Bizarre experience with campus groups

[sima1289]

That is fantastic! All Deafies should get together an compile of book of "stupid hearing people" stories!

it just shows that even if you're famous, these things happen

and slightly :topic: i'm hearing, but marlee matlin is 1 of my role models

 

[JennyB]

it just shows that even if you're famous, these things happen

and slightly :topic: i'm hearing, but marlee matlin is 1 of my role models

Not all hearing people are completely ignorant...but there are many! I have some Deaf people who are equally clueless when it comes to disability things...I think it is just anything outside our realm of experience. I am sometimes thankful for my personal experiences with disability, Deafness, and other minority or less prevalent groups. I like to think I don't do as many ignorant things as others.

 

[defgrl]

Go figure

Here is something that happened to me recently. A new (location) of a well-known bookstore chain opened recently in a nearby location. It was "opening day," so there were lots of people, etc. The place had bare floors (mostly), no sound-absorbing ceiling tile, and this LOUD music (torturous "noise" for me) was "blaring" all the while. I went over to the "buy table" to sell a few books that I was done with. A very pleasant man began talking to me. I could see his face, and figured out most of what he said. He then proceeded to tell me that I would be "paged" by name (over the intercom, loudspeaker) when my "offer" was ready. I pointed to my ear (hoping he would FINALLY see the hearing aids) and told him I would NOT be able to hear my name called in all that background noise. He then proceeded to WRITE THE SAME THING on a piece of paper. That I would be "paged" when my "offer" was ready. I decided to try the "broken record" approach. I AGAIN pointed to my ear (hoping he would figure out that I had a "hearing problem") and calmly and politely said the same thing. I finally just told him I would browse and come back in about 15 minutes. That seemed to work well enough.

The next time I went in there, I took a Hearing friend with me who has rather good hearing. I did all the explaining AGAIN, when I went to the "buy table" and the young lady was nice, but seemed genuinely puzzled about how I would know to come back for my "offer," since I could not be paged. I just told her I would come back in about 15 minutes and check. When I went back to check, I dealt with the same pleasant young lady. She asked me what my (first) name was, and then asked the man next to her (who had waited on me the first time) if my "offer" was ready yet. Believe it or not, this guy said that he had just paged me a few minutes before. By this time, I could hardly keep a straight face. I thought about "messing with their minds," but I decided not to. They weren't really offensive, I think they just weren't using any common sense. My psychologist, who is HOH himself, uses a hearing aid and signs, got a big kick out of this story.

 

[CJB]

I was at a little student group conference today for group leaders (I am the president for the ASL and Deaf Culture Club at my uni) and I had the most bizarre experiences with the people there.

For starters this woman runs up to me and says "I know you!", I had no idea who she was and asked where we had met and her response was "we haven't but you are Deaf...you're name is...um...Julia?" and I corrected her "No, Jenny, where did we meet?", and she said "we haven't met but you are Deaf, I know who you are!". So weird. I had two terps all day, one of them who was new two working with me (who was interpreting this odd interaction) and the other was standing in my sight line just behind the woman she is used to interpreting for me at University and found this all some what amusing (because this sort of thing happens often enough for me). I couldn't keep a straight face. I kept looking at the interpreter with a sarcastic "what the hell?" kind of face.

Then I finish registering and this same woman asked my interpreter if she would write my name on a name tag for me. the interpreter obviously said "NO!" and I had already done it myself. The woman seemed shocked I wasn't illiterate. It was just so strange.

Then students from other groups were saying things like "It inspires me that you are here today" and other equally odd things.

I sometimes resent my mainstream campus with a passion. My large, highly ranked and respected campus. For a bunch of smart people they are fairly stupid.

:roll: The stupid "Oh my god you're amazing because you're Deaf and not totally and completely dysfunctional!" attitude.

 

[CJB]

They are just never exposed to it and for them I am some fascinating specimen. It drives me nuts! There are roughly 55,000 students at my school, of that 3 of us are Deaf. Of the 3 of us that are Deaf I am the only undergrad and the 2 grad students...well one of them isn't even in the country for the next few months and is done her courses and the other is part time only and they are both in the same faculty. I am an anomaly on campus and they just don't know what to do with me.

