LadyZephyr
Member
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2016
- Messages
- 40
- Reaction score
- 10
I'm also sorry for the bad memories, @whatdidyousay!, children can be shockingly cruel sometimes. I deeply regret some of the awful things I said to my older sister when we were young. I'm lucky to have been able to reconcile and we've been much closer ever since.
That's fantastic. I often wonder if the connectivity we get from the internet helps to break down old barriers and improve accessibility for jobs, friendships, higher ed and whatnot, especially among younger kids (I hope so anyway). Of course it also lets people cut loose with the worst vitriol from behind the safety of a keyboard-- the sort of garbage they wouldn't dare speak face-to-face, so that part sucks.
As much as I'm embarrassed to confess it, ignorance, again. I joined AD because I was trying to write a kid's adventure story with a deaf protagonist and I wanted help from the community to make sure the character was an accurate, respectful portrayal of Deafness (Deafhood?). I didn't receive a very enthusiastic reception, obviously, because I was appropriating Deafness as a superficial character trait like hair or eye color. The advice I got was to read and learn, not just ask everybody to trot their experiences out for me to pick through. That advice has transformed my protagonist by probably... 80% of what I had before but it also threw a wrench into the works of my plot because I was approaching major plot points from the 'fix it, it's broke' hearing perspective. I still really want to write this story and I firmly believe it has legitimate value but I realized that if I want to communicate my original concept properly, I'm going to have to broaden my experience further, so I read and ask questions and learn. It's a lot of work based on a somewhat cavalier decision I made a couple years ago but going by what I've learned already, the education has been well worth the effort.
I do know that the number of Deaf people with PhDs in the US has taken off since and continues to grow. The youngest generations also have more confidence than the older ones (my unscientific opinion), so there is a trend at least
That's fantastic. I often wonder if the connectivity we get from the internet helps to break down old barriers and improve accessibility for jobs, friendships, higher ed and whatnot, especially among younger kids (I hope so anyway). Of course it also lets people cut loose with the worst vitriol from behind the safety of a keyboard-- the sort of garbage they wouldn't dare speak face-to-face, so that part sucks.
As much as I'm embarrassed to confess it, ignorance, again. I joined AD because I was trying to write a kid's adventure story with a deaf protagonist and I wanted help from the community to make sure the character was an accurate, respectful portrayal of Deafness (Deafhood?). I didn't receive a very enthusiastic reception, obviously, because I was appropriating Deafness as a superficial character trait like hair or eye color. The advice I got was to read and learn, not just ask everybody to trot their experiences out for me to pick through. That advice has transformed my protagonist by probably... 80% of what I had before but it also threw a wrench into the works of my plot because I was approaching major plot points from the 'fix it, it's broke' hearing perspective. I still really want to write this story and I firmly believe it has legitimate value but I realized that if I want to communicate my original concept properly, I'm going to have to broaden my experience further, so I read and ask questions and learn. It's a lot of work based on a somewhat cavalier decision I made a couple years ago but going by what I've learned already, the education has been well worth the effort.