Deaf people and employment. There’s a lot of emotions tied up with the employment issue, being the breadwinner (notice the winner part?), et cetera, ad nauseam. You see it in any community. The other afternoon I was watching a show and half asleep. I dreamed of or remembered one woman saying to her friend, “He needs a job to prove his manhood.” The same is very true in the Deaf community-and, just as with other oppressed communities, Deaf males are seen as more assertive/dominant and have a more difficult time getting a job… And then there’s the simultaneously soul-sucking and sometimes soul-saving SSI.
Deafhood is a process I’m not seeing around the US lately. It’s not “Yay ASL, YAY!” (although such a feeling is certainly a possible outcome of the process.) It’s certainly not an evil conspiracy designed to steal deaf babies from hearing parents. At its heart it is a process of asking questions to help you understand yourself and the world better so you can be all you can be (which, presumably, you can’t do while tortured under the weight of capitalist lies, even though the capitalists seem to be getting bigger and bigger bonuses these days). I think Dr. Ladd has done an excellent job of making this point in the UK. Not so much here. The best piece I’ve seen on American Deaf and the working world was Carol Erting’s “Deaf People and the World of Work” which was published in “The Deaf Way” collection of essays and ideas. But that was a while ago-1994. What conversations I’ve been able to find in the ways of blogs and articles have sensationalism and passion but no facts.
So let’s ask some more specific questions. Asking questions is the heart of Deafhood. Some of these I can respond to. Some of them, not yet. Help if you can, gentle reader, with links.
- First, who are we talking about?
Deaf people, in this decade, 2010-2019. Here, on my blog, this means any person with a hearing loss, whether raised in American Deaf Culture or British or by hearing parents. I even include late-deafened people, based on certain personal experiences. Why? Because even though we make these distinctions between ourselves, hearing people don’t often see the differences between us and we wind up being treated in similar ways regardless of language use or efficiency. The big point, for hearingfolk, is whether we can hear well on the phone-everything else is apparently trivial.
- Are Deaf people less employed or more employed compared to other groups?
Evidence indicates Deaf people have a harder time getting and maintaining employment than other groups.
- What’s our rate of unemployment today?
Interesting question. In the early 90′s a study was released showing 35% of people with hearing impairment are unemployed, better than some minorities but still slightly more than twice the national average (for total unemployment, not just people collecting unemployment.) Governor David Paterson of New York pulled out a number saying 90%, which seems unrealistic. And we have to take these numbers with a very large grain of salt: there are social service agencies which “help” Deaf people get jobs by making them sign up for SSI right away and joining a work program-where they languish for months, because companies get a percentage. Even if jobs are available, they prefer to keep Deaf people in such programs.
Also, in a recession, belt-tightening means Deaf and disabled peoples lose support first. We’ve seen this happen every time there’s economic problems. Programs and funding go, and companies don’t have extra money for interpreters or other accomodations. We get hit harder. Most of us do know how to sacrifice.
- Why do Deaf people have difficulty getting jobs?
There are various reasons given:
- If the Deaf person is more of an ASL user, interpreters can be expensive both in time and money. They also represent going outside of the business for internal business, which is… weird, for some bosses.
- If the Deaf person uses spoken English, other challenges appear; the process of understanding someone orally is fraught with peril (and making oneself understood orally, too).
- Both groups often need help in using telephone services, and hearing people seem to trust the spoken voice much more than they trust the written word-just watch how many people on Judge Judy still blather on about verbal contracts even after she’s asked for paper evidence!
- Interestingly, and this is just my observation, I think most hearing employers are looking for the least unusual candidates for a job. Any difference is going to stand out and the very nature of the human resources game might prejudice employers to Deaf people.
- Where, geographically in America, are Deaf people most and least likely to be employed?
I almost immediately answered, probably mostly in Gallaudet and RIT areas. But is this true? Am I making an assumption? Also, is it easier for Deaf people to get jobs in multicultural environments or environments with one majority culture and language?
- Are Deaf people in America employers as well as employed?
I think there’s more Deaf business owners than we recognize.
- What about our representation in the upper echelons of management?
Have you ever noticed that finance departments, even in Deaf organizations, tend to be hearing?
- What do we do when we’re unemployed?
In the past there were fields like printing and mechanics where Deaf people concentrated and excelled. Today, many of those careers are vanishing and so are technical schools and technical classes in mainstreamed schools. How has this affected he picture of our community? Are new fields replacing the old?
- How does employment/unemployment affect the American mindset?
- Are there certain Deaf people who are employed more than others?
This is a loaded question, but someone’s gonna ask it. Most parents want their kids to grow up and have a job and be independent. Are bilingual ASL/English users more successful? Those raised to speak only English? What is the cause of their rate of success? (And don’t play the Englishisaproblem card: plenty of hearing people, including employers, are functionally illiterate and read below an eighth grade level. The key is to be literate in your field of employment. If you’re not even that, you’re incompetent, and I can’t help you.)
- When Deaf people are employed, are their rights respected?
PLEASE DISCUSS.
One final note. Commenters, please don’t mention SSI. It’s a whole other issue and there’ll be another blog about it, but I notice any time Deaf people talk about finding work the conversation shifts to bashing Deaf people who use social services because nobody has any information about labor. Focus on work.
