Social Adjustment of Deaf School Leavers in the United States

Abstract

Social adjustment may be viewed within a medley of contexts; however, limitations of time and space have narrowed the scope of this paper toward a consideration of social action by individual or group deaf school leavers within the greater social milieu of a predominantly hearing population. By the same limitation, it is not possible to carry on an extended discussion into differences of adjustment among the hard of hearing and the profoundly deaf. Finally, while we believe with Lee Meyerson that three distinct patterns of social adjustment are discernible, we must raise the usual caveat against stereotyped and generalized inference. Intrinsic to each deaf school leaver is an unique personality with all the attendant idiosyncrasies one would recognize in any normally hearing school leaver; each represents a separate human being, an individual inviolate, and from this standpoint one approaches with caution the question of individual compartmentalization.

Social Adjustment Pattern One. A fairly large percentage of deaf school leavers may merge into this first pattern, which involves withdrawal from the hearing society to the relatively small, restricted but safe places provided by organizations of the deaf and societies for the hard of hearing. Such environmental cul-de-sacs may be considered safe because in such a sub-society ego-identification and self-concept flourishes unchallenged by problems of communication, and individual interests and the need for self-expression and leadership develop normally within the confines of this closed milieu. Such deaf people escape the uncomfortable sensation of being “left out” due to inability to participate comfortably within the group as so frequently happens when the deaf individual finds himself mentally floundering in a community of hearing people who normally carry on a conversation at a rate which is all but impossible to follow, even for the more accomplished lipreader. These school leavers have in a sense rejected, and have been rejected by the world of the hearing; however, they do have a semblance of overlap or commonality into the life-space of the non-deaf. This minimal valance comes into play at the various places of employment where an element of interaction with hearing co-workers becomes a requisite part of their job. At times the economic contact may extend to the social at employer-employee parties and picnics, with limited further carry-over among some individuals.

Adjustment Pattern Two. The second pattern would reflect those deaf school leavers at the other end of the social adjustment spectrum — those who have rejected the world of the deaf and spend their lives aspiring to be an acceptable part of the world of the normally hearing. Raised in an atmosphere of integration-consciousness, they yearn to do exactly the same things as those with normal hearing and in exactly the same way. These individuals go to heroic and far-fetched lengths to camouflage their deafness and consider as their proudest moments those when people are unaware of their hearing impairment. However, the deaf school leavers in Pattern Two constantly run into all kinds of barriers — the social institution can be most powerful and just about impregnable, even for normally hearing individuals. It is not unusual for such deaf stalwarts, then, to discover themselves in a sort of no man's land between the way of life they desire but which rejects them, and the world they themselves have rejected.

The relatively better adjusted persons in this group would be those who are willing to accept the fact that theirs will be a secondary role in society; who face the realization that it will be necessary to sacrifice participation in the conversation and other group involvements from time to time, and who have developed effective defense mechanisms to aid in minimizing such inconveniences so that they may continue to be acceptably happy in their chosen pattern.

Adjustment Pattern Three. Probably the large majority of deaf adults find themselves a part of the third adjustment pattern — composed of individuals who believe they have learned to accept the realities of deafness. Such people recognize with varying degrees of clarity that they belong to a marginal and deviant group, but would just as soon have everyone know of their deafness than to go through life playing “the great pretender.” As a group, such school leavers tend to be reasonably well educated, may be quite fluent at sign language, and at the same time possess usable speech and lipreading skills. The likelihood would be that they have discovered a large common area in both the deaf and the hearing worlds.

