Coming to an Understanding
Sometimes it’s difficult to get people to even try to understand what it’s like to be deaf. Lots of times, kids learn a little bit in school, when they are introduced to headphones that mask sound, or have a deaf person visit their class. Sometimes people will do experiments at home, plugging up their ears for a short time. The same is true for blindness– wearing masks, or blindfolds, or similar types of hooding materials that render them temporarily “blind.”
So often people who think they understand deafness and deaf people will be sympathetic, but very few can ever be empathetic. The same is true for those among us who live in poverty, or are homeless. Still, anyone who tries to understand, even with ulterior motives, should be applauded.
This week, in Nashville, Tennessee, some of the mayoral candidates were “homeless” for one night. While one night, or even a fraction thereof, does not change views and perspectives overnight, at least these men have a somewhat better understanding of what it’s like. I have no pretensions that these politicians will suddenly throw as much money and support as they can to homeless shelters , anti-poverty programs, and services for the disadvantaged, but even if it changes how they view such assistance and prompts them to think better of their fellow man, then it’s worth it.
It’s not the first time politicians have done this; even in Berkeley, California, long considered a haven for liberals and progressives, the mayor did the “homeless for a night” stint back in 2003. I’m not sure just how much the experience changed how he handled things after that, but it’s something I think *every* politician should do, at least once.
Some have opted to try another challenge many impoverished people face: living on food stamps. In April, Oregon’s governor Ted Kulongski tried to make it for a week on food stamps. Last month, four Congressional Representatives took the challenge, and I suspect, learned something in the process.
…have pledged to live for one week on $21 worth of food, the amount the average food stamp recipient receives in federal assistance. That’s $3 a day or $1 a meal. They started yesterday.
The participants actually kept blogs, and posted entries about their experiences. You can see Congressman Tim Ryan’s (D- Ohio) blog here, and the musings of the other three here. It’s pretty sobering to realize that while these four could go back to their normal habits after a week that tens of thousands of Americans have a weekly food budget of $21. For those of us who have experienced being on food stamps or suffered poverty in any form, it’s not too surprising. For others, it may be a depressing new fact.
I’m not sure requiring every member of Congress to go homeless for one night would work, but I think everyone in Congress should definitely try living on a food-stamp budget. Everyone goes food shopping or has gone food shopping, and I think it’d really hit home for many of them if they tried living on $21 a week. It might not create a sense of empathy, but it just might increase the sympathy, as politicians come to a better understanding about how some members of our society live.
It’s a shame that we can “afford” to spend millions of dollars patrolling, bombing, and occupying a country halfway around the world, but we “can’t afford” to take care of the least among us. Just like individuals, nations are judged by their priorities. What does this say about us?
Oh this was such a good post. Very poignant and meaningful. So many deaf people live on limited incomes through SSI or SSDI and are at poverty level. So many in the deaf community struggle with money management as well. There was a discussion recently about kids who attended deaf residential schools growing up with a sense of entitlement due to all the freebies they received while at the deaf schools. This could be one reason some people in the deaf community grow up with poor money management skills whether they live on SSI or have jobs. It’s a phenomenon that I see occur frequently.
Great post! I’m a new fan!
~ LaRonda
Hey:
There were a group of Congressmen who lived on food stamp for a week. They said they came off learning a great deal about food stamp. Interesting.
R-
Freebies at deaf schools? Explain
Free textbooks, free laundry, free food, free charter bus, free birthday parties …
I learned the hard way when I came to Gallaudet — I gotta pay for the books, food, laundry and yes, birthday cake!
R-
Aww, Ridor, you had to pay for your own birthday cake? That’s too bad!
Anyways, for one to experience in someone else’s shoes may be a best lesson in order to better understand the circumstances. What you have described about hearing kids experiencing not to hear is somewhat missing a sense but it is not sufficient for them to experience what a deaf person’s life is really like in general.
So let me put it in this way:
To lose a sense causes one to feel sympathetic. To gain a culture causes one to feel emphathetic.
One of the factors for causing deaf students to be or not to be on SSD/SSI is the value of work ethics that they have picked up from their families. I have heard of schools for the deaf providing freebies but from the way I see it, it is their parents not having to pay what the school offers that makes them not demanding their teenagers to work. From my experience at a school for the deaf, I have seen students doing the work such as fundraising for a school trip though. Another thing is that these schools must provide a rich array of career options for deaf students who are able to graduate with strong trade or academic background where they are able to better prepare the outside world.
