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Deaf Gain is a theoretical framework that counters the traditional view that deafness is a debilitating loss. Through this framework, our society can view how deafness and its communities contribute in various ways such as but not limited to philosophical, language, architecture, social, cultural and disabilities studies. As a social and linguistic minority, its phenomena in visual language is worth noting as a compelling study of human capabilities and desire to communicate.

Philosophical Gains

Philosophically, deafness is typically perceived as a loss while Deaf communities and its members commemorate it with a sense of pride and normalcy. Also, as a cultural, linguistic minority, deaf communities and its members hail deafness with a sense of pride. H-Dirksen L. Bauman and Joseph J. Murray who co-authored Deaf Gain: Raising the Stakes for Human Diversity (2014) breaks down this framework into six aspects of gains, and one point is philosophical which touches on normalcy and biocultural diversity.^{[citation needed]}

Language Gains

Bilingualism

All over the world, Deaf people and signed languages are now being researched for studies about bilingualism and linguistics. Signed languages represent a cultural-linguistic minority which researchers are using to understand more about linguistics and bilingualism as a whole.^{[citation needed]}

Current studies in bilingualism are addressing cultural and linguistic minorities like signed languages and the Deaf. Specifically, these studies are focusing on how these individuals are using their native and primary language to acquire a second language. According to Garcia and Cole, theoretical frameworks in bilingualism are typically based on research of hearing but since have been influenced, redirected or reframed by studies in bilingualism of the Deaf.

American Sign Language (ASL) is revered as the primary and natural language of American Deaf people^{[by whom?]}. The fundamental language organization in ASL using linguistic analyses discovered by William Stokoe in the book Sign Language Structure: An Outline of Visual Communication Systems of the American Deaf (1960) embedded itself into the studies of linguistics in signed languages.^{[citation needed]}

According to George Veditz, "Sign Language is the noblest gift God has given to deaf people".^{[citation needed]} Rather than seeing deafness as an hearing loss in which something was missing, the term "Deaf Gain" was coined by Bauman and Murray as an effort to change public perception of deafness from what is lost to what is gained. They believed language to be an important aspect of what make us human and Sign Language and deaf people were the pioneers in revamping how we view previously viewed language. For instance, language have long been believed to be a unimodal phenomenon, however, although not uniformly agreed by all linguistics, more linguistics are recognizing that language constitutes multiple modalities. Deaf people and the study of sign languages have opened up new possibilities and a renewed attention toward sign language has expanded and influenced formerly perceived language ideologies.

Gainful Employment

It have been documented that hiring Deaf employees have been beneficial for their hearing employers in terms of work productivity and efficiency in manual labor. For instance, in 1905, a New York times article wrote an interesting piece on how sign language use is the reason deaf workers are more efficient at making telephones than hearing workers. Another example was an article published by the New York Times in 1907 in which deaf employees were valued and some employers actively recruit deaf workers as is the case of a bottling company. The owner of the bottling company mentioned how his Deaf workers were better workmen in all their factories and more than 50% of the employees were Deaf. In addition, after 7 years of observation the employer stated that deaf workers are distinguished from hearing works by their faithfulness and intelligence. Once introduced to an idea, the idea is quickly grasped and the task are performed efficiently. Although dating back to the early twentieth century, these exempts are all example of deaf people ability to contribute to the workforce.

Another example in Oaxaca, Mexico, the government invested millions of dollars in 230 security cameras, and they have deaf and hard of hearing securities to monitor the screens due to their excellent work in visual detection. (Cite from Deaf Gain: Raising... P. xxv)

Spacial Memory

Deaf fluent signers have multiple memory processing advantages where they perceive the other signer's perspective of space that requires the deaf listeners to rotate the space in their mind and locate the surroundings/things. (Cite from Deaf Gain: Raising...P.137)

Baby Sign

Baby sign was invented by several creators, especially Joseph Garica who has some sign language interpreting experience, and the business had skyrocketed due to the positive benefits of hearing babies learning signs (Cite from Deaf Gain: Raising... P.147) After researching and analyzing deaf children's acquisition in language, learning how to express through sign language before speaking shows much more effective for those children to acquire language at birth.

Cognitive Gains

Often, scientists were wrong about many things in hundred years ago. Take flat Earth as example, everyone believed that Earth was a flat. Years later, they turned out to be wrong.

Now, that is similar to the concept of language. The language was believed to be based on the speech. Speech is the key to success in language development. That concept had been last for a long time. Around 1950s, it had been prove wrong. It is all in human mind. The human mind is capable of developing the language in any forms.

A coach of junior national snowboard team actually hired a deaf person to train them. The deaf person noticed that snowboarders always relied on their hear to detect the snow cutting by the board. That helps them to adjust their speed and turns. The deaf person challenged them to put on earplugs to force them to depend on the feeling of vibration. The junior team struggled at first because they lost their most important tool that help them to snowboarding. In time, they improved and became better snowboarders than ever because they learned to feel the snow often. (Reframing cite)

Cultural Gains

Transnationalism

It is never easy for other hearing people to communicate with other hearing people with different language especially when they are traveling other countries.(Reframing cite)e Any attempts to communication through different kinds of forms such as writing or gesture are challenging. Deaf people are quite different. They are so used to interact with hearing people for the most of the time of their life. They learned to how to communicate in a different method than their own language. Due to that, they are capable of communicate with other deaf people from other countries. They understand the gestures very well. There is almost no language barriers between two deaf people from different countries. They are the very strong model of cosmopolitan community that hearing people would never compare to.

Also, they showed some signs of collectivism. Hearing people depend on their the sound to communicate and they don't maintain eye contact in generally. Deaf people required to maintain eye contract to communicate. In some way, they developed a bond and trust. (Cite from both reframing and Deaf Gain:raising)

“Deaf culture possesses all those features universal to being human.” Martha's Vineyard mapThrough the cultural lens, the Deaf community does not view their deafness as a loss but an identity. In contrast to being regarded as a disability, deaf people believe that deafness is merely a hearing privation.

Martha’s Vineyard is a historical example of a thriving community that consisted of what many Deaf people consider a utopia. As reported by Nora Groce, the deaf residents of Martha Vineyard in the 1800s were viewed as “pretty normal”, “merely a human variation such as eye color.”

Creative Gains

Literature

Deaf people are not limited to writing poetry alone. Hearing people can only express their poetry via writing and speaking. Deaf people can express the poetry through visual vernacular, acting, singing, or writing. Deaf people took that poetry to next level. They can use their hands to create the shape or image from the poetry. It gives the audience a better understanding of what the poetry is about.

The Deaf Space Project

Let's imagine a world design by Deaf architects. The architecture will be totally different because Deaf architects have a unique perspective on building and designing.

The DeafSpace Project (DSP) was established in 2005 by Hansel Bauman in conjunction with ASL and Deaf Studies Department at Gallaudet University. Deaf Space guidelines were developed focusing on five major touch points: sensory reach, space and proximity, mobility and proximity, light and color, and acoustics.

Within sensory reach, Deaf people "read" activities in their surroundings through tactile and visual cues. Space is critical for Deaf people to have clear communication. Deaf signers typically maintain distance for effective visual communication using eye gaze, scanning the surrounding, and adjusting without interruption to the discourse. Deaf people use their eyes everyday, especially to communicate. Poor lighting conditions such as glare, shadow patterns, and backlighting interrupt visual communication and can lead to visual exhaustion. Lastly, acoustics involving reducing reverberation and background noise are considered to address varied hearing level for Deaf people.^{[citation needed]}

In the media

The topic of Deaf Gains was mentioned in the American television series Switched at Birth

References

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