Such young deaf adults take the position that they are out to get their hearing friends to accept them as deaf people; to prove that their deafness is just a characteristic and that they may possess other qualities beyond their handicap which can be shared and which are similar to those of the normally hearing. The individual in Pattern Three actively seeks out areas where hearing is not a significant factor, or instructs many of his close hearing associates in the rudiments of manual communication to minimize the difficulty in conversational give and take. With the aid of interpreters such deaf school leavers may make use of the telephone, attend lectures, participate in mixed discussions, share in workshop activities and seminars, and in other like situations strive to effect a reduction of their marginality. They also find time for all-deaf functions. Recent developments in the United States in the area of telephone-use by the deaf, as with the Electrowriter and the teletype attachment, as well as the speech indicator, have done much to ease the burden of social adjustment for deaf people. Mention should also be made of the increasing involvement of deaf individuals with the hearing professionals in federally-sponsored workshops aimed at constructive and developmental work in the area of rehabilitation and education within a realistic framework of attack.

Résumé

L'adaptation sociale peut ětre examinée dans de nombreux contextes, cependant nous nous limiterons à considérer l'action sociale d'un individu ou d'un groupe de sourds dans la société. Il ne sera pas fait de différence entre dur d'oreille et sourd.

Nous croyons comme Lee Meyerson qu'il existe pour le sourd trois méthodes d'adaptation social.

Première méthode d'adaptation. Un grand pourcentage d'institutions peuvent être classées dans cette catégorie qui consiste à retirer le sourd de la société et à le placer dans des organisations pour sourds. Ces institutions, ces ←culs-de-sac→, peuvent ětre considérées comme súres, car l'intérět individuel n'a pas à souffrir du manque de communication avec l'extérieur et l'individu se développe dans ce milieu restreint. Ces sourds se sentent chez eux. Au contraire, l'individu au milieu d'une communauté ne peut mener une conversation měme s'il peut parfaitement lire le mouvement des lèvres.

En d'autres mots ces individus rejettent et sont rejetés du monde qui entend. lis ont pourtant un semblant de communication avec celui-ci surtout s'ils ont un emploi dans la société.

Deuxième méthode d'adaptation. Peuvent ětre classés dans cette catégorie les sourds qui rejettent entièrement le monde des sourds et aspirent à ětre acceptés dans la société normale. Ces individus, souvent, sont héroïques et leur plus grande satisfaction vient du fait que souvent les gens ne se rendent pas compte de leur infirmité.

Cependant, ces individus certainement doivent faire face à des obstacles qui sont parfois insurmontables měme pour des gens qui entendent normalement. Souvent ces individus se retrouvent isolés, un pied dans le monde qu'ils désirent mais qui les rejette et l'autre pied dans le monde qu'ils ont rejeté. L'individu qui est d'accord d'accepter un rôle secondaire dans la société et qui réalise qu'il ne sera pas toujours apte à suivre une conversation et qui est d'accord de ne pas prendre ces inconvénients au tragique sera probablement l'individu le mieux ajusté, le plus heureux.

Troislème méthode d'adaptation. Une grande majorité d'adultes sourds peut ětre classée sous cette rubrique: ceux qui croient qu'ils ont appris à accepter la réalité de leur surdité.

Ils ne veulent pas ←prétendre→. Ils ne cherchent pas à se faire accepter dans la société comme non-sourd.

En général ils ont reçu une bonne éducation, connaissent le langage par signes et en měme temps peuvent souvent parler et lire sur les lèvres. Il semble que ces personnes ont découvert le moyen de communiquer aussi bien dans le monde des sourds que dans la société.

Ces individus sont très actifs et cherchent à se faire admettre dans la société sans cacher leur surdité. Ils peuvent měme employer le téléphone avec l'aide d'un interprète, participer activement à des discussions. L'adaptation sociale du sourd aux États-Unis est rendu plus aisée par les améliorations apportées aux téléphones: attaches télétypes, indicateurs de paroles, écriture électrique.

Une mention toute spéciale doit ětre apportée aux individus sourds qui avec l'aide de professionals de l'ouïe et sous le patronage fédéral travaillent sans cesse au développement d'aides et à la recherche de méthodes de rehabilitation et d'éducation toujours plus poussées.