Tony wrote:
>The deaf community (and deaf people) continue to be rent by the medical vs
>the social model and the twain never meet. That is why the issues and
>arguments go around and around and around.
OK, you've hit my 'hot button' - I think the UK Deaf community is rather
confused about the social model and tends to adopt the medical model in
relation to disability (which is not Deaf). Cochlear implants are a classic
example. Most of those who oppose them (I oppose them in some circumstances
and I would never consider having one myself) have never sat down with
someone who has become deaf and asked them what they think about the Deaf
community's attitude to 'newcomers'. There's something here about how a
particular group's emotions about something eventually get translated into
a 'representative' policy document that says that thing should be banned
outright, because it's easier to take the extreme, totalising position than
to try to sort through all the complex details and see how they can be
networked. I won't go into that further but I get very, very frustrated
with people who can't (or won't in the case of the Deaf élite) see the
extent of oppression and the commonalities and shared histories across
oppressions. Thus, I particularly like the parts of Laurence's posting on
allies which say:
2. Assume that you have a perfect right to be concerned with other
people's liberation issues, and that it is in your own interest to do so
and to be an ally.
8. Become an expert in the history of diverse groups and help
diverse groups take pride in their history.
12. Be an 100% ally. Everyone's oppression needs to be opposed
unconditionally.
The problem, as you rightly say, is the way we think. We *do* think in
terms of dichotomies, dualisms, either/or, us and them, and this creates
struggle. It interests me that when some of us try to break down this way
of thinking *because* we have learned from our histories about the damage
it does, and because we can see the wheel being reinvented without any real
change, we receive nothing but abuse
>
>At times I despair of humanity, and wish that it would just follow the pied
>piper of Hamilton and into the sea and just drown. It would be cathartic
>alright, but it wouldn't resolve anything.
You are so right. Carry on taking risks, Tony. Yes it hurts, but
something's got to give at some point ...
Cheers, Mairian
Mairian Corker
Senior Research Fellow in Deaf and Disability Studies
Department of Education Studies
University of Central Lancashire
Preston PR1 2HE
Address for correspondence:
111 Balfour Road
Highbury
London N5 2HE
U.K.
Minicom/TTY +44 [0]171 359 8085
Fax +44 [0]870 0553967
Typetalk (voice) +44 [0]800 515152 (and ask for minicom/TTY number)
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"To understand what I am doing, you need a third eye"
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