I know what you mean. I'm a total anomaly everywhere I go too. I get people coming up to me telling me "God bless you." My wife gets people praising her for having the heart to marry someone like me.

:roll:

 

[CJB]

LOL at Beowulf! Not long ago, one of our blind students came into the office, and an academic advisor wanted to get his attention. She started waving her arms in the air! I said, "No, Diane...we wave at the deaf students. We call out to the blind students." The expression on her face was soooo funny...she looked like she would like to sink through the floor.

:rofl2:

 

[CJB]

OMG. The rate at which deaf and blind get confused is appalling. I have had people attempt to me guide me before, I have had people assume I know braille (and I do, but not the point), I have had many more encounters which I can't recall too. I do have low-vision but with my glasses do just fine for the most part and I certainly don't do anything which to a hearing person would make them assume I am blind! My interpreters know because they need to sit closer and stuff, but the hearing people have no idea. Sigh.

Sorry, we deafblind don't help much.

When I was hearing blind people treated me like I was deaf all the time. Yelling at me, telling me they only know a few signs...

 

[CJB]

Can we get a transcription on the video for the DB members?

 

[CJB]

Here is something that happened to me recently. A new (location) of a well-known bookstore chain opened recently in a nearby location. It was "opening day," so there were lots of people, etc. The place had bare floors (mostly), no sound-absorbing ceiling tile, and this LOUD music (torturous "noise" for me) was "blaring" all the while. I went over to the "buy table" to sell a few books that I was done with. A very pleasant man began talking to me. I could see his face, and figured out most of what he said. He then proceeded to tell me that I would be "paged" by name (over the intercom, loudspeaker) when my "offer" was ready. I pointed to my ear (hoping he would FINALLY see the hearing aids) and told him I would NOT be able to hear my name called in all that background noise. He then proceeded to WRITE THE SAME THING on a piece of paper. That I would be "paged" when my "offer" was ready. I decided to try the "broken record" approach. I AGAIN pointed to my ear (hoping he would figure out that I had a "hearing problem") and calmly and politely said the same thing. I finally just told him I would browse and come back in about 15 minutes. That seemed to work well enough.

The next time I went in there, I took a Hearing friend with me who has rather good hearing. I did all the explaining AGAIN, when I went to the "buy table" and the young lady was nice, but seemed genuinely puzzled about how I would know to come back for my "offer," since I could not be paged. I just told her I would come back in about 15 minutes and check. When I went back to check, I dealt with the same pleasant young lady. She asked me what my (first) name was, and then asked the man next to her (who had waited on me the first time) if my "offer" was ready yet. Believe it or not, this guy said that he had just paged me a few minutes before. By this time, I could hardly keep a straight face. I thought about "messing with their minds," but I decided not to. They weren't really offensive, I think they just weren't using any common sense. My psychologist, who is HOH himself, uses a hearing aid and signs, got a big kick out of this story.

:rofl2: The same kind of thing happened to me at the SSA office the other day. Some people just don't get it, do they.

 

[deafskeptic]

I'll have to tell my story here. There was a certain dim-witted girl who like to play an online MUD called MUME and she'd spam stuff about the Hardy Boys (a pro rassling team) and one day she wanted to know how I could play MUME when she learned I'm deaf rl. She seemed to think I was also blind because I'm deaf and it took several minutes of explaining that not all deaf are latter day Helen Kellers and that some have good eyesight.

That same person wanted to know what country England was in. I'm not joking. My jaw dropped when I saw that in the game.

 

[Dixie]

I've always gotten the "burning bush" look, when people find out I'm deaf and I can actually speak.

Here's one from last week. I was talking to a USDA lady I work with at Tyson, and she said she could read lips, I said "really?" and she goes "yeah - if I can hear you!" I nearly fell over laughing. I said "well of course most hearing people can read lips if they can hear."

 

[JennyB]

I've always gotten the "burning bush" look, when people find out I'm deaf and I can actually speak.

Here's one from last week. I was talking to a USDA lady I work with at Tyson, and she said she could read lips, I said "really?" and she goes "yeah - if I can hear you!" I nearly fell over laughing. I said "well of course most hearing people can read lips if they can hear."

Hahahaha! I don't speak most of the time because of that look! It looks kind of like this...