Hello I am new to this forum and to the deaf culture. I am a hearing person and actually do not currently have any contact with individuals who are deaf. I am in a class that requires us to step outside of our comfort zone and interact in arenas in which we are the minority rather than the majority. Although I am not White (rather East Indian) I am hearing, which makes me different than most of those in this forum. I do not want to give the impression that I am simply some voyeuristic weirdo just wanting to see what its like to be something other than me. We are allowed to chose any experience we want and this is the experience I would like to learn the most from. I will be getting married in August and my fiancee has a niece who is about 7 months old and is deaf. I have not had a lot of interaction with the child yet as they live in a different state but I know that we will, and that I want to. As I have not had an experience with those in the deaf community I want apologize in advance for the ignorance on my part regarding the customs and culture of the deaf world. I would really appreciate any information that any of you could provide on what it is like to be in a world where you are not as "visible" as everyone else. As I mentioned earlier I am not a majority by ethnic standards so I do understand what it is like to be discriminated against, but I do not know what it is like to be deaf and discriminated against.
A friend of mine recently discussed a dinner she had with 2 of her friends who are deaf. She expressed her frustration with the waiter who continously addressed her (she was a hearing individual) rather than her friends. She stated that she finally became so exasperated that she told the waiter that she would not continue to answer any questions directed towards her friends as they were more than capable to answer them. She stated the waiter did not realize that he was not acknowledging the other individuals at the table.
I am currently in the process of locating a place to learn sign language and to be more involved in the deaf community. As I mentioned earlier I have not been around any individuals who are deaf but knowing that I will in the very near future have a niece who is deaf I feel it is my responsibility to gain as much information as possible to develop a strong relationship with her. What are some of your experiences growing up as a child who was deaf? Were there things that you wish people would have understood?
A friend of mine recently discussed a dinner she had with 2 of her friends who are deaf. She expressed her frustration with the waiter who continously addressed her (she was a hearing individual) rather than her friends. She stated that she finally became so exasperated that she told the waiter that she would not continue to answer any questions directed towards her friends as they were more than capable to answer them. She stated the waiter did not realize that he was not acknowledging the other individuals at the table.
I am currently in the process of locating a place to learn sign language and to be more involved in the deaf community. As I mentioned earlier I have not been around any individuals who are deaf but knowing that I will in the very near future have a niece who is deaf I feel it is my responsibility to gain as much information as possible to develop a strong relationship with her. What are some of your experiences growing up as a child who was deaf? Were there things that you wish people would have understood?
I have to agree with you and it is not getting any better if we don't have access to our ASL and other important accommodations. Hearing people just don't understand how bad we, Deafies and/or HOH, have a hard time understanding what hearing people say whether in the classroom or out in the real world. It is no fun and very frustrating to do what the hearing people want us to do. They expect us to hear and listen without lipreading if there is CI/HA. This is really impossible for us to do that. You will find some on AD who opts for CI hoping the child will learn how to be train to listen. But that is impossible unless a child have a very mild hearing loss that he or she can hear and listen to the words. Twenty years ago it was a lot worse for us to go through this trauma of trying to do what the hearing people want us to do. Today it is a lot worse off than before. We are concern about our ASL being taken away from us. We also want to keep our Deaf Culture, too. We are being happy just as being Deaf/HOH. We don't like to be force at all. Sorry for the rant. :roll:
