Deaf news: Deaf hostage released after $1million ransom is paid

I’m in the USA, Kentucky to be exact, and I am newly deaf. I really don’t know how I am categorized in the deaf community other than “not a part”. I don’t know how it works in the UK but in the States the deaf are a very tight group. I understand this but at the same time don’t understand why all deaf people have to be “categorized”. Why can’t we all be accepted for what we are?

I was diagnosed improperly with type 2 diabetes in 2005. Long story short, I was really a type 1 however wasn’t diagnosed until 2 years later and after much illness. In January 2007 I started losing hearing and 2 sets of hearing aides later, in may of 2007, I was completely deaf. I hear nothing – it’s as though my head is plugged. I no longer hear myself inside so in the last 6 or so months have started losing speech clarity. I am just now, through Kentucky Vocational Rehabilitation, getting tutoring lessons in ASL Sign Language. Communication is very hard for me and I guess this all qualifies me as a newbie!

I have worked hard all my life, owned my own business, then suddenly my world was turned upside down. Now I stay at home almost in hiding because I can’t communicate. I am NOT ashamed of my new life. I accept my deafness and I can see first hand how miserably the deaf are treated in certain instances. I too have been treated horribly. However, deafness is a disability in a hearing world. We are not disabled the way hearing people would have us be. We just have to communicate in alternate ways-not in “hearing” ways. Hearing people are ignorant of the ways of Deaf Culture. Like any culture on earth, unless you seek understanding, you will not be informed. Having been on both sides now for 6 years and at the age of 55 I wonder why there is such a gap for this, now my, culture? I’m sure that further categorizes me for not understanding. I have read intensely about Deaf Culture and who started sign language and how it became uniform in the States.

All this said, I think it is wrong to categorize this poor woman. She has a hearing loss. Is it profound? Who cares? All I can do is feel sympathy not outrage because she isn’t deaf enough. How deaf do you have to be for acceptance? I am beyond profoundly deaf and am still not accepted so I say to myself get out your big girl panties and accept that many, many people in this world could care less about your situation. It’s true…right? You can try to change ignorance but it’s hard. I think by harping on my situation, or poor old deafies, you just further widen the communication chasm between cultures.

I would love any and all responses..

Hi Tali! Thanks so much for your response. I understand your point but I guess what I was trying to relay is that it is our disability but THIER ignorance; that is to say “people who don’t get it or understand”. Deafness has many, many levels of impairment. I am obviously the worste case because I get nothing. I never understood deafness myself until this happened to me and I had a moderately deaf grandmom, her sister was deaf, my dads sister was profoundly deaf and my dad is profoundly deaf. Who should better understand than me? But I didn’t until it hit home. I agree there needs to be more awareness but deafness is as old as time. Do you really think we can make a difference? How? What can WE do that all our ancestors have yet to accomplish? This article we are basing our conversation on is a normal reporting. It’s ignorance, “they” don’t get it. They won’t get it unless they are touched by it. Maybe the woman in question asked to be portrayed this way not understanding the impact it would have on the Deaf community. Or maybe the reporting was done by someone totally ignorant of the desired impression the deaf community wishes to have conveyed regsrding it’s culture. Who knows….

I too was completely deaf but had perfect speech. I looked for work after selling my business and was not successful. Even with good speech employers don’t want the added burden of accommodating a deaf worker. Then if you have mottled speech as you and I obviously do, it further complicates matters. Honestly I think people don’t listen hard enough and have the patience to try and understand what we say. Therefore we are brushed aside or painted with a broad stroke. We no longer exist. I would think many disabled persons in all other areas feel much as we do on some level.

My perception regarding the deaf in the States is that expecting to be supported by the government is not a good thing. This then indicates a resolve that deaf people are indeed disabled. I collect my benefits from Social Security that I paid into the system since I was 15 and started working. This is not a gift or handout though because I paid the money in. Deaf people don’t want to be seen or represented as disabled because we aren’t. We just can’t hear. I suffer the backlash of this because I feel I am disabled because of my age, 55, my health due to diabetes and the unlikelyhood that a cochlear implant would be successful on me. If I were 20 years younger I would maybe go for it but not now. So I guess in a way I have imprisoned myself.

I am learning sign but as we know that is just the very beginning in the journey we share. Sign is just scratching the surface. I sometimes use this analogy regarding people who want to learn sign and can hear: “teach me how to speak enough Chinese so I can order from the menu in a Chinese restaurant. Now I know how to speak Chinese”. People think if they know basic sign they can relate to the deaf – how absurd!

I am just seeking understanding. I do not stand in judgement of anyone for any reason. I try to educate people wherever I go as I think my story, though it maybe more common than I think, is a unique telling of the much different path we, the deaf, must take and the things that the hearing take so much for granted. Although I am struggling to do this I try. You spoke out on this site so you tried. Maybe that’s all we can do.