I thought this past week's class was really great: when we had to separate into the various corners of the class, etc.
I guess I had never really thought about how deafness affected a person with more than just their deafness. It gave me a new perspective to consider. I thought about my deaf cousin, who had never been part of the deaf community, but had deaf tendencies. I think that Deafness DOES impact the person, their behaviors, who they are. I know a lot of people disagree with that, but I can't help but consider my cousin. He is deaf and grew up in a completely hearing society - not surrounded by other deaf to pick up on certain tendencies they do. He does them all on his own. It's really interesting, but I love it. I think deafness really creates a great community and I'm glad to be part of it! =)
chelsea.eddins
I completely agree. Deafness DOES affect one's entire being. Your upraising, your mentality, your personality, your interests--all of these are affected by being Deaf. And the term 'affected' often has a negative connotation. Just for the record, I am saying 'affected' in a positive light. When one is born a certain way, it obviously impacts their entire way of life. We are all human, but we are not all the same!
ReplyDeleteEmily Bruner
Perfect statement: We are all human, but we are not all the same! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree!
I also liked her point of using the word unique instead of different. Different tends to be negative as well, along with the word affected.
Katie
I agree - what a great statement! Deafness does affect the individual - how could it not? It's a part of who that person is, and each aspect of an individual helps them develop their own personality, beliefs, pet-peeves, likes, dislikes, reactions, etc. Being deaf makes someone unique and that's great :)
ReplyDelete-Kristi Hamm
Chelsea-- I really enjoyed this class discussion/activity as well. Even though many parts of the statements were confusing, and I wasn't sure exactly what they meant when trying to chose a corner to stand in, I was extremely enlightened and it allowed me to have new questions and understand another perspective on deafness.
ReplyDelete