So, since after 2010 or so, I’ve been in hearing abled post-secondary academic environments after graduating from high school. Due to audism, phonocentrism and ableism, the times there have not been as good as they would be for hearing abled people, all other things being equal.
Why? What can be done to fix this? Before I get into that, I just want to explain who I am.
By the way, if you need help understanding terms that I use in this article, the definitions are at the end of this article. Please e-mail or tweet me if you still need more help.
My context
I am a Black non-binary queer trans woman. I live on stolen Mississauga New Credit land in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I live on the parts of the supercontinent that the White invaders call United States and Canada, collectively called North America by them. I am Disabled (Deaf, Autistic, ADHD, CP). I sign – American Sign Language is my first language. I am a student at Humber College in the Computer Programmer program.
In this post, “society” refers to the society in US and Canada. “Post-secondary academic environments” refers to the same in US and Canada. However, audism and phonocentrism can exist everywhere in the world so I wouldn’t be surprised if your non-North American experiences line up with this article.
Why Post-Secondary Academic Environments Have Sucked For Me As A Deaf and Disabled person
Non-Deaf and Disabled centric academic environments
Academic environments nowadays do not center the needs and realities of Deaf and Disabled people.
The words “Diversity/Inclusion”
These two words are popular buzzwords that make privileged people (in this case, hearing and abled people) feel good but do not encourage structural changes of academic environments to serve the needs of Deaf and Disabled people.
These concepts should no longer be used to indicate affirmative support of marginalized populations as too often, these words have connotations showing non-centering of marginalized populations in academic life.
For example, my school claims to be against racism but it is on stolen Indigenous land.
Social isolation
It is commonly understood that the experience of schooling goes beyond the classroom to extracurricular events, class events, clubs, etc. Why, then, are Deaf and Disabled people allowed to be left isolated in academic life due to cultural ignorance about the needs of Deaf and Disabled people and how to interact with them? Why is the responsibility left solely to individuals themselves to meet their human need of social interaction?
Lack of contact with Deaf and Disabled people
In our society, prejudices affect the ability of abled and hearing people – who compose the majority of the world – to appropriately interact with Disabled and Deaf people. Also, abled and hearing people are not always aware that there are Deaf and Disabled people around them.
Over-reliance on professionals to accommodate Deaf and Disabled people outside the classroom
As appropriate and relevant, outside the classroom everyone in an academic environment should be prepared to learn how to interact with Deaf and Disabled people without always needing professionals such as, but not limited to, hearing ASL interpreters to accommodate them.
What Centering of Deaf Signing and Disabled People in Post-Secondary Academic Spaces Looks Like
So how can we fix this messed up situation?
My suggestions are …
Before entering post-secondary academic environments:
Students should learn about and be given opportunities to interact with Deaf and Disabled people in elementary and secondary school
All students in elementary and secondary school should learn about Deaf and Disabled people and be given opportunities to interact with them, including teaching them how to communicate with Deaf and Disabled people in our varied ways of communication. Students should also learn how to interact with them, including not leaving them out and having them learn how their interactions are not “special” – indeed, they are just very mundane interactions.
In elementary and secondary school, all students should learn the relevant local signed language that local Deaf people use
Formal classes in said language should be mandatory. No exemptions should be given unless the student absolutely cannot learn the language in any possible way that supports their needs. These classes should be equal in quality and meaning to the classes that exist for the relevant mandatory local spoken and/or written language class(es).
In post-secondary academic environments:
All students should learn and/or continue learning the relevant local signed language that local Deaf people use
These classes should still be mandatory. If an exemption was given in elementary/secondary school, it should still apply now. These classes should still be equal in quality and meaning to the classes that exist for the relevant mandatory local spoken and/or written language class(es).
They should have something similar to the D Center at the University of Washington.
When they have a student newspaper and/or Journalism programs, Deaf and Disabled people should be reported on. Also, Deaf and Disabled people should be able to be the reporters.
