Do deaf folks consider themselves disabled?

I am NOT ABLE to hear, therefore I am DISABLED. It doesn't mean that I can't work. Disabled means not able (to hear, walk, see, or function mentally or physically).

What's more, this thread is under the category, American with Disablitlites Act. What does that tell you?
 
I may be wrong, but it sounds like some people are confusing the word disabled with the word dependent. The word disabled means having a lack of an ability. Since the human body has the equipment to enable the ability to hear, when you find someone who can't hear, it is understandable to view them as having a dis-ability. However, this does not mean that they are disabled in any other way or that they are so disabled as to be dependent on other people to care for their needs.

Unfortunately, I have seen many hearing people make this assumption about deaf people; that they are dependent because they can't hear. And THAT is a ridiculous assumption.
 
I may be wrong, but it sounds like some people are confusing the word disabled with the word dependent. The word disabled means having a lack of an ability. Since the human body has the equipment to enable the ability to hear, when you find someone who can't hear, it is understandable to view them as having a dis-ability. However, this does not mean that they are disabled in any other way or that they are so disabled as to be dependent on other people to care for their needs.

Unfortunately, I have seen many hearing people make this assumption about deaf people; that they are dependent because they can't hear. And THAT is a ridiculous assumption.
You are right except that deafies are eligible for SSI or SSDI, therefore they are dependents of the federal government. It's the law. I think that's reasonable since ALOT of businesses won't hire deaf people. Don't blame us, blame those businesses.

I am one of those luckiest deafies who have a job. So if when I lose my job and can't find another job, then I must depend on the government for money because I am deaf like alot of deafies do.
 
Interesting topic and interesting answers. For me personally I retired at 21 years plus a 3 year buy out; hearing being the reason. I am a math teacher and my hearing was getting so bad that I could not understand a lot of middle school girls who's voice lingered in the hearing loss range that I have, even some boys fit in that definition, but by far there were more girls there than boys. I miss teaching terribly, I do substitute but I do realize that I can't understand the students some of the time because of the loss.
Am I disabled? Yes I am, but I keep trying to hang in there.

I thought of working retail, but after walking around stores and visiting with people in a noisy environment similar to a classroom I could just see the customers reaction to me asking them to repeat things over and over again. Some times it is very frustrating, and I really dislike it when someone says, "Oh forget it or never mind". That ticks me off...as a result I don't talk much with my son in law even though I love him very much. I guess I should just tell him how I feel about that instead of clamming up.
 
game the system and get free money for doing nothing.
LOL Why not? Think of it this way. Years of watching your local town big wigs waste massive amounts of $$$$ on ridiculous projects and buildings just to be abandoned and scrapped then repeat the following year. So yeah you want to take your God-given right to take your tax dollars BACK OUT OF THE SYSTEM that's failed and wasted massive amounts of money on BS. It's ridiculous not to mention the endless amounts of people that ACTUALLY don't want to work and get services just like that. SSDI isn't even enough to live off of anyways it won't pay for the food and etc. If you've got 5+ kids.

Also they stifle productivity by telling you that you’re not allowed to earn over a certain amount of $ each month while drawing, if your one that likes to get out and WORK WORK WORK like me which I had to quit because my "trail to work" was running out and cannot be reset. The hours weren't even stable enough and the pay was like what? 1800 Short of being same as SSDI. Lack of good paying jobs around here doesn't help either. As well ignorant employers that freak as soon as they get wind of my hearing impairment. I hate this part the most. Pisses me off to the max because I want to be PART of something and have something to work on constantly!

I was shocked I even got it in the first place. Never heard of such a thing being possible for us to get for free, also never had considered myself disabled at all and STILL DON'T...I had been working for 10+ years before I actually gave in and applied for it since I got kids and bills to take care of. Really made me mad when I walked into there and noticed so many people in there THAT LOOKED WELL ABLE TO WORK even young people and known druggies and thugs. So yeah I didn't feel bad after that at all I'll take every damned red cent I can get out of that screwed up system. It's free and everyone is DOING IT. If you can do it GO FOR IT WHILE IT LASTS... At this going rate it may not be here for very long :laugh2:

I'm in the process of trying HAs and getting speech therapy and possibly CI as well so I can please the potential employers and hearing clients I get here… Usually they feel awkward and I don’t like putting them in that situation. Usually Pen and paper does the trick and eases them a bit but still you know what I’m saying? Also been wanting to hear for a long time anyways so it’s a WIN WIN!
 
This one is no longer a tricky one for me. The answer I would point out about this topic question as if we consider ourselves disabled because we're Deaf? I would say NO, because I personally don't think my whole body itself isn't considered disabled. While only my ear is considered disabled that all.
 
This one is no longer a tricky one for me. The answer I would point out about this topic question as if we consider ourselves disabled because we're Deaf? I would say NO, because I personally don't think my whole body itself isn't considered disabled. While only my ear is considered disabled that all.

