hearies attempting to assimiliate into Deaf culture

[apathrev]

cental
cld have fun w/ this lady.. LMAO
Take word stand! there 5 signs stand.. U stand there.. stand up for urself.. stand as chairs ball game.. just name few.. ea sign for stand is sign diff.. U donot use stand for stand up for self.. for stand there... yep U polly blow her away chat w/ teacher..LOL me luv do same w/ same ppl.. do lot... funny see there face they always have wht u say look on there face.. or can u sign slow I did not get tht .. Yes do help ppl wld take pride in my wrld..
lady u chat abt is wht we call crabs in community! we do not need ppl same her!
Pls feel free print me relpy show her this! She have any QQ have she pm me here.. me LOL can give her wht me think.. can not post here for child health..

LMM

I sure wouldn't mind letting her know what I think, but I'm not looking to make an enemy. I simply think she's a ignorant airhead who thinks deafness is "cool." I'm letting my guard down from now on, so I'll be a lot more quick to let my feelings towards her show. *crushing Mrs Alwaysright with the powers of my mind.*

 

[Interpretrator]

Ha! This thread made me laugh because it so reminded me of a person or two in my ITP. Now there were people who spent a lot of time with deaf people, hung out with them, went to mostly-deaf parties, etc., but didn't make a big thing about it. It was just their social life and they didn't advertise it or anything.

Then there were the people who went way overboard. I don't think they even spent much time hanging out with deaf people outside of their jobs, but they ENDLESSLY talked about the oppression of deaf people in this way that implied "all hearing are evil oppressors" and "all deaf are saintly angels." One I remember made a huge stink about having to learn SEE in our program (we had one unit on it just so that we would be aware of how to use it if it ever came up...which in the educational setting it often does!) because she rejected all non-ASL signing systems.

Now...I could take her attitude if she were deaf, but a hearing person planning to be an interpreter just can't say "I'm ONLY going to sign ASL and hearing people are all evil." How are you going to be impartial as an interpreter has to be? And what are you going to do when a client uses Signed English and doesn't understand pure ASL? Lecture them on their choice of language?

Sometimes I'm embarrassed to be hearing in the deaf community because of people like that.

As for people who go so far as to pretend they're deaf, it was my understanding that this is HUGELY offensive in Deaf culture.

 

[Interpretrator]

and I think actually that the wannabes are looking for something to enrich and enhance their lives. Face it, American "culture" is just bland plastic suburban values type culture......

Well, I'd disagree about American culture (there is more to it than most people realize) but what you say also reminds me of something my teacher mentioned once. She said that the Deaf community and the profession of interpreting both have a tendency to attract people who, let's say, aren't very socially adept in their own culture. So they come to Deaf culture thinking it's going to solve all their problems because a) it appears to be much more accepting and b) it's something "unusual" and "special" that these losers can flaunt as a reason that they aren't actually losers.

My teacher made the very good point that you have to be comfortable in your own culture and society instead of trying to hide out in another one. And the people I've seen who do try to do this are really an embarrassment to hearing signers everywhere. Sometimes they can't even sign and yet all they do is bug deaf people to be included. It's painful to watch.

 

[apathrev]

Remmy Mrs Alwaysright?

Well, I had class again, tonight, and of course the women whom I had previously dubbed Mrs Alwaysright was there. I didn't have a confrontation with her like I had anticipated, but I actually came to a mutual understanding with her. She explained that she is a perfectionist, and just wants to make sure she is signing right. Truth be told, she's a genuinely wonderful person, it just gets on my nerves when she attempts to say her way is the correct way of signing because someone else showed her. Her generalizations and assertions of deaf people are still unnerving to me, but whatever. We're all there to learn, regardless of the motive behind that.

 

[bigdaddyb]

One thing that I've learned is that EVERY culture has "wannabes"

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wannabe

every single culture that there is will have wannabes. Including the Deaf culture.

Wannabe's are some of the most pathetic people on the planet.

They have no identity.

Hearies assimilating into Deaf culture and Deafies assimilating into Hearing culture is to be encouraged. Trying to be someone you're not is to be discouraged, frowned-upon, and even pitied.

