Recently, I was eating lunch at a "fast food" restaurant near the Deaf Church I have been attending. Another Deaf lady and I were having a conversation in Sign and I was paying attention to that and not the "murmurings" of the Hearing people around us talking. (Kind of just sounds like a bunch of people mumbling at once.) Anyway, all of a sudden, I clearly heard someone sitting somewhere behind me say, "If I went deaf right now, I think I would cry."
I did nothing to acknowledge that I had any awareness of what was said, but I heard snatches of a few other comments. Apparently we, as well as two other Deaf ladies from the church, were an ongoing topic of discussion. Surprisingly, it did not hurt my feelings. I told the lady I was eating lunch with what had been said, but that was about it. All I could think was how glad I am to be Deaf. What gets me are some of the odd assumptions that people make about us: 1) All Deaf people are "profoundly deaf." /"Deaf people can't hear anything." 2) Deaf people can't talk (use their voices). 3) People who "speak well" can't be Deaf. 4) All Deaf people are great lipreaders. Some of this stuff is just so ridiculous as to be hysterically funny, except that such STEREOTYPING has resulted in everything from "minor" misunderstandings to cases of outright, blatant discrimination.
My pastor is Deaf, has been so since birth, and yet his speech is "clear enough" that some people insist that he must be HOH, and some think he is Hearing! What REALLY cracks me up is that he has had a CI for about a year now; yet there are still going to be people that INSIST that he is "Hearing."
Anybody ever run into anything as nutty as that?
I did nothing to acknowledge that I had any awareness of what was said, but I heard snatches of a few other comments. Apparently we, as well as two other Deaf ladies from the church, were an ongoing topic of discussion. Surprisingly, it did not hurt my feelings. I told the lady I was eating lunch with what had been said, but that was about it. All I could think was how glad I am to be Deaf. What gets me are some of the odd assumptions that people make about us: 1) All Deaf people are "profoundly deaf." /"Deaf people can't hear anything." 2) Deaf people can't talk (use their voices). 3) People who "speak well" can't be Deaf. 4) All Deaf people are great lipreaders. Some of this stuff is just so ridiculous as to be hysterically funny, except that such STEREOTYPING has resulted in everything from "minor" misunderstandings to cases of outright, blatant discrimination.
My pastor is Deaf, has been so since birth, and yet his speech is "clear enough" that some people insist that he must be HOH, and some think he is Hearing! What REALLY cracks me up is that he has had a CI for about a year now; yet there are still going to be people that INSIST that he is "Hearing."
Anybody ever run into anything as nutty as that?