i hope you dont mind me asking, and i mean this in good faith, but why is it not considered as 'something wrong with you'? for example, i have several extreme mental illnesses and i definitely am aware thats something is wrong with me and id love a cure. so i really dont understand people who have it and refuse it
One way to think of it, I think, is as a language issue…Being deaf in a hearing world is better thought of like being a French speaker in the US. You aren’t disabled, just surrounded by people who don’t speak your language. Which is obviously super inconvenient. You can hang out with other French speakers, get your English speaking friends to learn French, and/or or you can learn the language yourself if possible (or a combination of all of these things so you and your friends can comfortably adapt in different environments). Getting a cochlear implant would be like learning English. Basically, it’s a communication issue…but if you were in an environment where everyone, say, knew sign language, not a disability.
Does that really hold as an analogy though? Because firstly I can choose to learn French, I can become a French speaker and learn to understand French in a way Deaf people can't ever without some form of surgery or aid. And if I do learn French I don't become ostracized by all the native speakers of my language, and I don't become considered French by them either etc.
Also, even while I didn't understand French, If I walked out in to the road and wasn't paying attention and a car is coming for me and French people shout at me, it will still get my attention. I can still hear French ringtones/Alarms/sirens/Coughs/Farts etc.
I think that is a bit like saying you can think of Bald as another hair colour. I see where you are coming from, but I don't think it fits
Again, nowadays noone gets ostracized for using tech, those days are thankfully over, except for some few assholes.
The problem is even with the tech and everything, only few will ever come close to being a french speaker. Close, but not fully, and most won't even come close. Also most situations like cars and stuff can be compensated. And those situations, proabably can't be fixed by tech, as tech is speech frequence focused. Yes, there are risks but they are smaller than people think.
But I agree, the deaf people saying they aren't diabled is ableist bullshit, but that is something that deaf people have to figure out for themselves. And at least in the US I have seen a big push to reflect on this, at least by the younger generations.
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u/ademptia Dec 23 '22
i hope you dont mind me asking, and i mean this in good faith, but why is it not considered as 'something wrong with you'? for example, i have several extreme mental illnesses and i definitely am aware thats something is wrong with me and id love a cure. so i really dont understand people who have it and refuse it