Deaf Culture..

jillio said:
Well said, Mountain Man. I can certainly relate.
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Yup!

It's becoming too common that we keep getting told as how the hearing world treating the deaf.

Now the subject is getting red hot aka DBC and AFA just now... quite understandable. It's something we Deaf really need to stop their wide-spread attitudes just like what the Mountain Man described. So absurd!

I really think that the AFA needs to stop attacking AGBell since it won't work anyway, but instead to get around to it somehow, only if those know what I meant regarding the AFA. (right ideas yet using wrong approaches)

We Deaf don't care much about the cochlear implants, really BUT we do care as how much they abuse it way too much... that's it.
 
web730 said:
Yup!

It's becoming too common that we keep getting told as how the hearing world treating the deaf.

Now the subject is getting red hot aka DBC and AFA just now... quite understandable. It's something we Deaf really need to stop their wide-spread attitudes just like what the Mountain Man described. So absurd!

I really think that the AFA needs to stop attacking AGBell since it won't work anyway, but instead to get around to it somehow, only if those know what I meant regarding the AFA. (right ideas yet using wrong approaches)

We Deaf don't care much about the cochlear implants, really BUT we do care as how much they abuse it way too much... that's it.
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Agreed. The AFA has the right message, but the wrong way of getting it across.

I wish more people (hearies) would understand that it is not the CI that anyone objects to. No one I know really cares one way or the other if someone has decided to get a CI. It is the attitude that so many hearing parents have about the CI. They cannot seem to see that this focus on oralism is nothing more than history repeating itself. You see parents of CI kids saying the same things that parents of kids wearing HAs said 50 years ago. Same old claims. If you want to put a CI on your kid, fine. Just don't use it as an excuse to isolate them and deny them the opportunity to develop to their full potential and to learn to accept and embrace who they are.
 
Agreed. Things like cochlear implants and hearing aids should be seen as tools and not a cure. They simply provide another avenue of communication for a deaf individual, but they should not be the only avenue.
 
jillio said:
Agreed. The AFA has the right message, but the wrong way of getting it across.

I wish more people (hearies) would understand that it is not the CI that anyone objects to. No one I know really cares one way or the other if someone has decided to get a CI. It is the attitude that so many hearing parents have about the CI. They cannot seem to see that this focus on oralism is nothing more than history repeating itself. You see parents of CI kids saying the same things that parents of kids wearing HAs said 50 years ago. Same old claims. If you want to put a CI on your kid, fine. Just don't use it as an excuse to isolate them and deny them the opportunity to develop to their full potential and to learn to accept and embrace who they are.
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I tried saying something like that.

Hence my new signature.

I think I give up to tell hearing people anything from now on.
 
Bottesini said:
I tried saying something like that.

Hence my new signature.

I think I give up to tell hearing people anything from now on.
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Yeah, I saw your new siggy. I had to laugh, because you are truly anything but!
 
jillio said:
Yeah, I saw your new siggy. I had to laugh, because you are truly anything but!
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:lol: I get messages of support. But that is one thing deaf people face from the hearing population.
 
jillio said:
I think Deaf Culture will change to reflect the changes in our wider society, but I don't see that it will ever die out. For instance, in the 1920's, Deaf Clubs were necessary for contact and communication with other deaf people. The only way to communicate was face to face or by writing a letter. Now we have Backberries, Sidekicks, email, texting, VRS. It isn't necessary to be face to face with another deaf to communicate with them. There are other ways besides writing and mailing a letter to stay in contact. This forum is another way for deaf to stay in contact with each other.

Deaf will always seek other deaf out because it is the sameness of experience that draws them together. We all want to be understood, and who better to understand what we are going through than someone who has walked the same path we have? In that respect, the culture will never die out. Oralism in the past has not been able to destroy the bond that deaf people have with each other. It has not succeeded in integrating the deaf into the hearing culture completely, even though that was exactly what it was intended to do from the very beginning, and is still intended to do today. Oralism has seen a revival with the increased implanting of not just adults, but children at young ages. I think the culture will change to readily accept implanted individuals into the culture when they learn that the CI does not make integration into the hearing society as easy as they were told it would.

There have always been orally raised adults finding the deaf culture after years of being denied exposure to it. That is not going to change. There have always been a few orally raised adults that bought into the myth, and think they don't need deaf culture. That will not change. Deaf Culture has survived over the years despite the fact that the oralists have attempted to destroy it. It will continue to exist. Deaf people will always continue to seek contact with others who share their experience. Modern technology through the use of pagers, email, VRS, etc. has just changed the way they seek each other out.
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I remember when I was in my early twenties, cochlear implants were just coming out. I was certain there would be no deaf culture in 20 years thanks to implants and I was wrong.. The thought of deaf culture being dead depressed me. Well, it's still going strong.
 
Frisky Feline said:
Do you think the "Deaf culture" will still be there in the future when the CI technology has been growing so fast? I am not talking about hearing aids.
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My opinion based on personal experience? Absolutely :cool2:

The reason i say that is because i have a deaf aunt and uncle in the family, only ones born deaf, and almost EVERYONE in the family has learned ASL or atleast know enough to talk to them. Doctors say they can help my uncle with a CI but not my aunt.

*Side note* My aunt was born deaf, my uncle was born hearing, but got something called the whooping cough at 6 months old and it damaged his hearing somehow [fully deaf].
Anyone else heard of that?

Anywho my point is my unlce refuses to get a CI, even when insurance will pay for it, because he says God made him that way, it must be his will. Imagine how many other people think this way, or just dont want one?
 
Wirelessly posted

As long as any culture is alive and well in this world, Deaf culture will be too. :D
 
but most deaf kids will not go to school together due to mainstreaming and most parents arent willing to seek out other deaf children for their child to interact with outside of school so the kind of closeness those who grew up together at Deaf schools will not be experienced by those who are mainstreamed.
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On the other hand, I DO think that the fact that most mainstream schools suck at providing decent accomondations will help to preserve Deaf Culture. I also think that a lot of hearing parents may not know that deaf schools exist as an option or that hoh/CI kids can attend them. Will we ever again have tons of kids living at school? Prolly not. That's both good and bad. It's good that they won't have to live at school and be seperated from their families, but then again the experiance of living and growing up at Deaf School.
Shel, one thing you're missing is that going to Deaf School hasn't been the norm for almost 40 years now. Yet, it's survived!!!!
 
BecLak said:
Wirelessly posted

As long as any culture is alive and well in this world, Deaf culture will be too. :D
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Absolutely. And the irony is, the oralists insure that it will always exist.:P
 
the oralists insure that it will always exist
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Yeah. So long as schools do not recognize ASL as fulfilling second language requirements, it will continue. CI is not a miracle, and only gives some profoundly deaf people enough "hearing" to function as hoh. If more people knew ASL, late deafened people would not be in such a difficult position.

Maybe people who learned ASL as children, who later develop Alzheimer's, would experience less confusion and a slower progress of the disease.

I am learning so much here!! :wave:
 
MCB said:
Yeah. So long as schools do not recognize ASL as fulfilling second language requirements, it will continue. CI is not a miracle, and only gives some profoundly deaf people enough "hearing" to function as hoh. If more people knew ASL, late deafened people would not be in such a difficult position.

Maybe people who learned ASL as children, who later develop Alzheimer's, would experience less confusion and a slower progress of the disease.

I am learning so much here!! :wave:
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Your post is spot on. We are happy that you are learning. We love to teach the willing.
 
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