After all is said and done...
I'm still here. I've been struck by some serious life changes and I must apologize to everyone who has wondered where I have been. I'm sorry.
Choices happen, plans change, and the storm rolls through.
So, now, where to jump in? Hmm,.. from what I've gathered, a whole lot of shite went down in our beloved deaf community and people are leaving DeafRead. Good people, I might add. It's a damn shame that this kind of middle school drama continues in the midst of our collective journey.
Me better than you!
My shite no stanky!
I Me I Me I Me I Me
Our children are looking up at us with innocent eyes and all we seem to have to offer them is a continued misunderstanding.
One hoo asked me the other day why I am so against cochlear implants and my response was simple:
I do not support the implantation of deaf children because it is an act of discrimination and unacceptance towards creation. It's not natural to do such a thing. It imposes, for the most part, a false hope on both the parents and the child. It places implanted children in a place where they are on their own. An island with neither hoos or deafs. They are left to choose when choosing should never be an option. We're all on this ship together. It's not a hearing or deaf issue...it's a human issue.
The same hoo responded with the question:
"Well what about a baby who is born with an enlarged heart and surgery is needed?"
I said:
Being deaf is not a matter of life or death only hearing makes it so.
How many times have you seen a hoo say the word deaf and they keep pronouncing it:
"Death."
*shrugs*
Go Figure.
I cannot fathom ever leaving DeafRead. I, like you, came to this place because it provides us the opportunity to come together and share. Let me emphasize the word share. Such goes in the manner of giving and receiving and those things should be of good nature.
*ahem*
If AGBell cannot have a dialogue with the deaf community, shouldn't that be seen as an act of negligence?
If DBC is in it's infancy, shouldn't they be given a break for making mistakes?
If personal vendettas are your thing, isn't that a sign of pain and weakness?
Sure, we all are flawed and imperfect. That is what makes this journey so exciting and educative. Yet people get carried away with reputations and looking good, so much to a point that it would be wrong to admit their mistakes and flaws. This harbors fear and promotes miscommunication. Are you not a human being?
OKAY.
So where are we?
Back to square one:
We continue with the teaching of people to love and embrace deaf children as a natural part of this natural world.
And you know what?
I love you just the way you are.
Technicolor is much better than black and white.
You do have true colors.
P.S.
Remember what Smokey Bear says:
"Only YOU can prevent forest fires."
Saturday, July 19, 2008
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3 comments:
If I was of a religious pursuasion (Which I'm not), I would say "Let him that is without sin, cast the first stone... but be mindful you are still in a greenhouse also..."
The people who are leaving DeafRead are doing the responsible thing. DeafRead needs to either change its mission, or close down. There can be no such thing as a "neutral" metablog which would survive very long. Inevitably, there will always be those who misuse such a service, and destroy it. It is simply not a viable concept.
We've been through this already, via the 'Deaf-UK' site (Britain's alleged leading official deaf site), it was ripped apart by leading contributors and co-moderators tearing into each other, who still do it outside.
The best and most able there left, or were pushed, or whatever. They have their own stories to tell...
Now the UK has no viable 'deaf' site of any note really. I am in envy of the huge contributions deaf.read gets ! what the UK could do with half as much input (And of course the ability to moderate as well !).
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