The Deaf Community

posts from hell said:
Then why bother bringing it up? What's your motive?
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I was watching X-men 3 and saw some serious parallels between it and the Deaf community. It promoted a conversation with my husband about the definition of "cure" and we disagreed, thought I would open it up to other opinions.
 
KarissaMann05 said:
Wirelessly posted

Oh boy... you don't get it. But I will answer your questions anyway.

Who are "your" people? 33% of my immediate family is Deaf, what about yours?"

Hearing people. :| And, my life is really not so important to you. So, I don't see why I should to tell you about my family and myself.
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Then don't tell me who is "my people" and who isn't.
 
faire_jour said:
If they don't seek out the Deaf community, but instead live in the mainstream community, they wouldn't be here.
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If they are not interested defending themselves and challenging deaf people, then why the parents? I don't understand.

they probably too young right now ( I don't think teenagers are ready and probably too sensitive)
 
No. Not anymore than someone should accept being called stupid, loser, etc. [insert any insulting term here] When someone suggests that I need to be "fixed" or "eradicated," it makes me feel the same way that I feel when someone calls me a loser. I won't accept that.
 
Wirelessly posted

Well, I'm very happy that my mother didn't give me a "cure", or force me to be normal child, or force me to learn how to speak and listen, or not prevented me from exposing the ASL and Deaf Community.

I thankfully glad I grew up turned out doing so great! I love my family so much cos how they treated me better. I now can have my own choices. :)
 
LDNanna said:
Historically speaking, hearing have patronized the deaf. Feeling superior in the guise of their so called kindnesses. Paternalized the deaf under guise and pretense of knowing "what is good for them".

Bah. Soon we may begin to believe it.

I was of course born hearing as I am late deaf. It did not take long to discover that in some hearing peoples eyes my IQ dropped faster than my audiogram.
To answer your question - no. Why? I am quite capable of making my own decisions, have the right to my own opinion and have earned and fought for the right to make my own informed life choices.

I work hard, put up with prejudices and have earned my stripes. I am late deaf but none the less proud to be deaf. The last person to make decisions for me was my father. The dear man has passed on and so there went the last person respected enough to allow this liberty.
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Superb Posting!....You said it excellent....
 
deafgal001 said:
If they are not interested defending themselves and challenging deaf people, then why the parents? I don't understand.

they probably too young right now ( I don't think teenagers are ready and probably too sensitive)
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Not interested in challenging deaf people? They ARE deaf people, what do you mean by that?

In my case, my daughter is too young to write and join an online community. I'm hearing, yet part of the deaf community in order to understand and learn whatever I can from those who have trodden the path before and to make it possible for her to be exposed to Deaf culture and those with common experiences as a child. If I were not participating, she would not otherwise have an opportunity to interact with those who are deaf.

I know quite a few older children with CIs who do not participate in online forums such as this because -- frankly -- what is there for teenagers here, whether deaf or hearing? Are there a whole bunch of 14 - 20 YO unaided deaf here speaking for themselves? They are all out there looking for fun and friendship, their friends are on Facebook, the people they know in school, in real life. The experiences being related here are rarely relevant to today's high school age kids who've been wearing CIs since they were 1 or 2: they didn't grow up in the old oral schools described here, they likely didn't have a bi-bi program nearby, they grew up in communities of HA/CI children like themselves or in mainstream environments. The oldest early implantees, the pioneers who got their CIs pre-FDA approval trials, are 21, right? And until recently the Deaf community rejected them and their families outright. So they don't see the Deaf as their own "People." There are not yet 30 - 40 YOs out there who have grown up with CIs from toddler years.
 
LDNanna said:
Historically speaking, hearing have patronized the deaf. Feeling superior in the guise of their so called kindnesses. Paternalized the deaf under guise and pretense of knowing "what is good for them".

Bah. Soon we may begin to believe it.

I was of course born hearing as I am late deaf. It did not take long to discover that in some hearing peoples eyes my IQ dropped faster than my audiogram.
To answer your question - no. Why? I am quite capable of making my own decisions, have the right to my own opinion and have earned and fought for the right to make my own informed life choices.

I work hard, put up with prejudices and have earned my stripes. I am late deaf but none the less proud to be deaf. The last person to make decisions for me was my father. The dear man has passed on and so there went the last person respected enough to allow this liberty.
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Wow, I missed this the first time around! What a great post!!
 
LDNanna said:
Historically speaking, hearing have patronized the deaf. Feeling superior in the guise of their so called kindnesses. Paternalized the deaf under guise and pretense of knowing "what is good for them".

Bah. Soon we may begin to believe it.

I was of course born hearing as I am late deaf. It did not take long to discover that in some hearing peoples eyes my IQ dropped faster than my audiogram.
To answer your question - no. Why? I am quite capable of making my own decisions, have the right to my own opinion and have earned and fought for the right to make my own informed life choices.

I work hard, put up with prejudices and have earned my stripes. I am late deaf but none the less proud to be deaf. The last person to make decisions for me was my father. The dear man has passed on and so there went the last person respected enough to allow this liberty.
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I like your post very much, despite some differences I think we have in our beliefs, LDNanna. I lost my dad not long ago and feel the same way. :)
 
GrendelQ said:
Not interested in challenging deaf people? They ARE deaf people, what do you mean by that?

