Deaf issues
Mariah Skinner
13 September 2010
Intro ASL 03
Question 1: A. Which is POTENTIALLY more serious: being born blind or deaf? What is Sacks’ reasoning and what do YOU think?
The decision between what is more serious, being born blind or deaf, is not an easy one. Personally I have a biased opinion to some extent since I am hard of hearing, without my hearing aids. Sacks’ wrote that he believes being born deaf is potentially more serious than being born blind and I agree. There are numerous reasons and recent experiences that lead me to feel that being born deaf is more serious than the alternative. Sacks listed many reasons as to why he feels being born deaf is potentially more serious. Those reasons include being unable to hear your parents, possibly being severely retarded, and never being able to grasp language unless there is early intervention. Not being able to grasp language seems to be the biggest concern for Sacks and one I highly agree with. He writes about language being a key component to being a human being and being able to communicate with others. If one cannot communicate with others they risk being cut off from the rest of society, which was also a reason of Sacks. Throughout my studies I have learned that our complex language is what allows humans to be highly intelligent compared to other species. My main reason for believing it is more potentially serious to be deaf instead of blind is personal. Being hard of hearing I have a small insight to what it is like to be deaf. There are days when I will have a horrible cold and cannot hear anything. On those days it is more frustrating than anything when people are raising their voices at me, almost yelling in order for me to be able to heart them. There is no visual cue that allows people to know that you cannot hear them. However all of the blind people I have met in my life you can tell they cannot see. These people usually use a sight stick or you can just tell by looking into their
13 September 2010
Intro ASL 03
Question 1: A. Which is POTENTIALLY more serious: being born blind or deaf? What is Sacks’ reasoning and what do YOU think?
The decision between what is more serious, being born blind or deaf, is not an easy one. Personally I have a biased opinion to some extent since I am hard of hearing, without my hearing aids. Sacks’ wrote that he believes being born deaf is potentially more serious than being born blind and I agree. There are numerous reasons and recent experiences that lead me to feel that being born deaf is more serious than the alternative. Sacks listed many reasons as to why he feels being born deaf is potentially more serious. Those reasons include being unable to hear your parents, possibly being severely retarded, and never being able to grasp language unless there is early intervention. Not being able to grasp language seems to be the biggest concern for Sacks and one I highly agree with. He writes about language being a key component to being a human being and being able to communicate with others. If one cannot communicate with others they risk being cut off from the rest of society, which was also a reason of Sacks. Throughout my studies I have learned that our complex language is what allows humans to be highly intelligent compared to other species. My main reason for believing it is more potentially serious to be deaf instead of blind is personal. Being hard of hearing I have a small insight to what it is like to be deaf. There are days when I will have a horrible cold and cannot hear anything. On those days it is more frustrating than anything when people are raising their voices at me, almost yelling in order for me to be able to heart them. There is no visual cue that allows people to know that you cannot hear them. However all of the blind people I have met in my life you can tell they cannot see. These people usually use a sight stick or you can just tell by looking into their