While surfing the web recently, I came across this article written by Nadina LaSpina – a Disability Advocate who herself has a physical disability and uses a wheelchair. In this article, Nadina addresses a frequently discussed (and sometimes hotly debated) topic within the Deaf Community…
Are Deaf people disabled? Are they members of a linguistic minority? Neither? Both?
I’m not sure where I stand on this question – I can see both sides of the fence. I consider myself a Culturally Deaf person and as such I’m not comfortable with viewing myself as disabled…and I don’t really feel I have much in common with those who have other disabilities. And yet at the same time I must acknowledge that there are certain aspects of having a hearing loss that do fit into the disability spectrum.
But I digress. Below is Nadina’s article. Read it for yourself and ponder where you stand on this issue. Even if you disagree with her, or straddle the fence seeing both sides of the coin, Nadina does provide some interesting food for thought.
I should mention that this article was written in 1995, so it is a fairly old piece. Frank Bowe (a well-known disability rights activist who was deaf himself) passed away in 2007. While I do think we have come a fairly long way in the past 17 years in our understanding of and sensitivity to the Deaf Culture and its sense of separate identity; the “deaf vs. disabled” debate still continues today and probably always will.
(photograph showing two women and a man sitting in a group, using sign language with one another)
THEY DON’T WANT TO BE LIKE US
By Nadina LaSpina
“Are people who are deaf, despite the protestations of some, individuals with disabilities?” In the last issue of the Activist, Frank Bowe, Professor in the Department of Counseling, Research, Special Education and Rehabilitation at Hofstra University, author of numerous books and articles on disability issues, powerful and tireless civil rights advocate, and himself deaf, tried to answer that question.
According to federal laws such as the ADA and the IDEA, Frank Bowe explains, people who are deaf are disabled. They meet the statutory definition of “individuals with disabilities” and may, therefore, avail themselves of the accommodations and protections offered in those laws. However, Frank adds, that does not mean they must consider themselves disabled. Indeed,
the community of people who capitalize the word “Deaf” very vehemently rejects the label “disabled”.
As a way of explaining that position, Frank argues that Deaf people have more in common with people speaking languages other than English than with those of us who have disabilities.
As a linguist and language teacher, and also as someone who learned English as a second language (and whose mother, after many years in this country, still speaks only Italian), I am very familiar with issues of language structure, language function, and language acquisition; and I understand only too well the problems encountered by those who do not know the language of the country in which they live.
The analogy is a very good one: sign language users are faced with the same communication barriers as other foreign language users. We could even carry the analogy one step further: like deaf people, other non-English speaking people in America must deal with discrimination, since in this land of immigrants, the most recent immigrants are invariably regarded as the most inferior. Consequently, any foreign language spoken by a minority – including Sign Language – is considered to be “not as good as English”.
As a linguist, I am fascinated by Sign language (in fact, I am trying to learn ASL) and by the Deaf Community as a linguistic minority. I know what a powerful unifying force language is. A shared language makes for a shared identity. A shared language makes it easier to feel pride in that identity. A shared language makes it easier to build a culture.
That’s why Deaf people leaped ahead, leaving us – people with other disabilities – way behind while they built their separate culture.
Deaf people have every right to feel proud of their beautiful language and rich culture. I am envious of Deaf people. Without the advantage of a shared language, it has been very difficult for the rest of us to find a sense of identity; only recently have we started talking about “disability culture” and “disability pride”. Our sense of identity and pride has emerged out of the struggle for disability rights, while for Deaf people it has remained centered in their language and in their separateness. That is a big difference. But there is no reason why that difference should divide us. There is no reason why the Deaf community has to insist that because they are a linguistic minority they are not disabled like us.
At times a deaf person may be perceived by others as simply someone who does not know English, or, if the deaf person speaks, as someone who is not a native English speaker. I recall a conversation I had with Frank where he jokingly related the efforts of a salesman trying to recognize his “accent”. “I bet you’re from Russia,” the salesman concluded. Frank had me laughing so hard I never asked him if he told the salesman what the “accent” really was. But I do know exactly what the salesman’s reaction would have been if he were told. Embarrassment, profuse apology, amazement that Frank could function at all… the same type of reaction I would get when, still able to walk on crutches, I would answer truthfully when asked by someone with a big smile on his face “did you do it skiing?” The smile dropped off the poor devil’s face so quickly when he realized I wasn’t just temporarily injured, but permanently “disabled”.