I know of no quicker path to loneliness and despair. The position is intenable. The person refuses to ID with those who are like them, but can't ID with what they want to be. They don't fit with either group and become a pathetic 'one person micro-culture'.

I'm a hearie. Was born a hearie. Will die a hearie. It doesn't mean that I don't have a place in Deaf culture. Having a place in Deaf culture doesn't change who or what I am.

Just one guys view.

brianb

 

[PrincessTabu]

I had terp students in my class who acted like that, like they were so "in" with the Deaf people. I think that's weird, personally, and have to wonder what they're trying to prove. There's a yahoo group called deafwannabes. I suppose there's all kinds.

But I do use relay if I'm calling someone who's Deaf and uses a tty, and we'll be getting video relay, especially because my child is deaf. But to use it for no reason, I don't get that

 

[bigdaddyb]

She explained that she is a perfectionist, and just wants to make sure she is signing right.

If that's the case, signing with actual Deaf folks is gonna drive her bananas.

One of the things I'm learning is that a given sign must be recognized from angles and orientations in space that aren't 'textbook'. This REALLY keeps me on my toes when I'm 'reading' someone else's signing.

I've noticed several signs that each of my Deaf friends sign a little differently. It threw me at first. Fortunately, I have patient friends!

ASL is a language. Like other languages, there is the 'textbook' version and the real-world, conversational version. If she can't turn loose of the book version of ASL, she's not gonna have much fun talking with Deaf folks.

As far as the other stuff goes, I hope she's not too disappointed when she learns that Deaf people are PEOPLE first, deaf somewhere after that. Her experiences with Deaf folks will come to mirror her experiences with the rest of the world, in time. The cultural differences don't change people's humanity.

brianb

 

[prostock19]

I am a hearie, and people know I have been around here for a while. People have thought I was Deaf before when I went with friends to Brickfest, Rockfest, and Homecoming. I own a TTY and alot of times, it takes me a long time to shut the CC off after Deaf friends visit me. I like going to Deaf evens with my Deaf friends, but I also do alot of hearing things, too.

 

[Levonian]

I actually know of cases where hearing people have bought devices like vibrating alarm clocks, door lights, and even use close captions. How do you feel about these people? Do you think its pathetic? Do you empathize with them?

Well, this is just a minor point, but I think it’s interesting enough to bring up. Before I met my wife, I never watched TV with the captioning on. As matter of fact, before I met her I had no idea how to even turn it on and off. Now I refuse to watch TV without the captioning! All my life I thought I was catching it all, but until I started watching captioned TV I never realized how much I was actually mishearing. Also, people with single-sided deafness can’t hear two sounds at the same time. If we’re presented with two or more sounds simultaneously, we only hear the loudest sound. For this reason, we get notably pissed when somebody starts talking when we’re trying to watch TV. So with the captioning on, I’m less likely to bite somebody’s head off for interrupting the TV. So when a hearing or HOH person uses the captions, it’s not necessarily an indication that they’re pretending to be deaf.

 

[Teresh]

So when a hearing or HOH person uses the captions, it’s not necessarily an indication that they’re pretending to be deaf.

I personally don't use cc (or more accurately, I can't, since I've lost my remote and the remote is the only way to turn the cc on), and I've kind of gotten into a habit of that (not using cc) since my parents have always discouraged my turning on of cc when watching TV with them. >>

Am I deaf? No... But I do sometimes turn on cc because without it I probably won't understand all of what is being said, and well... Being able to understand what is being said is somewhat important, I think. Even if I can hear 50-70% of it, and I usually can, there's still 15-20% that my brain won't be able to fill in... And if what I miss is something important, that makes the whole sentence (or maybe even the whole paragraph) completely incomprehensible.

I don't think a hh person using cc is pretending to be deaf... I think a hh person using cc is doing it instinctively out of desire to understand the content, the same as a deaf person would.

As for hearing people using cc... If they want to, that's their prerogative. Maybe they'll get more out of the program with it, maybe it's just taking up space. I imagine some of them would be pretending to be deaf, but some of them may just like having the script on the screen for whatever reason.