In my case, my daughter is too young to write and join an online community. I'm hearing, yet part of the deaf community in order to understand and learn whatever I can from those who have trodden the path before and to make it possible for her to be exposed to Deaf culture and those with common experiences as a child. If I were not participating, she would not otherwise have an opportunity to interact with those who are deaf.

I know quite a few older children with CIs who do not participate in online forums such as this because -- frankly -- what is there for teenagers here, whether deaf or hearing? Are there a whole bunch of 14 - 20 YO unaided deaf here speaking for themselves? They are all out there looking for fun and friendship, their friends are on Facebook, the people they know in school, in real life. The experiences being related here are rarely relevant to today's high school age kids who've been wearing CIs since they were 1 or 2: they didn't grow up in the old oral schools described here, they likely didn't have a bi-bi program nearby, they grew up in communities of HA/CI children like themselves or in mainstream environments. The oldest early implantees, the pioneers who got their CIs pre-FDA approval trials, are 21, right? And until recently the Deaf community rejected them and their families outright. So they don't see the Deaf as their own "People." There are not yet 30 - 40 YOs out there who have grown up with CIs from toddler years.
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if they disagree with us, they can tell us themselves but I don't think they are interested. I know they are deaf but I don't know if they like to be refer as deaf or CI deaf or what. I let them tell us how they like to be refer. For the meanwhile I know alot of us are comfortable with the word "deaf"

I know, I was a public school kid myself. I know they have friends , activties, sports, and even boyfriends (like myself in high school) I still think teens can be sensitive especially about hearing loss, so I'm very careful around them even if I disagree with how they view us.
 
LDNanna said:
Historically speaking, hearing have patronized the deaf. Feeling superior in the guise of their so called kindnesses. Paternalized the deaf under guise and pretense of knowing "what is good for them".

Bah. Soon we may begin to believe it.

I was of course born hearing as I am late deaf. It did not take long to discover that in some hearing peoples eyes my IQ dropped faster than my audiogram.
To answer your question - no. Why? I am quite capable of making my own decisions, have the right to my own opinion and have earned and fought for the right to make my own informed life choices.

I work hard, put up with prejudices and have earned my stripes. I am late deaf but none the less proud to be deaf. The last person to make decisions for me was my father. The dear man has passed on and so there went the last person respected enough to allow this liberty.
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Great post :)
 
shel90 said:
Should the Deaf community accept hearing people calling deafness defective or that Deaf people need to improve themselves by getting CIs or seeking a cure.? Or that we should assimilate in the hearing world fully>
If so, why?

If not, why not?

For me...NO...because we have the right to be comfortable with our deafness and be respected as contributing citizens to this country. No, we may not live our lives the hearing way but as long as we are contributing to society, why complain about us wanting to stay in the Deaf community and using ASL as our language?
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I could answer from a deaf perspective. Sometime I just like the feeling that having better hearing (i.e. since I got my CI) enables me to function a little more like those I'm surrounded with on a daily basis. Not necessarily in a "socializing / partying" sense but little things like walking into the store and communicating with the cashier (i.e. and just like with many of the others, usually doing nothing more than the usual "want a bag?" "yes, please thanks" chit-chat), etc.

For instance, the other day it was dark out and I came out of my apartment onto the parking lot in my community. Whereas there was some guy from a distance that started talking to me. First, I had to do a double take "Are you talking to me? I'm sorry let me get a little closer...". Then I realized he was saying "Your friend is looking for you". And sure enough I turned around and see my friend's car coming. I then waved to the guy and said "I got it. Thanks!", also giving him a thumbs up.

Just using that as an example, that if I did not have the CI or was even wearing just the BTE, I probably would have had the need to be as close to being right in front of the guy in order to communicate with him. Not to also mention there's also a possibility I wouldn't have heard him in the first place. Just little every day occurrences like these makes me appreciate having a little better hearing than I used to...
 
HHIssues said:
In fairness to the hearing, it's also SOME of the deaf that actually wants to hear better.

I even do know of some of the culturally deaf that had a CI yet they continue to hang out with their culturally deaf friends and sign, etc.
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PFH's post wasnt about deaf people wanting to hear. His point was about how people look down on deaf people based on their dB loss rather than see them as equal people.
 
HHIssues said:
In fairness to the hearing, it's also SOME of the deaf that actually wants to hear better.

I even do know of some of the culturally deaf that had a CI yet they continue to hang out with their culturally deaf friends and sign, etc.
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Yer 0-3 for the morning. Wow.. That CI gadget of yours doesn't help you read, eh?
 
shel90 said:
PFH's post wasnt about deaf people wanting to hear. His point was about how people look down on deaf people based on their dB loss rather than see them as equal people.
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Yes. That's so sad that Hearing people are simply ignorant, period.
 
Oddball said:
Yes. That's so sad that Hearing people are simply ignorant, period.
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I can agree to that to a degree...it is not their fault that they are ignorant and I give them the benefit of the doubt but it is when they exhibit audist attitudes, that is what I have a big big problem with.

My hubby was so ignorant about deaf people and ASL when we first met but he was willing to keep an open mind. We need more hearing people like that. They are the best!
 
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