The point I’m trying to make is that Deaf people are not just a linguistic minority, that deaf people have more in common with those of us who have (other) disabilities than they do with speakers of foreign languages. It is not just the language of the law that defines us all as “disabled”.
To the nondisabled majority all of us who have physical, intellectual or emotional differences are on the other side of the line: we are all “disabled”.
That line to the nondisabled majority is more significant than any other dividing line drawn on the basis of social status, gender, sexual preference, ethnicity, even race.
Throughout the ages a whole baggage of myths, fears and stereotypes has accumulated around the realities of biological difference/disability, resulting in what in the social sciences we call a “social construct”. The social construct of disability defines us all – people with mobility impairments, blind people, deaf people, people with retardation, people with psychiatric disabilities, etc. – as inferior, defective, dysfunctional, afflicted, pitiable. The social construct of disability has far ranging consequences, leading to poor education, training for failure, desexualization, unemployment or underemployment, discrimination of all sorts. The injustice Deaf people have suffered throughout the centuries, therefore, goes beyond that suffered by other linguistic minorities. We know because we have suffered the same injustice.
Sign language in the past was not just considered “inferior”, it was considered “unnatural” and “not normal”, just like my way of getting around is considered not normal even though I may get where I’m going faster in my chair than someone on foot.
No member of a linguistic minority is ever going to understand the Deaf community’s opposition to cochlear implants.
But those of us who were tortured as children with painful contraptions and multiple surgeries (I had 17 operations because the doctors and my parents insisted I had to walk) understand the Deaf community’s unwillingness to have their children “cured”. Those of us who have come to embrace our disabilities as integral parts of ourselves, know what a threat that miracle surgery or “fix it all pill” they keep raising money to discover really is to our precious sense of identity.
Frank Bowe sees very clearly the dangers of separation in the political arena.
“For purposes of public laws, for purposes of advocacy in civil rights, etc., Deaf people have to work with others who have disabilities as members of the disability community” he writes.
Yes, today more than ever! Given the current political atmosphere of cost-cutting and contempt for anyone who is not healthy, rich and successful, with the foes of ADA riding high in Congress, we simply cannot afford not to work together!
There is another danger in working separately instead of working together. When our needs and our goals differ, as they must at times since our disabilities are different, we can end up working against each other. That has already happened: the disability community has fought to have our children included in the regular classroom, but, as Frank points out, the regular classroom is not “the least restrictive environment” for a deaf child.
We must make sure that we understand our differences, so that we never end up unknowingly hurting each other.
I disagree with Frank on one point: I don’t believe that Deaf people can join forces with us in order to fight for rights and, at the same time, insist that they are not disabled. Somehow, Deaf people must be made to understand the harm they are causing when they say “they are not like us”.
Deaf linguists Carol Padden and Tom Humphries write: “The term “disabled” describes those who are blind or physically handicapped, not Deaf people” and again:
“Deaf people do not, at the center, view themselves as disabled or handicapped. Instead their view of themselves is one of wholeness and completeness. They view themselves as competent individuals…”
Have these authors been watching the telethon? It must have been from Jerry Lewis that they got the idea that people with disabilities are not competent or whole, that they are, as Jerry would put it, “half persons”.
It’s obvious that Deaf people have accepted the non-disabled majority’s definition of disability.
They do not want to be defined as disabled because they don’t want to shoulder all the negative baggage that `comes with the territory’ of having a disability.
Well, neither do we. That’s why we’re working hard to free ourselves and them from all that baggage. By separating themselves from us, by calling themselves members of a linguistic minority and calling us disabled, all they are doing is perpetuating the notion that disability is “bad”. And they’re not really helping themselves, since the nondisabled majority is still going to think of them as disabled. Wouldn’t it be better if they joined us in saying:
Yes! We’re all disabled, and we’re all just fine, we are whole, complete, competent individuals… and we are proud of our separate identities as Deaf people, as Blind people, as wheelchair users, etc…. and we are also proud of our common identity as People with Disabilities.
NOTE: The italics in this article were added by Ocean of Deaf Pagan Crossroads for special emphasis, and are not part of the original article. The intention of the italics is to focus on certain topics of thought which I found particularly important and interesting in this article.
Special thanks to Nadina for writing this article and sharing her thoughts. While I am not sure if I agree with all of her views, I can appreciate where she is coming from. I’ve been in contact with Nadina and have asked if her views have changed over the last seventeen years. Her response to such a question will be addressed in a future post as necessary. Thanks again, Nadina!
