Headline July 19, 2016/ ''' DEAR DEAF '''

''' DEAR DEAF '''

*IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD*  - when the survival of the very normal is at no par, what dare I say, about the sweet deaf.

In my daily research and sweeping observations, I have found the world, and the humanity of torrential   -injustice, cruelty, and foibles all tangled up, in a way, that can only be described as  *the classic dialogue of the deaf*.   

STUDENT ABGAIL GORMAN    -who was born just so very deaf, now believes that deafness just shouldn't be fixed. She explains, as beautifully as you can imagine::

I've never felt like I was different. Both my parents, and my two brothers and sister are all deaf and I was never aware of any limitations on what I could do. The only limitations were on other people's perceptions. 

I had hearing aids fitted when I was six weeks old, and was able to sign before I was one. Growing up, I'd thought about a cochlear implant, to boost my ability to hear, but it was only when I turned 30 last year that I started seriously considering it.

I'd be out with friends and not be able to follow the conversation. The older I got, the more confident I got, the more I started to ask, why am I not giving myself the chance to fully take part?

Reaching 30 made me look back on  what I've accomplished so far and what Id like to do with the rest of my life. I work as a signing translator in television, but later this year I'm moving to Denmark to study human rights. I was conscious, too, of how reliant I was on my hearing aids.

That year I had come down with an infection in both ears and couldn't use them, and realised how vulnerable I was.

Cochlear implants, a receiver and magnet placed under the skin behind the ear   -cannot restore normal hearing, but they can give a deaf person a good representation of sound. Sounds are picked up by the microphone, and tiny electrodes stimulate the hearing nerve that takes sound to the brain.   

After being tested, I was told I would be suitable for the treatment, although my doctor warned there was no guarantee of how much improvements I would experience.

And there were risks, too, including facial paralysis, and damage to the hearing nerve   -meaning I;d be completely deaf in one ear, -and unable to benefit from my hearing aid.

However, posing even more of a problem was the fact that my mum was strongly against the idea  of a cochlear implant.

Hearing people often assume that a deaf person would want to take advantage of anything that could help them hear  -but treatments like cochlear implants are controversial.

*There is a school of thought that by encouraging people to have these procedures, we are saying that deafness is disability, a condition that needs to be treated*.     

That deaf people need to change themselves in order to fit into normal society. It's the same attitude that prompts midwives to say to new mothers, in hushed sombre tones:

''I'm so sorry, but your child is deaf''   -like it's automatically a negative thing.

My mom worried that I'd lose my identity as a deaf person. I tried to convince her that I'd never forget my roots, and signing would always be my first language.

The Honour and Serving of the latest ''Operational Research'' on Health and Living continues. Thank Ya all for reading and sharing forward. And hope to see you on the following one.

With respectful dedication to all the Deaf Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all on !WOW!  -the World Students Society and !E-WOW!  -the Ecosystem 2011:

''' Battling On '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless