Somewhat Silent

So I was reading Salon.com, and it occurred to me that there hasn’t really been much discussion here about the protests going on right now- or (at least recently) much about Deaf cultural identity (click on the link fora better idea of what I’m referring to).

What do you all think about the uproar over this woman’s qualifications toward being “deaf-enough”?

On some feminist blogs recently, there was a huge debate over whether a woman could be feminine and engage in girly beauty rituals and still call herself a feminist.  The Gallaudet debate feels kind of similar.

What are some other social networks/cultures similar to being Deaf?  That is to say- are there other minority cultures where the majority/outsiders perceive members as being debilitated/weakened while the members themselves perceive themselves as simply having an identity that is unique to the majority?
Thoughts?

ASL aside, I’d love to attain fluency in French- or more practically, Spanish.  Have any of you mastered new languages with (or after developing) hearing loss?  What sort of educational setting worked for you?

In High School, I was originally mainstreamed in French classes, but then my teachers decided that I wasn’t capable of picking up another language in such a setting, so I was dumped into a special ed class for 2 years before I campaigned for Latin independent study… Ugh.  So now I’m gun-shy about traditional language classes.

Any suggestions?  Similar experiences?

What is the hardest question you have had to answer regarding your hearing loss (or other disability)? Or weirdest? Funniest?

It used to be that my friends stuck to the more basic questions: do you sleep with your h.a’s in? can they get wet? what do you do when it rains?

Now- like my roommate I mentioned earlier- I’m getting more abstract questions: what is it like to hear _______? As well as unexpected ones: do all voices sound the same to you?

This post is for Natalya and all you other Mac/tech pros:

A roommate asked me how I hear music the other day- and with a pang I regretted not having Natalya’s know-how that she used to simulate how it sounds (by way of a recording).? So I ask Natalya et al: how can I learn more about using music programs to simulate my hearing loss?? Any sites with instructions?? Or is this some pretty advanced sound manipulation.. that’s beyond the reach of? my non-techie comprehension?

Do I use Apple’s Garageband program?

I always find it funny when hearing friends suddenly realize why some of my habits exist.? It’s a revelation to them- they can’t believe they didn’t make the connection to my hearing loss any sooner.

I brought my iPod to work today.? As I always do, I placed my head-sets high on my ears, so as to receive the sound through my behind-the-ear aids.? But then my coworker started talking, so I pulled the headset down around my neck.? After we’d covered the information he needed, he remarked that he’d just put two&two together: he thought my headsets were high on my ears so that I could still hear people talking to me.? After all, that’s why a hearing person would wear their headsets like so.

“It never even occurred to me that that’s how you would have to hear the music!”

Any similar anecdotes?