Today I found this post on my tumblr feed and was enraged so I figured I would comment on it. I have mentioned several times that I am hard of hearing, I have many friends who are deaf/ and hard of hearing, and I have lived with this unique quality since I was quite young. So it upsets me when people make ignorant comments pertaining to the deaf/hard of hearing world, even if they don't mean to be rude. I wrote this for all of my friends, for myself, and for the community as a whole. Also, technically I may not be deaf but sometimes I prefer to label myself as deaf.
So I wouldn’t hear you screaming about things bs things that could be fixed easily. I hate waking up in the middle of the night, only to hear you complaining about a small matter. I hate hearing her cry over you. I pity you because I know you’ll never learn. I wish to not hear you…
Sometimes I think people are completely ignorant. You can wish you were deaf but have you ever stopped and wondered what its like to actually be deaf? No? Clearly not. Just because we cannot hear does not mean that we don’t listen. I understand that what you mean to say is that you wish you had the ability not to listen to what is being said but still… this was ignorance at its best. I can’t tell you how many times I have herd people tell me, “you are so lucky you can’t hear,” what makes you think I can’t? I just hear in a different way then other people do. I hear though reading peoples facial expressions, lip reading, oral language (term meaning spoken word), and sign language. I may not always hear with my ears but I sure as hell hear with my heart.
Jem
