Do you view being deaf as a disability or alternate way of life?

[DDRExtremist247]

Hey everyone. I'm obviously new to the forums and had some general questions. The first one i pose is in the title. Secondly, if you do think of being deaf as an alt. way of life, do you believe it would be hypocritical to get a CI?

 

[BearBeauty]

Hey everyone. I'm obviously new to the forums and had some general questions. The first one i pose is in the title. Secondly, if you do think of being deaf as an alt. way of life, do you believe it would be hypocritical to get a CI?

For me, I was hearing the first 4 years of my life, and have been deaf ever since.. I don't see it as a disabliity because it's part of me. I know the world sees it as a disability, but I don't. I have always seen it as a small part of who I am. I refuse to allow it to hold me back. Because I've seen so many deaf friends use their deafness to hold them back.. I refuse to do that.


An alternative way of life? Well, in some ways it is.. because deaf people rely on technology to survive and be alerted. We also rely on hearing people, animals, ect.. to keep us safe. So yeah, life is a bit different when you're deaf.

And A CI is a intimately personal decision for every deaf person to make on their own, it's not hypocritical.. it's just a way of expanding your horizons to encompass the things you want to expierence

Hope this works for ya.. if you need more info,, I'm here anytime

 

[shel90]

I agree with Bearbeauty and it goes the same for me too as how I view my deafness. It took me a long time to accept it and feel comfortable with it. Now, it is not an issue and iam not afraid to tell people straight out that I am deaf and if they look or treat me like a freak, f**ck them. For the most part, most hearing people have been cool about it.

I only feel limited in non signing environments when there is a large group of hearing people chatting away so I avoid being in these kinds of situations as much as I can. If I have to for work, my daughter's events, or health issues, I get a terp. For social situations, I try my best to understand everyone and if it doesn't work, I just sit there quietly and observe people.

As for CIs, it is people's business if they want to get them. I just think the attitude of not needing sign language but complain that they don't really fully understand what is being said around them is somewhat hypocrate. Only met 1 person like that though.

 

[Capmeister]

Okay, I'm gonna get myself in some trouble here now. Technically, it's a disability. Hearing is an ability that most people (most animals, even) have. The absence of that ability in the deaf makes deafness a disability. My guess is that most people (not all, but most) who would seek protection from things like the Americans with Disabilities Act wouldn't suggest that deafness wasn't a disability as defined by that law.

It's not horrible to say deafness is a disability or can even be a *gasp* handicap (if one makes it one). That's in the context of most people--a group context. I'm not for people viewing themselves that often in a group context, but think it more important for people to view themselves on an individual level.

Does someone have a disability on an individual level, not seeing himself as the member of a group but only as an individual? Maybe, maybe not--depends on how he deals with it. I dare say that someone engaging my brother on a one-to-one level will find themselves less able than he to do most things.

Seems to me life is what you make it, and we all have this or that hurdle to overcome. Sure, in the context of "most people can hear and deaf people don't have that ability" deafness is a disability. In the context of one person using all their skills to find happiness in life... well, the ability to hear or lack thereof won't matter too much in the scheme of things.

 

[Capmeister]

Emailed my brother about this one and was telling him what I said. I asked him if I could post here some of his comments, and he gave his permission.

Don't take offense about the first line--I didn't paste to him what anyone else said, just the initial question. I think Shel and Bear are on the same page with me--that in an INDIVIDUAL context it's only what you make it.

People who say that deafness is not a disability are living in denial.

To them, "disability" is something bad, something negative, something to be
fixed. Therefore they don't want to be disabled so they deny that they're
disabled. They say "NO! My deafness is not bad, negative, nor does it need
to be fixed! I'm not disabled!"

But what they don't understand is that disability is not bad nor negative,
nor does it mean that it needs to be fixed. Disability merely means that
one lacks the ability to do something.

I lack the ability to hear. Therefore I'm disabled. I'm OK with that. I'm
not denying reality and trying to pretend to be something I'm not. 90% of
the population can hear just fine and have that ability. Thus the remaining
people are disabled in some way, shape, or form.

What I am not, however, is handicapped.

