Deaf Awareness

[jillio]

So does that automatically leave out all those who are hard-of-hearing and spend thousands of dollars on hearing aids and CIs in order to get the best hearing, the best sound perception, possible?

I'm not being at all snarky here; I really want to know if that is some sort of dividing line or non-negotiable feature of Deaf Culture.

Do you embrace that value? If not, you are embracing hearing cultural values.

 

[Bottesini]

Do you embrace that value? If not, you are embracing hearing cultural values.

What value? If you embrace technology to the point of trying to be hearing, you are embracing hearing cultural values, yes?

 

[jillio]

You know, it just hit me. I think maybe there is some confusion regarding the difference between cultural affiliation and participation in a support group.

 

[shel90]

So does that automatically leave out all those who are hard-of-hearing and spend thousands of dollars on hearing aids and CIs in order to get the best hearing, the best sound perception, possible?

I'm not being at all snarky here; I really want to know if that is some sort of dividing line or non-negotiable feature of Deaf Culture.

If they accept ASL just as valuable as spoken English and are fluent in it, no it doesnt leave them out.

 

[jillio]

If they accept ASL just as valuable as spoken English and are fluent in it, no it doesnt leave them out.

But if they hold the belief that they cannot live a full productive life without sound, it does. But it is not the Culture that leaves them out. It is the opposition of their values that leaves them out.

 

[GrendelQ]

Here's a map: get hearing parents to drop their hearing perspective and see things from the holistic perspective of their deaf child's needs. If that were done, people would not have to wait until adulthood.

Reaching out and embracing parents is definitely key, I agree. deaf mentors provided by the state, welcome into forums such as this one all help. But what about those who go another 10, 15 years into their adulthood without discovering Deaf Culture. People who missed the chance to have their parents guide them into it. How can we touch the hearts and minds of those like DrPhil and beclak and avoid so many years of not knowing?

 

[shel90]

But if they hold the belief that they cannot live a full productive life without sound, it does. But it is not the Culture that leaves them out. It is the opposition of their values that leaves them out.

Right, if they believe that without sound, one's life cannot be as good then that's holding onto the hearing culture value system.

 

[shel90]

Reaching out and embracing parents is definitely key, I agree. deaf mentors provided by the state, welcome into forums such as this one all help. But what about those who go another 10, 15 years into their adulthood without discovering Deaf Culture. People who missed the chance to have their parents guide them into it. How can we touch the hearts and minds of those like DrPhil and beclak and avoid so many years of not knowing?

Be open minded to Deaf culture instead of criticizing it and saying stuff like "My child wont experience this or that because he/she is not deaf like you." or "My child doesnt need ASL nor need to meet other Deaf children."

That is a straight up insult to many Deaf people. Like we are not good enough. So, as a result, you know what happens as you have seen here on AD.

 

[GrendelQ]

So does that automatically leave out all those who are hard-of-hearing and spend thousands of dollars on hearing aids and CIs in order to get the best hearing, the best sound perception, possible?

I'm not being at all snarky here; I really want to know if that is some sort of dividing line or non-negotiable feature of Deaf Culture.

I think the key phrase may be "necessary for a full productive life". It seems that you can still put a high value on accessing sound and using technology, but if you think it's necessary for a full life, rather than just desirable, you are not embracing the values of Deaf Culture.

 

[GrendelQ]

Be open minded to Deaf culture instead of criticizing it and saying stuff like "My child wont experience this or that because he/she is not deaf like you." or "My child doesnt need ASL nor need to meet other Deaf children."

That is a straight up insult to many Deaf people. Like we are not good enough. So, as a result, you know what happens as you have seen here on AD.

I don't know that I've ever seen anyone say that sort of thing here on AD, fortunately, but I've seen that attitude elsewhere.

But how does that reach an adult deaf person who is unfamiliar with Deaf Culture?

 

[shel90]

I don't know that I've ever seen anyone say that sort of thing here on AD, fortunately, but I've seen that attitude elsewhere.

But how. Does that reach an adult deaf person who is unfamiliar with Deaf Culture?

When they come here, they are welcomed and have learned a lot. I could name many...like Sallylou for one.

However, if they dont come here, we dont know who is out there who is deaf and feelling lost and isolated. They need to be reached as children but unfortunately, the medical community and sometimes parents can put up barriers to the attempts to connect with newly diagnosed deaf children and as a result, they grow up being unaware of Deaf culture or get brainwashed that deaf people who use ASL are not as intelligent.

