Journal 4-1: Sound and Furious

I. In last time's journal, I asked the question of how the mentally challenged are typically treated in American jails. What I found can in some ways be disturbing. From what it said there is very little being done to help those who are mentally handicapped. In one case there was a man that had to wait three months to see a psychiatrist after he was incarcerated, when the man was a known schizophrenic and bipolar.
     In another case, there was a man that reported a lot of abuse coming from the prison guards that would not give him his medicine until he seriously hurted himself. This just goes to show that the prison system is messed up and needs to be fixed, or else there could be a large amount of serious harm done to the inmates. ore than there already is.

II. Recently in class, we have been watching the documentary Sound and Fury, which is about two families decisions to give their deaf children the cochlear implant in order for them to hear. Some of the main reasons the family thats parents are both deaf do not want their child, Heather, to receive it is because the believe it will take away from deaf culture. The other family has two hearing parents but one of their twin boys, Peter, was born deaf. These two families' husbands are brothers. In which case one brother is deaf and the other is hearing.

     I believe it is wrong for the majoritally deaf family to not give Heather the cochlear implant. From the video it seems they made the decision themselves but wanted Heather to feel like she made the decision herself. From the other families that were interviewed throughout the movie, it seemed there was an extreme difference in the child's ability to speak based on the fact of his or her own parent's speaking abilities. I don't believe that deaf culture would die out if a few deaf children here and there receive cochlear implants.

III. After learning so much about the deaf community through Sound and Fury, I want to explore more about college options for deaf people. Are there any specific colleges in the United States devoted to deaf learning?


Sources:
Aesthetic Design and Photography. (May 30, 2009). http://www.aestheticdesign.com/blog/tag/cochlear-implant/.

Ito, Suzanne. (May 5, 2010). LA Men's Jail is a "Modern Day Medieval Dungeon".  http://www.aclu.org/blog/prisoners-rights/la-mens-jail-modern-day-medieval-dungeon.

Smith, Christopher. (2000). http://weekinrewind.blogspot.com/2007/09/sound-and-fury-movie-dvd-review-2000.html.