fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2696 ]

[ SECRET POST #2696 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2696 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 023 secrets from Secret Submission Post #385.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - posted twice ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I can see some culturally militant Deaf saying this (and have had some Deaf people say this to me), but, eh, I'm too old to give a rat's behind anymore. Hearing people realize their mistake (the hard way) soon enough. :-P Haven't ever had any other oral deaf pull that one on me, though.

I will add, I am appalled that "hearing impaired" is apparently now the PC term of choice; those were fighting words, back in my day! Now the SJWs insist "hard of hearing" is worse. It's one word longer, dude, and that's what I identified as for the bulk of my life, which was three times as a long as yours has been up to now! (I address the hypothetical SJW here, not you, dethtoll.)

Honest question.

Why do some people capitalize deaf? Do deaf and Deaf have different connotations?

As I understand it (and as a disclaimer, I'm speaking as an outsider here), lowercase-d deaf just refers to someone who can't hear (either at all or without prosthetics), but capital-D Deaf refers to someone who identifies as part of Deaf culture -- which exists, since they have a distinct language and experience of the world. Presumably not everyone who cannot hear identifies as part of Deaf culture.

OP of the question here. Thanks for the explanation!

Capitalized-D-Deaf means the person grew up in Deaf culture, i.e., they mostly always communicated through sign language, may or may not have used assistive listening devices, attended a Deaf (residential) school, and basically spent all of their lives around people in the same situation.

In the '70s (when I was growing up) and in the '80s (when I assume dethtoll was growing up) there was a big push to "assimilate" the Deaf, so kids were brought up what's known as "oral" or "auditory-verbal therapy" i.e., hearing aids as soon as possible, speech therapy up to and sometimes throughout school, absolutely no sign language whatsoever (actively discouraged), and I believe they may teach speechreading now, but when I was growing up, it was considered part and parcel of something that would come naturally, with the hearing aids/being mainstreamed. Which is known as small-d-deaf, and can also include the "deafened" or "late-deafened" i.e., adults who lose their hearing later in life.

And, yeah, being mainstreamed in the 1970s sucked hairy balls (no IEPs or classroom helpers then!), and even though I would have had a much narrower life and way fewer options than I have had, and I wouldn't have anything approaching the life I have now, I sometimes wish I had grown up Deaf, instead of growing up deaf. If that makes any sense.

That said, if I had grown up Deaf, I likely would have ended up in one of the worst/most abusive residential schools for the Deaf here in Canada, so the grass isn't always greener. I'm a pretty tough character, as a result of the garbage I got put through in school, so all in all, it had its advantages.

...sorry, that was a bit long, wasn't it? Anyway. Capital-D-Deaf is someone who uses sign language exclusively, and who may or may not interact with the hearing community through a terp (interpreter), and interacts mostly with the Deaf community/other signers. Small-d-deaf is someone who may have very little or no residual hearing, but we still participate in hearing society, don't usually sign (or at least not well), and speak/speechread. HTH

Capital-D-Deaf is someone who uses sign language exclusively, and who may or may not interact with the hearing community through a terp (interpreter), and interacts mostly with the Deaf community/other signers.

That just seems ridiculously limiting to me. What do they do if they end up in a situation where there aren't any other signers or interpreters? Do they just never interact with the majority of the world?

Question asker here. Thanks for the explanation!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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