or unclearly, and the characterization of ASL as “exaggerated” and “mime-like.” It paints a picture of deaf people as the grotesque “other,” and I wasn’t pleased with that. I also found it patronizing that instead of digging a bit deeper and pointing out that people like the coaches have college degrees and own homes, quotes from Castrese were used to paint a picture of bleak lives for deaf people in general. This is NOT the impression I want to leave LA Times readers with.
*bursts into laughter*
Oh my, my… a wheelchair?!
Well, geez - now you’re complaining about a FREE ride?!
Ah, should have asked for her password - dang it!!!
Could have had a delicious lunch with her money…
I wondered, too, what the reactions of CSD-R and Shawn’s people would be. They might be pleased with the article for reasons of their own and consider the reactions of us bloggers as hypercritical, academic or even snooty.
Well, when are we getting your reactions? There are a variety of people, so there will be a variety of responses and all are equally valid. C’mon, let’s hear them. ~D.
Regards the ATM experience … I am by no means trying to excuse the woman, but I think I can try to explain what she was doing.
She had to explain something — without words. Or so she thought. She was confronted with someone who couldn’t hear the only way she could communicate — she may not have been able to draw a map (it blows me away, but some people simply cannot read maps). Given a few minutes and a bit of guidance, she might have hit on a better way of telling you where the ATM was, but standing there having to think on her feet, she may have felt that the only thing she could do was just show you.
It’s almost the reverse of a situation I found myself in when I was at an immersion language course with a blind roommate (white cane, dog, the works) and I found myself having to verbalize EVERYTHING. “Conversations” that would have taken place with a wave or a facial expression had to be put into words suddenly, and for a few minutes, I was thrown for a loop until I realized what was happening and just adjusted. Most people are not aware that this adjustment has to be made, especialyl if theya re working and busy.
I’ll ask you as a hearing person (and one who is learning ASL but has a loooooong way to go): if a Deaf person who doesn’t lipread (we’ll assume) comes up to me and wants to know where the ATM is, and the route is a bit complex, what would you like the response to be? Seriously — should I draw a map, or just rough out speaking clearly and relying on you to lipread? Would written directions be better than a map? I know my first instinct is to draw a map because I’m very spatial.
If I’m going to learn ASL, that means socializing with Deaf folks, and while I’d rather figure this stuff out on my own, guidance wouldn’t hurt.
Thanks, Janis - I wouldn’t have minded being directed by a person by following that person to the ATM machine.
However, this nurse felt the need to HOLD my hands! When I pulled my hands away, she tugged my arm! I was like okay, I’m already following you!
She was really hilarious on the ATM machine - I’m laughing right now!
She proceeds to gesture with her arms over the ATM, mouthing really slowly: “Cover your arms over here, ok? So no one see you, ok?”
No one was around to be seen, but that’s not the point, right?
“Then you put your card here.” She looks at the instruction on the machine to see which side of the card should be facing, “Ok, let me see your card.”
“Um, no I’m fine. I can do it from here, thanks.”
She didn’t understand me, and wanted to show me which side I should be inserting my card in. I sighed and just when I was about to move into her position to get her out of the way, she “guided†me over to the machine. Guess I needed help walking over 3 more steps??
Isn’t that just…beyond a stupid reaction of a normal person who has never approached a deaf person?
For all I know, she probably thought I was the cause of my poor son being in the hospital!
I don’t think the author was intending to make fun, for example, the voices, but merely describing it to readers in a realistic way from his phenomena, what he sees and hears. Investigative reporting tends to include a lot of pictorial details that the readers can feel part of the experience. How many “down and out†hearing stories have we read? Even ‘hearing accents’ were often described in papers to give reader insight of the character. I side with Ridor. It is fine the way it is as a piece on a day in the life of a deaf high school football player.
I find the article dwelling too much on the ‘negativeness’ of deafness. The choices of words the writer used to described made the deaf people appear like ‘animals’.
Where is the balance? There is very little positive aspects in the article.
If I am a parent of a deaf child, I would be aghast at the ‘hopelessness’ expressed in the article and would be more determined to avoid sending my child to a deaf school.
IamMine — it sounds like she ende dup down some mental slippery slope where she couldn’t separate leading you there from leading you through how the thing worked. It seems to intersect so many people’s mental space for cultural unfamiliarity, linguistic barriers, mental impairment … *sigh*
FWIW, she’s probably kicked herself a few times since then. I know the only reason I didn’t kick myself when I tripped up the first few minutes with my cwrs roommate was just that, being the type of person who would spend a grand to go to an immersion language course and be rendered a spluttering boob for a week, I was ready to process almost anything as a linguistic barrier that was my responsibility to overcome. I don’t think most people make that mental connection.
I thought this article was “wow” thing, even the reporter described how some people communicate, how we sound, and all that. Its hard to get this kind of information as many people are reclutant to hurt our feelings. I also think its part of shawn’s character that makes him stand out from all deaf people. Also I am interested to see how the reporter got these sounds, did shawn describe them to him when he was talking about helping his parents because otherwise how would the reporter get all of the sounds? I think it was word by word interview if that was it. If the reporter were to write it differently, it may have not made much impact, just a football player who emerges as a leader, that’s all
Sandman,
I totally agree with you on many points. The article needed to have a balance. I also felt that the parents were struggling with their lives, and what they had to go through. Shawn, I hope, learns that he can overcome and do what he really wants to do. All the luck to you, Shawn.
moxie_mocha
DianRez and others, I too am wondering about the response from Riverside and the players in particular. There seems to be a lot of silence (no pun intended!) from that quarter…
I got a response from the writer, but I’ve been so swamped, I haven’t responded. *guilty look* My friend Allen also fired off a letter to the editor, and he just posted his experience at DeafDC– a great post, IMHO.
Janis– great comment. Hmmm… a map would probably be best, although written directions would be good too. I think doing either is better than trying to “rough out speaking clearly”– which entails a lot more work and conscious thinking on your part, and risks wasting time for both of you.
As for your experiences, I can relate– I still remember the first time I interpreted for a deaf-blind person; I was frantically trying to keep up with the pace and describe and explain *everything*! Luckily my friend was an old pro and very patient, and said not to worry and explained specifically what she wanted me to do. It got easier after that…
Elizabeth and moxie mocha, I am totally in agreement with you! That was my main problem with the article- that it lacked balance. It was so slanted towards “the poor little deaf guy” that it overshadowed the original purpose of the article, which was to chronicle the life of a struggling football player on a small team.
IamMine- boy, that lady definitely took things a bit too far. I still think you should have let her complete the training, along with her password. You took over from her at just the penultimate moment…