I am sure that you are shocked with the title of this article, saying that we want to be Deaf and that we don’t want to be fixed. What a lot of the people doesn’t understand that being Deaf or even Hard of Hearing is a culture but several people who is audism try their darndest best to hide that and force a society to see anyone who happens to be Deaf or Hard of Hearing is a bad thing. Several people think that whoever became Deaf or Hard of Hearing whether it be at birth or afterbirth means that there is something severely wrong with them, it is because like people who is audism or an anti-cultural organizations such as Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing made the society to view us like that over a few decades ago or more like since in the year of 1880 when International Congress on the Education of the Deaf aka ICED banned any students who is Deaf or Hard of Hearing from the use of sign language to communicate. Thankfully National Association of the Deaf aka NAD was founded to protest against it and fought so hard to get the law or policy in education to allow any students or anyone who happens to be Deaf or Hard of Hearing to use American Sign Language to communicate so that helps a bit but since then these people still to this day fighting to try to destroy sign language with the help of Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Imagine if it was the other way around with English or any speaking languages, trying to ban or stop anybody from ever being able to speak with their voice or ever to write English or any other languages, would it be fair for somebody, a group of people and organization to try to deprive your language or any languages to the point that you can never communicate in any way?
So you get the picture, that is what several people who is audism or anti-cultural organizations is trying to do to deprive the Deaf and Hard of Hearing native language which is not only American Sign Language but any nation’s sign language like British Sign Language (BSL) or French Sign Language (FSL).
We Are Deaf, Don’t Fix Us!
Even though National Association of the Deaf win a victory against a anti-cultural organization like International Congress on the Education of the Deaf aka ICED but thankfully ICED is starting to realize that what they did were wrong by trying to deprive our only native language especially from children as it was what National Association of the Deaf fought for at that time in the year of 1880. Now for the first time since the year of 1880, in 2010 ICED made a press release announcing that they recognizes the value of sign language especially in the education setting so that is something that we can finally breathe a little but still in the back of our head we know that there is an organization that is even worse tries everything in their power to deprive the Deaf and Hard of Hearing’s language still to this day which that would be Alexander Graham Bell Association of the Deaf. Alexander Graham Bell Association of the Deaf somehow convinces parents of the Deaf child with false information or inaccurate statistics that if their Deaf or Hard of Hearing child doesn’t get cochlear implant or hearing aids that they would pay the price for not getting these right after the birth later in their life such as that they would get a tumor in their brain or other unbelievable excuses. I seriously don’t know how they can easily convince the parents of the Deaf or Hard of Hearing child but they do, it is something that we as Deaf community along with other organizations like DeafHood or Leak-K is trying so hard to change that and prevent a such organizations like them to deprive not just their native language but also their culture.
Wait a minute, culture? Yes, being Deaf and Hard of Hearing is indeed a culture. We are culturally Deaf or Hard of Hearing, that is something that they are trying so hard to destroy our cultures and what is worse is that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aka CDC consider anyone who is Deaf or Hard of Hearing is a disease. Don’t believe me? Go to their website and search Deaf then from there you will discover an article that they have written saying that anyone who became Deaf or Hard of Hearing is a disease itself. So Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing isn’t the only one that we have fought for decades but with CDC as well trying to ask them to do research before calling it a disease because there are a few universities that have done some research states otherwise but the problem is that they already called it a disease so by removing some of their articles, presses or such would make them look bad. Truthfully it wouldn’t, we have tried to tell them that and we have tried to offer them some research so they can see it for themselves but of course they wouldn’t take that.
The bottom line is that being Deaf or Hard of Hearing doesn’t means that there is something wrong with us. Sure we cannot hear or hardly can hear but it is in our DNA and a lot of people failed to recognize that. Think of this way, people born with different colors of skins so they have their own culture such as Mexican, African, Asian or others and Indians has their own culture too which is something that every one of us know so well. That is no different from Deaf or Hard of Hearing, there are some Deaf and Hard of Hearing people who have many generations of Deaf or Hard of Hearing family. Their great-great-great-great-greatparents, to their parents then to them is Deaf or Hard of Hearing genetically. Just like Indians born Indians, Mexicans Born Mexicans and forth unless of course they are biracial. They are amazing cultures and we in the Deaf community have an amazing culture of our own too. When you born Deaf, you stays Deaf regardless because no one can change that as there are not a cure and cochlear implants or hearing aids never will be a cure as they are just some accessory that helps them to have a little feedback sounds such as birds, alarms, rains, etc but the majority of them will never can understand what anyone is saying. I can go and have cochlear implants then in thirty years I never will understand any words you were saying but I only will know there is a “sound” that’s coming from something or somewhere as a lot of the times they can be unidentified.
