Do you have any disabled friends?

[muliebrity]

SCIENCE

Yeah, both glasses and contacts are prosthetics, no two ways about it.

Consider everything you've heard in life. Now consider just how much of it has been inane, distracting bullshit.

Hearing is overrated. If someone believes their deafness a valuable trait, then it is one.

As someone who grew up with auditory hypersensitivity (little things like people engaging in small talk nearby feel like screeching in my ear), I can kind of see that, but living without music? Without hearing the sounds of nature along a mountain path? Without ever once hearing Brian Blessed? No, thank you. Deafness is decidedly a disability, either way, as in it is the lack of an ability that comes standard on most humans and a lack of hearing is the result of a developmental screw-up or post natal damage to previously functional components.

It is worth noting, however, that I see the lack of a prehensile tail in Humans as a disability, as well, given that this comes standard in simiforms, except for the poor, disabled apes.

[Xanatos]

It is worth noting, however, that I see the lack of a prehensile tail in Humans as a disability, as well, given that this comes standard in simiforms, except for the poor, disabled apes.

So...Not having parts that we're not supposed to have is a disability?

Fuck. In that case, I'm more disabled than I thought. I don't even have wings...

[Umber]

So...Not having parts that we're not supposed to have is a disability?

Fuck. In that case, I'm more disabled than I thought. I don't even have wings...

Does evolution lead to disabilities? I guess not having a tail would be a negative aspect of human evolution, but if we had tails, some of us might not want to have them. After all, there are two sides to every argument.

Xanatos, go breed with a bird. Or something.

[Xanatos]

So...Not having parts that we're not supposed to have is a disability?

Fuck. In that case, I'm more disabled than I thought. I don't even have wings...

Does evolution lead to disabilities? I guess not having a tail would be a negative aspect of human evolution, but if we had tails, some of us might not want to have them. After all, there are two sides to every argument.

Xanatos, go breed with a bird. Or something.

Evolution leads to streamlining. We didn't need tails so they went away. We're disabled from a monkey's perspective, I guess.

[muliebrity]

So...Not having parts that we're not supposed to have is a disability?

Fuck. In that case, I'm more disabled than I thought. I don't even have wings...

None of our ancestors ever had wings, but they did have gills. We can't breathe underwater, we're so crippled.

if we had tails, some of us might not want to have them.

Good point, but for those people, the bigger problem would be insanity.

[Dream]

Xanatos, if you don't mind me asking, how did you create the deafening device? I would like to try being "deaf" for a day, myself.

[Flutterz]

A good friend of mine has gone through knee replacement. Not sure about the the details, but I think she got it after suffering a bad fall in gymnastics. That's about the closest to a disabled friend that I have.

[Kutagh]

[..]So, I do hope in the future SCIENCE advances so much that other problems like missing limbs, hearing problems and other kinds of disabilities become as minor issues as eyesight problems. But some people here seem to think that we should stop looking to fix it, and just let people be as they are right now. I dont agree with it. It that was true I would be living a much worst life than Im living right now, just because I can aford a good pair of glasses and contacts.

You're twisting my words into something that I didn't say:
The whole point of my posts is to indicate that we, the Deaf community, do not like it when people think that Deafness HAS to be fixed, just like extremely conservative Christians believe that gay people should be all shot or converted back into straight people. We don't mind the option of fixing it, but what we're really annoyed about is how much pressure the Hearing world puts on the Deaf community to get Cochlear Implants and so on, just so the Hearing world has to put in less effort to communicate with the Deaf community and don't have to think about Deaf-specific needs.
Myself, I'm quite in favor of the Cochlear Implant as I'm looking to get a second one for bi-lateral hearing.

Also, why the hell are you now taking one Deaf couple and equate them to the whole Deaf community? >.>

[metalangel]

This "deaf culture" is bullshit. Yes, its nice that people with similar problems can understand each other and have something in common, but believing that is better than be able to hear.

