I'm not gonna make any friends with this one...
I've been enjoying my absence from writing things...toying with the idea of making my blog a vlog...but I recently viewed something that stirred me to write, and like I've said above, I'm not making any friends with this one.
Anyway, I was watching a pilot for a new program on PBS, starring Fox Chicago News lady Robin Robinson. The show is 22nd Century, check it out and vote for it. (Vote of Die, motherfucker)
One segment I saw wowed, and then proceeded to shock me. It was pertaining to cochlear implants. Cochlear implants, in case anyone doesn't know, are devices surgically implanted in the ear to help the deaf sense and interpret sound. It does not restore hearing or amplify sound though, but instead works by stimulating auditory nerves with electronic impulses.
I was amazed. This was no hearing aid. This was way for those with complete loss of hearing gain some sense of sound. Then I learned about the Deaf Community's outrage over the Cochlear Implant.
See they feel that this makes deafness seem like a disability when, to them, it's a culture.
I was blown away by this revelation. Hopefully, karma won't punish me, as I am possibly being a bigot, as I've never been deaf, but being deaf IS a disability. Disability = Lack of ability. Deaf lack the ability to hear. I'm aware that they still have a language, but they cannot hear.
Now picture not being able to walk, assuming you can. Being bound to a wheelchair is a disability. You lack the ability to walk. Sure, you play murderball, but I'm fairly sure that's because one person in a wheelchair playing basketball
against some 6'2'' dudes would suffer a disadvantage on the b-ball court. But let’s step away from handicapped people; I don't want karma to make me deaf and peg-legged.
I think sign language could have advantages if it was universal across borders. But it's not.
Sign language even has regional hand dialect. Another thing that separates it from a traditional culture is the lack of common ancestry; most deaf people are born into hearing families.
Lets say there was a huge aids community. And let’s say they finally release the cure for aids the major medical corporations have had for years. Should there be an outrage? Is it fair for a larger group to shun people who want a solution; shun those that desire white blood cells, because the community is centered around the lack of an immune system. Hmmm…
Once again, this is probably just me being ignorant.
Kevin "Peg-leg" Walsh
Anyway, I was watching a pilot for a new program on PBS, starring Fox Chicago News lady Robin Robinson. The show is 22nd Century, check it out and vote for it. (Vote of Die, motherfucker)
One segment I saw wowed, and then proceeded to shock me. It was pertaining to cochlear implants. Cochlear implants, in case anyone doesn't know, are devices surgically implanted in the ear to help the deaf sense and interpret sound. It does not restore hearing or amplify sound though, but instead works by stimulating auditory nerves with electronic impulses.
I was amazed. This was no hearing aid. This was way for those with complete loss of hearing gain some sense of sound. Then I learned about the Deaf Community's outrage over the Cochlear Implant.
See they feel that this makes deafness seem like a disability when, to them, it's a culture.
I was blown away by this revelation. Hopefully, karma won't punish me, as I am possibly being a bigot, as I've never been deaf, but being deaf IS a disability. Disability = Lack of ability. Deaf lack the ability to hear. I'm aware that they still have a language, but they cannot hear.
Now picture not being able to walk, assuming you can. Being bound to a wheelchair is a disability. You lack the ability to walk. Sure, you play murderball, but I'm fairly sure that's because one person in a wheelchair playing basketball
against some 6'2'' dudes would suffer a disadvantage on the b-ball court. But let’s step away from handicapped people; I don't want karma to make me deaf and peg-legged.
I think sign language could have advantages if it was universal across borders. But it's not.
Sign language even has regional hand dialect. Another thing that separates it from a traditional culture is the lack of common ancestry; most deaf people are born into hearing families.
Lets say there was a huge aids community. And let’s say they finally release the cure for aids the major medical corporations have had for years. Should there be an outrage? Is it fair for a larger group to shun people who want a solution; shun those that desire white blood cells, because the community is centered around the lack of an immune system. Hmmm…
Once again, this is probably just me being ignorant.
Kevin "Peg-leg" Walsh
posted by Kevin at 6:11 PM
3 comments
