I'm promoting this
anonymous comment for my blog here. That comment was made in
Death of Deafread. Why am I putting it here? Because I liked what he/she wrote and makes a few succinct points about "awdism" and such.
I could also state the situation in the other direction. Deaf/hh people who prefer speaking and listening (regardless of whether they are also fluent in ASL, and have a Deaf wife and Deaf friends) are considered to be hearing wanna-be's. Deafhood supporters call them colonized and dysconscious awdists who have been brainwashed by AG Bell and OOOO (Oral Only No Other Option). Cochlear implant manufacturers, surgeons, hearing aid manufacturers, audiologists, speech teachers, oral schools, etc., are all elements of a massive anti-deaf machine bent on eliminating deafness, Deaf people, and ASL. and lining their pockets with money in the process. I'm not making this up. These are Ella's exact words. According to her, there is no middle ground: One is either Deafhood, or one is an awdist.
it isn't mudslinging to point out these public statements by Ella. I watch all her vlogs. I haven't taken any of her statements out of context. they may not be on the Deafhood web site, but they are on ASL Ella's YouTube channel.
it isn't awdism to point out what Ella and other Deafhood supporters have said about Marlee Matlin and her support of the Starkey Hearing Foundation. it isn't awdism to point out facts about Gallaudet University. I *get* that Deaf people are protective of our cultural institutions. Yet, by saying rapes have happened at Gallaudet, that it means Deaf people are bad, Gallaudet is bad, and I disrespect Deaf people by saying so, simply... isn't... logical.
Deafhood supporters feel that their cultural values, way of life, and very being have been and are under attack by so-called technological and medical advances. And so, they react in emotional rather than logical ways, such as Jeffrey did here. I understand where he's coming from. Yet, they don't seem to realize that Deaf Culture and ASL have survived the horrors of Milan 1880, oralism, and the use of hearing aids.
I liked what the first Anonymous @6:01 pm said about "We cannot help any older generation of deaf who suffered ... and still hating and blaming AGB their language problem because they have some persecution complex issues to deal with."
That's exactly what's going on. That's why folks like Ella, Jeffrey, DonG, et al, deserve our compassion rather than our scorn. Like you said Mike, they talk the talk but don't walk the walk. If they are examples of Deafhood, I don't want any part of it.
Another Anonymous
Happy 4th of July everyone!