Speaking for myself, I do. While I function fine, speaking and hearing, with hearing aids - if they break, I'm screwed. My job is at risk, I can't perform any of the duties of my position without them. Moreover, I don't Sign, so I'm up the river with no paddles. When I was 18, I wanted to join the military and couldn't because my hearing loss. It also prevented me from being a police officer or an agent. All things I wanted to do because I wished to make a living helping people. So, for myself, yes it is a disability, largely because I also deal with a learning disability. I've always wanted to follow my mother and some members of my family into medicine. It just wasn't possible given the obstacles I was up against. I had to find a way to earn a living around my disabilities. Needless to say I'm the lowest earner in my family and I've had to fight the hardest for even small achievements. Everyone's different....
 
Still Can Join the Service

Speaking for myself, I do. While I function fine, speaking and hearing, with hearing aids - if they break, I'm screwed. My job is at risk, I can't perform any of the duties of my position without them. Moreover, I don't Sign, so I'm up the river with no paddles. When I was 18, I wanted to join the military and couldn't because my hearing loss. It also prevented me from being a police officer or an agent. All things I wanted to do because I wished to make a living helping people. So, for myself, yes it is a disability, largely because I also deal with a learning disability. I've always wanted to follow my mother and some members of my family into medicine. It just wasn't possible given the obstacles I was up against. I had to find a way to earn a living around my disabilities. Needless to say I'm the lowest earner in my family and I've had to fight the hardest for even small achievements. Everyone's different....

I can understand how you feel and where you want to go with your future goal. I once had thought to be a police and military too. The thing is, there are hearing people who aren't physical disability and couldn't join because they did not pass the test to become a police or military as well. Everyone was born to be different with their limit of skills. Not only by the ability. It's not easy to get into the service.

However, the other thing is; did you know in our present day there is a police officers and military who are Deaf? They fought to join in. There's no reason why you can't today?

I used to work in a restaurant where they make a subs and I remember how I first was nervous to see how I could try communicating with the customer order in a different way I normally do. Because my hearing aid broke that time too. The surprising is, I did well getting the customer order. This work out by how I never give up to try find a way to communicate and that the skills I had. There is always a way to resolve such issues. Beside the ability of the skills , we are lucky in this present day when we have a technology to work with us doing business today. I am not sure what this position of your you have trouble with when you're without a hearing aid?

Just in mind as I do, when I say my both ears is considered disabled, I mean to say this as I have a limited ability to use my ears. BUT.... the rest of my body could still consider not being disabled. The balance from a Deaf ear to the rest of the physical body still has a physical ability to do the work is still considered not disabled.
 
Every individual is different you can't just make a blanket statement with assuming everyone that is deaf thinks they are disabled.

I do agree with a lot of people here in that it's a physical disability that does make life more difficult; there goes my career as a rock star and forget any jobs involving phone calls.

However, life is what you make of it and I even see people who are "perfect", that is, they have no disabilities and yet they can't hold a job to save their life. Instead whining about my hearing inability I instead dealt with it the best I could by choosing a profession in which my hearing is not an issue.
 
there debate about this in uk...to get certain allowences you have register as disabled and the money is needed for terps etc etc but many profound say not disabled very grey area
 
that's cuz they were indoctrinated to think deaf is not disabled...but in reality Deaf are disabled by society so no two ways about deaf people are disabled...
 
I consider the deafness as disability, but I prefer to see it as a social subculture because they have Deaf History, ASL Poetry, and etc.
 
in this country they say or do anything to weasle out of giving genuine people benifit money and many deaf people get nothing to help...society is for peole who fit criteria that bit of disability money helps them fit in so have to say disabled even if dont feel it.
 
I've accepted that I'm HoH, and that I simply can't do everything that someone with perfectly capable hearing can do. It's a little upsetting, but I've decided to focus on all of the things that I *can* do instead.

Somewhere farther back in the post, someone used the examples of not being able to serve on the front lines, or be a commercial pilot, as ways society disables us. I agree that society can be a b***h sometimes, and there's plenty of examples of discrimination or ignorance keeping someone from getting a job for no good reason. However, I disagree with those examples given.
I would have loved to join the military and serve. That was something I looked forward to for most of my life, and I was seriously let down when I found out I couldn't. But I can understand their reasoning. Out on the front lines, with guns blazing, people shouting, and massive confusion around, you need to have multiple channels of communication open, especially hearing. I would be a danger to myself and others if I didn't hear someone coming up behind me, hear a grenade land next to me, hear someone shouting for help, hear an order given, etc.

As for the airline pilot, because of the reliance on radio communication, that's another one that's simply going to be out of reach for me. They can't take the chance that a dhh pilot misses something crucial on the radio, or can't hear some alarm, etc. Until a new method of easily transmitting information rapidly is invented and implemented, hearing-impaired pilots will have to stick to private aircraft, because we could end up inadvertently becoming a liability to the safety of our passengers.

