Little research exists about Saudi deaf education and Saudi Deaf culture. Using an emic qualitative design, two deaf male Saudis were interviewed and asked to share their life stories. These individuals had grown up in hearing families and the goal was to investigate their life experiences. The interviews were conducted in their first language, SASL, to ensure their comprehension of the questions as most deaf Saudis have low levels of literacy. Participants were from two different cities with two different educational backgrounds. A qualitative narrative analysis captured a more detailed description of how these individuals recalled growing up as a deaf person in a hearing family and later being exposed to sign language and Deaf culture. Both stories highlighted the importance of communication in both positive and negative ways. Results found that Saudi deaf individuals face many challenges in their life, such as language deprivation, poor quality education, and a poor work environment.
KeywordsDeaf Life StoriesSaudi Deaf CommunityDeaf CultureDeaf Community
Alamri, A. (2017a). Saudi Sign Language Interpreters: Their Attitudes towards Professional Sign Language Interpretation. Doctoral Dissertation, Beaumont, TX: Lamar University. https://search.proquest.com/openview/72e9baa0392af1e94083f46f510 711db/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
Alamri, G. (2017b). Teachers’ Beliefs and Attitudes about Saudi Arabia Sign Language. Doctoral Dissertation, Beaumont, TX: Lamar University. https://search.proquest.com/openview/e6befad0e3239c71f953becd52f 07984/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
Almotiri, A. (2017). Saudi Deaf Students Post-Secondary Transitioning Experience: A Grounded Theory Study. Deafness & Education International, 19, 162-170. https://doi.org/10.1080/14643154.2018.1429731
Almousa, N. A. (1999). Development of Special Education in the Ministry of Education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Riyadh, KSA: King Fahad Library.
Alomary, B. (2013). Saudi Sign Language Dictionary. Riyadh, KSA: Princess Alanood Foundation.
Alothman, A. (2014). Inclusive Education for Deaf Students in Saudi Arabia: Perceptions of Schools Principals, Teachers and Parents. Doctoral Dissertation, Lincoln, Lincolnshire: University of Lincoln. http://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/19026/1/Alothman_%20Abdulaziz_%20Education_%202014.pdf
Alqarni, F. (2017). Hearing Parents of Deaf Children in Saudi Arabia: Communication Modes and Challenges. Doctoral Dissertation, Beaumont, TX: Lamar University. https://search.proquest.com/openview/74230a219a657fce37d3126908 2adc14/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
Alyami, H. (2015). Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children in Saudi Arabia: Status of Early Intervention Services. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Pretoria, South Africa: University of Pretoria. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijporl.2016.04.010
Alzahrani, A. (2005). An Investigation of the Social Development of Students with Hearing Impairment in the Special Schools for the Deaf and Ordinary Schools in Riyadh City in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Kansas: The University of Kansas.
Alzahrani, A. (2017). Attitudes of Saudi Arabian Deaf College Students: Their Assimilation Experiences While Studying in the United States. Doctoral Dissertation, Beaumont, TX: Lamar University. https://search.proquest.com/openview/1bba0059ea40b696dd01f54414 0ff66e/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
Baker, C. (2011). Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Bat-Chava, Y. (2000). Diversity of Deaf Identities. American Annals of the Deaf, 145, 420-428. https://doi.org/10.1353/aad.2012.0176
Benedict, B., & Sass-Lehrer, M. (2007). Deaf and Hearing Partnerships: Ethical and Communication Considerations. Americans Annals of the Deaf, 152, 275-282. https://doi.org/10.1353/aad.2007.0023
Berntsen, D., & Rubin, D. C. (2002). Emotionally Charged Autobiographical Memories across the Life Span: The Recall of Happy, Sad, Traumatic and Involuntary Memories. Psychology and Aging, 17, 636-652. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.17.4.636
Berntsen, D., & Rubin, D. C. (2004). Cultural Life Scripts Structure Recall from Autobiographical Memory. Memory & Cognition, 32, 427-442. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03195836
Bluck, S., & Habermas, T. (2000). The Life Story Schema. Motivation and Emotion, 24, 121-147. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005615331901
Bohn, A. (2010). Generational Differences in Cultural Life Scripts and Life Story Memories of Younger and Older Adults. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24, 1324-1345. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.1641
Christiansen, J. B., & Barnartt, S. N. (2003). Deaf President Now!: The 1988 Revolution at Gallaudet University. Washington DC: Gallaudet University Press.
Clark, M., & Daggett, D. (2015). Exploring the Presence of a Deaf American Cultural Life Script. Deafness & Education International, 17, 194-203. https://doi.org/10.1179/1557069X15Y.0000000005
Coleman, P. G. (1999). Creating a Life Story: The Task of Reconciliation. The Gerontologist, 39, 133-139. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/39.2.133
Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research (4th ed.). New York: Pearson.
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2016). Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing among Five Approaches. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.
Czarniawska, B. (2004). Narratives in Social Science Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781849209502
Fitzgerald, J. M. (1996). The Distribution of Self-Narrative Memories in Younger and Older Adults: Elaborating the Self-Narrative Hypothesis. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 3, 229-236. https://doi.org/10.1080/13825589608256626
Glück, J., & Bluck, S. (2007). Looking Back across the Life Span: A Life Story Account of the Reminiscence Bump. Memory & Cognition, 35, 1928-1939. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03192926
Hamill, A. C., & Stein, C. H. (2011). Culture and Empowerment in the Deaf Community: An Analysis of Internet Weblogs. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 21, 388-406. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.1081
Hatiboglu, N., & Habermas, T. (2016). The Normativity of Life Scripts and Its Relation with Life Story Events across Cultures and Subcultures. Memory, 24, 1369-1381. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2015.1111389
Holcomb, T. K. (2013). Introduction to American Deaf Culture. New York: Oxford University Press.