It's only a handicap in the sense that it prevents the person with the
disability from doing something.

Since there aren't many things that I allow my deafness to prevent me from
doing, it's not much of a handicap.

The only time it's really a handicap is when I try applying to be a
telemarketer.

 

[jazzy]

Emailed my brother about this one and was telling him what I said. I asked him if I could post here some of his comments, and he gave his permission.

Don't take offense about the first line--I didn't paste to him what anyone else said, just the initial question. I think Shel and Bear are on the same page with me--that in an INDIVIDUAL context it's only what you make it.

IHMO, everyone has disability. Only those who view disability as helpless and not able to do the job are the who has most disability.

 

[ismi]

Capmeister: indeed. I would go so far as to say that the claim that deafness isn't a disability is closely tied to ableism within the Deaf community, and is potentially harmful to the disability rights community (largely because it ignores the possibility that people who self-identify as disabled can be just as proud as people who self-identify as Deaf).

 

[Capmeister]

Personally, I don't think pride should ever be applied to an action not one's own. Nor should shame. I am not proud to be hearing (nor am I ashamed of it) because it wasn't my choice. I took no action to be hearing. My brother took no action to be deaf. He's not proud of it or ashamed of it--he's proud of his accomplishments as a person. I've always thought that his decision to to see himself as a deaf man but as a man who happens to be deaf as the best psychological choice he could make. Philosophical choice, really.

I think he finds it okay to call it a disability because he doesn't let the fact of it change who he is or what he does (save those few things that are very hearing oriented). He'll never be a musician or singer. Neither will I. I suck at those things.

As for everyone having a disability... well, I think in this context it means an ability that is natural for everyone to have unless there has been an illness or deformity... but yes, in a broad context there's A LOT of things each person can't do that others can. I don't have a head for math, for instance.

That's why seeing one's self as an individual is usually better.

 

[highlands]

Hey everyone. I'm obviously new to the forums and had some general questions. The first one i pose is in the title. Secondly, if you do think of being deaf as an alt. way of life, do you believe it would be hypocritical to get a CI?

Deafness is a culture rather than a disability .

It's not hypocritical to have a CI . If you like deafness , a CI won't stop you from enjoying it.

 

[rockdrummer]

Hey everyone. I'm obviously new to the forums and had some general questions. The first one i pose is in the title. Secondly, if you do think of being deaf as an alt. way of life, do you believe it would be hypocritical to get a CI?

I'm not deaf but I've learned much about deafness. One major point I learned is that deafness is viewed in two major catagories. Pathalogical and Cultural. Most ignorant hearing people (such as I) initially will view it as pathalogical. I never knew there was a cultural view of deafness but I now know and understand and respect that view.

 

[Dixie]

I agree with what capmeister has said.

Being able to hear is an ability by most people. The abscence of that is disability, but not handicap. We just don't have the ability to hear, and its not a bad thing or a great thing it is just a part of who we are.

Those that are handicapped are those that for whatever reason cannot perform a task that most other people can perform and may need special devices to get them through day to day living such as people who are in wheel chairs. Yes they can hold jobs and make a living, but they are limited as to what jobs that they can perfrom. Most wheel chair bound people often work in an office setting or in a place where they can do the job sitting down. Without the wheel chair their lives would be miserable - they would have to drag themselves along the ground just to get from point A to point B and not to mention the fact that they would not be able to go to the bathroom without going all over themselves beceause they cannot prop them selves off the ground. Just the thought of that is undignified.

But deaf people have many options. They can hold whatever job they want for the most part because they are physically able to. We are not handicapped and we are not so handicapped that we require a special parking space to walk in to wal-mart with ease, the majority of us here have mobile bodies. We don't require special utensils to eat. We don't require all-day supervision by healthcare professionals. We don't require $1,300 gizmos to put in our computers to read our emails. We just go through life - silently. We have a culture of our own - sub-group of people that call themselves Deaf. (I dont use the term sub-group in a derrogatory way either)

In one sentence here is how I am going to sum this up:
We are disabled, but not handicapped.

