Source : http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Health%20And%20Family&p=49&type=2&sec=41&aid=2008110333
What you call deaf people makes a lot of difference. Listen and learn:
• Deaf and dumb. We may not be able to hear, but it does not mean we are stupid or retarded.
• Deaf and mute. Some of us voice, and voice well, but we decide when and with whom we want to voice because we cannot hear how loud or soft, or how high or low our voices are. Sometimes we are ridiculed and we feel terrible. Would you want to be laughed at? Neither do we.
• Pipi. Tagalog version of mute. Not true. Maaring magsalita ang marami sa amin kung nais namin.
• Hearing-impaired. Why focus on the negative? This term was popular in the 70s and 80s, but now, it is used mostly by doctors, audiologists, and other people who are mainly interested in our ears “not working.”
• Deaf. This is okay when talking about people with hearing loss in general.
• Hard-of-hearing. Some of us use the telephone and hear quite a bit. We, hard-of-hearing people, live in both the hearing world and deaf world — we have an identity of our own.
• Deaf-yes! The Big D distinguishes us as a group of people with our own unique language and culture. We have our own identity, and we would like to be respected as such. Many people all over the world call themselves Deaf.
After reading this article, I had a reflection whether I unconsciously considered deaf people as retarded. If we ask people about whether they think deaf people are dumb or retarded, they would say no. However most of us might unconsciously think that they are dumb and retarded because they usually can't respond fast like normal people due to their handicap. We must not look down on them just because they are not able to hear very well. We have to understand and try to help them as much as we can rather than laughing or teasing them. I'm not able to understand fully how they feel but at least I know that they are exactly same like us except they are not able to hear. When I read the part which "we cannot hear how loud or soft, or how high or low our voices are.", I tried to imagine what if I cannot hear my voice when I'm talking. It would be very terrible because I don't know whether my voice sounds silly or not. I want to emphasize that we must not judge them only what we think of them but we have to understand and respect their own identity. We could be deaf tomorrow by accidents or something like that. No one knows.
4 comments:
We teenagers or lets say most of the people are guilty of laughing or looking down on those people who are born disabled. We tend to judge them with their incapability and sometimes we are insensitive already of what they would feel. Personally, I think these kinds of people shouldn't be disrespected but rather be understood and helped by people like us who are blessed. Instead of looking on weak side, why don't we just appreciate things that they can do that we can't. For example, blind people has more enhanced sense of feeling which makes them good in the field of reflexology.
Before we look down or disrespect these kinds of people, we should reflect first and think, what if we share the same incapability as them, wouldn't we feel worse? Knowing that normal people are discriminating us. So, let's respect everyone regardless of status, gender and disability.
Underestimating the people who are handicapped or those who have disabilities is really a big no- no. They are as well people like us and therefore, should be treated with the values of love, respect, and care. And sometimes, they are still even the ones who excel in the field of their choice and able to get acknowledgement and award for it, so a disability, particularly being deaf is not really a hindrance in getting what we want in our lives, it’s really a matter of sacrifice and hardwork. Deaf people are still human beings like us, they also dream, desire, and hope to fit in, just like everyone else.
It is just mean to pick on people who have disabilities. They also have the right to be respected and treated like a normal person. Most of the time if a person loses a specific sense they get better using what is left with them. This explains why deaf people are more alert compared to other people having complete senses since they have to see whats happening around them.
I also notice that most people who have disabilities tend to strive harder. In doing so, they can prove to others that even if they have some incapacity, they can still be successful in the things they do.
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