March 21, 2010

People With Typical Hearing Can Learn a Thing or Two From People with Deafness

I was talking with someone I know and as usual I had to remind her that she should not cover her mouth with her hand or look away as she speaks to me. She apologized and then she stopped what she was doing and told me that she learned a lot from me since she met me. According to her, I made her realize how she normally talks to people (which is looking away as she is always busy doing something). She thinks it is nicer to stop and look at someone when talking to them.

I think with the texting and other distractions, we tend to forget how to communicate and speak with someone in a polite and friendly way. We forget the importance of face to face contact.  So, I suppose I am constantly making people stop what they are doing and have a face to face conversation, like how it should be.

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*Getting off topic here, I have decided to stop calling people with typical hearing, "hearing people." I like the idea of "people first" as in people with typical hearing. 

3 comments:

  1. Call yourself what you feel more comfortable and what you think you most fit in. Since I was diagnosed everybody has always called me deaf, my family members,extended family members. If you prefer the label HOH or a person with a hearing loss then go with it. Nobody can tell you that you are wrong if you label yourself HOH or deaf. It is a personal choice I feel. My friends(hearing from college) tend to forget about my deafness and my needs. I need them to look at me whilst speaking, not to cover their mouths and I need to read their lips. On a night out in September, 2 times I had to remind my friend NOT to whisper in my ear. She was trying to whisper something to me in my ear, I stopped and say, I can't hear it and moved her so I could see her.
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  2. This blog reminds me of a time when I was a kid. I remember I was clueless about what lip-reading meant. Hearing people kept asking me if my mom could "lip-read". I thought it was some sort of magic power. I went through a phase where I wanted to see this magic power in action. I'd occasionally point to my mouth and mouth words slowly (while my mom looked at me with puzzled looks). I've since learned what it really means (and I've apologized to my mom).

    Do you feel more comfortable with the terms "people first" over "hearing people" and "hearing loss" over "Deaf" or "hard of hearing"? I ask primarily because I don't want to offend in the future. My label is "coda".
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  3. Lissa- Thanks. It does not matter how many times we tell people, they always seem to forget, huh? Funny.

    J.J.- Thank you for your story. How cute. LOL. I'm sure your mom understood. :)

    I, personally, feel it is best to use "people first". But, I don't care what other people say. If others rather say d/Deaf, HOH, or Hearing people, it would not offend me.

    The only thing that offends me if someone would always only refer to another specific person as the "deaf person" or the "hearing person" instead of using their names or their other attributes. I think we are more than just whatever hearing abilities we have.
    But sometimes it is easier to do the latter.

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