I was just thinking about Juanita’s blog, “Fumble In Deaf America” and how she feels that people in the deaf community are spoiled and expect too much.
I beg to differ.
Simply because of most of my deaf friends, we had to work even harder to prove ourselves. When I was younger, I went to MSD and basically breezed through 6th grade. I felt like I wasn’t being challenged enough, so I made the decision to try out a public school and see if it would be better. And it was. Middle school was a good experience, but still I had to prove myself.
However when I got to high school, I had to prove to my peers that I was just as smart as them. It wasn’t easy (in fact, i kind of think college was easier than high school). I had to step up and start taking AP classes as well as get a head start on some college classes at Hood college. It was even harder because I had to speak up in English classes. They always graded based on participation, and it is usually hard for me to keep up with the discussions that were going on in class, but I managed. There was constant competition, but I was up for the challenge.
It’s a lot of work to stay awake in classes because you have to pay attention to the interpreters and it’s really not that easy on your eyes. When you have interpreter, you have to work harder to focus and pay attention, and that can be exhausting. In the meantime, my peers could easily close their eyes and continue to listen to the teacher. It is exhausting to constantly do that and you still have to read your homework assignments.
Then when it comes to sports. Oh it’s interesting to play with a team of hearing people. Granted I could speak and I could hear but when it’s game time, all I can hear is the crowd. Volleyball’s a sport that requires communication with your teammates, so are all other sports. I was the key setter on my team. The setter is usually the most aggressive player on the team, because they have to be at the drop of the second ball no matter where it is on the court. I had to set up a system of communicating with my coach when there wasn’t an interpreter, it worked. But i definitely had to stay on my toes. In any sport you play with a team, communication is essential. The deaf people on any hearing team definitely have to work harder so they know everything that is going on.
Now in the real world, I still have to work harder than my peers. Not because I’m proving myself to them, but to myself. It’s interesting because I find myself working more than them because they’re able to talk while they work. Of course, I can’t really do that. I envy hearing workers because they can talk to one another without having to look at each other or talk on the phone instead of having to wait for an email from one of the executive directors. But you know we all still do the work, we all have to make sure it is done. The deadlines are no joke here.
I am not complaining that we have to work harder, I’m glad I have to work harder because I know it’ll take me to some really good places. It always feels good when I run into classmates from high school (although I will admit if I run in to them, I try to run in the other direction), and I can tell them how far I’ve gotten.
I think accessibility is important. I’m glad all the shows I go to make an effort to try to provide an interpreter if I request one. I don’t think I’m spoiled by that. As for the seats, I’m glad I get good seats and I pay the same price as the person sitting next to me. I’m the one who makes an effort to call when the tickets go on sale, usually within 1 or 2 days of when the tickets go on sale, it shows that I pay attention, this is the kind of stuff that is important to me.
And whatever else is important to you, the shows you see, the games you see, if you have the accessibility, enjoy it.
Why should we not have the same privileges as a hearing person does?
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Heh. Let’s try a thought experiment. Pretend you’re hearing and your teacher gives you a test. You listen to the teacher while looking over the test. And - this is the difficult part - you can listen passively, while STILL READING THE TEST.
The Deaf person using an interpreter might be able to go back and forth - I can. But unless the terp knows you, they won’t like this - I’ve had terps totally stop signing because I look down at a handout! - my goal in class is to do what I can to keep up with or beat out everyone else, deaf or hearing. Doesn’t matter.
Many Deaf people DO have an entitlement problem, but I don’t think it’s what Juanita states. I think many Deaf people expect others to know from DAY ONE what Deaf people need - and when the hearing people don’t know, instead of being diplomatic, the deaf people blow up.
I have seen Deaf peers working who state that they can’t write or read as fast as hearing people. It’s true that when you work with people, hearing people can follow that thought experiment - look up and down while still listening - while we have to stare forward. Sometimes eye contact is crucial. But I would personally never use that as an excuse.
PS I find this interesting because I continually have to negotiate between Deaf and hearing communities at work… I wrote a dissertation on the process… heh.
You wrote:
“why should we not have the same privleges as a hearing person does?”
Beautifully put. America is all about equality. Freedom for all. I just don’t understand why dissenters would cry otherwise: “Aw, just let them put up with whatever crap they’re doled”.