 

[jillio]

Reaching out and embracing parents is definitely key, I agree. deaf mentors provided by the state, welcome into forums such as this one all help. But what about those who go another 10, 15 years into their adulthood without discovering Deaf Culture. People who missed the chance to have their parents guide them into it. How can we touch the hearts and minds of those like DrPhil and beclak and avoid so many years of not knowing?

Drphil, IMO, is unreachable. And I do not intend that to be an insult. It is just obvious that he has no intention of learning anything about Deaf Culture, much less embracing it.

Becklac has been touched. She fullly embraces Deaf Culture. The only way for her to have found the culture earlier would have been to have been raised by Deaf parents, or hearing parents who place a priority on the cultural perspective of deafness.

 

[jillio]

I don't know that I've ever seen anyone say that sort of thing here on AD, fortunately, but I've seen that attitude elsewhere.

I've seen it many times.

But how does that reach an adult deaf person who is unfamiliar with Deaf Culture?

It doesn't. Neither does it do anything to encourage a journey into the culture.

 

[jillio]

What value? If you embrace technology to the point of trying to be hearing, you are embracing hearing cultural values, yes?

The value we were talking about was the cultural value of not placing a high priority on sound perception.

So, yes, you are correct. They are embracing hearing values, not Deaf values, and as a consequence, do not ID as Deaf.

 

[jillio]

I think the key phrase may be "necessary for a full productive life". It seems that you can still put a high value on accessing sound and using technology, but if you think it's necessary for a full life, rather than just desirable, you are not embracing the values of Deaf Culture.

Exactly. Yet we have many who do not embrace that particular value that seem to fail to understand why they are not considered participating members of Deaf culture. One does not pick and choose which cultural values to embrace, as they are all interconnected into a whole. And that whole is a Deaf identity.

 

[Beach girl]

Speaking only for myself, I wouldn't spend all that money if I didn't think it was necessary for a full, productive life. I'm assuming that would be true for most people who have done that, and even more so for those who have had surgery. No one has surgery on a whim or thinking it's desirable but not necessary.

I'm pretty sure no one with hearing, no matter how much they admire Deaf Culture, is going to go out and deliberately do anything to make them lose their hearing, on the grounds that hearing is not really necessary for a full, productive life.

If that's really the line in the sand for Deaf Culture, I won't argue with it; you all surely know more than I do about the culture as such. It seems to me rather unnecessarily divisive for those of us in that vast middle area who are not really hearing, and not really deaf (or Deaf), but so be it, if that's the case.

 

[sallylou]

When they come here, they are welcomed and have learned a lot. I could name many...like Sallylou for one.

Yea, when I showed up, I didn't know anything! My family never learned ASL or about Deaf culture. It's really sad because family members just became more isolated. My experience here gave me the courage to show up at my local Deaf center without knowing any ASL. Thanks, ya'll! Love ya'll!

 

[jillio]

When they come here, they are welcomed and have learned a lot. I could name many...like Sallylou for one.

However, if they dont come here, we dont know who is out there who is deaf and feelling lost and isolated. They need to be reached as children but unfortunately, the medical community and sometimes parents can put up barriers to the attempts to connect with newly diagnosed deaf children and as a result, they grow up being unaware of Deaf culture or get brainwashed that deaf people who use ASL are not as intelligent.

I got a PM today from a member thanking me for a post from 2 years ago that made them see their deafness differently, and told me how valuable that was to them. It is here if one wants to be open minded and risk questioning what they have always thought was true in the past. If they can't do that, then they seem to end up defensively blaming Deaf culture instead of realizing it is their own closed mindedness that is the problem.

 

[jillio]

Yea, when I showed up, I didn't know anything! My family never learned ASL or about Deaf culture. It's really sad because family members just became more isolated. My experience here gave me the courage to show up at my local Deaf center without knowing any ASL. Thanks, ya'll! Love ya'll!

You are brave enough to risk questioning what you had always believed to be true. Because you could do that, you opened the way for new beliefs to enrich your life. And we love you, too!

 

[KristinaB]

Yea, when I showed up, I didn't know anything! My family never learned ASL or about Deaf culture. It's really sad because family members just became more isolated. My experience here gave me the courage to show up at my local Deaf center without knowing any ASL. Thanks, ya'll! Love ya'll!

Same here. I have learned so much from AD and I try to act on what I have learned.