When Sensibilities and Senses are Challenged

Now, I applaud any deaf or hard of hearing people for their skills when it comes to using their hearing or speech. Or even their bodies as their own "hearing" instrument like some of the guys of Beethoven's Nightmare or Evelyn Glennie as a professional solo percussionist. These skills may be in the form of being able to play a musical instrument(s) using whatever sound they have and play the right pitch or note correctly. Or be able to enjoy and hear the full range of musical notes across the entire piano keyboard hearing each note from low to high just as I can as well as many others who can. Then there are those who can use the phone pretty good or even quite easily, like me and many others. All this really goes against the grain of the famous motto, "Deaf people can do anything except hear." Well, I like to challenge that motto which carries a sort of a defeatist attitude for all people with hearing loss from mild to profound. The very first time I heard that phrase that came from Mr. I.K. Jordan, I sort of shook my head.

Frankly, there are many deaf and hoh people who are proud and thankful of the fact that they can hear and understand spoken words or be able to play a musical instrument properly and for their own enjoyment. Others are not afraid to test their hearing senses like the time a piano tuner came over to tune my neighbor's piano and I asked the tuner fellow if I could try tuning the piano with his tuning forks. He showed me how and I gave it a shot, confidently so. With some concentration I was able to tune a few strings a few octaves apart adjusting the pitch of one piano string and harmonize that pitch to that of a tuning fork much to his satisfaction, and surprise. I am certainly not tone nor pitch deaf. Though doing so did present a challenge to my own hearing senses. I am sure there are many others out there who can do these things just as a hearing person can, even tuning a piano. Hearing loss does not equate as total loss of frequency. These things can be done and have been done. I have shown many examples of such stories throughout my blogs.

Bloggers should not be afraid to ask questions, set up polls, provide their own insights, do stories, talk about theirs and other people's skills and abilities or their experiences involving the hearing senses. Bloggers should not be afraid that they might offend some deaf readers' delicate sensibilities. Just like what Allison Kaftan did in DeafDC. There are many reasons why readers get offended, sometimes all too easily, about a blog entry. It could even be as simple as a picture like the one I have above because it supposedly "promotes" oralism. I laugh at such a thought when people just simply go to far with their imaginations running wild accusing me of such inanities when it was the impressive graphic that got my attention. Let's leave those conspiracy theories at the door shall we?

Still, these responses could range from legitimate concerns to outright petty jealousy. Or perhaps some lash out because subconsciously they are bothered by it because of their inability to exhibit that same skill or ability. I don't know. Calling names along with personal derisions in the commenting page directed at the blogger, guest bloggers or other commenters are by no means equivalent to a well thought out argument. If people believe that a blogger must try and please every readers' satisfaction then they certainly have rocks in their heads. It is just not humanely possible to do that. People have different viewpoints, opinions and perspectives just as bloggers do. What makes blogging great is that you get a variety of views, opinions, experiences, and perspectives to choose from the many bloggers out there. Just like television shows, if you don't like what you see, don't watch it. Flip it to another channel if your prefer the more sensational or the more mundane shows.