Personal experience: I have NEVER been approached by a student journalist. NEVER. Not in all of my years of being in post secondary education.
Students should be given constant opportunities in all courses to think about what being hearing and abled means and how Deaf and Disabled experiences can apply to their programs and/or courses. Equally important are opportunities for application like clubs, social interaction, etc.
All school posters, videos, etc should have positive and varied representations of Deaf and Disabled people.
This includes all other identities (race, gender, etc) and all possible mobility aids. Also, a balance needs to be struck between talking only about the Deaf/Disability experience and all other topics.
Discussion of conflicting access needs
Sometimes conflicting access needs come up, and students should be prepared to understand that and know how to work through these but also recognize that it is OK if a solution cannot be reached.
Discussion of human needs and specific manifestations
Students should know that all humans have human needs, and that no one’s human needs are “special.”
This list is inexhaustive and if you have any thoughts about what should be included here, feel free to email me or tweet me!
Glossary of terms used in this article
First three definitions from sordxradical’s article What Genuine Inclusivity of Signing People Needs To Be Like In Social Justice Circles/Events. Rest of definitions from me.
Audism: the systematic oppression of Deaf, DeafBlind, DeafDisabled, Hard of Hearing, Late Deafened, and Cochlear Implant Using Signing people.
Phonocentrism: the widespread, if not global, supremacy of hearing and speaking above all other expression and existence.
Hearing people: people who are not Deaf, DeafBlind, DeafDisabled, Hard of Hearing, Late Deafened, and Cochlear Implant Using Signing people. (Note from Kylie: people who can hear, but in identity first language because hearing people are their ability to hear.)
Deaf people: People who cannot hear enough on a functional basis to communicate the way that hearing people do, especially in this phonocentric society. Sometimes the big D is used to ALSO signify the fact that someone is part of a cultural and linguistic minority involving the usage of a local signed language and cultural norms that differ from hearing norms.
Ableism: the systematic oppression of Disabled people.
Abled person: Someone who is all of these:
- hearing (able to hear, but as I said, hearing people are their ability to hear)
- ambulatory (able to walk – ambulatory people are their ability to walk)
- allistic (non-autistic – allistic people are their non-autistic neurology)
- neurotypical
- sighted (able to see – sighted people are their ability to see)
- able bodied
- able minded
Centering a marginalized population means that cultural, communal, institutional and systematic changes are made so that the marginalized/oppressed population is treated equitably to the relevant privileged population meaning that they experience what the privileged population experiences in all contexts daily – except, of course, for things that the privileged population really shouldn’t be doing anyway. Eventually, the marginalized/oppressed population will no longer be oppressed. They will still have underlying identities that they were oppressed for (e.g. African, wheelchair user, etc).
Marginalization: In context of this post, synonymous to oppression.
Oppression: When a group of people are disadvantaged by prejudice in society from a relevant privileged group and this prejudice causes the disadvantaged group to be denied benefits, advantages and opportunities that are granted to the privileged group, the disadvantaged group is oppressed. An important determiner of this is that the oppressed group does not have the legal, extralegal, medical, media-representative and authoring, governmental, linguistic, cultural, social, etc power to grant themselves those benefits, advantages and opportunities because of the same prejudice that disadvantages them.
Note: For me, this definition does not apply to race or class, since these are created social realities that people disadvantaged on. This definition applies to everything else, because these are differences based on who you are.
Privilege: When a group of people in society receives benefits, advantages and opportunities that are denied to oppressed people and when they have the legal, extralegal, medical, media-representative and authoring, governmental, linguistic, cultural, social, etc power to deny these benefits, advantages and opportunities combined with prejudice that everyone has, that group of people is privileged in society.
Prejudice: In context of this post, beliefs about a group of people that are internalized from aspects of society (social institutions) like law, government, media (TV, books, the Internet, video, etc), family, education, religion, etc. These beliefs are subconsciously applied to this group of people by everyone in society and determine the way they are allowed – or not allowed – to be human, have dignity, etc in society.