The CI Debate

It's been awhile since I posted last. Been busy being Mommy. I survived March Break and hung up my Referee shirt.

After separating arguing kids all week I go online to DeafRead and see "arguing" about CIs, ASL, "CI people treated differently" etc. etc. So I'm putting on my Referee shirt again and jumping in the middle (snickering).

Here's my "2 cents" on the topic. I have only 2 objections (and irritations) about Deaf adults and CIs:

1. Those few deaf who "pre-CI" were ASL'ers, involved in Deaf Club, Deaf friends etc. But "post-CI" dump all of that and act "Hearing". I know 2 people who were such types. After their CIs have stopped signing, stopped attending Deaf socials and dropped their Deaf friends. When the local Deaf Agency hosted workshops, one such individual was there and when it was time for questions, they asked questions orally. One Deaf lady waved at her and signed "Use ASL!", but that person shushed her and said "I'm speaking!". The interpreter was struggling to sign what she was saying but admitted after the workshop that she had a hard time understanding her speech.

Do you feel "superior" to Deaf?? Come On!! Whether you admit it or not, you're STILL Deaf!! No matter how hard you try you'll never be "totally immersed" in the hearing world. Need an example?? - Group conversations - tell me if you can keep up with 4, 5, or 10 people all chatting at each other at once?? Hmm??

2. The few Deaf people in the Deaf Community who "shun" other Deaf who have CIs. They refuse to interact or acknowledge them, or treat them as "inferior" to the rest of the community. Or even as "inhuman" such as calling them robots or machines.

Do you feel "superior" to CIs?? Come On!! Do you treat other Deaf who choose to wear Hearing Aids the same way?? In my opinion, as a Deaf adult, CIs are on the same list as Hearing Aids, just another option to "hear" a little bit better. Whether it's for the job (hearing factory noises or machine alarms), hearing environment noises like approaching cars (in my case being legally blind this helps me to "get around in public" a little better), or hearing your kids scream "MOMMY I'M HURT!!!" (I need "some" hearing to compensate or balance for my lousy eyesight eh?).

So before I hang up my referee shirt again I just want to close with a quote by Helen Keller:

"Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all -- the apathy of human beings"

We're all humans, why don't we start treating each other with respect and dignity; Hearing towards Deaf, Deaf towards deaf, deaf towards Deaf, and Deaf towards Hearing.