Audism

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aysha02

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Hey all...I'm doing a report on Audism, which if you're not formilar with the term is descrimination and oppression of deaf and hard of hearing people. I really want to add some input in my project that is not from my area, I want some diversity. I was wondering if you could share any experiences in which you were a victim of Audism.

The experiences can rang anywhere from fellow students, teachers, parents, doctors, interpreters. Anything really.

Thanks
 
I think everyone here is familiar with audism.:laugh2: And, actually, your definition is incorrect.
 
aysha02 said:
I was wondering if you could share any experiences in which you were a victim of Audism.
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Every time I tell someone that my son is Deaf, and they say, "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Are you familiar with cochlear implants?"

:roll:
 
Mountain Man said:
Every time I tell someone that my son is Deaf, and they say, "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Are you familiar with cochlear implants?"

:roll:
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Last year when I told one of my sisters that I was toying with the idea of getting a CI, she said, "I would be so thrilled because you could hear and become one of us!" :roll:

And yesterday I had some rough words exchanged with my older brother while my VP was being set up. He didn't want it hooked to the flat screen tv, but instead, hooked to another tv to be placed on the floor. I called him a %#@& audist and the installer agreed with me. Needless to say, it was hooked to the flat screen. :) Dang, audists are even in our own families. :aw:
 
Beowulf said:
Last year when I told one of my sisters that I was toying with the idea of getting a CI, she said, "I would be so thrilled because you could hear and become one of us!" :roll:

And yesterday I had some rough words exchanged with my older brother while my VP was being set up. He didn't want it hooked to the flat screen tv, but instead, hooked to another tv to be placed on the floor. I called him a %#@& audist and the installer agreed with me. Needless to say, it was hooked to the flat screen. :) Dang, audists are even in our own families. :aw:
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I wouldn't be surprised if every deaf person has a family member or two who are audist. I definitely got a few in my family!
 
Beowulf said:
Last year when I told one of my sisters that I was toying with the idea of getting a CI, she said, "I would be so thrilled because you could hear and become one of us!" :roll:

And yesterday I had some rough words exchanged with my older brother while my VP was being set up. He didn't want it hooked to the flat screen tv, but instead, hooked to another tv to be placed on the floor. I called him a %#@& audist and the installer agreed with me. Needless to say, it was hooked to the flat screen. :) Dang, audists are even in our own families. :aw:
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Cool that the installer had your back!:P
 
I am only deaf in whole family. So, it's hard to tell because I am not sure if I know what Audism means. Help?
 
JoeyDeafNinja said:
I am only deaf in whole family. So, it's hard to tell because I am not sure if I know what Audism means. Help?
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To put it simply, a person who believes that hearing is superior to deafness, and that deaf people can't function as well as hearing people just because they are deaf is an audist. Like, a parent who insists that their deaf child act like a hearing child or tries to hide their deafness in some way is an audist. If your parents, for instance, believe that the best thing that could ever happen to you was if you suddenly became hearing, they are audist. Hope that helps.
 
Mountain Man said:
Every time I tell someone that my son is Deaf, and they say, "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Are you familiar with cochlear implants?"

:roll:
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If you are bored, and in for some amusing entertainment, why not answer "Never heard of it, sounds awesome, please tell me about it!". It will probably help to act curious and enthusiastic, too, for a greater effect, like "Wow. I got this idea I can do this myself, to save money. What you think? I'm good at drilling holes in the wall home".
 
flip said:
If you are bored, and in for some amusing entertainment, why not answer "Never heard of it, sounds awesome, please tell me about it!". It will probably help to act curious and enthusiastic, too, for a greater effect, like "Wow. I got this idea I can do this myself, to save money. What you think? I'm good at drilling holes in the wall home".
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I can guarantee that mountain man will get strange looks if he takes your advice. :giggle:
 
jillio said:
To put it simply, a person who believes that hearing is superior to deafness, and that deaf people can't function as well as hearing people just because they are deaf is an audist. Like, a parent who insists that their deaf child act like a hearing child or tries to hide their deafness in some way is an audist. If your parents, for instance, believe that the best thing that could ever happen to you was if you suddenly became hearing, they are audist. Hope that helps.
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Ah I understand :). They are not audist because they supporting me. They believe that I can do what Hearing can do. I was in play with all hearing actors. I am only deaf in hearing play and we did great!
 
Some of the worst audists are people who cannot accept the fact that they are deaf. That's how it was in my family. Some deaf family members still hearing (in their own minds).
 
Audism is a non-acceptance of Deaf having their own Culture and Language. That if you don't adapt to Hearing (with aid of HA, CI or by being oral), you get treated as inferior or with disgust, like a 'broken toy'.
 
aysha02 said:
Hey all...I'm doing a report on Audism, which if you're not formilar with the term is descrimination and oppression of deaf and hard of hearing people. I really want to add some input in my project that is not from my area, I want some diversity. I was wondering if you could share any experiences in which you were a victim of Audism.

The experiences can rang anywhere from fellow students, teachers, parents, doctors, interpreters. Anything really.

Thanks
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jillio said:
I think everyone here is familiar with audism.:laugh2: And, actually, your definition is incorrect.
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I'm not trying to be a smart ass or apear argumentative, but it's not?

I honestly thought that descrimination AND oppression.....

Oh wait! I think I follow you're thinking... It's not the definition of audism, but the OUTCOME of it. :idea:
 
sallylou said:
Some of the worst audists are people who cannot accept the fact that they are deaf. That's how it was in my family. Some deaf family members still hearing (in their own minds).
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I can think of a few deaf audists who posted here.
 
Confessions of an ex-deaf audist

deafskeptic said:
I can think of a few deaf audists who posted here.
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That's an interesting concept: A deaf person who is an audist. It's like a person who is racist against his/her own race.

I've never heard of the term audism before coming on AllDeaf (AD). I'm a deaf/hoh person who was bought up in the hearing world with no exposure to the Deaf world. Every day I'm made aware that my ears don't function as well as the ears of the hearing people around me.

What I hadn't realised until coming here is that subconsciously I've absorbed the sense that I don't function as well as a human being because my ears don't function as well. Because people laugh at my hearing mistakes. Because they cannot be bothered to make adjustments to include me. Because I'm the one who has to make adjustments like wear uncomfortable hearing aids. Because I've been told that my life would be better if I could hear like them. I grew up believing that I was a defective human being (though nobody said it explicitly, it was implicit in their daily behaviour).

And I couldn't see this lie because it was disguised by a truth - my life would be better in some ways if I could hear like them. But the reason why my life would be better is because I wouldn't suffer from audism anymore. It's like telling a black person that their life will be better if they were born white so they won't suffer from racism.

So until I came to AD, I too was a deaf audist. But it wasn't intentional. And I would have never said that deaf people are inferior. In fact I would have said we are just as valuable as hearing people. But I see now that my silent beliefs and attitudes about my deafness contradicted my verbal declarations. I'm now learning to shake off the audism mindset I unwittingly absorbed from the hearing world.
 
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