This sculpture shows the sign for "connect"...and that is what Deaf Pagan Crossroads is all about - making connections. Connections between Deafhood and Paganism, connections between the Deaf Community and the Hearing Community, connections between myself as the writer and you as the reader. I hope you will take the time to read my various posts, some of which are listed below. Welcome to the Crossroads, and I hope you make some connections here!
Thank you for posting this article. I’m grateful to have knowledge about it and have access to it. Yes let’s critically examine it further together. Right now, I’m extremely busy and discussing it in English isn’t my cup of tea. Want do it in ASL first smile. But I’ll definitely mull over this and look for others’ comments and definitely Nadina s response to your question. Again thank you for this timely topic.
The blog titles suggests the mind is already made up. ‘Us’ ? who is ‘Us’ ? I hate ‘Deaf’ and ”deaf’ highlighted differences, it makes culture look bad, HI look totally apathetic, and those the majority between non-extant.. We ARE all in the same boat and the sooner this attitude of lauding differences to the point of erecting barriers we don’t need, the better. It should make no difference if you sign or not, oralise or not etc. I find our sectors the least tolerant of differences. Most of the ‘cest le vie’ area in fact do not recognise that at all, it is just an cosy opt out while they ignore you. In the UK disabled are the ONLY people fighting for deaf rights, that says a lot to me…. and rather says too much about how the deaf are (NOT) campaigning !
Interesting perspective – a similar “I don’t need to be fixed, I’m just fine the way I am” sort of message is coming from a lot of young adults with autism & related conditions.
From my limited perspective, I think there’s value in both sides of the discussion. There has to be a balance between them – between giving people tools and supports, and on not creating a toxic environment focused on what’s wrong with the person.
No one believes that my need for glasses is a disability – it’s just a thing, just a part of me. I wish more people would view other conditions and disabilities that same way.
The deaf are the last of the disability sector to recognise what they are. Both sides of the profound loss area are to a degree sensory-deprived and reliant to an huge degree on support of one kind or another, that says to me we are all disabled at least. Is there some kickback, in that insisting (Rather too much !), you are NOT disabled, only reflects poorly on those who already accept they are ? (And that includes quite an large sector of people who are deafened who are part of the cultural and signing community).
I am culturally Hearing (though in recent years, I’ve noticed I’m becoming hard of hearing, and am starting to wish I had a remote control I could zap at people so they’d switch from talking to signing — “changing the channel”). I was also born with a physical disability (cerebral palsy) and now have limited mobility with crutches, and most mobility with a motorized wheelchair.
When I was kid, in the mid-late ’70s, I went to a sleep-away camp for handicapped kids, at a time when state governments were starting to lump deaf kids in with other disabilities for educational purposes (FTR, we were all taught SEE and encouraged to use it in conversation as much as we could — which served me well when I studied real ASL later). Later, in college and university, I’d run into Deaf students outside the Disabled Student Services office, when they were there to arrange for an interpreter, and I was there to arrange for an elevator key…
So I’ve been thinking about “How am I like them, they like me, and how are we different?” for a long time. And here’s what I’ve noticed:
For me, being physically disabled means my own body is often a barrier — even in my custom-designed, wheelchair accessible house, getting out of bed and into my wheelchair can be an exhausting struggle. So yes, I am disabled. When I watch Deaf people move through the world, I see them move easily and smoothly– able to enter any space, and perform any task that fits their learning and skill — until they come upon a communication barrier because their language is neither understood nor respected. And THAT — Language — IS CULTURE, pure and simple.
However, the “Don’t lump us in with the Disabled!” argument (sentiment?) makes me extremely uncomfortable, and cringe inside, and sometimes, even want to cry, because it seems to accept as fact the cultural falsehood that to be disabled is to somehow be less-than-fully-human. And even though the physically disabled Hearing and the able-bodied Deaf have different cultural lives, we do, in a way, share a “common border” with the able-bodied, Hearing, medical and educational establishments, and so, share many common battles against prejudice and bureaucracy.
One “small” practical way I think both the Disabled Community and the Deaf Community would benefit from Deafness being understood as a culture is in hotel rooms… Right now, because deafness is considered a disability, and not a culture, the only hotel rooms with flashing light fire-alarms are the two or three wheelchair accessible hotel rooms in a building — so if a Deaf person books a room before I do, I can’t stay at that hotel — even if the Deaf person has no need for wider bathroom stalls or grab bars beside the toilet — and if I get there first, the Deaf person loses out. But if the Deaf were widely understood to be a cultural-linguistic group, than it would be easier to put flashing light alarms (and closed-captioned TVs) in every room… and then, we would not be competing so much for limited space.
