Through deaf eyes

Deafness

Despite being hearing impaired, deaf people are highly capable human beings.

What's fascinating about all minority groups ("minority" not in the strictly racial sense of the word) is that they seek to push forward an agenda of "sameness" while simultaneously embracing the plain fact that they are in some way different than the established majority. They want to be treated like everyone else, but at the same time they expect sensitivity and/or preferential treatment with respect to that particular "otherness" (race, gender, sexual orientation, handicap) that makes them different. One can argue that if deaf people really wanted to be treated like everyone else, they wouldn't take advantage of the many special assistance programs that exist to help them function within a, for lack of a better word, "normal" society. A quick Internet search reveals that there are plenty of special programs for deaf people, at the federal, state, and local levels.

The short, poorly made video entitled "Through Deaf Eyes" skirts around this paradox, irony or -- depending on one's level of cynicism -- hypocrisy. Deaf people are different. Yet they want to be treated like everyone else. But (to varying degrees) they expect some level of recognition and/or assistance for their impairment.

After writing the first two paragraphs to this response, it occurred to this humble correspondent how utterly horrible I am to say such things in my reflection section. The notion that those who are disadvantaged in some way (or those in a minority) have an engrained "entitlement mentality" that they fail to acknowledge is offensive. But, I can't help but to feel that way. Especially after watching "Through Deaf Eyes. For some reason, it seems to me that these "awareness videos," that target young adults, actually create the opposite effect of their supposed intentions. Instead of making kids less discriminatory/prejudicial, they make us more discriminatory/prejudicial. These videos function like a sign on someone's back that reads, "Don't kick me," what's the first thing you want to do? Kick that kid as hard as you can. Why is this? Does this make me a bad person to feel this way? An uneducated person?

Questions:

The answers to those two questions are relative (i.e. compared to whom). But now that I've said what I've said, I'd like to pose two more questions. The first is do deaf people realize how bad they sound when they speak? And the second is (and it pertains to people with all sorts of maladies and non-functioning senses), why do some deaf people say that they would not change their situation (their broken ears) if given a chance?

A friend of a friend of mine is deaf. So I asked him those two questions. To his credit he was candid and wasn't offended by my own self-admitted ignorance on the subject of deafness. He said most deaf people realize how bad they sound when they speak. Not really, because they've never heard themselves speak before (he was referring to the camp that could never hear to begin with or has very limited hearing), but they know that it sounds "non-optimal." He says they continue to speak for two reasons. The first is not everyone knows sign language. So, speaking is often the easiest way to communicate. And the second reason is that they're more or less apathetic about what other people think. If you don't like the way they sound (or if you have a problem with it), then you're probably an idiot (I blushed at his answer).