Gender Identity and the Deaf Teenager 1

Gender Identity and the Deaf Teenager

LaGuardia Community College

Summer 2018

Victor Rivera
Gender Identity and the Deaf Teenager 2

Gender identity is not as simple as majority society likes to believe it is. This lack of

understanding and acceptance of the full scope of gender identity and expression trickles down

into our education system and affects the development of our students. Consequentially, this

information does not reach residential schools and classrooms with Deaf students. There are

other reasons why Deaf student’s do not understand the complex spectrum of gender

identities. For example, parents not communicating honestly about this topic, the educational

system for Deaf students focuses more on other subjects, and because of the lack of proper

education, the struggle for transgendered Deaf youth to comprehend their complex identity is

much worse compared to their hearing counterparts.

The first step to learning about one’s gender identity starts in the home. One’s parents

has a tremendous effect on a child’s gender development. Typically, when a child is born into a

family, the doctor informs the parents the sex of the baby and based on societal norms and

expectations, the parents raise that child as either a male or a female. The problem with this is

that it is limiting and restrains the child from expressing themselves in a way to feels automatic

and comfortable for them. Boys are taught that masculinity and emotional constipation is

what’s expected, and girls are told to be soft, feminine, and overly emotional. Even more issues

arise when a Deaf child is born to hearing parents.

This is normally the case because about 90% of all Deaf children are born to hearing

parents. Several thousands of Deaf individuals feel disconnected from their families because of

deprivation of communication. Of course, some parents do learn to sign or make up “home

signs” as a way to communicate with their Deaf child or, depending on the child’s hearing loss,

use assistive devices. The problem with this is that complex discussions about deep, profound
Gender Identity and the Deaf Teenager 3

concepts and issues are not always possible with the limitation in communication. In the

summer of 2004, a survey was conducted and published in American Annals of the Deaf that

was sent out to parents of children who attended a school for the Deaf. According to the

results, most parents were embarrassed or reluctant to discuss sex, gender identities, and

sexual attraction based on multiple rationales. Lack skills to communicate in ASL using its full

extent of the language, embarrassed because of graphic nature of signs, some parents feel

underlying fears that this discussion will lead to curiosity and experimentation, and some feel

it’s the school’s responsibilities to teach about such matters (Job, 2004). This is mostly due to

parents not wanting to misinform their children while at the same time, shirking their

responsibilities to their children.

The classroom is a place where student’s minds expand, and their world knowledge

increases with each passing lesson. That is if that student is hearing, able-bodied, and in a

school district with multiple resources and experienced educators. Otherwise, the student’s

miss many milestones in their educational journey. If a Deaf child is mainstreamed into the

classroom and provided an interpreter, the lack of direct teacher-student interaction is

detrimental to the student’s acquisition of information. When discussing sex education in the

classroom, written materials are difficult for Deaf youth to understand particularly if their first

language is ASL. Videotapes also pose an issue because, again, reading closed captions requires

the reading level of the Deaf student to be more advanced. Even with an interpreter in the

classroom, the student would have to divide their attention between the screen and the

interpreter; Therefore, it is critical to develop more materials and programs on sexual

Gender Identity and the Deaf Teenager 4

education that specifically meet the communication needs of Deaf youth (Getch; Young; Denny,

1998).

Another survey was conducted and reported that most educators of Deaf students do

not feel prepared to discuss the topic of sex education in their classroom. Most reported that

their teacher preparation programs focused more on other subjects such as language

development, math skills, reading, writing, and History. Another issue that arose was that

residential schools did not spend enough time discussing the full range of sexual education. A

staggering 35% of residential schools spent less than half a semester and about 10% of schools

only used one class period (Jacoby, 2006). That is not nearly enough time to discuss

contraceptives, gender identity expanding beyond the male and female binary, STI’s, abortion,

and sexuality.

