Deaf Awareness

Adapting to a world full of hearing people can be overwhelming, especially when you are exactly like them but have only been born or have developed some sort of hearing loss. Despite the continuous adversity that the Deaf culture has faced, there is one thing that only continues to improve and that is access. Since the ADA’s laws have become stricter in regard to access, technology, communication, and resources continue to expand. Unfortunately, awareness is still gaining its reputation. One of the issues on behalf of awareness is the availability of understanding between a Deaf person and an officer. Since they are standing for the law, it is often time that they believe that they are doing the “right” thing on behalf of the law; however,
Due to the multiple issues appearing on the news on behalf of issues that have occurred around the world, it is clear that officers are not trained thoroughly on how to approach the Deaf Community. It is common for a police officer to demand to see a person’s license and registration after they have pulled them over for speeding, but what is the appropriate way to handle an interaction with a Deaf person? As I have grown up in the Deaf Community, I have heard several different stories of inappropriate interactions between an uneducated police officer and a Deaf person. One of these stories involving a police officer asking the Deaf individual to see their license and taking it upon himself to attempt a sign although he had no history of ever having sign-language classes. The officer ended up signing something completely insulting to the Deaf individual, which resulted in her driving off. Obviously, the police officer chased after her, which involved an even deeper interrogation. This interrogation, however, included a professional interpreter, whom explained that the police officer had signed something completely perverted to her, so she drove off. As I mentioned before, this is only one story out of several that I have heard over the years. Although signing can seem generic to the uneducated, it is significant that an interpreter be present before any type of interrogation can happen. As awareness is still expanding, I strongly believe that law training should have significantly deeper lessons on interactions within the Deaf Culture. Additionally, it is much easier to avoid tragedy by simply being educated about the diverse population that this world holds. The world continues to grow, meaning our education and advocacy should as