 

[deafdyke]

She said that the Deaf community and the profession of interpreting both have a tendency to attract people who, let's say, aren't very socially adept in their own culture. So they come to Deaf culture thinking it's going to solve all their problems because a) it appears to be much more accepting and

What about dhh kids raised as pseuo hearies? MANY dhh kids have AWFUL social problems.....
I think that yeah, the Deaf community does attract a percentage of people with poor social skills, but there are a lot of communties that tend to attract people with really poor social skills or who feel like they don't fit in. And at least the Deaf community is pretty benign compared to things like Christian Identity or whatever.

 

[pek1]

Shame on Professor, Shame on Student for not saying anything

I have no problem with hearing people wanting to act like deaf people. However, I do not like it when hearing people use the word "deaf" when referring to deaf people in some ways.

I had a psychology professor who did it to us before. The class was Psychology of Perception. The current topic was hearing. She had something that made noise and was demostrating to the class how a person can tell where the sound was coming from. She had a hearing person sit in the front of the classroom with her eyes closed. The professor would make noise on different sides of the student and the student would point in the direction that the noise was coming from. Later, the professor said... "Okay, you know that deaf people like those NTID people... *points at the deaf students in class* ... can't hear well. I'm going to show you." She then called up a deaf guy to sit in front. She started making noises and saying, "See? He's deaf. He can't hear anything." Jeez.

You should have called her on that, as she violated that student's rights under the ADA, not to mention his civil rights. The ACLU would be all over her butt and she would have probably lost her job, if not tenure, because of her stupid mistake. Sorry to say, since you allowed that to slide, I personally think you are just as guilty as the professor. If she was my professor, she would have been in deep, deep doo, long before she would think of heading home for the day. The next day for her would be one of which she would not have wanted to get out of bed for. The university would be shaking because of a threat of a lawsuit had already been made and the fact that one of its professors had a lot of witnesses to the fact over what occurred in that classroom the previous day.

 

[pek1]

I'm hoh, two hearing aids/severe hearing loss and have a hearing dog with me most of the time. I've had ha since a kid. My mother wanted me to attend the state school in Faribault, but, unknown at the time, it didn't cost anything. My dad said, "it costs money" so I didn't go...unfortunately.

I was visiting a church in Chattanooga, TN five years ago and one of the men there was signing with others and I was talking (orally) with the vp of the school I was visiting. Well, this guy was a hearie and, needless to say, I was a little turned off by him because he gave me the impression he was deaf. I didn't think it was very nice, but I didn't say anything. If I had gone to school and attended that church, he would not have been one of my friends because I feel that he was impersonating a deaf person, complete with all gestures. He admitted to me he was a hearie. And, I admitted, under my breath, that he was a jerk.

 

[apathrev]

I'm hoh, two hearing aids/severe hearing loss and have a hearing dog with me most of the time. I've had ha since a kid. My mother wanted me to attend the state school in Faribault, but, unknown at the time, it didn't cost anything. My dad said, "it costs money" so I didn't go...unfortunately.

I was visiting a church in Chattanooga, TN five years ago and one of the men there was signing with others and I was talking (orally) with the vp of the school I was visiting. Well, this guy was a hearie and, needless to say, I was a little turned off by him because he gave me the impression he was deaf. I didn't think it was very nice, but I didn't say anything. If I had gone to school and attended that church, he would not have been one of my friends because I feel that he was impersonating a deaf person, complete with all gestures. He admitted to me he was a hearie. And, I admitted, under my breath, that he was a jerk.

Would you mind mentioning which school/church this was?

 

[travisdoesmath]

I'm hoh, two hearing aids/severe hearing loss and have a hearing dog with me most of the time. I've had ha since a kid. My mother wanted me to attend the state school in Faribault, but, unknown at the time, it didn't cost anything. My dad said, "it costs money" so I didn't go...unfortunately.