Humphries, T. (1991). An Introduction to the Culture of Deaf People in the United States: Content Notes & Reference Material for Teachers. Sign Language Studies, 72, 209-240. https://doi.org/10.1353/sls.1991.0004
Humphries, T. (2008). Scientific Explanation and Other Performance Acts in the Reorganization of Deaf. In C. Lindgren, D. Deluca, & D. J. Napoli (Eds.), Signs and Voices (pp. 3-20). Washington DC: Gallaudet University Press.
Humphries, T., Kushalnagar, P., Mathur, G., Jo, D., Padden, C., Rathmann, C., & Smith, S. (2012). Cochlear Implants and the Right to Language: Ethical Considerations, the Ideal Situation, and Practical Measures toward Reaching the Ideal. Cochlear Implant Research Updates. https://doi.org/10.5772/35558
Ladd, P. (2007). Cochlear Implantation, Colonialism, and Deaf Rights. In L. Komesaroff (Ed.), Surgical Consent: Bioethics and Cochlear Implantation (pp. 1-29). Washington DC: Gallaudet University Press.
Lane, H. L., Hoffmeister, R., & Bahan, B. J. (1996). A Journey into the DEAF-WORLD. San Diego, CA: Dawn Sign Press.
Leigh, I. W., & Andrews, J. F. (2017). Deaf People and Society: Psychological, Sociological, and Educational Perspectives. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315473819
Leigh, I. W., Andrews, J. F., & Harris, R. L. (2018). Deaf Culture: Exploring Deaf Communities in the United States. San Diego, CA: Plural Publishing.
Luborsky, M. R. (1993). The Romance with Personal Meaning in Gerontology: Cultural Aspects of Life Themes. The Gerontologist, 33, 445-452. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/33.4.445
McAdams, D. P. (1998). The Role of Defense in the Life Story. Journal of Personality, 66, 1125-1146. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6494.00044
McIlroy, G., & Storbeck, C. (2011). Development of Deaf Identity: An Ethnographic Study. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 16, 494-511. https://doi.org/10.1093/deafed/enr017
Mitchell, R. E., & Karchmer, M. A. (2005). Parental Hearing Status and Signing among Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students. Sign Language Studies, 5, 231-244. https://doi.org/10.1353/sls.2005.0004
Moores, D. F. (2001). Educating the Deaf: Psychology, Principles, and Practices. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
Munoz-Baell, I. M. (2000). Empowering the Deaf. Let the Deaf Be Deaf. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 54, 40-44. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.54.1.40
Nasby, W., & Read, N. W. (1997). The Life Voyage of a Solo Circumnavigator: Integrating Theoretical and Methodological Perspectives. Journal of Personality, 65, 785-785. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1997.tb00534.x
Padden, C., & Humphries, T. (1988). Deaf in America: Voices from a Culture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.1097/00003446-198904000-00022
Rubin, D. C., Berntsen, D., & Hutson, M. (2009). The Normative and the Personal Life: Individual Differences in Life Scripts and Life Story Events among USA and Danish Undergraduates. Memory, 17, 54-68. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658210802541442
Rubin, D., & Bernsten, D. (2003). Life Scripts Help to Maintain Autobiographical Memories of Highly Positive, but Not Highly Negative, Events. Memory & Cognition, 31, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196077
Saudi Deaf Sports Federation (2017). Saudi Committee for Sign Language Experts and Interpreters. http://www.sdsf.gov.sa/
Schafer, R. (1983). The Analytic Attitude. New York: Basic Books.
Scherman, A. Z. (2013). Cultural Life Script Theory and the Reminiscence Bump: A Reanalysis of Seven Studies across Cultures. Nordic Psychology, 65, 103-119. https://doi.org/10.1080/19012276.2013.807667
Schroots, J. J. F., & Assink, M. H. J. (2005). Portraits of Life: Patterns of Events over the Lifespan. Journal of Adult Development, 12, 183-198. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-005-7086-9
Stokoe, W. C. (1980). Sign Language Structure. Annual Review of Anthropology, 9, 365-390. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.an.09.100180.002053
Thomsen, D., & Berntsen, D. (2008). The Cultural Life Script and Life Story Chapters Contribute to the Reminiscence Bump. Memory, 16, 420-435. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658210802010497
Williams, H. L., Conway, M. A., & Cohen,G. (2008). Autobiographical Memory. In G. Cohen, & M. Conway (Eds.), Memory in the Real World (pp. 21-90). New York: Psychology Press.
Wolsey, J. L. A., Dunn, K. M., Gentzke, S. W., Joharchi, H. A., & Clark, M. D. (2017). Deaf/Hearing Research Partnerships. American Annals of the Deaf, 161, 571-582. https://doi.org/10.1353/aad.2017.0007
Wolsey, J., Clark, M., van der Mark, L., & Suggs, C. (2016). Life Scripts and Life Stories of Oral Deaf Individuals. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 29, 77-103. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-016-9487-z