You had to work harder to prove yourself. Well said but I’m sure deaf people in developing countries are working even harder to prove themselves
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Juanita makes a point and hers is just as valid as the next person. However, she sees it from her point of view based on the priorities and the things we take for granted here versus over there where it would be a godsend. If you have ever been in El Paso texas with all the rich city lights, nice houses, cars and clean stores and look across the border fence and past the Rio Grande river into Mexico some 300 yards away you see trash, shack houses, older cars and a sprawling city of Juarez, Mexico that looks more like slum city than not. That’s the stark contrast on what Juanita is probably seeing when it comes to Deaf/deaf/hh Americans who enjoy living in the most accessible country in the world for people with hearing loss. I can see why Juanity would see that lawsuit as frivolous and impulsive without even resorting diplomatic means.
Yes, but first we must focus on ourselves in terms of expanding our own access to technology—especially now that telecommunications companies don’t even try to bother to comply with captioning of their television shows they offer on the internet, and the recent FCC decision to allow religious programmers not to comply with the 100% captioning rule. We must safeguard the rights we have now, and make sure they are not in danger of being lost. We can’t settle for second-best anymore. Not when so much is at stake.
When we’ve finally accomplished our goals here in the United States, then we can focus on advocating for international disability rights.
Um…you can do both. No reason to wait until we’re smugly comfortable with our access before helping others.
I think a bifurcated approach weakens us now–there are too many balls in the air to speak when we try that approach. It’s up to the citizens of those countries to engineer their own disability rights movement. We had to do it on our own here and we’re continuing doing so without any outside international help.
So, if a a Deaf group in another country ask the great country of the United States for help and consultation, you would refuse their help outright?
The United States is seen as a model, and is an example of many to follow. We have the experience and examples that could be a template for them to follow. But even that they could still need our help. Saying “no” makes us look, well, pretty damn selfish.
Speaking of people with hearing loss, I am giving a wild guess.
Across the border fence in Mexico - 200,000X limited access (that bad bad bad)
El Paso, Texas - 75,000X limited access (absolutely unacceptable)
Rochester, NY - 50,000X limited access (deaf friendly city compared to others but still there’s more work to do!)
The goal to have is 0X (zero!) limited access where all people will enjoy. It’s a long way to go.
Technology itself will help make the biggest change and leap across all boundaries and countries.
Yes on technology and I want to add one more: people. For instance, Rochester has seven deaf doctors, one deaf dentist, hundreds of skilled interpreters, one deaf vet, and many more to name.
p.s. I meant to reply to comment #19762
Here’s an article printed in Rochester’s newspaper this week.
http://www.democratandchronicl.....39/OPINION
We, deaf people have been politically and socioeconomic apathetic over decades. We tend to pre-occupy with our own lives by technopoly (overdependency on technology) which cause severe disassociation with the community at large.
Deaf Washington (DC)community at large is a major dysfunctional and uninterested community. We, deaf people are not only experiencing the social disassociation with the community at large. Other segements of population in general also experience the same things.
I repeat “technopoly” which we usually let ourselves wrapped up around technological stuff and dehumanize our own existence as deaf people to be part of socioeconomic and political activism hub.
Has technology brought people closer or further apart? Technology allowing greater access for deaf and hh people has just barely begun. We’re not even at the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Technology will allow us in the not-so-distant future to socialize at the physical level (meaning face to face in person) with anybody we wish to associate with.
I disagree with the social disassociation with the community at large. We are, in fact, making inroads into that community at large (hearing and deaf) allowing us greater interaction that was never really the case 5 or 10 years ago.
As the old saying goes, we ain’t seen nothing yet.
Good post. One thing that is always on my conscience is how other workers see you. For example, when you approach another worker, I can’t help but wondering if he or she automatically thinks: “Oh, here’s John -the DEAF one. I need to speak slower for him because he has TROUBLE understanding me.” That kind of thing. I hate that because I don’t want him/her to think that, but most of the time, they can’t help it.
So, I would need to work harder on making sure I come up sounding intelligent or witty to make them think that I’m just like them and someone they can feel comfortable having a normal conversation just like the others. I’m sure hearing people feel the same way, but it’s the speech that deaf people have to work harder.
Maybe I am lucky? I’ve had co-workers actually come up and try to whisper in my ear, to tell me a secret! It’s kind of funny. They close the door to my office and say they don’t want other people to hear, so I tell them to just talk to me without their voice. They are puzzled at first and I have no idea if they actually do it.
I have to admit that I think us deafies work much harder than our hearing peers. At my job, in my first week, I finished two months’ worth of work that I had been assigned. That’s in the first three days, actually. My boss was stumped and I realized I had to spend most of the day jacking off in order to keep the same pace with the assignments i was given. so i did, and now everyone is like “you’re the best worker we’ve ever had!” Funny. Kind of.