Yesterday, browneyedgirl left such a great comment that I responded to in comments and then decided that it was so insightful, then changed my mind and moved it up front to share it here.
BEG said…
Yes, actually there’s some bits of Blind culture, in some multigenerational blind families. And if you keep track of stuff at http://thegimpparade.blogspot.com/ you will see similar issues discussed by physically disabled folks.
I know exactly what you mean about how the authors seem to cross a line, I absolutely do. While I was born deaf, I was wildly successful with hearing aids — you can’t tell from my speech that I can’t hear. So there is no question I grew up with, and accepted the whole hearing culture until the last few years.
However. I am only now learning to sign, precisely because the decision was taken away from me & my parents because of scare tactics by hearing doctors and such. And at my age (40+) I have finally realized that English is not my true language. It *cannot* be. I can send, but I can’t receive. Communication absolutely has to go both ways or it’s fundamentally crippled, no matter how much lipstick you put on the pig. It took me a long, long, long time to understand this, because it seems so *fundamental* to speak and try to hear if you can.
You might find some of my entries at my blog of interest — from the earliest entries on to the most recent (I’ve taken a summer break), you can see the progression of realization of just what the hearing world does to deaf people.
Now, I do agree that different approaches are needed to bring in the new-to-all-this parents of a deaf child; however the anger you object to is very real, and deserves respect in its own right. Deaf people have been colonized for centuries, the Milan conference and its consequences for the following century is simply the latest one.
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Does the fence you’ve been sitting on feel anything like the passenger seat on a 2002 HD Sportster? All pins and needly?
Or is it more like a split rail fence, or even more uncomfy, an electric fence? I usually get off of things that make me involuntarily wet myself and jerk uncontrollably.
Was that fence anything like that?
Hey there. Thanks for stopping by. Your place looks cool:)
I just left a comment over on your husband’s blog about this. And you know what?…I just now put it together that he was your husband. Yeah, I’m quick like that.
You know, your story sounds exactly like the stories of so many people I came across in the Deaf community. The trying to struggle through. Smiling and nodding. When I was taking all of my classes, learning ASL, they were filled with Deaf and Hard of Hearing who were learning ASL after years of trying to get by. I admire you…and I admire your courage to “get off the fence”. :)