Ah, well… if I were Queen of the Universe…
I appreciate your comment here. Your insights are right on in many ways. Thank you. I would like to share my thoughts on a couple of parts of your comment. English is not my language of choice when it comes to discussing cross-cultural things but I will do my best and hope no bad misunderstandings happen.
You wrote “the “Don’t lump us in with the Disabled!” argument (sentiment?) makes me extremely uncomfortable, and cringe inside, and sometimes, even want to cry, because it seems to accept as fact the cultural falsehood that to be disabled is to somehow be less-than-fully-human.”
As a person who grew up in Deaf culture and using ASL (and written English), that “distinction” is constantly emphasized, but unfortunately that people outside and within the community seem to struggle with fully understanding the sentiment behind that quote. Although I must admit I do interpret SOME of Deaf people saying that as one of considering disabled people as “people who are less than fully human”, I like to say that the cultural thinking is simply trying to say that Deaf people do not “fit” the “individuals with disability” model, that’s all, and we have been trying to clarify that. Due to being marginalized and misunderstood by the majority (and their framing influencing all of Deaf people’s attempts at clarifying things in English), we have been criticized, considered generally as cruel and stand-offish, etc etc.
I’d like to define this as HEARING disability politics exploiting Deaf people and forcing us to embrace something that really doesn’t benefit us in the long run. Exploiting us for POWER IN UNITY idea which I can understand and empathize with.
I would like to have seen more of the “ally” concept and practices done in this situation more than putting Deaf UNDER the disability label/umbrella. Deaf people’s experiences overlap other disability people’s experiences in some areas but to people living in Deaf culture and using ASL, those areas are “grey” and “dangerous” when we emphasize “individualism” — the hearing American ideal/cultural value that is a minority among cultures of the world.
I could go on and on, but i will stop here and see where this leads us. Again, thank you for your thoughtful reflections. I see a lot of hope there.
The argument is an old one, yet it continues like the Eveready bunny.
The word “disabled” is a word NOBODY wants applied to them. The word connotes “lesser than perfect” or “lesser than human”. If one really thinks about it, there really is no such thing as perfection. An able-bodied person who wears glasses to correct his eye vision to 20/20 is not considered disabled. But perfect? heck no. The Elephant Man who was stared and pointed at practiced compassion and courtesy, qualities that made him very human indeed.
Disability can strike at any time– this is what many able-bodied ppl seem oblivious about. They think they’ve got their whole lives ahead of them as able-bodied folks. As one gets older, the chances of disability increase.
Truly, the meaning of the word “disabled” needs to change. It needs to be defined as a unique attribute that makes a part of who a person is, not some creepy, negative lesser-than quality that defines the person as a whole. Unfortunately, it will have to take a huge sea change in society’s perception of disability in order for it to include the disabled in its midst and allow the disabled to participate fully in everyday human life without barriers, restrictions, discrimination, ad nauseam.
FYI, I was born profoundly deaf but am not culturally Deaf.
Ann_C
Can we start perhaps with getting rid of ‘Deaf’ ? after all that is just a label too. Whether they accept the disabled tag or not the majority with loss DO, so why do the cultural deaf want to drive clear water between them and the majority others ? It is the D/d thing that creates barriers between US as a sector with hearing loss, NOT mainstream perception. I wonder if deaf people would reject the disabled tag in its truest sense and, refuse all support and welfare payments they get ? It seems a conundrum hat they still demand these but just want a different ‘term’ applied when they avail themselves of these things. I’m not deaf I just don’t hear ? either way the reliance is there for everyone to see, and the deaf campaign for it. even being accepted does not do away with that need.
Deafness is not just a linguistic problem. There is, after all, SEE and PSE as well as ASL.
I lost much of my hearing as an 18 month old. I had more hearing as a child than I do now. I suppose I am considered oral deaf. That being said, the issues regarding severe to profound hearing loss are more than not being able to hear speech.
We may be unable to hear a car horn and get, or not hear a siren. Culturally Deaf people who have no speech skills and use grunts and sign gestures are more likely to be tasered or shot by the police. Realize, a Deaf person who is moving away from a cop can’t hear when the officer yells, “Stop or I’ll shoot!”
The Deaf are more likely to spend time in jail/prison without the ability to communicate with anyone to let them know they need a terp – and often it may be a week or more before a terp is provided. The guards don’t believe the deaf cannot hear and they are often considered to be psychotic, dangerous, or be exposed deliberately to violence in jail.