I have went through it myself, I born as Hard of Hearing and I am Hard of Hearing myself so even with hearing aids at highest level volumes I never could understand what anyone is saying. No matter what, we always will have to rely on lip-reading skills and not every Deaf or Hard of Hearing can read lips which that is something a lot of the people misled to think that all of us can read the lips when not every one of us can so if we say we are Deaf, Hard of Hearing then that is when you stop waste your time trying to speak louder or speaks right at our ears because that will take you no where so to save our time, get a paper and a pen then we can communicate from there.
Now what bothers me a lot is that some federal branches or governments uses us as if we are their labor rats by running some tests on us without asking us first or have a dialogue with us so that we can discuss on what works and what will not works for us without the need of using us as if we are their labor rats. We are not some rats, we are human beings just like you are and many of us don’t want to be fixed so don’t try to fix us. That is what bothers a lot of the people in the Deaf community is that a anti-cultural organization like Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing or Starkey Hearing Foundation automatically think that we need help or lying to the parents of the Deaf child by telling them that they need to get cochlear implants on the spot after visiting audiologist’s office. We have been fighting everyday to change that by trying to have a dialogue with them so that they will no longer lies to parents of the Deaf or Hard of Hearing child because they are freaking human beings and they are not freaking money signs! We are not against anyone who wants to have cochlear implants, what we are against is their ideas and that is what we are trying to change by making the cochlear implants or hearing aids as one of the options along with American Sign Language or other nation’s language on the options list then from there the parents of the Deaf or Hard of Hearing child can choose for themselves without being forced as if they have a gun at their head saying that they have no choice but to cochlear implant in their brain immediately.
If you go to audiologist’s office, as there are several of them, they will tell you the first thing “we suggest that your child to have cochlear implant as soon as possible because the longer you wait your child will have a problem with his or her health” or similar. How about “ok, here is a list with a few options that you can choose for yourself such as American Sign Language, Cochlear Implant, Hearing Aides” and others. That is exactly what we are trying to do because at this moment the only option the audiologists or doctors will say that they better get cochlear implants right away. That is considered language deprivation which is not something they can fool with because that is very serious and no matter what they will need to learn American Sign Language so what we are trying to do is that if the parents of the child wants them to have cochlear implants, fine but please also add American Sign Language. Audism and these organizations is trying their best to prevent that. Because even if the parents of the Deaf or Hard of Hearing child choose to do cochlear implant on them or give them hearing aids, it is VERY slim chance that they ever will understand ANY speaking languages and that is why it is very important that we encourage that the parents of Deaf or Hard of Hearing child to go ahead to American Sign Language classes so that if they won’t ever understand any speaking languages then they have a backup way to communicate which is American Sign Language, while doing that this will means that you just turned your child into bilingualism! American Sign Language is a language and English is a language so that is two languages in one package which is bilingual so win-win for you and your child!
P.S. Top universities, large businesses and others loves people who is bilingual as they always look for bilingual on their résumé. With bilingual would means that they will succeed in their life and you don’t have to take my word, do your own research and or ask professors at Gallaudet University because thanks to Gallaudet University we have a Deaf receptionist at the white house named Leah Katz-Hernandez.
Your Deaf or Hard of Hearing child could be the receptionist at the white house one day or a position over at the white house one day when they are grown as Gallaudet University offer government program where they will have a government degree that will help them to have a career in federal/government levels. Trust us, we are a community of Deaf and Hard of Hearing, our words is more genuine than any words from an organization like Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing because they never experiences what we have experiences or witnessed ourselves. If you ever end up to have a Deaf or Hard of Hearing child, we are looking forward to give your child the warmest welcome to the community and we will be right behind you all which is something that no organizations can ever offer.
Thank you for your time reading, this has bothered me for a few days and I just decided that I should get this off my chest to share with every one of you. I know I have written a few articles about Deaf and Hard of Hearing but every one of them is important. Being Deaf or Hard of Hearing does NOT means that we cannot have a successful life because we function EXACTLY like everybody else function but only one thing that isn’t; our hearing as our hearing became our eyes.
Joshua “Joshie” Sullivan.
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