Bridging the Gap Between the Hearing & Deaf Worlds
Is there such a thing as a ‘deaf privilege’?
The word ‘privilege’ has some kind of stigma attaches to it. But it doesn’t and should’t have to be.
But even for someone like me, I would say that I have “deaf privilege”; where even though I am deaf/hard of hearing, I still have some privileges linked to it so that I can acknowledge what I have, appreciate what I have and be aware of what I have, despite my deafness.
I still get surprised on how I get asked both of these questions that are related to each other but completely contrasting at the same time by different people.
Most people assume that deaf people can’t speak (yes we can). If we do, we “speak well for a deaf person (yeah, don’t say that) or you don’t speak very well (yeah, don’t say that either).
So I share my own experiences of how come for one group of people, I do speak clearly, and for others, I don’t speak clearly.
Some people might assume that it’s impossible for d/Deaf and hard of hearing people to meditate (perhaps more accurately, guided meditation).
Even though there are obvious challenges when it comes to using guided meditation (such as whether it’s possible or not to hear or understand what the audio voice is saying), I have managed to find a system that suits me.
After several years hiatus, I have gone back to the cinema to watch the new Star Wars movie, which also happens to be the first time ever I watched a movie with captions.
This post is not a review of the movie nor will there be any spoilers. It’s just a personal story of how it went for me and what could be done to make the cinema experience even more accessible for more people.
Click here to learn more about my first captioned cinema experience here
Do you have the habit of apologising for not being able to hear someone and you end saying “sorry” because you feel that it’s your fault.
Don’t worry if that applies to you, as I am also very guilty of saying the above and more over the years.
And personally, I believe should all stop over-apologising, as it having negative consequences to our lives.
For many people who are considered to be small ‘d’ deaf and particularly those who are hard of hearing, we are constantly labelled as being “not deaf enough” for the d/Deaf world, and “not hearing enough” for the mainstream hearing world.
The only place left is that awkward middle bit, the intbetweener, the lonely bit, where it is tough because you don’t feel like you belong anywhere.
Have you ever wondered what is it like for a deaf/hard of hearing student to attend mainstream schools?
Or perhaps you wanted to hear from someone else’s experience?
As well as everything that is covered on this site that students can go through, like going through concentration fatigue or suffering from deaf anxiety, there are also unique challenges that deaf/hard of hearing students goes through.
Those challenges are likely to be amplified at mainstream schools (though deaf schools also have their own unique challenges too).
In this video, I share my own personal experiences at primary and secondary/high school.
As someone who has experienced various in-flight entertainment systems when going on a long-haul flight, I can’t help but realising that I never get the full experience as they are not accessible. And that applies to various airlines across different countries. Sure, I can read books or maybe even do some work. But sometimes, you […]
I learnt a new phrase recently: ‘deaf anxiety’.
After reading and learning more about, I realised that whenever I get anxiety, it is mostly likely because of my lack of ability to hear. And the more I read about it, the more I realised that it resonates with me and it’s definitely a thing.
It also made me aware that it’s a topic that we should be talking about more often, and this is why I decided to open up about it.
