is this rude or disrespectful?

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rpipkin95

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Ok so this was brought up in another form about someone basically pretending to be deaf. I was in a class where our teacher asked us to go get ear plugs and wear them like around town after school for a week, so we could get a since of what deaf people go through when trying to communicate with the hearing world, and she also said that it would be a great way to practice signing. But I was wondering of this is in anyway rude towards Deaf or HoH people? Even though we in no way were being (or trying not to be) disrespectful. So when we do this are we being disrespectful, or is this ok for practicing purposes only? Because in no way are we trying to “become” deaf.
 
It makes me laugh, somewhat!...A friend of mine was "so upset" about my deafness...asked me..."how can you stand it"??.....And he actually stuck cotton into both of his ears "to get the idea of not being able to hear"....

I don't feel it's being disrespectful. Some hearies are in wonderment as to how we function not being able to hear....so they get ear plugs or cotton to "get the idea".
 
It's a question of intent. There's a difference between plugging up your ears to make fun of deaf/hh people and plugging up your ears to try to understand what it's like to have hearing loss.
 
rpipkin95 said:
Ok so this was brought up in another form about someone basically pretending to be deaf. I was in a class where our teacher asked us to go get ear plugs and wear them like around town after school for a week, so we could get a since of what deaf people go through when trying to communicate with the hearing world, and she also said that it would be a great way to practice signing. But I was wondering of this is in anyway rude towards Deaf or HoH people? Even though we in no way were being (or trying not to be) disrespectful. So when we do this are we being disrespectful, or is this ok for practicing purposes only? Because in no way are we trying to “become” deaf.
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no
 
No if she is teaching you about awareness.

But using an earplug would make you more like HOH though. But I wouldn't know because I don't know what earplug sound like because I never been hearing.

I do know that my husband can still hear me with earplugs on.
 
Steinhauer said:
Is it rude for a deaf person to pretend they are hearing?
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If they didn't know I was deaf, they thought I was rude. That's what I get when I let them think I'm hearing and didn't tell them that I'm deaf. I look kinda silly with the deaf nod because I was busy trying to pretend I'm hearing and I have no idea what they said.
 
A said:
If they didn't know I was deaf, they thought I was rude. That's what I get when I let them think I'm hearing and didn't tell them that I'm deaf. I look kinda silly with the deaf nod because I was busy trying to pretend I'm hearing and I have no idea what they said.
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:laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2:
 
If you take a group of kids and put them out in the community pretending to be deaf, it is likely to cause me problems later on from people getting a bad impression of deaf people and expecting some foolishness from me.

I have enough problems already.
 
A said:
No if she is teaching you about awareness.

But using an earplug would make you more like HOH though. But I wouldn't know because I don't know what earplug sound like because I never been hearing.

I do know that my husband can still hear me with earplugs on.
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Cotton or ear plugs won't block out all sounds, it just mutes them, makes the sound lower or muffled....

Some hearies wear them while sleeping to block out noises, such as TV's, kids yelling, traffic sounds, etc.....They still can hear "some sounds" but it's at a lower volume.
 
Bottesini said:
If you take a group of kids and put them out in the community pretending to be deaf, it is likely to cause me problems later on from people getting a bad impression of deaf people and expecting some foolishness from me.

I have enough problems already.
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I definitely see where you are coming from, but in all honesty it’s not really a formal class (it’s a once a week class that we have for 30 min during our off period) so it’s not like we have over a hundred kids going to the mall pretending to be deaf. We only had about 3 or 4 of us at the time that she “assigned” this to us.
 
rpipkin95 said:
I definitely see where you are coming from, but in all honesty it’s not really a formal class (it’s a once a week class that we have for 30 min during our off period) so it’s not like we have over a hundred kids going to the mall pretending to be deaf. We only had about 3 or 4 of us at the time that she “assigned” this to us.
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It actually only takes one person to make a really bad impression. I seriously dread interacting with people outside my usual circle.

And I don't like it when I notice kids in the mall mocking me. Which happens more than it should to me and others.
 
Bottesini said:
It actually only takes one person to make a really bad impression. I seriously dread interacting with people outside my usual circle.

And I don't like it when I notice kids in the mall mocking me. Which happens more than it should to me and others.
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Happens to all of us.

Sometimes its the adults. I was in a coffee shop chatting it up with some buds when this big enormous hercules dude on steroids came up smiled and started watching us sign.

yeah ... like WE were the freak show
 
Bottesini said:
It actually only takes one person to make a really bad impression. I seriously dread interacting with people outside my usual circle.

And I don't like it when I notice kids in the mall mocking me. Which happens more than it should to me and others.
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There will always be morons ready to make you look like a freak. Since you can't really control other people's behaviors, it's best to just ignore them and move on.

If they do the whole staring thing, shoot them a look, ask them if they have a question, or just stop what you're doing and freeze for several seconds. :cool2:
 
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