Karen.Keil@f809.n104.z1.fidonet.org (Karen Keil) (11/16/90)
Index Number: 11726
[This is from the Silent Talk Conference]
I agree with you on labels for deaf and hearing people. I myself refer
to hearing people as 'hearing people' or 'normal people' (no put-down
meant for using the word 'normal'.)
As for deaf people, I use either 'deaf', 'hearing-impaired',
'hard-of-hearing' (depending on the person).
I have been deaf since birth, but was initially only severely
hard-of-hearing. But my hearing has degraded to be profound now.
I'm oral speaking and do not use sign language, even though I
did learn about 300 signs in 1987.
Let's face it--oral speaking skills/lipreading aren't the whole
answer for everyone; neither is sign language for everyone. It just
depends on the individual. In my case, oral skills have served well
but not perfectly. The only real solution to trouble-free
communication is normal hearing, but others may disagree. Just some
thoughts here to contribute to the forum....
So long for now--
Karen
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Internet: Karen.Keil@f809.n104.z1.fidonet.orgKaren.Keil@f809.n104.z1.fidonet.org (Karen Keil) (11/19/90)
Index Number: 11817
[This is from the Silent Talk Conference]
Yes, you certainly have firm viewpoints!
I agree that every deaf child should have a chance to learn
lipreading and verbal oral speaking skills. How would anyone know if
that person could do well or not if it wasn't even tried?
I'm glad that the schools taught me oral and lipreading skills,
even though they did not teach sign language. My saying that the oral
skills serve me well but not perfectly means only even with these
skills, I can't understand people if they don't talk clearly and I'm
unable to follow group conversation very well. The telephone....well,
it's extremely difficult....
It's nice to know that there are others around like me whose
primary language is speaking English, not sign language. I learned
300 signs in the summer of 1987, but since I don't use it, most of it
is forgotten except for a few like 'thank you', 'sorry', 'no', etc.
I'm the eldest of 4 children, but my brother and sisters are
hearing. My hearing loss is not genetic, but the probable cause may be
being born 10 weeks premature.
As for labels, yes, we are individuals first of all, but it
seems people have a tendency to 'label' others anyway--e.g. the ethnic
nationalities, etc.
I have just read two books written by deaf people--
WHAT'S THAT PIG OUTDOORS? by Henry Kisor (1990)
and LESSONS IN LAUGHTER by Bernard Bragg as signed to Eugene
Bergman. (1989).
The first one is by an oral speaking deaf man and the other is
by a signing deaf man. They have different and interesting
perspectives!
The PIG OUTDOORS book details ingenious methods the author used
to get around the obstacle of his deafness upon his social life and
work life. It made me think of all the little techniques and methods
I've used for situations that normal hearing people don't ever have to
consider.
The LAUGHTER book gives interesting insights on how a signing
man sees the world. He has a definite opinion on the oralists (not 100
percent positive).
This message is getting rather long, so other thoughts on these
two books will be posted in a future message.
Karen
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Internet: Karen.Keil@f809.n104.z1.fidonet.orgLinda.Iverson@f10.n130.z1.fidonet.org (Linda Iverson) (11/19/90)
Index Number: 11821
[This is from the Silent Talk Conference]
Hi, Karen!
Well, I'm not Ann, but I was so impressed with your message I just
wanted to throw in my two cents. Your thoughts sound very much like
mine. I think children with disabilities often never achieve their
full potential because others make assumptions about what a child can
or can't do. I don't know the solution to this; after all, you can't
probably try everything I guess. Sometimes it's like the adults and
parents working with these kids know they'll grow up but don't really
work toward that end. My perspective is different from yours. I,
too, was about three months premature, but I am totally blind and have
no hearing loss; however, the general philosophy, I think, applies
in either case. It's almost like people can't imagine how you could
cope if you don't have a certain sense--sight, hearing, etc., but we
do manage. I'm sure you've invented all kinds of ways for handling
situations. I have, too. Not that I would wish a disability on anyone,
but I think if you have a gooe attitude and imagination, you can be
quite inventive and resourceful. I know, for a fact, I'm a lot more
organized than lots of sighted people I know. I have a ten-year-old
son, and one thing I'm extremely proud of is that he's been around
mostly blind people, but on occasion when he's been with other disabilities
he'll take it in stride. One day he was playing at a friends house
who had a cousin visiting from out of town. He came home and said,
"Mom, their cousin was there and boy is she bratty! She wouldn't share
the toys and always wanted to decide what we played! She even was
hitting us with her crutches!" I then asked if this girl was on crutches
and he said yes. What impressed me was that that wasn't the first
thing he said about this kid. He probably wouldn't have thought she
was neat if she acted the same way and didn't have the crutch. I wish
some adults could look at disability that way. I've known some blind
people who went to school in Colorado, so perhaps you were lucky to
have been in a good school program. I always went to public school
and I am so grateful!! They taught us the special skills we needed
and then left us alone. We were judged by our academic performance
and not our disability. I knew blind kids in gifted programs, average,
slow, etc. I see some blind kids now who are taught, I think, to depend
too much on computers and devices and not on basic skills. I have
often thought blind people are sometimes the most widely read, illiterate
people I know. Their braille skills are attrocious because they depend
on cassette recorders, talking books, etc. I love books and love to
read, but I was read to a lot when growing up, so I'm a good braille
user, I use cassettes and talking books and know how to use live readers.
I think our children with disabilities have to learn to use all the
devices and tools they can to master the tricks of the disability trade.
I love to read, so I think I'll try to find the books you mentioned.
Are you an avid reader?
Well, before I send you a novel in this message I'll stop. Hope you
didn't mind the comments. As I said the more I read messages from
people with disabilities the more I see that we all go through some
very similar things.
Take care!
Linda
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