So yeah, there's definitely some alleys that aren't accessible to us because of a certain aspect. Just like my brother can't do some things because his vision is too horrible. Amputees, blind, deaf, mentally disabled/challenged, whatever type of "disability" you have, there's always something that you're simply unable to do, or unable to do well.
But you know what? There's plenty you *can* do just fine. I'm a better guitarist, mathematician, reader, student, wrestler, cook, and humorist than many hearing people that I know.

So by definition, legally I'm hearing impaired, and as such, disabled. But from my own standpoint, I'm not disabled in any way that really matters. I have my struggles, but so does everybody else. Others may not have to deal with a hearing impairment, but still have their own personal problems. We all live, love, laugh, and sometimes cry, alongside one another.
 
I am disabled legally speaking; I am legally deaf, so to speak. In other words, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities act. Outside of that I am not disabled because of my deafness. I am only different; I have a different language and communication method than hearing people.
 
All of my deaf friends can read, write, speak, talk, think, walk, etc. so I do not see, outside of the law, how they are disabled. Also, Hearing is not crucial to life. Deaf people can and do live full and complete lives without hearing.
 
All of my deaf friends can read, write, speak, talk, think, walk, etc. so I do not see, outside of the law, how they are disabled. Also, Hearing is not crucial to life. Deaf people can and do live full and complete lives without hearing.

exactly -- but - what about jobs. there are many jobs out there but the only ones available now are mostly phone related ones. For example - I have computer skills, but most interviewers only see that providing support means you have to take a phone call and its through a trunk line. you dont know if you are getting a hearing tech or deaf tech and as of today - there is no known way to have a lightening fast way to get a VRS terp on line if the deaf tech is the one available on the line and about to take the call. The only way a deaf can work is to make calls out only but it would require someone to take the call in the first place. not exactly fair to the company - this is an extra manpower.

You can apply this to almost any job, even the ones without a phone situation. before you open your mouth and counteract deaf can still do it - just make sure there is absolutely no way its not a deaf thing in a hearing world.
 
exactly -- but - what about jobs. there are many jobs out there but the only ones available now are mostly phone related ones. For example - I have computer skills, but most interviewers only see that providing support means you have to take a phone call and its through a trunk line. you dont know if you are getting a hearing tech or deaf tech and as of today - there is no known way to have a lightening fast way to get a VRS terp on line if the deaf tech is the one available on the line and about to take the call. The only way a deaf can work is to make calls out only but it would require someone to take the call in the first place. not exactly fair to the company - this is an extra manpower.

You can apply this to almost any job, even the ones without a phone situation. before you open your mouth and counteract deaf can still do it - just make sure there is absolutely no way its not a deaf thing in a hearing world.

There is no Job that a deaf person cannot do. Except the military. Strange thing about military though, is deaf have been in military in the USA. There were some deaf people that sneaked into the military during WWII. The recruiters did not even know they were deaf. They could read lips and talk so well that no one even knew they were deaf. And of course, there is deaf Smith -- everyone knows about him.

As for phone, that problem was solved many, many years ago. Deaf now have TTY, Captel, Vp, etc. We are far from limited when it comes to phones. Deaf actually have more choices than hearing. Also, ADA requires them to provide you with TDD, VP, Captel, etc. whatever works best.
 
I am NOT ABLE to hear, therefore I am DISABLED. It doesn't mean that I can't work. Disabled means not able (to hear, walk, see, or function mentally or physically).

What's more, this thread is under the category, American with Disablitlites Act. What does that tell you?

You are right except that deafies are eligible for SSI or SSDI, therefore they are dependents of the federal government. It's the law. I think that's reasonable since ALOT of businesses won't hire deaf people. Don't blame us, blame those businesses.

I am one of those luckiest deafies who have a job. So if when I lose my job and can't find another job, then I must depend on the government for money because I am deaf like alot of deafies do.

Kudos for this. I'm curious, how many Deaf people that you know of would be offended by your reasoning?

The whole concept of Deaf pride has always made me cringe. I don't take pride in my disability. But I will take pride in who I am as a person. As far as I can tell, Deaf pride is just a façade of confidence :(
 
The reason I bring this up is because I see many people who boast about the fact that being deaf doesn't make someone disabled BUT they collect ssdi checks every month.

So what's the answer? Thoughts?


The mocking tone isn't appreciated. One might not perceive themselves as disabled and still not be able to find work. When a job is found, it's often found that no one wants to learn how to communicate with that individual. Not their fault when they try to work but must rely on Supplemental income to get by in life. Also, the average Deaf HS graduate has 4th grade reading level of below. Try to get a job that pays well enough to support yourself when barely literate (in English.)

those are just a few of my thoughts
 
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