Twenty Questions About Deaf Culture

It has been a while since my last post and I have been busier than a one armed paper hanger! I guess that is to be expected when you have 8 busy kids and an active wife. Well it is time to renew some activity with a few postings.

This set of postings will be about deafness and deaf history. Some of the content will be examined further in the book I am currently writing and some of the content I hope to present at the Association of Southern Baptist Interpreters for the Deaf (ASBID) Conference at the Southern Baptist Conference of the Deaf (SBCD) in St. Louis, MO, July 12 – 18, 2008. Go to www.sbcdeaf.org for more information.

Here is a little test to see how you do with Deaf History and Deaf Culture:

TRUE or FALSE? 1) Current authors about Deaf culture say, the Bible teaches Deaf people can’t be saved because they can’t hear.

TRUE or FALSE? 2) Currently there are no books that teach Christians still believe all Deafness is the result of sin.

TRUE or FALSE? 3) Many years ago all school interpreters believed the Bible.

TRUE or FALSE? 4) Two Christians brought an organized signed language to America for the purpose of evangelizing the Deaf community.

TRUE or FALSE? 5) The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf prohibits Christian Interpreters from using the Biblical model of correction before using the RID Ethical Practices System.

TRUE or FALSE? 6) There is a Christian Member Section in the RID.

TRUE or FALSE? 7) There is a Bisexual, Lesbian, Gay, Intersexed, and Transgendered Member Section in the RID.

TRUE or FALSE? 8) Alexander Graham Bell would permit the use of the Rochester Method of sign language for people who were completely deaf.

TRUE or FALSE? 9) Alexander Graham Bell believed Darwinian Evolution and not the Bible.

TRUE or FALSE? 10) Alexander Graham Bell encouraged deaf people to marry deaf people.

TRUE or FALSE? 11) William (Bill) Stokoe is the “Father” of the Cultural View of Deafness.

TRUE or FALSE? 12) William (Bill) Stokoe believed the Bible and not Darwinian Evolution.

TRUE or FALSE? 13) Deaf people should focus on evangelizing and teaching deaf people and hearing people should focus on evangelizing and teaching hearing people.

TRUE or FALSE? 14) Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet changed his mind and did not become a preacher so he could educate deaf children.

TRUE or FALSE? 15) Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet’s goal for his school was to lead deaf children to Christ.

TRUE or FALSE? 16) After leaving his School for the Deaf in Hartford, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet became the chaplain of an insane asylum.

TRUE or FALSE? 17) There are two philosophies about deafness: Pathological and Cultural.

TRUE or FALSE? 18) Deaf people should learn to read, write and speak English.

TRUE or FALSE? 19) God will judge deaf people differently than hearing people.

TRUE or FALSE? 20) Non-Christian teachers teach lies to Christian Interpreters to use them for financial gain.

Tricky? Do you think you know them all? Do these questions make you think? I hope they do. Now for the answers. The answer for all these questions and many more will be taught at the ASBID Conference, July 12 – 18, 2008.

I will write a post after the conference with the answers and a short explanation for those people that could not attend. Here are a couple of hints: They are not all true or all false. There are 9 False statements and 11 True ones.