Change the future for a deaf child

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Daredevel7 said:
Are you so sure that any deafbind (without any other problem) would be able to "practice good hygeine, dress myself, cook, clean and go to school"? I'm not saying that they can't but obviously you think there is some sort of invisible average standard that the deafblind can live up to. The problem is, that "average standard" is different from others. For me, I expect any deaf adult to be able to communicate with most people in his/her every life (not necessarily spoken) and to be able to live on his/her own. However, perhaps this is placing high standard to others?

I'm just saying that it seems that no matter what I do on "educating others" it seems more of a lose-lose situation. If I say that any deaf person can be me, that's putting pressure on others. If I say that I am special and am not a typical deaf person, that's like bragging which I HATE to do and enforcing others to have lower expectations of deaf people?
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no, i don't think i'm placing a higher standard on others -- especially the deafblind. 95% of deafblind people i know are fully capable (and have proven this based on the many i've worked with over the years) of doing all of the things i mentioned. i don't put myself on a pedestal nor do i ever say i'm "special." (i HATE that term.) at the same time, i see absolutely nothing wrong with telling members of the general public that the deafblind *can* do "a," "b" and "c." i should also mention that when i attended my first american association of the deafblind (aadb) convention, out of all of the db delegates i met (over 30 of them), NO ONE needed help showering, getting dressed, brushing their teeth or combing their hair.

tell me something. is my having the expectation that all deafblind people practice good (notice i did not say excellent or perfect) hygeine unreasonable? i don't think so. if members of the deafblind community want to be perceived in a positive light by their sighted-hearing counterparts, that's the LEAST they should do.

the general public is going to think whatever they want about deafblind, blind, deaf, hoh, physically disabled, mentally ill, etc. people regardless of what i tell them. at the same time, i feel as if i'm doing a disservice if i do not inform them about the *many* capabilities of the deafblind.

besides, i'm not worried about the general public having lowered expectations of me. they do anyhow. they find it amazing that i can walk from one place to another in my own apartment without using my guide dog or cane. they also comment positively (almost as if it's a shock to them) on how nicely i'm dressed or how well tigger is groomed. heck, they're perplexed by the fact that i'm able to get out of bed every morning to perform errands or go shopping.

if you see educating the public as a lose-lose situation, that's your perogative. i happen to disagree. we may be unable to change people's attitudes, but that doesn't mean we can't try one person at a time.
 
Hear Again said:
no, i don't think i'm placing a higher standard on others -- especially the deafblind. 95% of deafblind people i know are fully capable (and have proven this based on the many i've worked with over the years) of doing all of the things i mentioned. i don't put myself on a pedestal nor do i ever say i'm "special." (i HATE that term.) at the same time, i see absolutely nothing wrong with telling members of the general public that the deafblind *can* do "a," "b" and "c." i should also mention that when i attended my first american association of the deafblind (aadb) convention, out of all of the db delegates i met (over 30 of them), NO ONE needed help showering, getting dressed, brushing their teeth or combing their hair.

tell me something. is my having the expectation that all deafblind people practice good (notice i did not say excellent or perfect) hygeine unreasonable? i don't think so. if members of the deafblind community want to be perceived in a positive light by their sighted-hearing counterparts, that's the LEAST they should do.

the general public is going to think whatever they want about deafblind, blind, deaf, hoh, physically disabled, mentally ill, etc. people regardless of what i tell them. at the same time, i feel as if i'm doing a disservice if i do not inform them about the *many* capabilities of the deafblind.

besides, i'm not worried about the general public having lowered expectations of me. they do anyhow. they find it amazing that i can walk from one place to another in my own apartment without using my guide dog or cane. they also comment positively (almost as if it's a shock to them) on how nicely i'm dressed or how well tigger is groomed. heck, they're perplexed by the fact that i'm able to get out of bed every morning to perform errands or go shopping.

if you see educating the public as a lose-lose situation, that's your perogative. i happen to disagree. we may be unable to change people's attitudes, but that doesn't mean we can't try one person at a time.
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I meant practicing good hygeine BY THEMSELVES. I'm not saying I find it unreasonable at all, but it may be for another deafblind person who may use some sort of a helper. So let's say that all those people who meet you and are "shocked" by all the things you can do. And you tell them "Look, I'm not special!!!! Anyone can do this! We are not helpless!" Later, they meet ANOTHER deafblind person, and this person is not as independent like you, and mostly relies on a person. So the people may think "Well Hear Again told me that she's a typical deafblind person, so I guess this person is doing poorly.."