There's so much more to Deaf Culture than that, and it's not about thinking you're better than hearing people because you're Deaf. Signed languages are central to much of it, but there's also cultural norms that very different to those in the hearing world. Manners are different: for example, there's much less of a facade when it comes to social interactions, what some call 'Deaf bluntness'.

It's part of someone's identity, and the fear is that it'll be destroyed is justified. We all live together in the greater world but everyone's entitled to be part of smaller groups as well as 'society' in general.

[YZQ]

Assuming that all forms of deafness can be reversed in the future (and that has some way to go), deaf culture is very likely to go the way of endangered languages (e.g. Manchu). It will be a challenge to preserve it.

[BlackWaltzTheThird]

I suppose this is a good time to mention my cousin. He's ten years older than me; in fact, he'll be thirty this year. He has battled with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus since a young age, and has often fallen into extremely poor health from a combination of being negligent towards his condition and being obnoxiously stubborn towards going to the doctor. A few years ago, his health deteriorated dramatically, which resulted in degenerative vision in his left eye and his lower left leg becoming gangrenous. He ended up with an extended stay in hospital and his leg being amputated. His health has improved somewhat since then, but his vision continues to deteriorate and he often breaks out in sores that take a damn long time to heal. Knowing him, it's unlikely he'll ever be in good health.

Diabeetus is serious business, kiddies. When they say to take your insulin, you take your fuckin' insulin.

[YZQ]

Your cousin just experienced the darker side of uncontrolled Type 1 diabetes. Controlling Type 1 IS serious business.

[Warwise]

Yes, its nice that people with similar problems can understand each other and have something in common, but believing that is better than be able to hear.

Consider everything you've heard in life. Now consider just how much of it has been inane, distracting bullshit.

Hearing is overrated. If someone believes their deafness a valuable trait, then it is one.

Well, Ive also seen very bad things, but overall I like to be able to see. Same with hearing. Yes, Ive heard some bad stuff, but overall Ive enjoyed hearing far more than I hated it.

Sometimes you want a quiet enviroment, but those situations are rare.

Actually, if parents count, then yes. My mother's basically deaf in one ear and has tinnitus in both.

I've got tinnitus, as well. Didn't know what it was for the first thirteen years of my life, I thought it was just something everyone had to deal with. My case might not be as severe as your mother's, though.

-unnecessary snip-

Consider everything you've heard in life. Now consider just how much of it has been inane, distracting bullshit.

Hearing is overrated. If someone believes their deafness a valuable trait, then it is one.

Deaf culture is something for people to be proud of. At least, it's more likely within deaf families/groups/individuals.

Might I ask, were you watching Sound and Fury, or perhaps Sound And Fury: Six Years Later?

Warwise, think about how the parents of the child have grown-up, have lived. Being deaf and communicating, surviving, to an extent, in the 'hearing world' is something they've had to do for years. They've got their own language, they've found large masses of similar people that can relate to them.

One perspective is that they want the best for their child. The couple knows that their child could have more life opportunities in the future, if he/she could hear. On the other hand, they might believe they won't be able to be as providing as they might want to be, as they're used to living in a soundless world. They go so far as to seek counseling, the advice of many other deaf/hearing people, and even a deaf family that had cochlear implants given to a child. Sound could be the controversial topic for deaf culture, as religion is for our society.

Now, I can hardly say that hearing is better than being deaf. I live in a hearing world, and I've never spent a day without a sense of sound. For a deaf person, the same case might apply, but if one were to rank the soundless culture higher than my own, then I'd respect their opinion as long as they'd respect mine. After all, what can we do to each other if we disagree?

Ok, I get it. Its important indeed. But it doesnt mean its superior, just important for those that only have it.

[Xanatos]

Sometimes you want a quiet enviroment, but those situations are rare.

To you, perhaps.

Where has anyone here even claimed deafness is superior anyway?

[Umber]

Where has anyone here even claimed deafness is superior anyway?

Might've been implied in the last paragraph of my most recent post, though I didn't intend for it to be that way.

I found this ironic. A friend with so much social awkwardness it could count as a disability, he's been wait-listed for Brown University. My, how things play out.