Since most schools instruct on only the male and female anatomies, where does this

leave students who fit outside of the gender binary? According to a study released by The

Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law in 2017, an estimated 0.7 percent of youth ages 13

to 17, or 150,000 youth, identify as transgender in the United States. Unfortunately, there is

not a lot of research on being Deaf and transgender, but we can surmise that there is a sizeable

population of Deaf individuals who identify as gender-queer (a person who does not identify

with conventional gender distinctions). Since Deaf youth do not have access to this kind of

information in the classroom or at home, they tend to lash out, harbor feelings of isolation,

insisting that they feel uncomfortable in the clothing that does not match their identity, and

other detrimental side-effects that can carry over into adulthood.

Gender Identity and the Deaf Teenager 5

There has been an increase of articles circulating regarding transgender youth and the

reactions of their community and parents because of more visibility of transgender adults in the

mainstream media. Some of these do include Deaf youth such as Dominice Denney who is a

Deaf trans-girl with two Deaf parents and Blake Culley, an older Deaf and trans individual who

identifies as gender non-binary and uses “they/them” pronouns. Both individuals report that

Deaf people lack access to information in ASL which can lead to misconceptions and

stigmatization from the hearing and Deaf worlds. Formal education, online material and

incidental learning are the most common methods about discovering complex gender identities

and because Deaf people miss out on this, there is unfortunately a large amount of transphobia

in the Deaf community. Though Deaf do find solidarity within the hearing, queer communities,

audism is still prevalent and lack of understanding of Deaf culture, thus, causing cultural

misunderstandings and conflicts.

Interpreters who happen to be in classrooms with Deaf teenagers need to feel

comfortable interpreting information regarding sexual education. It’s important that

interpreters work with teachers to ensure that all material can meet the needs of the Deaf

student and that they have access to the information beforehand to feel more prepared. If

possible, it is also important that the interpreter advocate for the curriculum to not only include

heterosexual, male-female relations and anatomy but to also include more queer bodies,

gender identity and expression, sexuality, and more medically based information about Sexually

Transmitted Diseases. Educational interpreters must build a relationship with the Deaf

student(s) to ensure that their learning needs are being met. This includes respecting the

students gender identity, using their preferred pronouns and name, being sensitive to any
Gender Identity and the Deaf Teenager 6

psychological distractions they might experience, and leading them to appropriate resources if

they come to you for advice or help.

Though there have been huge strides in the right direction in education, our society still

has a long way to go before we start freely discussing the gender binary, sexuality, and more

inclusive entities in our general education and residential classrooms. The first step is for more

parents to start having discussions with their Deaf children about their gender identity at home.

Hearing parents have a duty to their Deaf children to develop a proper form of communication,

preferably ASL, if they wish to raise a healthy, self-aware child. The second step is for more

schools to follow in California’s School for the Deaf in Fremont’s example and introduce a new

sex education curriculum that includes the discussion of gender, sexuality, transgender

individuals with medically accurate and updated information. Of course, this is not without

backlash from many traditional and religious parents, but many believe this is a tremendous

milestone for Deaf education. Lastly, we must honor, respect, and understand Deaf transgender

youth. The teenage years are the years of self-discovery, and we must nurture and properly

educate our youth if we want them to become well-adjusted and informed adults.
 Gender Identity and the Deaf Teenager 7

Works Cited

Job, J. (2004). Factors Involved in the Ineffective Dissemination of Sexuality Information to

Individuals Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. American Annals of the Deaf,149(3), 264-273.

doi:10.1353/aad.2004.0025

S. J. (2006, April/May). Sexuality Education for Deaf Students: Current Curricular and Administrative

Realities. Retrieved August, from Research at Gallaudet.

doi:https://research.gallaudet.edu/Publications/ragu_spring2006.pdf

Y. Q., M. Y., & G. D. (1998). Sexuality Education for Students Who Are Deaf: Current Practices and

Concerns. Sexuality and Disability,16(4), 269-281.

doi:https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023015811639