They would never have cochlear implants. They would not want to be hearing now at all - their identity is deaf, they’re used to being deaf, it would be such a seismic change it wouldn’t be beneficial at all. For people who used to hear, it’s a great thing, but for them, no.
I am accepted, because I am a CODA. I grew up in the deaf community, I went to deaf camp, I am fluent in BSL, I knew my Deaf community inside out. The fact that I can hear and speak doesn’t really come into it! Also, as my parents have been such active members of the deaf community - tending bar at the deaf club, presenting See Hear on television - there was never a question of us being a Deaf family. I just happen to be able to hear.
The politics of Gaulladet are a bit ridiculous sometimes. Not Deaf Enough can mean “doesn’t blindly accept popular deaf opinion”. It’s very easy to reject someone as not deaf enough - the equivalent of calling Obama a coconut. Facile and reactionary. It makes me cross.
The policy was there because the belief at the time was that deaf children must be taught to speak properly and this was the most important thing, and the only way they’d learn would be to force them,. By not allowing them to sign, they were to be forced into speaking.
In reality, what it meant was that my mum didn’t speak until she was 8 years old, ad even then she never really got the hang of it. How can you, when you can’t hear to know what you should sound like? She speaks now, and while I understand every word, people who don’t know her have difficulty understanding.
Her parents never learned to sign. Her whole life, they could never really communicate with each other. My mum could lipread her mum, and she could be understood by repeating herself several times or writing things down, but her dad never really learned to slow down and speak clearly. They were both Irish, which meant very fast talking, and a lot of rambling 
When my grandad, her dad, became ill it meant that she couldn’t take care of him because he couldn’t tell her what he needed. It was a very stressful time for all, and meant that I had to be his primary carer, which was very frustrating for my mum who really wanted to help. And hard work for me.
It is only in the last 20 or so years that schools for the deaf have accepted sign language. Deaf people of my parents’ generation went through a lot.
My father’s mother was “deaf and mute” as what the condition of not being able to either speak or hear was called then.
Unfortunately, there were many problems in their family, including mental health issues, and my father grew up on a poor dirt farm without the benefit of some of the resources your family had available.
My father had communication issues throughout his life, but I don’t know how much of that had to do with his mental problems (which I suspect was most of the problem) and how much it had to do with growing up in that environment.
My father didn’t get along with his mother or sisters so we didn’t see them very much, even though my grandmother lived only a half a mile away for quite a while.
My father and aunts could sign, but my brothers and sisters and I only learned the alphabet and a few words.
Anyway, I’m glad to hear (no pun intended) that it’s worked out much better for others.
My daughter is in second grade and has a CODA in her class. I suspect there may be other issues, as the little girl doesn’t seem to have been exposed to speech before getting to school - it seems very odd. My daughter says she doesn’t know how to say very many words and is very difficult to understand - though apparently she herself hears just fine. Interestingly, and I suppose appropriately, she is being treated as an ESL student by the school. She does sign fluently.
By any chance have you read The Gypsy’s Curse by Harry Crews?
One of the main characters is a hearing daughter of deaf parents (whom I hope you share nothing more with!) and other aspects involve deaf characters/culture.
My favorite book by my favorite author. You might find it worth a gander.
I must have missed the “supercrip” part–to me, that movie was all about William Hurt’s character, with an interesting window into a entire world. But it’s been years since I’ve seen it. (it has been a long time now…)
What do you think of the brouhaha at Gaudilliere a few years back?
And re the wait staff who ask you to ask them-never mind–I just figured out that your parents aren’t mute! :smack: :smack:
Interesting thread.
This thread is great!! My best friend is deaf, so I’m always up for learning about the Culture.
Do you have any funny stories that happened as a result of your parents’ inability to hear?
Erm. Chipping into Francesa’s thread (I hope you don’t mind, Francesca!), I can provide a bit of perspective. I’m profoundly deaf and while my family and I communicated using Signed English, they decided to shuffle me off at age 7 to an oral school for the deaf to learn what my parents considered life survival skills. This would have been in the 80’s. I attended for approximately 4 years.
“Not allowed to sign” is such a harsh way to put it, really. You should think of it as a total immersion environment where children can learn together how to read lips and speak verbally.
Teachers will, of course, give these children all the help possible in very small classes, and there will be daily speechreading and speech therapy classes to supplement the moments for additional education that come up every day. These children will have all sorts of advantages with early education students from the local uni acting as houseparents or TAs. They will get an excellent education while learning the crucial skills of speaking clearly and intelligibly and reading lips. They will have all sorts of jolly afterschool, weekend, and holiday activities.
Sounds pretty nice, doesn’t it?
In practice, while we kids didn’t write to each other for communication purposes, what we did was use a small system of home sign. That is, gestures that couldn’t be labelled sign language, and we only used them for general emphasis. Because, of course, nobody else ever used ‘real’ sign. However, no beatings, straitjackets, or bomb shelters were involved in my education. :eek:
I’m curious, when your parents are talking to you or anyone else who can hear *and *sign, do they tend to convey one register with sign and another with speech, or is their usage largely indiscriminate?