"Deaf People can do anything but hear" whats wrong with this slogan - discuss

Grummer

Grummer

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The famous slogan, 'Deaf people can do anything except hear" is counter-productive.
This is because for many hearing people in businesses would tend to back off at the instant when they notice the cost of addressing the so-called 'communication problems' by not only in a economic business sense but also of time (they think time is money) then they get uncomfortable and prefer someone else to employ them...so goes the 'ping-pong' effect, but a forever ping-pong situation!.

This is one of the probably hundreds of not thousands of reasons to deem this slogan is erroneous and carrys a burden of falsehood. Discuss what what else wrong with this phrase and if you can bubble up replacement slogan , what would it be?
This thread has two purpose, to criticise this phrase and to write up something else that might be better suited to our cultural/political scope.
 
It's untrue...I cannot change a flat tire, I cannot join the United States Army, and I cannot kiss a snake.
 
Another thing, it doesnt reflect anything to suggest the existence of Deaf culture or Deaf identity. I dont think so because it seems to echoes the ideas of assimilation and denial of differences.
 
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kiss a snake? huh whats that to do with hearing??!
im lost here
 
Wirelessly posted

Like Grummer says it does not present any of the issues that are unique to Deaf culture. The ....'But hear' immediately cuts out the essence of equality of the Deaf in the minds of the Hearing. Therefore we need slogans that display the uniqueness of Deaf culture in a positive way.
'Unspoken language,the language of the Deaf, surpasses all language barriers across all cultures'
 
Does the above resonates re ASL vs BSL VS Auslan which seem to use "English" but use "different signs"? I understand even Fingerspelling is different. I aware one can can learn each of the above which "appear NOT to be the "same".

Perhaps one day in the distance future all variant sign languages will be the same-realistic?

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
 
drphil said:
Does the above resonates re ASL vs BSL VS Auslan which seem to use "English" but use "different signs"? I understand even Fingerspelling is different. I aware one can can learn each of the above which "appear NOT to be the "same".

Perhaps one day in the distance future all variant sign languages will be the same-realistic?

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
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Yes, in the very very distant future when we are all once again quivering in primordial ooze. Why worry about it now?
 
I can't remember who wrote it here in AD but he said essentially "If every child (hearing and deaf) learns sign in school, deafness would no longer be considered a disability." That always stuck with me.
 
DeafCaroline said:
I can't remember who wrote it here in AD but he said essentially "If every child (hearing and deaf) learns sign in school, deafness would no longer be considered a disability." That always stuck with me.
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I think PFH made that comment.
 
drphil said:
Perhaps one day in the distance future all variant sign languages will be the same-realistic?
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That'll happen around the same time that all variant spoken languages will be the same. Evaluate realisticness similarly.
 
Here is an example of a DEAF kid in music class

The school has a theme this year that all the kids study, Cuban music. There is a class where they are expected to explore this art form and integrate it into their general studies. The first day of class the teacher presented this assignment. They were to listen to a Cuban song and after create a dance of art piece that represents how they felt about it. *dramatic pause*

My son raises his hand points to himself and says, "I'm still deaf"

The class burst unto laughter. The teacher stopped the lesson so everyone could brainstorm on how to continue. Finally they decided to try and use a small amp so he could at least feel the vibration. He walked over leaned in shaking his head, " no, still deaf ".

The kids thought he was funny they continued the joke all day. We now have a powerful silent amp that goes to any class where there is music courtesy of the principal. What is so interesting is no one at this school views my son as disabled so deaf is not a sensitive issue. They address it as a learning style. Some kids are kinetic learners, other visual etc but they all have a way they learn best. The teacher from that class was horrified at her mistake and came to my to talk about it and how she could change.

We Never Landed In Holland: So there Was a Priest, A Rabbi, and A Deaf Guy....
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Wirelessly posted

itsn't the quote "deaf people can do anything hearing people can...except hear"?

and the reason that that i don't like the quote, is because plenty of deaf people can hear.
 
Not in the sense in how you can hear.

That's just downright insulting. Even CIs and HAs can't cut it when comparing to how you, a hearing person, hears.
 
AlleyCat said:
Not in the sense in how you can hear.

That's just downright insulting. Even CIs and HAs can't cut it when comparing to how you, a hearing person, hears.
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Even with CIs and HAs, there are limits on what a person can hear. This is because there are many factors that can influence hearing such as background noise. I know that CIs can be mapped to reduce this, but that doesn't eliminate it. Therefore, a person will struggle; even with CIs.

Let us also not forget that hearing also doesn't equal understanding. Again, even with CIs, there are people who are still reliant on lipreading to catch meaning. HAs and CIs might make hearing EASIER, but that doesn't make them like a HEARING PERSON.
 
Deaf people can do anything when given rights to sign language.
 
Not in the sense in how you can hear.

That's just downright insulting. Even CIs and HAs can't cut it when comparing to how you, a hearing person, hears.
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Yes faire joure. Except for unilateral hoh people, we hear like hoh people. We hear in one or two dimensional sound, compared to you guys who hear in 3 dimensional sound.
Hearing like a hoh person is NOT hearing person hearing at ALL.
 
Wirelessly posted

deafdyke said:
Not in the sense in how you can hear.

That's just downright insulting. Even CIs and HAs can't cut it when comparing to how you, a hearing person, hears.
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Yes faire joure. Except for unilateral hoh people, we hear like hoh people. We hear in one or two dimensional sound, compared to you guys who hear in 3 dimensional sound.
Hearing like a hoh person is NOT hearing person hearing at ALL.
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i certainly didn't say they hear like hearing people, i said they could hear. That is a simple fact. Too bad if people decided to get pissed about it.
 
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