When Deaf People Attack - a daily grind?

Here is another story about how some Deaf people will do and say anything to put down a parent of a deaf child with a cochlear implant. Only this time this is about a deaf child who is an adopted child from China. It’s a story about two adopted Chinese children, Jasmine (“Jazzie”) and Tahlia, with Jazzie being the older sibling who is deaf and wears a cochlear implant since age 16 months. The mother of the blog, “The Daily Grind – Life with Jazzie & Tahlia”, chronicles mostly about the two girls asked a question in an earlier blog in the comment section after posting an ASL video,

Just curious, have any of the deaf blog readers explained why the deaf commmunity feels this way about cochlear implants? I would love to better understand their point of view too.

And then in her next recent blog, “Questions Answered,” the blogger talked about how Kyra answered her question but couldn’t help notice how some Deaf people continue to put her down simply because of the fact that she has a deaf child with a cochlear implant.

After my last post, Kyra asked why the deaf community feels negatively towards cochlear implants. I will not speak for all deaf people, but I will talk for the deaf people that I have had personal conversations with. I have been called a bad mother by a deaf woman, who thought I was denying Jazzie her identity; that I was trying to fix something that is not a problem. Another deaf person told me that parents who give children an implant, are creating robots. He also told me that it was wrong to have my daughter undergo such a serious surgery before she was able to have any say in that decision. Other people I have talked to told me that they are afraid that cochlear implants will mean the end of the deaf community. There used to be a lot of deaf clubs, but one person told me he thought those clubs will close down completely, if there are no new deaf people attending them. People are afraid their community and their culture will disappear because of cochlear implants. You have to understand that deaf people are extremely proud to be deaf and to belong to their community. I think they see it as an insult, when someone gets a cochlear implant and therefor tries to deny his or her very own community.

But just because a deaf child was outfitted with a cochlear implant doesn’t mean parents are not doing anything in regard to learning sign language and Deaf culture.

Back when Jazzie was still in our Early Intervention program, we had a deaf mentor, who came to our house twice a week to play with Jazzie, teach her and me sign language and teach us about deaf culture. Steve was the sweetest man and because of his work with young children, he had seen first hand how successful an implant can be. However, he was also of the generation where oral schools meant something terrible. He certainly did not have good memories of his teachers and his experience at school. I don't think that anybody ever convinced him, that oral deaf schools are different now. They are not the awful experience today, as they were back then. He always expressed some concern about Jazzie and her school. Not one visit went by without him asking if she was happy at school. He always wanted to make sure that she knew about the deaf community and deaf culture.

Though it would be nice just for once those Deaf people who insist on having the stupidity to attack and put down a hearing mother of a deaf child with a cochlear implant to simply knock it off with that attitude!

I admit that I used to be more conscientious about it back then, than I am today. It is hard to attend deaf events, when people there are looking down upon you for giving your child a cochlear implant.

Somebody need to step forward and apologize on behalf of those few Deaf boorish people who attacked her without thinking. The responses she receieved weren't justified.

It’s quite obvious in the “The Daily Grind” blog that this mother and father of the adopted Chinese children are doing everything possible to help their deaf child become more rounded with lots of love and attention. Kudos to “The Daily Grind,” a good blog to read.