I was visiting a church in Chattanooga, TN five years ago and one of the men there was signing with others and I was talking (orally) with the vp of the school I was visiting. Well, this guy was a hearie and, needless to say, I was a little turned off by him because he gave me the impression he was deaf. I didn't think it was very nice, but I didn't say anything. If I had gone to school and attended that church, he would not have been one of my friends because I feel that he was impersonating a deaf person, complete with all gestures. He admitted to me he was a hearie. And, I admitted, under my breath, that he was a jerk.

how did he give you the impression that he was deaf? was he trying to hide the fact that he was hearing? Or did you just make the assumption?

and what do you mean that he was "impersonating a deaf person, complete with all gestures"? What gestures are "deaf only"?

 

[pek1]

how did he give you the impression that he was deaf? was he trying to hide the fact that he was hearing? Or did you just make the assumption?

and what do you mean that he was "impersonating a deaf person, complete with all gestures"? What gestures are "deaf only"?

He was giving facial gestures. When I was talking to the vp almost next to him, he "ignored" me and then he smiled and admitted he was a hearie. He was also "voice off" when he was signing. It took me a few minutes to get him to crack, which is how I found out. He honestly didn't look ethnically deaf.

 

[pek1]

Would you mind mentioning which school/church this was?

The school used to be called BIMI Deaf College, can't recall the church in Chatta that it was in, but see that the college is another name and has a church there.

 

[travisdoesmath]

He was giving facial gestures. When I was talking to the vp almost next to him, he "ignored" me and then he smiled and admitted he was a hearie. He was also "voice off" when he was signing. It took me a few minutes to get him to crack, which is how I found out. He honestly didn't look ethnically deaf.

I'm not seeing anything that leads me to believe that he was pretending to be deaf, all I'm seeing is your prejudice.

 

[Teresh]

He was giving facial gestures. When I was talking to the vp almost next to him, he "ignored" me and then he smiled and admitted he was a hearie. He was also "voice off" when he was signing. It took me a few minutes to get him to crack, which is how I found out. He honestly didn't look ethnically deaf.

ethnically deaf? what the hell does that mean? O_o

btw, travisdoesmath, you officially have the coolest title I've seen in quite some time. kudos to you.

 

[Liza]

Ok.. once again. Personally, I don't think there is anything wrong if a hearie chooses to express herself or himself with sign language along with all other expressive points we enjoy that go with the territory. I am completely Deaf, and have been since birth. I also have a deep interest in study of human nature. I find it fascinating how some people seem to be triggered by something that they preceive to have a "monopoly" on, and feelings of entitlement are followed by seemingly patriotic statements.

I know I might be challenging some beliefs, but I am willing to risk that at my own expense.. otherwise I would be remiss. I'd like to clarify this POV with an example - it would be like having an english speaking hearie telling me to STOP using his language and to pretend to be hearie based on my excellent ability to use my voice. But.. isn't using voice strongly encouraged by many people of deaf/hoh/hearies, anyway? Would a swedish hearie be as angry as that english speaking hearie if I could speak Swedish proficiently? That's interesting, isn't it? I would like to explore this some more as well. It's also a possibility there are some indirect monopoly on having excellent skills in writing by the typical hearie - most hearies I meet are often surprised at how well I write english AND norwegian.... for a Deaf person. Allright I am better at english than I am at norwegian. I admit it. LOL But still.

I think it's acceptable that hearies dare to be as expressive as Deaf people, and that it is equally disturbing to me that some people are distressed about that... based on.. uh.. culturally territorial feelings? I could be missing something else as well. I guess I've faced worse than a hearie seeming to prefer using ASL to not take something like this to heart.

I truly feel that it is the fundmental right of every human to be able to express himself or herself in any way he or she is capable of.. and being expressive as a Culturally Deaf person certainly couldn't be out of that field of unlimited possibilities. As matter of fact, I would love it if every hearing person could learn to be expressive physically and emotionally as we are... and they certainly have a lot to learn from us, as we do them!

That is why I want us to consider the possibility when we harshly judge other hearies on their usage of ASL and their understanding of us... to be oppressive. The very same thing we know others do to us. Can hypocrisy be a possibility? Can we allow for tolerance and understanding for others... the way we want to have for ourselves by the same people?

In any case... honey always attract more than vinegar.