Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!yale!bunker!hcap!hnews!203!11!Vixen
From: Vixen@f11.n203.z1.fidonet.org (Vixen)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: H E L L O !!!
Message-ID: <12617@bunker.UUCP>
Date: 3 Jul 90 21:08:47 GMT
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Index Number: 9032

[This is from the Silent Talk Conference]

Hi Mitch,

Well, I am glad that you were following the discussion cherryl and I
were having and decided to jump right in. These conferencers are a
whole lot more fun when you participate instead of just being a silent
reader.

As you already know then, I am also sight and hearing impaired. In
fact, when my hearing really starting popping away, some of my doctors
at first wondered if I might have "ushers Syndrome" as well. But, my
blindness really has nothing at all to do with my hearing loss, each
has a very specific and unrelated diagnosis.

I know what you mean about needing to take time to educate new people
so that you can get past the awkward communication barrier and just
feel easy in each others prescence. Myself, I tend to be very assertive
in letting both deaf and hearing know that they can communicate quite
easily with me if they will just approach me and be patient.  I find
that othere people imaginations, both hearing and deaf, make my actual
problems seem far worse than they are.  But, I certainly can understand
what you are saying.

I also use sign, but sometimes it hard for me to remember a specific
sign and I have to fingerspell because not enough hearing impaired
either care enough or have courage enough to approach me on a person to
person basis. Of course, I am making a generalization here.  But I
consider it the very same ignorance that some deaf people have toward
hearing people and hearing people to deaf people.

I often tell people I understand this type of behaviour because as
sight and hearing impaired persons, we are a deaf persons worst
nightmare walking around on two legs. But, I am begining to think that
is just making excuses, the fact is, it is only lack of concern and
ignorance that cause people to want to avoid us, whether they be deaf,
blind or hearing and sighted.

So you might ask, what do "I" do about it, well, as I said earlier, I
am very assertive and I try to be obviously friendly and open and I get
out in the world and do things and let people see that I can do things,
I can communicate and I might even be an interesting person!

How about you, how do you deal with it all?

Keepin' the faith!

.                          Vixen

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