This is, of course, the key event in the evolutionary proccess we're seeing in the deaf community.
The protesters are all about the old deaf guards who dont believe in the re-intergration of deaf people back into the hearing society.
The deaf communities are facing major evolutionary changes in the future which enable them to mainstream and re-integrate back into the hearing society. They are Cochlear Implants and recently stem cells which have been proven to be part of the final solutions to addressing deafness. The medical marvels have enabled deaf people to function almost like hearing people. This has created a new deaf society in the past decade and this new deaf society has been slowly taking over Gallaudet University operations.
The protests youre seeing is the old deaf guard's last stand against the changes in the future of deaf society, against the new deaf society taking over Gallaudet.
Jane's leadership has the support of the new deaf society and is best one to lead the new deaf society which already counts for 80 percent of the students at Gallaudet into the future.
The protesters are about the past, about the old deaf guards who have become scourge of the deaf communities. They have to give it up because they cant beat the evolutionary proccess the deaf society is facing.
Well that's pretty harsh.
ReplyDeleteMind you, I say this as a deaf person (90db loss) who functions fine with hearing aids and doesn't know ASL. If people want to use ASL, even exclusively, I haven't got a problem with it.
I have far more problems with the attitude Deaf display toward deaf. That's upsetting. Why should I learn ASL if I will only be mocked for not signing as well as a native signer? And WHY should I be discriminated against by my own kind AS WELL as by hearing people?
Nor do I think stem cells and CI are going to be universal solutions. CI is not for everyone -- for example I do not qualify for one (not that I want one; I asked about the criteria for CI). And I don't see how stem cell research will apply to adults (one can always lose hearing later in life, too). So declaring the "end of deafness" seems premature and impracticable.
I would rather return to the simple concept of accessibility. So for a movie, that means captioning. Ironically, for an ASL vlog, THAT ALSO MEANS CAPTIONING.
Anyway.
Unfortunately much of the new evolutionary developments I've been exposed to through the committees I stand on remain classified at this time. And what you just saw happen at Gallaudet is likely one of the reasons the new information remains classified.
ReplyDeleteMatt and Erin,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your openess however I stand to disagree and feel this approach is the best way to deal with the situation.