Re: AMC: Spike's Deafness


On 9-Aug-2007, "jofirey" <jofirey@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

"Alane" <alanesue@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:5hv15rF3mn94dU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
jofirey wrote:
"SFJason" <sfjaysin@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1186596732.792374.295580@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On Aug 8, 10:36?am, Dwib <dwibd...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Aug 7, 10:56 pm, chas...@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:


On the other hand, as my husband and I have discussed, if we had a
child and
could pick which affliction they'd have - deafness or blindness - I'd

choose
blindness, because I put more value on sound than sight.

Just me, but I'd go for deafness. Eye sight is a richer channel of
information.

Dwib

Me too Dwib. If I had to choose between sight and hearing (say
hypothetically I had to have brain surgery and it was definite I would
lose one...I would pick hearing in heartbeat). I would miss music and
voices, but I just think it would be an easier adjustment than losing
my sight. To each his/her own.

SFJason


I miss music desperately, but I would not trade colors for music. I
can
get most of the information I need without hearing. Its tiring but I
think it would be far more tiring to try to do so without my eyes.

Jo

Years ago -- and I have no idea of the source -- I read a story that
said
Helen
Keller had once been asked which of her two senses she would rather have

restored.
She said hearing because the deaf missed out on so much social
interaction.

Now, me personally, I'd rather lose hearing than sight because I need my

sight for
my job more than I need hearing, and I believe I'd could maintain more
independence,
such as driving, if I could see.

But, at the same time, I do understand what Miss Keller was saying. Just

turning a
iPod on in a crowd does have an isolating effect.



I've heard that Helen Keller said that. But I pretty much discount it
considering the source. Even if she wasn't a fraud (and those that think
she was make a pretty good argument).

If she had never been able to see or to hear she was in no position to
judge
what exactly it would entail to get one or the other back. A desire for
social interaction would have been the popular politically correct answer
in
her day. The art of conversation was a very popular pastime for a while.

There is so much more to be learned in conversation from someone than just

the words they say. Expression, body language, facial movements, etc can
provide nearly as much as your ears do.

As an example, my dog and cats have no trouble telling me what they want
even if I don't have my implant turned on.

Also, I spend several hours a day (as well as all night) with the implant
turned off. I can't imagine finding it comfortable to sit around blind.

Jo

Giving it a little more thought, I think my opinion about deaf vs. blind
also comes from my childhood: going to a camp for the blind which also
included deaf kids.

The thing is, the deaf kids had their own little community and pretty much
kept to themselves. The blind kids interacted with each other, the sighted
kids and the staff without any trouble. The deaf kids required their own
deaf staff and interacted almost entirely with them alone. It was sort of a
voluntary segregation. The exceptions seemed to be the partially deaf kids,
who would just ask that you speak up when talking to them, and they could
also interact with the deaf kids/staff.

So it occurs to me that, really giving this serious thought, I would rather
be able to talk to people on the phone or in a room, listen to music, and
even keep my transcribing job as a totally blind person if I could choose
that. If deaf, I might be more independent, but it would be harder for me
to blend into general society than for a blind person. Again, this is based
also on what I've actually seen happen. The deaf are in this whole
different world and can't blend in the same way as the blind in many
situations.

Just my 2 cents,

Chassit

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