Hannah-Mae Brown

The foundational motivation for pursuing the field of psychology is the desire to help others, and I have especially been drawn to providing that to groups of people that are most in need or have been most severely ignored. For the application of clinical psychology, this has motivated me to pursue additional studies in American Sign Language with the goal of becoming fluent in order to provide a form of “talk therapy” for those that do not talk. I can imagine the options for Deaf patients are limited, and finding a signing therapist is a significant challenge. Of course, Deaf individuals experience the struggles of life’s trials and tribulations just as hearing individuals do, and I want to be able to make these services more accessible to the Deaf community. For the application of furthering psychological research, I believe that studying the Deaf brain could be a treasure trove of valuable new information which helps us better understand neuroplasticity that occurs in the Deaf brain, as well as providing us with a more evolved understanding of the human brain in general in the ways in which it functions. I was fascinated to learn in my Physiological Psychology course that much of what we know about how the brain processes information comes from studies of sensory deprivation, namely sight. This got me thinking about similarly understanding the processing that occurs with sound deprivation could also lead to vast insights. Lastly, a practical application of my blended interests is one which originated from learning about problems in development and even brain damage in Deaf children whose parents did not instill the use of ASL due to language deprivation. This inspired me to ponder other possible ways in which Deaf children are reared that may not provide them with the appropriate kinds of stimulation necessary during their sensitive period to create neural connections in which result in advantageous skill sets that allow them to reach their full potential as adults. Perhaps teaching and practicing ASL with children is simply just scratching the surface. A greater understanding of the ways in which the non-hearing brain processes and reroutes stimuli could potentially allow us to try to influence those pathways to redirect input in specific ways to establish and reinforce specific neural connections that play to the individual’s strengths. My hope is to effectively create an early developmental plan individualized for rearing Deaf children that utilizes their unique differences in brain wiring to develop valuable skills that will be advantageous later in life. I think of the amazing potential of Deaf individuals for contributing to fields that involve complex spatial and visual understanding, such as mathematics, engineering, architecture, urban planning, choreography, even fashion design. By looking at the physiological differences I hope to be able to propose effective strategies to not only avoid the problems stemming from those physiological differences, but to address them in such a way that they work to that individual's advantage and they can truly thrive.

Starting Antioch University’s Bachelor Program in January 2022, I plan on continuing my education in the Graduate Program they also have available. My long-term plan is to additionally pursue a Phd thereafter, although I am not sure if I will decide to also do so at Antioch or a different accredited school. I plan to studies in Developmental Psychology, as well emphases in both Applied and Physiological Psychology. As I am doing now, I plan to pursue these fields in tandem with my continued studies of American Sign Language.