Patrick Elliott <sel### [at] npgcablecom> wrote:
> Ugh.. Haven't even seen the film, but they *think* that because it 
> offers someone that wants his problem fixed a solution, its 
> anti-disability? Have I got that right? Why is it that some people, if 
> a) they are born with one, or b) suffer one, but don't want it fixed, 
> treat people offering solutions as though they are out to burn down 
> their church, and the people that actually take up the offer as though 
> they had betrayed the holy religion of disability, and need to be 
> excommunicated. They have such massive chips on their shoulders that 
> they would rather rob someone who *was*, for example, once sighted, of a 
> chance to see again, than actually find themselves confronted with 
> someone suggesting, "Don't you ever wonder what it would be like *to* see?"

  The attitude that many deaf people have towards people who can get their
deafness cured (even if only partially) has always baffled me. AFAIK deaf
people have a subculture of their own, but this is one part of it which
I think is total crap.

  For example there was a newspaper article here about a small boy who was
born in a family which had a hereditary condition which induced deafness, and
hence a big part of the family consisted of deaf people, and this boy was
born deaf too. However, in this particular case doctors found out that they
could cure the boy's hearing (I don't know if totally or partially, but
cure it nonetheless).

  Guess what, the other family members (except the boy's parents) strongly
opposed this (and this was the point of the newspaper article). They wanted
the boy to remain deaf because they felt he was being removed from the deaf
people subculture if he was cured. IIRC the parents didn't listen to them
and instead went with the operation, but nevertheless I think that strong
opposition from the family was a big bunch of BS. I really think that they
are protesting out of jealousy.

  I'm sure that not all deaf people are like this, but some certainly are.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message