Whether the Deaf community wants to admit it or not, they are socially isolated. Just like elders who come to America end up socially isolated if all they speak is Italian or Korean. Only the Deaf don’t live in cultural ghettos like racial and linguistic groups often do.
It isn’t just speech – it is the sound of screeching tires, the sound of breaking glass, the sound of thunder, sounds in general that we miss and which can put us at risk.
Granted, this is an old piece. Lots has happened between then and 2012. But deafness is a disability. I don’t care what anyone says. The Hard of Hearing and Deaf are discriminated against in employment – their unemployment rates are about as high as that of the blind.
Please don’t state things as if they are facts when they aren’t the truth. Some of what you said above are false, FYI.
Have you seen the linocut by DeVIA artist, David Call, called “Deaf Metamorphosis”? It’s being posted in several FaceBook groups now. His definition for that artwork is: “…image shows a Deaf person get rebirth as a Deaf person after he discovered and embraced Deaf identity. He is struggling to get out of butterfly pupa and soon to fly free as a new Deaf person.”
My response: “This could help with understanding that the capitalized Deaf is much more than just a cultural identity but reflects transformation towards positive imagery of being Deaf for EVERYBODY, and insisting on small deaf is actually a negative rejection of this choice.”
I suppose the same can be said of individuals with disabilities…achieving goals to free individuals from negative thoughts and stigmas to embracing one for who s/he is.
The difference with Deaf people is the existence of the language and culture that are at least thousand years old just like many other “official” languages and cultures….but Deaf people by the Oralist system have been systematically blocked / prevented / steered away from their rightful language, culture and identity to complete the metamorphosis.
And what’s worse, for some of us, the systematic deprivation is so effective the past 130 years that we have “bought” in that thinking and perpetuate the “age old” division and keep on blaming and belittling the “culturally Deaf” — and the disability movement have promoted the perpetuation of oppression of the Deaf people’s language, culture and identity metamorphosis, neglecting (most likely due to ignorance) the cultural aspects of being Deaf.
Hope I make a bit of sense. This subject as I said before in my first comment is a sensitive one and warrants a good soul-searching and deep reflecting on everybody’s part.
Hi Ella ~ I am familiar with David Call’s work, but I am not sure I have ever seen the specific linocut called “Deaf Metamorphosis.” Would you be able to post a copy of this artwork here, or at least a link for where one could see it? At the very least, if you could email me a copy of it, I could perhaps use it in a follow up blog…
Hi Ocean, I tried to post the picture in my comment and/or find the weblink to that picture specifically without using FaceBook links (as I understand not everybody can access FB links), but I aint that technically savvy yet, sigh. I gave the title in hopes those of you who are interested could google it up. David Call has his own website, but the picture isn’t up there yet. Nevertheless, here’s link to his website for future references: http://www.eyehandstudio.com
Thanks, Ella.
No need to apologize for not being “technically savvy”…I’m not sure I’m there yet either! Come to think of it, I am not sure if wordpress allows you to post graphics within comments or not.
I did check David’s website, and as you say it seems that “Deaf Metamorphosis” isn’t up there yet. I don’t recall that I have seen it on Facebook at this time, but I will ask around and see if someone happens to have a copy of it in their files.
Thanks!
First, an OT comment about the blog:
I just found this blog recently and decided to follow because it’s the first I’ve seen of a deaf or hard of hearing blog that is close to home for me. I’m nearly deaf with one side completely deaf and the other a severe hearing loss. I was never culturally deaf though, so I never learned sign language properly. This blog has inspired me to learn ASL, and hopefully I can contribute in the future where need be. The shout-out for interpreters at Pagan events is a great idea, and it’s a shame no one thought of that before. Kudos for your work here.
Now, regarding this particular post, I’ve never considered my disability to be a disability. Just a half-annoyance/half-blessing that’s simply a part of who I am, like my hair. This reasoning could just be my coping mechanism, but that’s hard to tell since I’ve had this all my life so there’s no “non-disabled” experience to compare to. I’ve always just assumed that I’m an introvert and can’t really communicate with people, since I can’t tell how much of my life is because of my hearing loss.
But despite considering this to be a part of me, I do not have emotional attachments to it, any more than I have emotional attachments to my hair, boobs, or stomach. My hair is a part of me as well, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to style it differently or change color once in a while. So it’s hard for me to sympathize with those that view cochlear implant recipients, like me, as traitors and feel like we deserve to be attacked. I know this article mentions a distrust for the implants by the Deaf community, but in other places this has gone from that to making direct attacks on recipients.
