Blog post 4
Alex Sprague
Dr. Jenkins
PS 101
28 April, 2022
Blog Post 4
An issue that has been affecting the Deaf and hard of hearing community are the communication barriers athletes face in sports. When on a sports team communication is a major component that leads a team to success. Whether it involves someone calling for the ball, discussing plays with a coach, the referee blowing his whistle, or stopping the game can be very difficult for a Deaf person to comprehend if signs are not used or they cannot communicate with others. Since American Sign Language is a visual language Deaf athletes need to be facing the individual that is signing to them so they know what is going on. If they are on a team with only hearing individuals the odds of them knowing ASL is slim to none, which makes communication between teammates and coaches very difficult. There is also a lack of officials or referees that know basic sports signs to where they would be able to communicate with a Deaf or hard of hearing athlete.
These issues affect the Deaf community because it makes it very difficult for them to play a sport where they are treated as equally as their other teammates. When it comes to communicating on the court or field one needs to be able to call for the ball or talk to their coach from the sidelines while the game is still in play. Being Deaf makes these interactions difficult because many Deaf individuals are nonverbal and the people they need to talk to do not know sign language. Many think a quick solution to this would be to create signals so they can avoid verbally communicating; however, a survey was conducted and the researcher stated: “though it may sound like an effortless task, it actually requires twice as much focus during a game” (Houinato 3). Athletes need to be focused on the game and what their next steps are to win, but also to prevent injuries. If teams only use signals it can make it very difficult to communicate if it is a sport where they are constantly moving such as soccer. The individual with the ball should only be concerned with running the ball down the field and passing to who is open. If they are not looking at the ball and instead looking for a signal from their teammates then this can cause many mistakes.
The two perspectives of various members from the community are ones that involve communication with a coach and others with referees. These communication barriers make it difficult for Deaf athletes to talk to their coach from the sidelines or even in practice. If athletes are not listening to the advice coaches are giving them to succeed it can make the coach and athlete very frustrated. One if the athlete is not seeing results at competition after putting many hours into practicing then they can lose passion for the sport and quit. On the other hand, if coaches are not getting the results they want it leads to those players sitting on the bench and not getting allowed to play. The same study by Houinato researched the communication barriers between Deaf athletes and referees and stated: “Some problems that tend to arise from this are false starts, athletes not stopping when there is a foul, continuing to play when the end of the game is pronounced” (3). Athletes are disqualified and placed at a disadvantage because there are not enough accommodations to ensure that they get a fair start or provide visual cues that help them understand what has occurred.
A solution that has been very helpful for Deaf athletes are vibrating arm bands or rings that they can wear during games. This invention is called the “Tech Spec” created by Charbel Houinato and it helps communication issues between referees and Deaf athletes because the referee will be able to send a signal to the device which initiates a vibration to let them know they stopped the game (2). This creation should be used more because it will help break the communication barriers and hopefully encourage more Deaf athletes to join sports with hearing teammates. Another solution is to add visual cues such as lights to help signal the Deaf athletes to start a race. In swimming the starters box has a light on the top of the box which flashes to signal to the timers when to start their watches. Even though this was created for a different reason, Deaf athletes rely on this light to tell them when to start a race. However, when there is a Deaf swimmer officials are trained to know what signs to do to start the race. They learn to shake their hands at the different whistles blown and to quickly move their arm down once the buzzer goes off. More officials from other sports should be required to learn simple signs to notify or communicate with Deaf athletes so they are on an equal playing field.
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