Sick of this

Bebonang,

Thank you, but I won't claim to understand all of the issues the Deaf Community faces or have faced, but I am trying. I am still in the phase of not being able to believe that some of these inequalities happened. Not that I don't believe they happened, but more because I sometimes forget that times have indeed changed and fortunately with it, the mindset of many people. I went to the Deaf Valentine's Day party last weekend. I went by myself and at one point I sat by myself for a good 15 to 20 minutes. That was probably one of my most impressionable 15 to 20 minutes I have ever spent in the Deaf World.
 
dorothy5664 said:
Bebonang,

Thank you, but I won't claim to understand all of the issues the Deaf Community faces or have faced, but I am trying. I am still in the phase of not being able to believe that some of these inequalities happened. Not that I don't believe they happened, but more because I sometimes forget that times have indeed changed and fortunately with it, the mindset of many people. I went to the Deaf Valentine's Day party last weekend. I went by myself and at one point I sat by myself for a good 15 to 20 minutes. That was probably one of my most impressionable 15 to 20 minutes I have ever spent in the Deaf World

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Many (but not all) Deaf issues are easier for hearing people to understand if you have been around, or are yourself, part of a minority.

For instance I am a halfbreed. Sixty-three years ago when I was born "outcast" would have been a more correct term. The whites in my family wanted nothing to do with me because I had Indian (Native American now) blood; many Indians did not want anything to do with me because I looked white. I was told no one would ever care what the opinions of an abomination such as myself were.

It took a while before I learned to appreciate and be proud of being an outsider. It does have advantages.

The same discriminations applied to Blacks, Latinos, Orientals, and Native Americans, are applied to Deaf -- Including full scale attempts to deprive them of the languages they are heir to.
 
Berry said:
Many (but not all) Deaf issues are easier for hearing people to understand if you have been around, or are yourself, part of a minority.

For instance I am a halfbreed. Sixty-three years ago when I was born "outcast" would have been a more correct term. The whites in my family wanted nothing to do with me because I had Indian (Native American now) blood; many Indians did not want anything to do with me because I looked white. I was told no one would ever care what the opinions of an abomination such as myself were.

It took a while before I learned to appreciate and be proud of being an outsider. It does have advantages.

The same discriminations applied to Blacks, Latinos, Orientals, and Native Americans, are applied to Deaf -- Including full scale attempts to deprive them of the languages they are heir to.
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I am going to have to agree completely with you here, Berry. My ethnic heritage is a mother who was Jewish/African American, and a father who was German/Irish. We didn't live in the melting pot...we were the melting pot.:giggle: I have often said, though, that my heritage provided me with a wider world view, and a greater ability to empathize with marginalized people in all areas of life.
 
jillio said:
I am going to have to agree completely with you here, Berry. My ethnic heritage is a mother who was Jewish/African American, and a father who was German/Irish. We didn't live in the melting pot...we were the melting pot.:giggle: I have often said, though, that my heritage provided me with a wider world view, and a greater ability to empathize with marginalized people in all areas of life.
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wow..thats a good post :)
 
jillio said:
I am going to have to agree completely with you here, Berry. My ethnic heritage is a mother who was Jewish/African American, and a father who was German/Irish. We didn't live in the melting pot...we were the melting pot.:giggle: I have often said, though, that my heritage provided me with a wider world view, and a greater ability to empathize with marginalized people in all areas of life

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Excellent way to phrase it.

I call my family an ethnic salad.



society's_child said:
Being a minority has it's advantages

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:ty:
 
Berry,

Maybe that is why I find it somewhat easier than others in the hearing world to understand the issues of the Deaf Community. First of all I have a 45 year old cousin who was diagnosed mentally retarded. After all of these years, I really wonder if he is mentally retarded. I think the bigger issue for him is that he has very poor speech capabilities. As an adult I have always thought he comprehended much more about what is going on and being discussed around him than he has probably been given credit for. I think if he had, had better speech therapy and quite possibly been provided with the option of signing when he was younger, it may have been discovered that he isn't really mentally retarded.

Additionally, my daughter (we are white) dated a guy whose ethnic heritage is a white mother and African/American father. It used to drive me crazy when we would be out in public and people would stare and throw dirty looks in our direction. Even though things didn't work out for them despite dating for over 4 years, he is a nice guy and was very good to my daughter.

So, you are probably right. My personal background probably does put me in a better position to understand and have empathy for the issues the Deaf Community face. For instance, some people in my class don't understand the fact that many deaf parents would prefer deaf children rather than hearing children. They think it is terrible that parents would actually want their children to be "handicapped." I try to explain that in the Deaf Community, deafness is not a handicapping condition and that also every parent wants their children to be like them. For why exactly do many of us have children, other than to pass a little bit of us on to the future.

I don't know if this is a fair assumption, as I have never had a deaf parent explain it to me, but it seems to make sense to me.
 
Retardation is in truth a social diagnosis not a medical one (although not all doctors will admit this) and there are "retarded" people who have IQ's of 180 or more.

Many people who were classified as retarded 45 years ago are diagnosed today as various forms of autistic and or one syndrome or another (you may be aware at one time Downs syndrome was classed as retardation).

What prevents you from teaching your cousin sign language now? 45 is not too late. Either he shows an interest or he doesn't.
 
Berry,

Distance is not an issue. Sadly, I only get to see him once a year now. And you are right about the MR diagnosis. I have also worked with children on the Autistic spectrum and if you can break through the barriers that Autism puts up, you usually find an extremely intelligent person.
 
dorothy5664 said:
oops, that should say distance is now an issue

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I believe you had a slip of wishful thinking.

A sad fact of the human condition is the things we learn often come too late to do us any good. Perhaps maturity lies in learning to deal with this.
 
jillio said:
Many of them, to my way of thinking.
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I couldn't agree more. Aside from having a bit more tolerance/understanding, I am loved at work. Being a female Deaf quadriplegic Jew, I fulfill their diversity requirements all by myself! :giggle:
 
DeafDoc1 said:
I couldn't agree more. Aside from having a bit more tolerance/understanding, I am loved at work. Being a female Deaf quadriplegic Jew, I fulfill their diversity requirements all by myself! :giggle:
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:laugh2:
 
I've been banned from AD for the past week, but in looking over the various threads early this morning, I don't understand where people are attacking each other. Perhaps deafteen could explain specifically what thread or threads she is referring to? :scratch:
 
I wanted to add that I've been banned from AD for the remarks that I made in the Lounge thread. I've learned my lesson and have now chosen to leave threads that bother, anger or irritate me. There's no point in getting upset over opinions that people have a right to express. We can always agree to disagree which is what I'm working on. I hope deafteen will choose to remain here on AD, but if not, I respect her decision.
 
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