Here is a long story short:
When I introduced a hard of hearing woman by the name of Angela to my hearing friends, the first thing she asked them was:
"Isn't it true that I speak better than DeafJeff? I mean, I have a hearing aid and he doesn't."
My hearing friends couldn't understand her question so they asked her to repeat the question? After requesting that she repeat the question, they still could not understand her. So for the third time, she repeats the question and yet they still couldn't decipher the inarticulate words that came forth out of her mouth. She finally decided to sign to me what she was asking my hearing friends.
I repeat to these hearing friends what she had been trying to ask them.
Their response:
"DeafJeff clarified your question for us and that in itself is your answer."
I later introduce Angela to a good friend of mine, Cassandra, who is Deaf and communicates solely using American Sign Language. The two of them spent the afternoon laughing and joking in ASL. They seemed to appreciate the ease in communicating this way. Each understanding the other.
Later on, I catch Angela continuously referring to Cassandra as "that deaf girl". When she started that, I started calling her HOH Bitch.
Rather suiting dontcha think???
*chuckle*
Now,...on a serious note though...what we have seen in Angela is a perfect example of how audio centric values brainwash Deaf children as they grow up to be adults.
(Jeff: Delete my previous comment -- if you can, delete this sentence out as well)
ReplyDeleteGreat example! This is not audism per se, however, but dysconscious audism, since she is Deaf/HH, and clearly has internalized the audist attitudes of the majority society around her and projected them onto her fellow Deaf compatriots.
Angela is not HOH, but actually Deaf since she has demonstrated difficulty speaking with hearing people and enjoys chatting with another Deaf person.
ReplyDeleteIt was sad to see that she mistakenly thought of herself as HOH and speech-competent, and one wonders where she got that idea--her speech and hearing therapists, her parents, teachers at the schools she attended?
How truthful are they, anyway? Can any of us believe our therapists back in school?
We all need a realistic understanding of our capabilities so not to be embarrassed or get into trouble.
Dianrez, you couldn't have explained it with better precision. What you state is exactly how I feel about the way Deaf children are misled into believing things that aren't quite so.
ReplyDeleteIt's rather unfortunate that it isn't until much later in life, when they face the reality that they we're not given honest feedback.
I am convinced that teachers and therapists curve the actual scores and results so to maintain an approach in educating Deaf for the sake of that ideology. The idea that all Deaf children should be able to learn to speak and hear.
As a result of this obsession, Deaf children often miss out on the important things they should be learning.
I have met many a Deaf person who looks back with bitterness because of this ideology that failed them.
When speech and hearing become the focus of that child's education, they, as a result, are not given flexibility in actual learning.
Using ASL, a visual language, to teach English as a second language can prevent these children from having any resentment in not being able to read and write in English. All deaf children deserve the right to a complete and thorough ability to read and write well. This, alone, is paramount to speech and hearing.
When people hear a person speak abnormally, they're likely to think the person is Deaf or has a speech impediment. When people see that a person can't write properly, they are likely to think their stupid or retarded.
Hey,..you tell me....
That's what I call part of the "one-db rule" -- Hearing people have divided the Deaf community by basically saying if you can use hearing aids or talk even a little bit, you're HH (implying "better than Deaf").
ReplyDeletethank u for spelling things out
ReplyDelete"Isn't it true that I speak / write / dance / prance etc better than DeafJeff? I mean, I have more hearing / more experience / more oral abilities / more degrees / more pedigree / more grove / more ...... and he doesn't." sooo you tell me ole Hearing pal of Deafjeff - ain't i all that??
what huh sorry can't follow u quite right - hold while i get Deafjeff to tell me what it is u r telling me
-----
ain't life grand in the land of babel?
ohh ohh ohh i wanna be just like you, wanna walk like talk like you, its true....
(the jungle book)
meanwhile the mother t had this to say:
"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."
"have-a-little-want-more" is a mighty tricky place to spend ur life neither/nor vs. and/also
hmmm whats it gonna be???
and a Deaf ASL woman is not a child of a lesser god nor a girl
and a misguided HoH woman aint a #itch neither - just her behavior is - but u already know that
and gosh - u can SPELL. mighty fine. mighty fine. THANK YOU For making it really clear why it is they can not get the U right - cuz they know they is participating and partaking in aUdism big time; hence, they deny, discredit, and disrupt only to end up with a credibility loss of - 1,000 dB and rapidly dropping with each blog and comment.
goodness gracious
verity is clarity and i thank u for that spelling lesson
not cool. not cool for all parties involved
aUdism sucks
soulforce / loveforce rocks
keep shining that light and building that fire
and look no anonymous folks - just folks who can spell their own names
goodness
verity is clarity
peace
patti
Dianrez, you continue to shine the light. You are one of the people I admire the most. Know that.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post Jefe.
Guys, lose the word bitch. Degrades women.
~ L
Huh? Calling Cassandra as "that deaf girl" is far more degrading considering that free-for-all rump butt knows her name. You too.
ReplyDeleteThis post isn't about gender per se but about hoo friends meeting a stray who resorts to degrading deaf people like Jefe and Cassandra in front of them. And that doesn't suit well in Terlingua who knows them as their honorable Deaf citizens, living life in sign, freedom, and peace.
jeffrey -
ReplyDeletenah u aint really a bitchy guy. seems to me u is a pretty honest jose.
for me - i wasnt really taking issue with the bitch word so much as the labeling of the person vs. naming the action cuz she too is one of us and totally a byproduct of audism. "hate the sin not the sinner" kinda thingy. i hope im evolved enuf that if it had been a male disser and the words "HOH Bastard" were used i would have said "they aint but their actions were bastardly"
mikeszz - cassandra and jefe r grand and not just terlingua is honored and blessed to have them but so too is this big ole ball we call the planet earth
blessed to have angela too if we can turn her butt around a bit smile
u too mikeszz - u too. not the part about the butt turning. just the part about blessed.
and now to return us to the point of this entry - audism SUCKS. #ucks up folks real bad.
ya basta to that crap trap
peace
patti
One eye open after some lost minutes dozing off, Jefe and I glanced at each other across from ourselves knowing there is one left beer in the refrig. I made my move and got up and then Jefe quickly jumped up and abruptedly gave me a sharp shoulder side bump and arm hug with his goofy fow grin. Taken back, i said to him, "you like woman?" he said "yes, I like woman." I told him "I like woman, too." This guy scares me for a sec but as it turns out there were two beers in the refrig, ain't that a fking bitch? We love our beer and Deaf women but we don't love audism. :)
ReplyDeleteI disagree- people call me HOh just because I can talk effectively with hearing people. I disagree. I don't have phone conversations, I am deaf... and I am proud of it.
ReplyDeleteWhat does HOH mean, really? Someone who can do both phone conversations and speak well? One or the other?
Or is it a label that is up for offense? The mere act of deciding if someone is HOH based on speech skills may be another example of audism. I personally feel discriminated when someone calls me HOH bec it is not how I see myself. I'm proud to be deaf and deaf I shall be.
I just wanted to put that out there.