Aveskde(1878), I think you made some good points regarding the physical abilities of deaf people. You also spoke up some plain simple facts about medical conditions and about deaf people forming a culture to support themselves emotionally. I believe most deaf / Deaf people who are well-educated and logical in their thinking would agree with you. I do hope advanced medical solutions will improve the functioning for a lot of deaf people (or anyone else with other kinds of disabilities).

However, may I suggest you to soften your words a bit? It may hurt some deaf / Deaf people's feelings when you always remind them about their disability. How about society providing accommodation without reminding disabled people that they are disabled. Better yet, how about we simply forget about all the disabilities in this world, and just view everyone as a human being that has feelings, desires, and own ways of living life. If we can help, we will help one another. If people want to use the help / accommodation, they do at their own will or choice. Life would be more enjoyable for EVERYONE, if we all can look past the physical, mental, or spiritual conditions, and simply treat everyone around us as human beings. Let us all be understanding toward others.

"If [deaf people] were treated equally to a hearing person, there would be no subtitles in movies, no sign language or assistance to those who cannot hear. The reason we provide these services is that the deaf cannot function well without them". You are definitely correct in this statement. Deafness is a disability; most deaf people I have met - who are logical and well-educated - do agree so. There is nothing wrong with being disabled. We all are disabled, one way or another, physically, mentally or even spiritually. But it is illogical for some deaf people to hold on to an illusion that they are not disabled and refuse accommodation. Their inappropriate pride can be detrimental to their own functioning.

Tredenham1, I agree with you. Nichole (679)'s comments were condescending to the Deaf people and also to the Hearing people. She probably spoke for herself and her bigotry.

You did not say anything wrong, Jesus(208). You had good a good point of view about equity. You also had compassion in your tone. The other person definitely misunderstood you. You clearly did not put down the people with disabilities. You only suggested ways for mainstream society to accommodate the people with different physical abilities. True, people in wheelchair need ramp or lift, deaf people need interpreters and closed captioning to hear spoken conversations, blind people need readers, etc.

This is a very rude comment. It shows you have no humanity concepts of love, compassion, equality, etc. It's people like you who should not be hired, Iluvshakira.

Very nice posting. The sad truth is people are often afraid of what they perceive as "being different". Unless hearing people come into daily contact with deaf people, the misunderstanding will persist. The solution is to integrate more deaf people into the mainstream society, instead of keeping deaf people separately in Deaf Residential Schools or within certain Deaf communities only. The more contact the hearing people have with deaf people, the more understanding they will become. Before I started learning ASL, and before I had a chance to learn from a deaf teacher, I had not known what to expect of such learning experience. However, I am very lucky, I am learning from an excellent deaf teacher, and I realize that she is no different than any of us. Well, yes, she cannot hear and has a tad of difficulty in speaking, but besides those physical conditions, she is just exactly the same as any of us. She has feelings, love, desires, enjoyment and bad temper moments too. (smile). So, I think if society integrates deaf and hearing people together, and Deaf communities open themselves up to the Hearing communities, mutual understanding will take place...

True, the main word is EQUALITY. Deafness is indeed a disability, from medical viewpoint, but not a disability from cultural view point. If a person is born deaf or has become deaf, the main thing is to find ways to help that person function well, live independently, and integrate successfully into the mainstream society. "Help" does not mean degrading pity; rather "help" means respect, love and be there for one another - as human beings. For example, "I know you have difficulty in physical capacity of hearing, let me use mine to compensate what you lack so that you can EQUALLY access information and function in life". Or for example, "You cannot hear. It is not your fault. You are not less than I am. However, let me interpret for you...let me use my ears for both you and me".

Mr. Deafman, you are not doing a favor for Deaf people. You have foul language in your posting. You also made generalization that hearing people always discriminate, stereotype, or misjudge Deaf people. That is not true. There are hearing people who respect and care about Deaf people. The matter should not about Hearing or Deaf as that only segregates us all further. The matter should be about treating everyone with respect and compassion. Respect and compassion must be mutual, too. If Deaf people want Hearing people to respect and care about them, they should offer the same attitude toward the Hearing people.

Regarding learning English, talking and reading lips, some Deaf people successfully achieve these skills, some do not. Same with Hearing people, some can write English well and understand ASL well, some cannot. All depends on family background and schooling experiences.

Yes, Hearing people need to learn more ASL to communicate with Deaf people, but the same logic goes for Deaf people. Deaf people need to learn English well too. "When in Rome, do what Romans do". After all, English is the official language in the U.S. Whether Deaf or Hearing; European, Asian or African; etc. when you live in a country, you must adapt to how that country functions. An official language facilitates the mutual connection for ALL cultural groups within a country. Some Deaf people do not understand this view and insist that they do not care about using proper English. That view of "I don't care about using English right because I am Deaf" does not help Deaf people, instead hurting their chances to succeed in jobs, universities, etc. Because ASL is a gestural, pictorial, spatial language with no written form, and because ASL glossing is only a tool to translate ASL into English, ASL cannot be reflected on paper. If Deaf people insist that they only learn ASL and ignore English (or whatever official written language of the country they live in), they will never be able to read printed materials properly, and that will hurt their accessibility to information.

I have learned from several deaf teachers. I respect them dearly. I never think about their deafness. I regard them simply as "teachers". One of those teachers can write excellent English, and I could tell she can read well in English too. Does her excellent capacity in English make her any "less deaf" or "less Deaf"? No, she is still deaf and still part of the Deaf culture. She still uses ASL and teaches ASL. However, her excellency in English has opened her ability to enjoy literature and enhanced her life experiences. And the students, some deaf, some hearing, admire her even more. See, the point here? It is not about English v. ASL, it is about achieving the scholastic abilities....