I still try to educate people about the many capabilities of the deaf because some of their ignorant questions start with "But how can you _____?" but sometimes I get the feeling that I'm doing more bad than good because what if a lot of deaf people can't live up to my idea of a standard life?
 
Daredevel7 said:
I meant practicing good hygeine BY THEMSELVES. I'm not saying I find it unreasonable at all, but it may be for another deafblind person who may use some sort of a helper. So let's say that all those people who meet you and are "shocked" by all the things you can do. And you tell them "Look, I'm not special!!!! Anyone can do this! We are not helpless!" Later, they meet ANOTHER deafblind person, and this person is not as independent like you, and mostly relies on a person. So the people may think "Well Hear Again told me that she's a typical deafblind person, so I guess this person is doing poorly.."

I still try to educate people about the many capabilities of the deaf because some of their ignorant questions start with "But how can you _____?" but sometimes I get the feeling that I'm doing more bad than good because what if a lot of deaf people can't live up to my idea of a standard life?
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it's ironic how you can presume what a sighted-hearing person would think if they met a deafblind person who needed assistance with hygeine or anything else for that matter. in the many years i've worked with the deafblind, given informational seminars on deafblindness and met members of the general public through my work, i've never come across someone who thought any less of a deafblind person because they may have needed help with something or felt that i was some "super deafblind person" because I could do certain things and other deafblind people could not. what do you expect me to do? allow people to walk around with the misconception that deafblind people can't do anything because if i give them the impression that they can't do "a," they walk away thinking that deafblind people can't do "b," "c" or "d" either. sorry, but that's not the negative impression i want to leave behind.
 
Hear Again said:
no, i don't think i'm placing a higher standard on others -- especially the deafblind. 95% of deafblind people i know are fully capable (and have proven this based on the many i've worked with over the years) of doing all of the things i mentioned. i don't put myself on a pedestal nor do i ever say i'm "special." (i HATE that term.) at the same time, i see absolutely nothing wrong with telling members of the general public that the deafblind *can* do "a," "b" and "c." i should also mention that when i attended my first american association of the deafblind (aadb) convention, out of all of the db delegates i met (over 30 of them), NO ONE needed help showering, getting dressed, brushing their teeth or combing their hair.

tell me something. is my having the expectation that all deafblind people practice good (notice i did not say excellent or perfect) hygeine unreasonable? i don't think so. if members of the deafblind community want to be perceived in a positive light by their sighted-hearing counterparts, that's the LEAST they should do.

the general public is going to think whatever they want about deafblind, blind, deaf, hoh, physically disabled, mentally ill, etc. people regardless of what i tell them. at the same time, i feel as if i'm doing a disservice if i do not inform them about the *many* capabilities of the deafblind.

besides, i'm not worried about the general public having lowered expectations of me. they do anyhow. they find it amazing that i can walk from one place to another in my own apartment without using my guide dog or cane. they also comment positively (almost as if it's a shock to them) on how nicely i'm dressed or how well tigger is groomed. heck, they're perplexed by the fact that i'm able to get out of bed every morning to perform errands or go shopping.

if you see educating the public as a lose-lose situation, that's your perogative. i happen to disagree. we may be unable to change people's attitudes, but that doesn't mean we can't try one person at a time.
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I agree 100% i have not met a deaf/blind person who could not accomplish daily living skills tasks by themselves. Educating people is very important
 
Daredevel7 said:
I meant practicing good hygeine BY THEMSELVES. I'm not saying I find it unreasonable at all, but it may be for another deafblind person who may use some sort of a helper. So let's say that all those people who meet you and are "shocked" by all the things you can do. And you tell them "Look, I'm not special!!!! Anyone can do this! We are not helpless!" Later, they meet ANOTHER deafblind person, and this person is not as independent like you, and mostly relies on a person. So the people may think "Well Hear Again told me that she's a typical deafblind person, so I guess this person is doing poorly.."

I still try to educate people about the many capabilities of the deaf because some of their ignorant questions start with "But how can you _____?" but sometimes I get the feeling that I'm doing more bad than good because what if a lot of deaf people can't live up to my idea of a standard life?
Click to expand...

All people are on different levels. I have seen plenty of sighted hearing men that dont practice good hygiene/daily living skills either. blindness, and deaf/blindness does not mean that one is incapable.
 
typeingtornado19 said:
I agree 100% i have not met a deaf/blind person who could not accomplish daily living skills tasks by themselves. Educating people is very important
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exactly.