 

[Capmeister]

Well, a handicap can be described has just a barrier. People who're deaf CAN be handicapped by it. I've met a few. But, interestingly, it tended to be hearing people (sorry, but true)--often parents--who handicapped them and limited them. Once they got some independence they often found out that the only thing standing in their way was that they thought the couldn't so something because they couldn't do it exactly like a hearing person.

It's not horrible to say that it can be a handicap, either. I say that because if someone can say "my deafness is stoping me from doing X" maybe they'll realize that either "X" isn't important (telemarketer=X) or maybe they'll realize they CAN do X--just a bit differently. (Like use non-written language--through sign rather than vocally.) Both Dixie and my brother (and many others) say: "I'm not handicapped." Why? Because they don't allow themselves to be.

Is a deaf person who can't read lips or speak well but can sign well handicapped? No. Is one can't do those things well but who is taught that reading lips and speaking are the only ways to communicate, and that sign hampers their oralism handicapped? Yeah, I think they are, sadly.

 

[Æon Flux]

But deaf people have many options. They can hold whatever job they want for the most part because they are physically able to.

that's a myth too

deaf people ARE disabled, hence if you think about it, it means society has DIS-ABLED you , like stopped you, put a barrier, and oh yes we have 'invisable barriers' just because you can't see it like wheelchair users can see stairs, it doesnt mean we have no barriers, we have barriers in language, and goes further than that, barriers can be attitudes towards deaf people as well.

It is a outright lie that 'd/Deaf people can do anyting but hear' come on let be more honest about that, whatever happens to the discourse of the true-inspection of the very nature of 'dis-ability' upon deaf/Deaf people, about time people to wake up to this

handicapped is an OLD concept, just as well as the cultural view is getting old too, respecting is the buzz word from the 1990's, i believe there is a need to recongise the binary nature of deaf or not Deaf is getting out of hand, politics have brought in good things but also costing us objectivity and tolerance this also hurts those in the grey-area hearing impaireds and we shoukld be concerned too about CI-ers in the future, that same isolation from the pre-1990s mainstreamers will return.

the cultured Deaf are going to be guilty of discriminating too its so sad

 

[lemontree]

Hey everyone. I'm obviously new to the forums and had some general questions. The first one i pose is in the title. Secondly, if you do think of being deaf as an alt. way of life, do you believe it would be hypocritical to get a CI?

Sometimes I see my deafness a disability when it prevents me from doing something, communicating something, or when the power goes out. Other times I see my deafness just a part of my whole personae and it is normal to me like putting on my socks one at a time.

I guess I would say, it depends on my mood! Hehe.

 

[dreama]

Why can't Deafness be both. A disability AND a way of life. Deafblindness is also a disability AND a way of life, although the oportunities on the job market for deafblind people is very limited. So far I've only ever done voluntary work but I did manage to sell some of my pottery.

I agree with Capmeister's brother. I don't see Disability as something negative either. Although I don't like the PC term 'physically challanged'. As there is nothing physically wrong with my body.

 

[lemontree]

Why can't Deafness be both. A disability AND a way of life...I don't like the PC term 'physically challanged'. As there is nothing physically wrong with my body.

Ditto to what you said.

 

[saxxykitty78]

yeah people view deaf people as we have daiblity and we have to work harder to show them that we can do anything expect hear.. :roll:

 

[Hwy99]

Hey everyone. I'm obviously new to the forums and had some general questions. The first one i pose is in the title. Secondly, if you do think of being deaf as an alt. way of life, do you believe it would be hypocritical to get a CI?

I raised being deaf whole my life, and I am very happy being deaf. Till my 18th age, I decide to have a surgery for CI as curiousity, and it didn't benefit me at all. That's all I can say.

 

[Æon Flux]

yeah, deaf/Deaf people they have a disability,no matter what - if you really know what that word meant and took a hard look at how deaf people floats about in society, you would know you cant deny that deaf people are disabled

 

[lemontree]

yeah, deaf/Deaf people they have a disability,no matter what - if you really know what that word meant and took a hard look at how deaf people floats about in society, you would know you cant deny that deaf people are disabled

I didn't realize I was floating about in society.