Anderson, Glenn B.

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JADARA 
Volume 39 Number 2 Article 11 
November 2019 
Vocational Rehabilitation Services and the Black Deaf 
Glenn B. Anderson 
Counselor, Michigan Division of Vocational Rehabilitation 
Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.wcsu.edu/jadara 
Recommended Citation 
Anderson, G. B. (2019). Vocational Rehabilitation Services and the Black Deaf. JADARA, 39(2). Retrieved 
from https://repository.wcsu.edu/jadara/vol39/iss2/11 
Volume 6, Number 2, October 1972
VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION SERVICES AND THE BLACK DEAF
GLENN B. ANDERSON
Counselor, Michigan Division of Vocational Rehabilitation
To set a perspective for this paper, it is necessary to restate what James F.
Garrett said in his keynote address to the 1970 PRWAD convention:
The deaf who have been served thus far, whether we like to accept or not,
are not the deaf who are the most in need. Our problem and our challenge in
the next ten years is to do a job and to do as good a job on those deaf who
are most in need as we have been doing with others that we have been
serving. The deaf who are poor, who are hidden away in our inner cities, and
in our ghettos, and particularly the black deaf, are individuals who need
service and who must be given equal opportunities to enjoy the fruits of
everything we have learned.
Current trends in Federal and State legislation, in rehabilitation policy, and
decision making indicate that rehabilitation services are moving in the direction of
greater involvement with the disadvantaged blacks. State agencies are recruiting
more black counselors to work in the inner cities. Programs and services are being
established with the Department of Social Services, the public schools, and non
profit organizations, such as the Urban League. In comparison, rehabilitation
services for the deaf blacks are just beginning to come into the fold.
The deaf blacks can be described as a group of individuals who live in a
"hearing and color-conscious" society. They are a group of individuals oppressed
because of the racist attitudes that govern the people and institutions of this
society, and they are handicapped because of their deafness and the resultant
communication problems. Frank Bowe in his article, "Non-White Deaf Persons:
Educational, Psychological, and Occupational Considerations," stated:
In view of the often staggering problems faced by this group, it is somewhat
surprising to discover that no major research study focusing primarily upon this
segment of the deaf population has been published. Basic questions remain
unanswered. For example, how many non-white deaf are there in the country
today? What are their achievement levels? Communication .scores? Intellectual
levels? Social functioning abilities? Occupations? Earnings? Psychological
adjustment? Secondary handicaps? Generally, what is the effect, if any, of the
additional minority group status upon these deaf persons? These are several
factors to consider if we are to serx'e the deaf blacks effectively.
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Ayers states the main factor explicitly, "I feel that the greatest single variable
influencing the role of counselors in working with black clients is their attitude."
Attitude can be defined as feelings, emotions, and behavior formulated and
developed through knowledge and experiences. They are significantly influenced
by the environment in which the individual lives. We have to rid ourselves of the
racist attitudes that exist in our institutional systems and society in general. We
can do this in the rehabilitation counselor training programs in the following
ways:
1. Exposure to life and services in the ghetto and to racism that prevails.
2. Exposure to the abundance of literature on black people, their history
and culture.
3. Sensitivity training to develop understanding of the psycho-social
aspects of cultural deprivation.
4. Extensive communication with the deaf blacks in informal settings.
A second factor is not only the need to encourage more research in the areas
of educational, psycho-social, and occupational aspects of the deaf blacks, but
there is a need to demand more of it. Education and rehabilitation personnel
serving the deaf are sorely in need of knowledge and skills to work effectively
with the black deaf population. Presently, no professional training programs are
preparing them for service to this group.
Available data seems to show that the black deaf population in our urban
communities is larger than we think. For instance, 285 deaf and hard of hearing
pupils are currently registered in the Detroit public school system. Approximately
60 percent of them are black. Of the 150 deaf cases presently being served by the
Detroit vocational rehabilitation agency, over 50 percent are black. In the
summary report of the special meeting on problems of identifying black deaf
persons by Schein and Ries in 1970, it was noted that in Memphis, Tennessee,
one-half of the school-age population was black with the same ratio applying to
the city day school programs for the deaf. According to a review of the literature
done by Bowe (1971), the Babbidge report listed 13 States having separate
schools for deaf black children. The last state to integrate its residential schools
was North Carolina.
It is imperative that more black professionals be recruited. Black deaf
students in our college programs such as Gallaudet, the National Technical
Institute for the Deaf and others must be made aware that they are needed in
education and rehabilitation service to black deaf people. The sight of a
professional black deaf person is a tremendous boost to the dignity of the deaf
black community.
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A final important consideration in improving service to black deaf and hard
of hearing persons involves the establishment of community service centers.
There is a great need for such centers to be part of a multi-dimensional service
approach whereby early identification of deafness, parent counseling, preschool
training, education, professional consultant, and mental health services may assist
the black deaf person in achieving more favorable rehabilitation outcome.
So I say, right on with the work we have to do.
Vol. 39, Nos. 2 & 3,2006 57 JADARA
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Anderson: Vocational Rehabilitation Services and the Black Deaf
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References
Bowe, F., Educational, Psychological, and Occupational Aspects of the Non-
White Deaf Population. Adaption of paper presented to the American
Psychological Association's seventy-ninth convention in Washington, D.
C., Septembers, 1971.
Bowe, P., Non-White Deaf persons: Educational, Psychological, and
Occupational Considerations, American Annals of the Deaf, June 1971.
Stewart, L. and Schein, T., Report of Tarry town Conference on Current Priorities
in the Rehabilitation of Deaf People, September 1971.
Ayers, G., The White Counselor in the Black Community: Strategies for
Effecting Attitude Change; Journal of Rehabilitation, Volume 50, No. 2,
March-April 1970.
Garrett, J. P., Keynote Address to the Conference of Professional Workers With
the Adult Deaf, Rochester, New York, October 12, 1970, Printed in
Proceedings, Journal of Rehabilitation of the Deaf, Volume 4, January
1971.
Schein, J. and Ries, P., Report of the Special Meeting on the Identification of
Black Deaf Persons, National Census for the Deaf, Gallaudet College
1970.
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JADARA, Vol. 39, No. 2 [2006], Art. 11
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Vocational Rehabilitation Services and the Black Deaf

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Vocational Rehabilitation Services and the Black Deaf

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