I just view the implant as a tool that I personally choose to use, and no one coerced me into getting it or pretended that it was a “cure”. Of course it’s not a cure, the part of the implant that does all the work is not a permanent device, and I still have the same hearing loss as before when I take the device off each night (actually, now that it’s been 10 years later what little bit of hearing left I had before is dwindling simply because of time).
I am (almost) deaf, but I am not Deaf, and I am willing to admit that I am a complete outsider to the community. But in my opinion It’s one thing to criticize the implants/other therapies and their proponents, but it’s quite another to attack those who made a personal decision to undergo surgery for one. I was lucky enough to be shielded from that nonsense until I was an adult and able to verbally defend myself. In my opinion this sort of arguing and attacking does nothing to benefit the deaf and the Deaf.
So yes, we’re all disabled and we’re all just fine. Whatever other people do with their hearing situations has no bearing on my life, and my decisions should not have any bearing on theirs. Even within a social category we have diversity present and I don’t think complete homogenization of personal decisions is necessary to present a political front so that we have legal and social rights still.
Welcome to the Crossroads!
Thank you for sharing your viewpoints…and I do hope that you will feel comfortable in stopping by here again in the future and continuing to express your thoughts and opinions.
I am saddened by the personal attacks that can occur within the Deaf Community against those who have – as you say – made a personal choice to get a cochlear implant. While I can appreciate the concerns that Deaf people have about these devices, at the same time I have seen several of my friends get one, and it hasn’t changed who they are or how they identify themselves – as you say, it is just a tool in the same way hearing aids or glasses or crutches or comparable devices are. A Deaf person who chooses to get an implant doesn’t automatically become “non-Deaf.” Many continue to use ASL and continue to interact in the Deaf Community.
And those who don’t…as you say, it is a personal choice. And if in fact such individuals do make an effort to at least visit the Deaf Community and learn more about our culture and our language, the least we can do is to welcome them and do our part to help such individuals feel comfortable. I wish you the best in your efforts to learn ASL…I know it can be a challenge, but hopefully you will fall in love with the language and it will open up a new world to you, and present you with ever-widening options for communication.
“Even within a social category we have diversity present and I don’t think complete homogenization of personal decisions is necessary to present a political front so that we have legal and social rights still.”
Beautifully said!
Again…welcome to the Crossroads. Stop by any time. Comment any time.
Goddess Bless and Goddess Keep,
~ Ocean
Thank you for the warm welcome. I’m enjoying what I’m learning about ASL basics so far, and for once I’m actually able to follow a different language without as much stress (trying to do the usual Spanish or German in school has been difficult for me because, surprise surprise, I could never hear the words properly).
OK . . . having read above . . . .hoping i didnt miss . . . i am born Deaf into a hearing family… in 1939… my thoughts? Is it Audism? (discriminating all deaf/Deaf people against one another.) Is that necessary? Is it the social stigma? we have to put up with that stigma from the society assuming we cant do this or that. Is that necessary? This covers schools employment driving and heaps of so many other things . . .
We all have to put up with all the conditioning regarding our lack of hearing – being deaf – with being made fun of our sign language as children ourselves… that leaves us all with a stain of that stigma.
One close Deaf friend of mine had lovely parents and seven sisters – remarked to me in sign – this Deaf World Games for Deaf – is far better than being with my family on Xmas day where i would be sadly washing the dishes for something to do – not knowing what they all talked about all the time. Another very old friend said her face would be hurting trying to smile for her families – 6 children and her grandchildren on Xmas day. I myself never know what my family is talking about while i have my dinner every day ever since i am aware i am Deaf..
Why do we have to say “what’s this you are saying?” surely a look is enough yet we have to ask . . .
We all have to put up with all the conditioning by ignorant people and yet we all become stronger and be an independent individual regardless of how much speech – how much education, how much hearing or even how much intelligence!
All this “poor me” is result of my background and my observations . . .
All this makes me angry . . . we have a right to live as a very capable independent person – everyone of us.
We do we have to fight for equality – education – and so many other things !!
For example many main-streamed Deaf adults are now resorting to learn Sign Language after leaving their schools. Let’s keep the sign language going . . . make it our much needed language – communication is LIfe.
So here we are – talking via this response thingy. Many thanks for letting me speak here.