Prisant 1Kristy PrisantSpeech- 1Clifford RuthOctober 28, 2008Informative Speech OutlineThe Truth About Deaf PeopleI. Introduction A. Attention Getter: “I am invisible. Often, people are not interested in me. They just kind of brush me off, so I feel really isolated. Some people mock me- they see me talking with my hands, and they laugh at me” (Minton). This is a quote by Ricky Romero, a 19 year old college student at RCC. He is Deaf and has had to live with the fact that most people will not try to communicate with him because they are scared and intimidated by him. B. Thesis: Today I am going to shed light on some of the lies that we believe about Deaf people. C. Fairhearing: RCC is only a few minutes away from one of the biggest school for the Deaf in California. According to the school’s website, there are currently 500 students from ages 18 months to 22 years who attend the California School for the Deaf Riverside (“About CSDR”). That number does not include all of the Deaf adults who are out of school and live in Riverside. All of this is said to point out that there is a very high chance that you will run into a Deaf person at your work orat the local bookstore. I am currently taking sign language and have learned so much about the culture and community of Deaf people. I have found out that my pastviews of them were completely wrong. I want to share the truth with you so that thenext time you see someone who is Deaf you will not be intimidated by them. D. Overview: I am going to talk about some of the lies we hear about Deaf people. The Start with blank slideTestimonyStatement of FactTransitionContrastPrisant 2first one is that Deaf people are handicapped. The next one is that sign language is not a real language. The last one is that the Deaf don’t want to communicate with people who are hearing. II. BodyA. Let’s begin with lie number one: Deaf people are handicapped.1. Many people refer to those who can’t hear as hearing impaired. Deaf people do not appreciate this term at allbecause it implies that something is wrong with their ears. In reality, nothing is wrong and it is simply a different way of living. Most Deaf people are actually proud of the way they are and that they can get along just fine in a hearing world. 2. The author of American Sign Language The Easy Way points out that Deaf people do the same things as thosewho are not Deaf. “They work, own homes, get married, raise families, play sports, watch videos, and so forth” (Stewart, 100). a. On October 18, 2008 The Press-Enterprise newspaper wrote that the School for the Deaf in Riverside beat theSchool for the Deaf in Fremont 12-2 (The Press-Enterprise). This was huge for the Deaf students in Riverside because it was their first victory in over 2 years. Nonetheless, it proves that Deaf kids also play sports.b. I actually went to this homecoming game at CSDR, California School for the Deaf Riverside. Everything looked exactly the same as a typical high school game.There were coaches and referees. There were mascots and cheerleaders. Everyone was deep in conversation, and there was excitement in the air. The only difference was the quietness in which all these activities took place. 3. Now we have clarified that Deaf people are not handicapped, so let’s look at their language. B. Lie number two: Sign language is not a real language.1. Many people believe that sign language is just English with hand signs instead of words. Before I started taking American Sign Language I thought this was true. I also thought that Deaf people could not communicate as effectively as hearing people because their language was limited. This is not true at all. 2. Sign language is just as effective, if not more, as someone speaking a language. The beauty about using your hands to communicate is that you can expressPrisant 3more than one idea at a time. With English we are limited to one word or thought at a time. In sign language you can communicate an entire sentence withjust one sign. a. Example: In English you might say “What time is it?”b. In sign language this could be said with one simple gesture. 3. Now let’s talk about how to communicate with them.C. Lie number three: Deaf people don’t want to communicate with hearing people. 1. I was one of the people who believed the lie that Deaf people would not want to take the time to communicate with me because I don’t know that much sign language. 2. In Ricky’s interview with Lynn Minton he signs that he wishes people would take more time with him. Even if a person can’t sign, he would rather have them write back and forth for a little while and get to know him. Even a smallamount of communication is betterthan ignoring him completely. 3. No matter how silly you might feelby communicating in this way, the least you can do is take a few minutes of your time in order to help people like Ricky feel accepted and noticed. III. ConclusionA. Review: Today we uncovered some of the lies that people believe concerning the Deaf. The lies are that Deaf people are handicapped, that sign language is nota real language, and that Deaf people don’t want to communicate with hearing people. B. Finality: Now that you know the truth about Deaf people, next time you run intosomeone who can’t hear try taking the time to show them that you care. Kindness will always cheer a person up. TestimonyStatement of FactIllustrationShow slides of football gameTransitionDemonstrate signingTransition Transition Talk slowerPrisant 4As Mark Twain once said, “Kindness is a language deaf people can hear and blind see” (“Brainy Quote”).Bibliography"About CSDR". California School for the Deaf Riverside. October 25, 2008 <csdr-cde.ca.gov/csdr/>.“Brainy Quote”. Mark Twain Quotes. October 25, 2008. <http://www.brainyquote.com/ quotes/authors/m/mark_twain.html>.“CSDR Finally Wins.” The Press-Enterprise. October 18, 2008. Minton, Lynn. “Fresh Voices”. Parade Magazine. Stewart, David, Stewart, Elizabeth, and Little, Jessalyn. American Sign Language The Easy Way. New York: Barron's Educational Series, Inc.,