Chapter 56 :)

"Should A hearing person write about Deaf Culture?"

 Chapter 56 discussed some topics that had never crossed my mind before. It is a great point that both insiders and outsiders should write about culture so that people can get some understanding from multiple view points. I also think that it is important for the outsider to know some background information on the subject they are observing/ writing about and also always keep an open mind! 
I have been to the Educational Resource Library in Gary Randsdell Hall on Western's campus and while they do have an ASL/ Deaf Culture section it is very mall. Is this just because there isn't much literature on Deaf culture, or is is just that WKU doesn't have many resources? 
When I read the section that talked about Your Deaf Child: A Guide For Parents, I was shocked to read that ASL was not mentioned one single time in the text!! how else are Deaf people supposed to communicate effectively?? I think that it is important that hearing sociologists and linguists are paying more attention to the Deaf community and ASL, maybe more accurate and positive literature will be produced! 
While I can see where some Deaf people could feel suspicious at first about becoming the "subjects of hearing scholars' studies," I really hope that the scholars can be inviting and open minded and maybe learn some ASL so that the Deaf person feels more comfortable and willing to share their culture. 
I thought it was great that the author mentioned a solution to having more Deaf scholars, being that more Deaf people master the complexities of written English. I can not imagine how difficult it is to master... considering I grew up speaking, hearing, and writing English yet I still could never write at a publisher's level. I think I now have a better understanding as to why there is not as much literature out there written by Deaf people. 

***"The root of prejudice is the inability to accept human differences"***  I LOVE this quote! This pretty much sums up this chapter :)