Reminds me of the book, “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America,” by Barbara Ehrenreich. When will policymakers GET the travesty that is the working poor - people who ARE working but are unable to afford first and last month rent, etc. How do we expect people to get on their feet when both businesses and governments make it difficult?!
I grew up poor at times but I was extremely lucky - unlike untold millions of people living in or near poverty.
Freebies at Deaf schools?
Uh, yeah, every public school in America supplies textbooks.
Not talking about free textbooks..talking about free distant school trips, free museum admissions because they are deaf, free after school programs and sports that parents don’t have to pay such as uniforms, free school supplies (although the lists were distributed but there were students showing up with no supplies), and what nots. As in public schools, parents have to pay for it period. However, they have a right to challenge that they are not able to afford school related expenses if it exceeds their income level which is why we call it a free public educational right that applies for everyone.
Not every public school provides free textbooks - I remember in high school that I had to buy my books…although if memory serves me right, there was a special program to provide free books for those students from low-income families, but these were usually used books in less than ideal condition (the ones the “rich kids” didn’t want).
While the freebies they got in the residential schools probably did play a role in that entitlement attitude that some deaf have, I grew up living at home in a hearing family, and attending public schools… and I still didn’t develop good money management skills. So I think it’s not just about where you went to school or whatever - I think it’s also about being taught proper money management skills, whether at occurs in the school or at home. Of course, home plays a key role… but the schools need to help reinforce those lessons. But if you can’t communicate effectively with your family members, it’s hard to pick up those lessons…and even if you can, it’s hard to learn them if your family doesn’t make it a priority.
And if you grow up in a well-to-do family where you basically got what you wanted and never really had to go without, never had to worry about being able to pay the bills or put food on the table, or whatever…it’s hard to really grasp the value of a dollar, or appreciate the hardships of going without the things so many of us take for granted.
Sadly, many of us have to learn those lessons the hard way.
Great post!
I never knew politicans would spend a night or week portraying a poor person.
Barb, you are right!
It is true that kids, who attend deaf schools, are entitled to get everything free including field trips and school supplies. We, teachers cannot ask them to buy materials, pay fees or such for anything related to educational purposes.
As for my hearing children, I have to chip in approx. 300 dollars each kid each sport. I also have to buy cartloads of school supplies every new school year.
Yet, many parents of deaf children who go to state schools complain that they have to pay substainial amounts for certain stuff. Oh, please!
Thanks, David for writing up such an interesting missive.
Brilliant Post! I always enjoy reading your writing.I agree with you. I don’t think money management is the issue. It’s about how we,as a nation, treat the poor. The assumption we have that they just aren’t working hard enough, when in fact the opposite it ususally true. The working poor often have two jobs and still can’t make ends meet.
La Ronda, thanks. I agree with some of the others here– “freebies” don’t really exist. Now, money management is a whole other ballgame, and I think it’s incumbent on the schools to work with the parents in instructing students how to be fiscally responsible. Students who board during the week are more influenced by teachers, staff, and houseparents, as well as fellow students. Yet parents are still parents, and retain their own responsibilities, both morally and legally. As for SSI, the system needs reform, but I’m reluctant to trust the current administration with this task. SSI is needed for those who truly need it. At the same time, there needs to be better assessments, awards, and repayment schedules based on individual needs, and not as rigidly based on a formula.
So how much was the birthday cake, Ridor?
Seriously, as I said above, when students spend 80% of their week at the residential school, the schools act in loco parentis, and in fulfilling that role, act as parents do. Parents cover expenses for children; the school, to an extent, does the same. Again, I think it’s not so much “freebies” or the lack of “freebies” that’s the issue here– it’s money management and how to develop fiscal responsibility: drawing up a budget, balancing a checkbook, etc.
Barb, hi! I agree with you for the most part. Belle, I keep meaning to read that book. I’ve lived part of it (I too grew up in a poor family), so a lot of it probably won’t be too surprising.
I agree with Ocean and Teri– a lot of materials, equipment, and supplementals are paid for these days by parents. I’m sure at the residential schools, they cover a certain amount, but in the end, parents will still have to shell out for certain things as well.
Dogwoman, thanks.
I just finished working three part-time jobs, and none of them offered benefits, insurance, or any extras. Luckily, I’m stable at the moment due to my walking partner. But I can all too easily see how a lot of hard-working people get shafted, no matter hard they work. It’s something we as a society are going to have to change…