Deaf man mocks a "deaf" beggar

A recent video came to my attention of a Deaf man mocking a beggar at Las Vegas seen here in a Facebook video. This beggar was holding up a sign saying "Deaf. Hungry." Plus another word below which could not be read due to the blurry video.

Ted, the Deaf man signing in the video, made an assumption that the beggar could not possibly be deaf but hearing simply because the beggar did not know sign language.

Now, there are two possibilities.

1) The beggar could be deaf or hard of hearing and does not know sign language.

2) Or the beggar is hearing and does not know sign language.

Ted assumed the beggar is hearing on the basis he did not respond to Ted's signing to him. And thereby concluded the beggar is lying about his medical condition and not deaf at all.  But the beggar could have been born with a hearing loss or is a late deafened person who is homeless.

There are many deaf people in the United States who do not know sign language.

The majority of people who are deaf and hard of hearing do not know sign language. According to a Johns Hopkins study, more than 48 million people in the United States are deaf or hard of hearing, or a fifth of all Americans. Of these, almost 99 percent lost their hearing or were raised orally–not using sign language–and rely on their residual hearing (aided by hearing aids or cochlear implants), speech reading, and the printed word for communication access. This group of people are greatly aided by text forms of access.

Just because you see a deaf person does not mean the person knows sign language. Bad assumption. Best way is to get the facts first. If indeed the beggar is hearing, then shame on him. If indeed the beggar is deaf/hh, then double shame on Ted.  Either way, it's a bit disgusting to watch.

UPDATE: Good friend of mine, Barry Sewell and his wife, Crystal, produced their own captioned video about the disturbing video they saw in Facebook.

UFC Matt Hamill vs Jon Jones at Las Vegas December 5

Be sure to watch Matt Hamill fight against Jon Jones tonight (9 PM ET, 8PM Central) on Spike TV channel at the Ultimate Fighter Heavyweight Finale in Las Vegas (watch the video for several minutes until you see Matt Hamill and Jon Jones weigh ins). The UFC fight on Spike TV is free. More videos of Matt Hamill including a Q & A session during his shadow boxing exercise. No signing but used his voice  (subtitled) in talking about his upcoming fight against Jones. The video is small. Best to move your mouse over the video selection and pick "Dec 4 Shadow Boxing with Matt Hamill." You will see a download video menu appear at the top. Click on it and begin downloading it for a bigger screen viewing and easier to read subtitles. 

Jones has a few words about Matt Hamill.

There are a couple of Dec. 2nd articles on Matt Hamill and his upcoming UFC fight here and here for you to read up on.

Matt's last fight was the March 2009 UFC 96 fight where he knocked out Munoz in the first round as seen at the 3:55 mark in the video below. You can actually hear the sicking slap/crunch of Matt's right foot against the right side of Munoz's head knocking him unconscious for a few minutes while on the ground. That knockout earned Matt Hamill $60,000 in the $60,000 Knockout of the Night bonus money.



All Kokonut Pundit blogs on Matt Hamill including personal interviews with him by Kokonut Pundit.

UPDATE: Matt Hamill wins the fight against Jon Jones in the first round in 4:14 from using an illegal move against Matt Hamill. Jones used an illegal downward elbow on Matt Hamill.

UPDATE II: Matt Hamill sustained some injuries to his nose and what it appears to be a dislocated right? shoulder. You can review discussions in the Sherdog forum about the fight between Hamill and Jones.

UPDATE III: Here's the fight video between Hamill and Jones!

UPDATE IV: Since Matt Hamill won the fight through a disqualification for Jones use of his elbow against Hamill's face the fight was all Jones. There may be talks of reversing the referee's decision? Matt's face really got pummeled folks. Said blood were coming out of his eyes (or was it from a cut to his nose that got into his eyes?) and he could see or even here what the referee was saying. Looks really brutal and something that Matt will need to take home and rethink on how to handle Jones the next time. If Jones hadn't done his illegal elbowing Jones would've won the fight anyway. Matt's face will be sore and no idea if this fight hurt his eyes or not or how extensive his injuries were. Prayers and thoughts of rapid return to health for Matt Hamill.

UPDATE V: Captioned video of the fight.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4tvUYoJvzg

UPDATE VI: More news on Hamill injuries here. Expect a Hamill vs Jones re-match around spring/summer of 2010 next year. It may be a few months or so of recovery and rehabbing til Matt gets into practice fulltime for the next fight.