97% of deafblind people have some residual vision and/or hearing which aids them in performing daily living tasks. only 3% of the deafblind population are totally deafblind like myself. even with those who are a part of the latter group, i know several congenitally totally deafblind people who live independently and do not need any assistance with daily living skills with the exception of writing out checks/money orders, running errands or going grocery shopping.
 
typeingtornado19 said:
All people are on different levels. I have seen plenty of sighted hearing men that dont practice good hygiene/daily living skills either. blindness, and deaf/blindness does not mean that one is incapable.
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thank you, typeingtornado. there are *many* sighted-hearing people who could learn a thing or two about good hygeine from those of us who are blind or deafblind.
 
Hear Again said:
exactly.

97% of deafblind people have some residual vision and/or hearing which aids them in performing daily living tasks. only 3% of the deafblind population are totally deafblind like myself. even with those who are a part of the latter group, i know several congenitally totally deafblind people who live independently and do not need any assistance with daily living skills with the exception of writing out checks/money orders, running errands or going grocery shopping.
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Same here, in fact, i have yet to see one Deaf/Blind person not capable of doing things for himself. I am sure i would be doing the same things if i were deaf as well, the only difference is that i would have an interpreter.
 
typeingtornado19 said:
Same here, in fact, i have yet to see one Deaf/Blind person not capable of doing things for himself. I am sure i would be doing the same things if i were deaf as well, the only difference is that i would have an interpreter.
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...and even having a tactile or close range interpreter does not mean you aren't being independent.
 
Obviously, using the example of hygeine was poor. I just meant, a characteristic that you (as a deaf person or deafblind person) may have that others find difficulty in obtaining due to the fact they ARE deaf/deafblind.

Perfect example for me: My family is Cuban and regularly speak Spanish. I have a VERY difficult time learning Spanish, despite growing up with it and taking Spanish classes for 7 years! I could read it well, but not understand it well when it is spoken. I've always attributed this partially because of my deafness, but there have been PLENTY of other deaf people who speak multiple languages. They can easily say "Of COURSE Deaf people CAN speak multiple languages!". BURN TO ME.
 
Daredevel7 said:
Obviously, using the example of hygeine was poor. I just meant, a characteristic that you (as a deaf person or deafblind person) may have that others find difficulty in obtaining due to the fact they ARE deaf/deafblind.

Perfect example for me: My family is Cuban and regularly speak Spanish. I have a VERY difficult time learning Spanish, despite growing up with it and taking Spanish classes for 7 years! I could read it well, but not understand it well when it is spoken. I've always attributed this partially because of my deafness, but there have been PLENTY of other deaf people who speak multiple languages. They can easily say "Of COURSE Deaf people CAN speak multiple languages!". BURN TO ME.
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well then, in your case, i would limit your educating the public to only speaking about yourself.

i choose not to. instead, i choose to tell sighted-hearing people about the capabilities of deafblind people instead of the limitations.

as my 10th grade biology teacher told me, "the only limitations you have are those you place on yourself."
 
typeingtornado19 said:
I dont know... Would be funny though. "this is how we use a washing machine..."
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...and "we use soap to clean our laundry." (i met a sighted-hearing man who didn't know he should use soap when doing the laundry and he didn't have any cognitive impairments either. i don't mention this to make fun of him; only to point out that sighted-hearing people are equally as capable of practicing poor hygeine as blind or deafblind people are.)
 
Hear Again said:
well then, in your case, i would limit your educating the public to only speaking about yourself.

i choose not to. instead, i choose to tell sighted-hearing people about the capabilities of deafblind people instead of the limitations.

as my 10th grade biology teacher told me, "the only limitations you have are those you place on yourself."[/QUOTE]

True quote. :D
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flip said:
1. I have seen this. Are you trying to say I make this up? It takes no effort to get two implants in most rich countries. It's perhaps a little harder in the US with the healt care over there, but easy many places in europe.

2. I know enough AVT therapists to know they are different, and have different views, but do you?

3. The child started to go to bathroom, and behave less as an animal after introduced to sign language(full human communication). It's interesting to see how lack of real communication affects the physics of children.

4. If all those 80 percent mainstreamed deaf people are to be considered members of the deaf community, I can tell you that many of them sure are living on the edge of the community, never really making it into the centre. I wish this not was the case, but it's.
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I disagree with all of those statements.
 
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