Yesterday I came across this passage from the Bible in another blog. http://dolcebellezza.blogspot.com/2007/11/fearfully-and-wonderfully-made.html With all the discussion lately about Deaf/deaf and hard-of-hearing, this took my breath away for a few seconds and made me stop to think."The human body has many parts...If the foot says, "I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand," that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, "I am not part of the body because I am only an ear and not an eye," would that make it any less a part of the body? Suppose the whole body were an eye-then how would you hear? Or if your whole body were just one big ear, how could you smell anything? But God made our bodies with many parts, and he has put each part just where he wants it...In fact, some of the parts that seem weakest and least important are really the most necessary." 1 Corinthians 12: 12-22 NLT
Each of us is important. We all have a place in this community of deaf people whether we're oral or not, whether we're late-deaf or born deaf, or implanted, or whether we cue. We all have something to share with the other.
The funny thing is I didn't get this off a Deaf blog. I got it off one of my favorite bookish blogs, and it was about how she felt she didn't fit in with her family-- not because she couldn't hear, but because she wears red lipstick. (smile) It was actually more than that, but Deaf people aren't the only ones who feel out of step with their families, or out of step with the rest of the world sometimes.
Even as a child when I could hear, I was the only introvert in a family of extroverts. Sometimes I don't know how much of me is "deaf me" and how much of me is just me.
(The above titled, "High-heeled Shoe" was painted by deaf artist Roy Tanner.)
8 comments:
HI! I tried to post a comment in your blog yesterday to tell you how happy I am for you, and it said comment denied. Just wanted to let you know Jennifer. I don't know if something is wrong with your settings? Or maybe it was just my puter?
I understand how you feel. I'm an oral deaf person, and I've always felt that ambiguous link to both the hearing and the Deaf world. I view myself as being in the middle, where I understand both perspectives of the respective cultures, but so much about the perspectives strike me as being extreme and exclusionary. I don't think of myself as Deaf first, just deaf. I don't think of myself as being disabled, but I am aware that others view me as being disabled, and I am aware of deafness as a medical loss. I have my cochlear implant, which I received at seven years of age to compensate for that loss, and it's such a part of me like breathing is, and I don't even think about being a deaf person with a CI in most instances. I'm just me, y'know?
I'm much more comfortable talking than I am in trying to sign, but I am trying to learn sign language, but it's hard to do so due to a very busy work schedule. I like talking, and I don't appreciate being marginalized by Deaf people for talking and having a CI, or being patronized by a hearing person who thinks I'm mentally retarded because I'm deaf. That's why I tend to retreat whenever I encounter those sort of people, and prefer to surround myself with people who see me for who I am, as a person, not as this amalgation of identity constructs.
The irony is that for many of us, once we become deaf, we learn to listen more deeply.
Perhaps the gift of those of us who feel we are "in-between" is that we also feel more compassion for the diversity among us, and in acknowledging those unique differences, we are actually claiming the body of us ALL as ONE.
~ LaRonda
Yes-- maybe you're right LaRonda. Very well put. Since we've lived in both worlds, it's easier to understand both perspectives. Sometimes I don't know which way or how I feel.
Hi Poor-- Yes-- I think we're all following our own paths. For me there seems to be more comfort and acceptance in the middle than on either side. In the middle, I am encouraged to try as much technology as possible to hear as well as I can, while it's still acceptable to brush up on ASL or use an interpreter.
Hi Poor-- Yes-- I think we're all following our own paths. For me there seems to be more comfort and acceptance in the middle than on either side. In the middle, I am encouraged to try as much technology as possible to hear as well as I can, while it's still acceptable to brush up on ASL or use an interpreter.
KW, you are important to me.
You understood perfectly what I said, so I guess we are sisters in a way, aren't we? Part of one big family, we're each valuable.
Thanks for your insightful, perceptive post.
You are important to me too Bellezza! I read your blogs for more than just good book recommendations. I just really like you. :-)
Post a Comment