From: Russell.Goddard@p0.f650.n107.z1.fidonet.org (Russell Goddard)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: Culture
Date: 6 Nov 92 15:06:04 GMT
Reply-To: Russell.Goddard@p0.f650.n107.z1.fidonet.org
Organization: FidoNet node 1:107/650.0 - Storm Cloud BBS, Old Bridge NJ
Originator: wtm@sheldev.shel.isc-br.com

Index Number: 25481

On 28 Oct 92 16:52:02, Linda Iverson babbled to Ben Harold...

Hello Linda!

 LI> I know very little about deafness; I've learned more by reading Silent
 LI> Talk and Abled.  I've exchanged messages with a few people on ST, but
 LI> don't have any close deaf friends.  I know even among the deaf there

I am not totally deaf, but I am profoundly deaf.  I don't have many
close hearing-impaired friends either.  I hope to make some
hearing-impaired friends when I go to college (I'll be teaching deaf and
hard of hearing children).

 LI> are differing views as to Deaf Culture, so I'm sure there are varying
 LI> opinions among the blind, too.  Though deafness and blindness are
 LI> similar in that each disability involves not having one of the five
 LI> senses, I believe that's where the similarity stops.  A blind person's
 LI> most important sense is the one the deaf person lacks and vice versa.

That part is true.  Some deaf people (like the Deaf President NOW
movement of 1988) are so proud of their deafness that if they got back
their hearing, they would poke their ears with a pencil and be deaf
again.  But most people are not that extreme, mine included.  I'm sure
as hell don't want to be both deaf and blind.  I simply don't have the
strength to be both.

 LI> Deafness is a hidden disability in that you can't look at a person and
 LI> know they're deaf; either a blind person's imperfect eyes will give
 LI> them away of their use of a travel aid--cane, dog, or walking with a
 LI> sighted guide.  I read that Helen Keller once said that blindness kept

That's pretty much true.  Their use of sign language can give them away,
too.  I wear two behind-the-ear hearing aids, and most people can see
it.  The sad thing is that most people thought that I'm wearing a radio
in both ears.  So much for education.

 LI> her from things and deafness from people.  From what I've read, the
 LI> deaf in many ways seem more willing to help and rely on each other.
 LI> They want to and try to fit into the "real world"--that of the
 LI> non-disabled, but do rely on each other for socialization.  There is
 LI> no college for the blind as there is Gallaudet.  There are no social
 LI> clubs for the blind as there are for the deaf.  There's no theater for
 LI> the blind.

That again is true.  However, I am unique that I have -- not one -- but
two paths to take.  I can either take the path to the assimilation into
the hearing culture, or take the path to the assimilation into the deaf
culture.  I am part deaf and part hearing, and for most of my life I've
been struggling with my identity.  Am I hearing or am I deaf?  I really
do try to fit into the real world.  Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose.

 LI> As to whether or not deafness is a "handicap", I can't say; as with
 LI> blindness, it's something which isn't the center of your life but
 LI> certainly determines the methods you use to accomplish a given task.
 LI> I know at times blindness is a "handicap", "inconvenience", but I
 LI> believe everyone of us has a weakness.  None of us can do everything.
 LI> It's just that if you are limited by lack of hearing or sight, for
 LI> example, that's an obvious weakness; but, if you couldn't read that
 LI> would be a limitation, too, but might not be discovered as soon as
 LI> blindness or deafness would.  And when I said "weakness", I meant
 LI> "limitation".

There are many, many things that I always wanted to do.  I've always
wanted to talk on the phone, talk to people in noisy rooms, make friends
easier.  I can't quite overcome my disability without significant
effort.  To accomplish my task, I sometimes try to read lips, try to
listen with my residual hearing, or have someone write something down.
 * TLX 1.1 * Docking Starships involves Berth control

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