Then please don't, because this is not about deafness seen as "healthy or unhealthy or pathological or cultural minority", or whatever. I clearly stated in my other post what I meant:
And in your statemnt that "healthy" is to possess "all of the senses", the implicit statement is also made that not possessing all of the senses is "unhealthy."
and as you can see I was talking about "best option in life".
best option in life is without hesitation - simply to be able to hear, see, smell, taste and touch.
It's just an objective fact, and it has no bearing on how I view deafness. or anybody for that matter.
Once again, fuzzy, "best" is a subjective value that each individual places on something based ontheir own perspective evolved from their experience. What is perceived as "best" by you is not neccesarily what is perceived as "best" by another who has the same superficial circumstance as you, but a different perspective evolved from extraneous variables that cannot be controlled for but which do have a tremendous impact and influence on attitude and belief systems. "Best" is far from an objective measurment.
IMO, this is simply irrelevant, what is relevant is to be able to hear a fire alarm going off.
Or to see a fire alarm going off, or to feel a fire alrm going off. Either way, the intent of the alarm has been fultilled...to warn one of danger. In my home, my smoke alarms are equipped with stobing lights. In my son's deaf school, the fire alarms were equipped with strobing lights. In a public situation, where there are other people in proximity, he can see their reaction to the fire alarm without visual components, and react accordingly. I beleive that my son is intelligent enough that, were he to see people hurrying toward an exit, he would follow suite and ask why later.
If you were born hearing impaired- I can believe that.
But being late deafened.. hmm.. no, maybe not outright tragedy but...
how are you going to communicate with your longtime best hearing friends who, you can bet your patootie, won't want to learn ASL just for you?
There is writing. There is texting. There is email. And, as I am selective about the friends I choose to involve in my life, and tend to surround myself with those who are tolerant and open minded, I don't see that my becoming deaf would put an end to the friendship. I have nearly as many deaf friends as I do hearing friends. Likewise, I have several hearing friends that already sign, some more fluently, some on a limited basis.
and how about your work, your courses, your everyday activities like as simple as talking on the phone - how are you going to accomplish all that, for instance?
TTy's. email, text pagers and writing. My courses? I would use the same accommodations I provide for other students. My work? Deafness would not prevent me from attending to my work duties. I work with the deaf, and don't see changing my occupation at any time in the future.
Fuzzy
