"Do you lipread?" Reframed
-
0:21 - 0:25Recently, I took my dog to the vet, and after
waiting, the doctor came in. The first thing
he did was look at me and asked "Do you
lipread?" -
0:25 - 0:33I looked back at him and signed "Yes, do you
understand sign language?" -
0:33 - 0:40He looked at me with incomprehension, and
then wrote -
0:40 - 0:46"Do you lipread at all?"
-
0:46 - 0:56So I wrote back, "Do you understand sign at
all?" -
0:56 - 1:02He almost immediately got a look that said
"point taken" -
1:02 - 1:05and after that we wrote back and forth with
no problem. -
1:05 - 1:15Why do I do that? By looking at me and
asking if I lipread, -
1:15 - 1:26he put a frame on me that I am handicapped,
and that I need to lipread to accommodate
him. -
1:26 - 1:37I rejected that frame and put a different
frame on myself -- -
1:37 - 1:46that we use two different, but equal
languages. His language is spoken, mine is
signed. -
1:46 - 1:54Nothing to do with not being able to hear or
lipread or being handicapped or disabled or
"broken". -
1:54 - 2:04The new frame is that I use a different
language, and if he doesn't understand me,
it's the same with me to him. -
2:04 - 2:14Easy way to make that point!
-
2:14 - 2:24Same thing when I order at a fast food
restaurant or enter a doctor's office for an
appointment or any situation where I need
customer service -- -
2:24 - 2:31I approach these people and sign what I want.
-
2:31 - 2:47I always, or almost always get a response of
"I don't understand what you're saying. Can
we write?" And that's always fine with me. -
2:47 - 2:57Sometimes, I get a nice surprise to find they
learned sign in High School or College or
their parents are Deaf -
2:57 - 3:00and we conduct our business much more easily.
-
3:00 - 3:02Why do I do that?
-
3:02 - 3:12Suppose I were to approach them and verbally
speak what I wanted. -
3:12 - 3:24It would mean that they might overlook the
fact that I'm Deaf, and therefore have no
exposure to the fact that there are Deaf
people out there. -
3:24 - 3:35Also, it would again be a case of my
accommodation to them, without their learning
how to accommodate to me or other Deaf
people. -
3:35 - 3:45Suppose I were to instead approach them and
gesture that I'm Deaf and ask if we can
write, -
3:45 - 3:53the frame gets put on me that "He's
handicapped, he can't talk", and they
grudgingly get out paper and pencil to write. -
3:53 - 4:02Doing it this way allows them to maintain
that "handicapped" framing. -
4:02 - 4:10So instead, I approach them by signing, and
often what happens is that -
4:10 - 4:19I see their mental gears turning and thinking
"I don't understand him!" Not, "He doesn't
understand me" -- -
4:19 - 4:27"I don't understand him". They're the ones
with the problem (not me). -
4:27 - 4:34Doing this, I give them exposure to Deaf
people, -
4:34 - 4:44plus, I make them think "How can I work with
this Deaf person?" -
4:44 - 4:54When they suggest we write, and it is
simplified communication between us, they
will remember this the next time they meet a
Deaf person. -
4:54 - 4:59They will just whip out that paper and pen
quickly. -
4:59 - 5:09And again, I'm helping to create a new
reframing -- not one of being handicapped, -
5:09 - 5:17but one of linguistic difference -- they
don't understand my language, -
5:17 - 5:24so how can we work together on an even level?
-
5:24 - 5:26Through writing.
-
5:26 -Frames are powerful things!
- Title:
- "Do you lipread?" Reframed
- Description:
-
Discussing how I respond to the question "Do you lipread?" and approach service personnel and why I do it this way.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- Captions Requested
- Duration:
- 05:33
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