Deaf Rights - Essay Sample

Introduction

One of the essential rights of a deaf child is the right to grow up knowing and using both a sign language and an oral language and where possible in it's written and spoken form to ensure the child grows to their full potential. Just like a hearing child learns a language in the first few years of life, a deaf child should be able to learn a language as early as they can equally. According to Tom et al. (2013), for most deaf children, exposure to only spoken language does not ensure language fluency as it cannot be said to be an accessible language to them. Lack of exposure of these children to alternative means of communication, therefore, leads to linguistic deprivation.

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Language is very vital as it enables a child to accomplish several things. First, Language is essential to forming social ties between the child and their parents. It is where there is language that the bond between a child and a parent is founded and strengthened. Secondly, it is through communication that a child can developmental abilities such as reasoning, abstracting, memorizing among others. The absence of language may lead to adverse effects on the child's mental development. The child also acquires world knowledge through language during conversations with parents, siblings and other people in society.

Moreover, language enables a deaf child to communicate adequately with persons who are part of his surroundings. These include parents, siblings, teachers and other members of his world. The deaf need to be part of both the hearing and the Deaf world. They must be able to comfortably fit and identify with both persons who hear and persons who like them, are deaf (Francois, 2001).

Sign language is the first accessible language to deaf children. It is accessible because it consists of a combination of signs passed down through generations of other deaf children as an audio-visual manual. As such, just like hearing children learn their oral language, deaf children can easily acquire sign language when exposed to the right environment (Tom et al., 2013). Sign language is crucial because it enables a child to accustom and contact the Deaf world which is one of the societies they belong to. Also, sign language will allow the child to acquire an oral language as a second language. Sign language can meet the immediate needs of a deaf child, and as such, it should be taught as early as possible.

A deaf child must also be able to use an oral language which is the language used by the hearing persons in his surroundings. This is essential to ensure that there is communication between the deaf and the hearing where the hearing does not know the sign language. The child must, therefore, be exposed to the oral language in its written form and where possible in its spoken mode as this will safeguard their academic and professional success. Being bilingual will guarantee a deaf child's future than knowing a single language. It is the responsibility of every member of society to help them grow up as such (Francois, 2001).

The importance of language necessitates new-born hearing loss screening Laws to facilitate detection of such diagnosis early enough to ensure interventions are made. Seventeen states in the United States have enacted such laws, fourteen of which require that health insurers bear the costs of screening. Without language, it is impossible for the deaf to acquire other fundamental rights such as the right to education and the right to Health. The right to education is enshrined in most state constitutions. All persons of school age should be able to access education. However without language, it would be impossible for the deaf to obtain an education as most information in schools is passed through language, be it signed, spoken or written.

Similarly access to medical requires communication. For linguistically deprived children, it would be difficult to safeguard this right - the more reason it should be emphasised.

On the Legal framework governing the right to Language, it is important to note that the United States of America Constitution does not recognise Communication as a fundamental right per' se (Tom et al., 2013). However, some legal instruments support the right to Language. For instance, the United States Equal Protection Clause 14th Schedule has tried to breach the gap by stating that no state shall deny equal protection to its citizens. Consequently, Congress has passed an IDEA requiring public schools to provide free and appropriate educational programs for children who need specific or specialised education due to a disability. On the Clause for deaf children, the IDEA requires that their communication needs should be considered in the system of learning. The requirement also encompasses ensuring that the deaf can communicate with their peers and the provision of extra devices or services to aid communication where necessary. Even, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 tries to cater for the right to education of persons with disability by providing that the virtue of their disability can not deny people with disabilities services. The services listed include access to a college, university or other institutions of higher learning. The Act by ensuring the right to education, it safeguards the right to language because the right is a requirement to education (Tom et al., 2013).

The Americans with Disability Act of 1990 as amended in 2008 requires public accommodations and private entities to provide aid and services where necessary to ensure effective communication with people with disability. This requirement implies the right to language. The Act also requires telecommunications to relay information in the most efficient manner of hearing impaired or speech impaired individuals. Also, the Act prohibits discrimination of individuals with a disability. Additionally, the IDEA of 1975 as amended in 2004 seems to support a right to language by providing that interpretation services should be availed in schools for the benefit of children with hearing challenges. Specific provisions require that the hearing aids provided to students with hearing impairment should be functioning correctly. Also, those deaf parents should be provided with interpretation services in IEP meetings where necessary to ensure they understand the proceedings of the meeting.

The right of language necessitates that states fund programmes to ensure that deaf children are allowed to learn sign language and further oral communication. Such state-funded programs would go a long way to ensure that deaf children acquire the necessary linguistic competency for them to have an equal opportunity under the law. Among the programs include early detection of the hearing impairment in infants by way of screening. Also, institutions of programs to train parents with deaf new-borns to use sign language would go a long way in ensuring that the children acquire the language faster and in a more straightforward manner.

Ninety per cent of deaf children is born to at least one hearing parent, which means they grow in a high speech environment thus making it difficult for them to be exposed to people like them. The challenge is many parents do not know any other deaf individuals and therefore bringing about the difficulty of socialising their child into a deaf community. Programmes such as summer camps for deaf individuals would be a good initiative by the state to ensure that deaf children can socialise with others with the same impairment. Such programs would achieve the goal of bringing the deaf children and their families together and thus help better development in the sign language acquisition and allow phsycho-social well-being of deaf children. The state should ensure equal protection of its citizens. Language for the deaf is a critical right that must be protected and safeguarded not only for the good of the deaf children but also for the good of the whole society (Tom et al., 2013).

References

Grosjean, F. (2001). The Right of the Deaf Child to Grow Up Bilingual. Sign Language Studies, 1(2), 110-114. doi:10.1353/sls.2001.0003

Humphries, T., Kushalnagar, R., Mathur, G., Napoli, D. J., Padden, C., Rathmann, C., & Smith, S. (2013). The Right to Language. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 41(4), 872-884. doi:10.1111/jlme.12097