jillio
New Member
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2006
- Messages
- 60,232
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I completly disagree. I think that many parents find the Deaf community to be closed and unwelcoming. They are told they are wrong again and again. They are told that they will scar their children by their choices, that they are "not accepting their child as deaf", and that they "want to change them into hearing". They are shunned and often looked down on, for the simple fact that they can hear. This is not always the case, but it happens a lot. Why would you continue to associate with people who treat you like that? People who tell you that you are wrong to want your child to have oral skills, that they will fail and be uneducated if you make the "wrong" choices. I wouldn't want my child around those people either.
You are again making generalizations about a whole culture based on the opinions of a few. That is exactly what we are attempting to avoid. We are also attempting to discover why hearing parents appear to take things as criticism that were never intended as such. Rather than accusing an entire group of people of being unwelcoming and closed off, why don't you try asking yourself, "Why do I take such offense at remarks from others that were not intended that way? Why do I find it necessary to look for the "right" and the "wrong" in the situation? I don't think you will find many who will tell you that you should not try to help your deaf child develop oral skills if they are capable, nor that it is "wrong" to do so. You certainly won't find them on this forum. Perhaps you are confusing a disagreement with an oral only approach with the development of oral skills. Those are really 2 separate topics.
Perhaps you are so afraid of making the wrong choices that you project your own fear into the statements of others, and as a consequence, see criticism where there is none. You have made reference to some statements being made here that absolutely have not been made. It is simply your interpretation of what is said. No offense intended, but you react to people with a great deal of defensiveness, and your defensiveness causes you to judge and accuse others. Please try to put it aside long enough to understand what is really being said, rather than what you fear will be said.
I would much prefer it if you would stick to relating your experience and feelings, rather than speaking vaguely of "they". Lets let others speak for themselves, shall we?