Socialization Amidst Hearing People

"Socialization:” the process by which a human being beginning at infancy acquires the habits, beliefs, and accumulated knowledge of society through education and training for adult status (Merriam-Webster’s Medical Dictionary)

In the past few years I’ve found myself interacting with many individuals from many walks of life in the deaf community. The variety of experiences that I’ve had led me to make many observations about the differences between hearing and deaf people in terms of socialization. Hard-of-hearing people aren’t necessarily included in my analysis because any residual hearing might give them an advantage that profoundly deaf individuals may not have. These observations prompted me to ask how deaf kids with cochlear implants might interact with their hearing peers in an “oral” environment today.

Who would these CI users identify themselves more with culturally-wise, deaf or hearing people?

Defining Socialization

What exactly is socialization anyway? According to Wikipedia, sociologists might divide socialization into six categories, with the five main forms being developmental, primary, secondary, anticipatory, and resocialization. Developmental socialization consists of learning behavior and social skills. Primary socialization involves the various aspects of culture such as attitudes, beliefs, and values. Secondary socialization is typical of smaller groups within society, such as cliques or professions. Resocialization is the process of throwing away old patterns and taking on new ones during a transition to a new part of one's life.

Wikipedia also describes the agents of socialization to be the family, the school, peer groups, and the mass media. Religion, the government, and the workplace can also serve as agents. In the end socialization essentially is the process of an individual forming his or her own social identity as compared to others.

Socialization of the Deaf

Historically there has been a communication gap between the hearing and the deaf, either because the deaf would use a form of visual communication or their speech intelligibility hindered any real sense of interaction on a personal level. Today with the advent of cochlear implants, more kids are finding themselves with improved speech and auditory perception. As a result there is an increase in children who don’t use visual communication as much as they communicate verbally.

Mainstreaming has been on the rise since the inception of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, with more parents opting to have their deaf children grow up out of isolation from their hearing peers. Typically hearing parents will push for speech therapy and auditory training for their deaf children so they can fit in better in the society that they were born into. At the same time, there are still children who attend residential schools of the deaf who don’t get to have the same experience as their hearing peers. The difference in experiences would seem to lead to different types of primary socialization.

I have no experience with residential schools as my parents chose to mainstream me in the public school system in Wilmington, NC. Yet, I have heard stories from other deaf and hearing adults who either work there or have some personal experience. Perhaps the most extreme case that I came across was when my dad’s girlfriend told me of the time she went along with a close friend of hers who interviewed for a job at the Eastern NC School of the Deaf. She explained that while she sat in the waiting area of the administrative office she heard some teachers screaming at the students, describing it as “very disturbing”. Another incident took place at a school of the deaf in New York City, where a Teachers College graduate student was making observations. This deaf student (studying Teaching ASL as a Foreign Language) stated that some teachers would make fun of the children in various ways. I find it difficult to recall a very positive story out of all those experiences.

From listening to those stories, the idea came to me that those who grew up in schools of the deaf might experience a different type of developmental socialization. Instead of the typical experience of growing up with hearing peers and developing “street smarts” or knowledge of culture and social skills, those children could have a limited and convoluted perspective of the ways and mannerisms of society. The idea alone that deaf children might have more difficulty communicating with hearing people verbally could hinder their ability to socialize with their hearing peers outside the residential school setting. This may not necessarily be the case for each deaf child as there are other agents of socialization besides the school.

A Sense of Identity

Advocates for the cochlear implants may outline the idea that deaf children will have the ability to communicate with their hearing peers on a personal level that wouldn’t be possible with visual communication (assuming that those peers aren’t fluent in ASL or Cued Speech). From experience, I have to say that this is not entirely invalid. I’ve observed deaf children with CIs talk to siblings and friends on a level that twenty years ago would have been deemed extraordinary. Some of these children used Cued Speech while others grew up under the AVT/oral approach. This is not to say that there are still children out there who won’t benefit from the cochlear implant and will undergo a different process of socialization. The point to make is that as more deaf children are being mainstreamed they will go through the same experience as their hearing peers, living the psychological roller-coaster that is their childhood.

However the question remains in how these CI users will identify themselves. There is the issue of making the connection that they have a hearing loss. There is one particular case that comes to mind. A mother of a deaf CI user told me of a time when she asked her son about what it was like being deaf. A supporter of the Auditory-Verbal approach, she expressed delight when she stated that her son simply stated he was not deaf. There are other cases where I've seen children take their CIs off in response to incessant nagging by parents or siblings.

My Experience

I have a mixed experience. In high school I rejected the notion that my deafness defined me. I fired my transliterators and refrained from enforcing my Individualized Education Plan (IEP). In college, despite being reminded on the first day of classes each semester, I refused to register for disability services. Yet, at the same time I would use my deafness against my mother whenever we got into arguments.

Communication-wise I am more at ease with hearing people as I grew up mainstreamed and the vast majority of my friends were hearing. I've worked in positions that involve a lot of verbal communication, including cooks and servers in the food industry. Yet, don't make the assumption that I don't communicate with deaf people. In the past few years I've found myself more involved in the deaf community than ever before. Consequentially I'm making efforts to learn ASL and contribute to the education of deaf and hard of hearing children. I've managed to find a balance between the two cultures, embracing ideas and values in each culture, creating a good example of resocialization.

Maybe the next generation of deaf CI users might do the same thing and become more involved in the deaf community as they grow older. Only time will tell.