An Aussie courier delivered a parcel to my house this morning, and in the course of small talk, noticed my hearing aids.
I’m ok with that. I mentioned I come from a deaf family, and used lipreading and sign language as a young pup, hoping to enlighten him (in some small way) about deaf life.
His reply?
“Do you ever get pissed off with your parents because they gave you it?”
What?! Well… no, d***h***!
Firstly, because I’m positive about deaf people being able to do anything a hearing person can. About the great deaf people I know, and the language, understanding and culture we share.
Secondly, for the more obvious reason that if my parents hadn’t had kids out of worry we’d be deaf, I wouldn’t be alive, standing here, talking to you today.
And you’d have no-one to deliver a parcel to.
Which might have been for the best, thinking about it.
On balance, not a good week for Australians and deaf awareness.
Charlie Swinbourne 
Not all Aussies are as thick. Let’s concentrate on the ones that are and not label everyone the same. If you want BRITISH examples of people who state a lot worse…… my local rag was full at one time of 3 deaf familes here in Wales being told by their neighbours they should have been put down at birth, had their homes vandalised, their children attacked and ridiculed for having deaf parents, and despite the fact 2 of those families were NOT born deaf but acquired it. I was in one of those families and give me an Aussie with a stupid complex any day to those morons.
I’ve got family in Brisbane – I realise not all Aussies think the same way.
Sorry to hear about your experiences in Wales – what happened in the end? Did the abuse stop?
We moved ! not even rated as hate crime. 2 other families were in social housing they could ONLY get away from the abuse by going to an GP and stating they were near suicidal, then re homed on ‘health grounds’. Thus no deaf hate crimes were listed. I asked for statistics on hate crime on deaf and they said there were none, despite the local paper doing it front page.
They said if I was gay, black or some religious fanatic they would be kicking my door in to help, but not disabled or deaf, we found the system had a pecking order on priorities with deaf at the bottom. If I complained they put others first, they said I was racist and homophobic. We stopped reporting the abuse and moved. Where I live now there is fair space between us and the morons. DON’T live near sink estates is one bit of advice you can take !
It was covered on the old BBC ouch a while ago, we thought hate crime ignored and sidelined the deaf and the EHRC was a joke basically, and police assumed the deaf were at fault because they ‘misunderstood’ what they saw. One family were told not to be so ‘insular’ and mix more, then they wouldn’t be a target. The other an deaf-blind registered man had to put up with kids lighting fires against his front door at night, and having his windows smashed regularly, to date he has been re homed 6 times in 7 years.
Hate crime ? what hate crime ! At least in Australia there is a few thousand miles of bush to get away from them…
That’s awful for him to think that way.
http://attherimmm.blogspot.com/2010/01/why-do-you-hate-me.html people don’t read my blog perhaps some should…
that is dreadful, and without excuse. I was from a sink estate and got some abuse in my time, but was limitted to bullying.
ps i want to point out that when i used the word “afflicted” in a previous post i was using the dictionary definition of “causing grief or pain” not some allusion to leprosy.
Hi there Chris, as an Aussie and deaf from a genetic condition, yep, sometimes I am pissed that I got it from my parents. However I refuse to let that influence my reactions to what ‘other people’ think. Glad that hearing aids are a visual sign to others that you have a hearing ‘disability’. I have to deal with people on a day to day basis thinking that I am rude, ignorant or dumb. Please don’t judge someone on a question that you feel was innapropriate.