Symposium Recap of ‘From Silence to Pride’
National Deaf History Month Symposium

iStudent Blog
Symposium Recap of ‘From Silence to Pride’

Published: October 25, 2024 by Matsuko Friedland

In honor of National Deaf History Month, the San José State University iSchool hosted a free online symposium on April 30, 2024, titled “Silence to Pride”. A recording of the event is available on YouTube. The symposium featured co-keynotes KayCee Choi and Alicia Deal, and a panel with Brenden Gilbert, Evelyn Keolian, Sadia R. Khan, and Brad McKenna.

The symposium started off with Dr. Chow welcoming everyone to the event and introducing the two keynote speakers: KayCee Choi and Alicia Deal.

In their keynote presentation, titled Silence to Pride, KayCee and Alicia shared how their relationships with their Deafness changed over time similarly to how Deafness has been perceived by society throughout history: from confusion and shame/closeted to acceptance and pride.

Introduction slide for "Silence to pride" featuring a photo of an ear with a hearing aid, and illustrations of sound waves and colorful rings and bursts around a globe.

Alicia spoke about the negative experience she had when she was first diagnosed with hearing loss:

“I felt I couldn’t ask for help. I felt fearful and confused about the [hearing loss] diagnosis and didn’t know what I could ask for, and the adults around me didn’t seem to have the answers either, which stresses the importance of learning about disability and Deaf History and Culture” - Alicia Deal

Photo of Alicia Deal, who has light skin and shoulder-length brown hair.

Both speakers talked about the challenges they faced in mainstream schools that did not accommodate their disabilities. They also talked about how they grew to become more confident with their Deafness and asking for accommodations.

Photo of KayCee Choi, who has light skin and short dark hair, wearing glasses, a purple dress shirt and striped tie, and a black vest.

For KayCee, working at a library helped them to become more confident with their Deafness:

“I tried to hide [my Deafness] as much as possible. But then Deaf customers started coming into the library and so there was no hiding without [withholding] services. And I’ve come into my own, being comfortable being a Deaf person and advocating” - KayCee Choi

Next, Alicia talked about the major socio-political events in Deaf history, including both positive and negative events. Alicia notes that “while celebrating achievements and milestones … is important, acknowledging the systemic discrimination, marginalization, and oppression … is equally crucial”.

Slide featuring images of significant people in Deaf history, including teachers, athletes, and actors.

KayCee then talked about the medical and technological events in Deaf history, beginning with medicine and technology addressing Deafness itself to accommodations that include Deaf people.

Slide featuring photos of a variety of assistive devices for hearing, including an ear trumpet from 1634, speech amplifiers from 1934 and 1954,hearing aids from 1996, and smartphone connected hearing aids from the 2000s.

The panel portion of the event then began, with the speakers discussing and answering questions from KayCee and the audience, including topics such as Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) representation in media and greater awareness of Deafness, American Sign Language (ASL) and Deaf culture, assistive technology and the use of technology in building community, and Deafness in libraries

Some best practices from this symposium:

  • Learn about disabilities, and Deaf history and culture.
  • Learn ASL from Deaf instructors as they are the experts on Deaf language and culture.
  • More Deaf representation: hire Deaf people and choose media created by Deaf people, especially when the topic is about Deaf culture.
  • Ask about communication preferences and respect Deaf peoples’ stated needs, which may change depending on the situation. Examples include writing, texting, virtual interpreters, in-person interpreters, Deaf interpreters, and more.
  • Technology can be helpful but is not always the best solution. Assistive technology can improve accessibility and technology such as social media can help improve community connection. However, real people such as interpreters and captioners are better than technology in many cases.
  • Make things accessible and inclusive! Many of the things that make experiences more accessible to people with disabilities also make those experiences better for everyone.
  • Consider adding Deaf events such as ASL poetry slams and ASL storytelling.

Additional resources from this symposium:

Access the full symposium:

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