{"id":630,"date":"2019-06-01T22:34:05","date_gmt":"2019-06-02T02:34:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nyhanmaum.org\/EM\/?p=630"},"modified":"2019-06-02T17:38:27","modified_gmt":"2019-06-02T21:38:27","slug":"sharing-burdens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nyhanmaum.org\/EM\/sharing-burdens\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharing Burdens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Note: This is a raw, honest\ntestimony. Because it comes from a D\/deaf point of view, it will be very\ndifferent from what hearing people understand and experience. I would like to\nthank you for taking the time to read. This is not a “pity me” post.\nIt is a call to action. Are you ready to join us? We have sign language \ud83d\ude42<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo nothing from\u00a0selfish ambition or\u00a0conceit, but in\u00a0humility count others more significant than yourselves.\u00a0Let each of you\u00a0look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.\u201d \u2013 Philippians 2:3-4 (ESV)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think it\u2019s fair to say that the\nmajority of our anxieties stem from external factors. It usually comes from\npeople (we all are guilty as charged) looking out for their own interests\nwithout considering other\u2019s interests as well. We can practice all the\nself-care we want, but until the root of the problem is resolved (usually comes\nfrom working in concert with other people), anxieties will continue to eat away\nat us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me give one personal example. Deaf\nanxiety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deaf anxiety \u2013 what is it? My first\nclear understanding of it came from a Deaf activist, Artie Mack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\narticulated many things I experienced as a person who went through all stages\nof hearing loss (from mild hearing loss to profoundly deaf). Deaf anxiety is hard\nfor hearing people to understand \u2013 I think it is one of those things that have\nto be lived in order to be understood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

D\/deaf, HOH\nand those with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) carry the heaviest burden\nwhen interacting with hearing people. To make communication work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part of deaf\nanxiety is feeling as if I’m a burden. People may not necessarily say it out\nloud, but the way they have treated me shows differently. The deep sighs when\nasked to repeat. The eye rolling as if I should have known better and should be\nkeeping up with everyone else. The “never mind”, “I will tell\nyou later,” “it’s not that important”…..The dismissal\nattitudes. I am always placed in situations where I have to meet the\nexpectations of hearing people around me to process and respond in the same\npace as they do – without support. Without any accommodation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deaf anxiety\nis not related to our identity of being D\/deaf, or the challenges related to\nour disability. Rather, it comes from the fact that we constantly overwork\nourselves to function, communicate, respond and connect with others as a\nhearing person would without giving any consideration to our own needs. In my\nperspective, deaf anxiety is mostly a result from the widespread belief and\nattitudes that we D\/deaf people have to accommodate the hearing world. In other\nwords, we constantly challenge ableist attitudes. We live in a society that\ndoesn\u2019t respect us, and teaches us that we have to be like a hearing person.\nOur anxieties come from external factors, and therefore requires external\nsolutions in collaboration with hearing people to address them. We live in an\ninaccessible society!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m told that\nI lip-read pretty well. But the truth? There is always the chance that I\nmisunderstand. And I have seen the ugly side of people who have used that\nagainst me. The problem is that while speech accommodates hearing people,\nlip-reading does not accommodate D\/deaf or HOH. When D\/deaf or HOH people\nlip-read, they are actually accommodating hearing people as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When society\ntells D\/deaf or HOH to just lip-read instead of taking the time to learn sign\nlanguage, finding alternative as well as appropriate means to communicate, or\nrefuses to hire an interpreter, this leads to problems. These attitudes and\nideas are based on the assumption that lip-reading is an acceptable way for\nD\/deaf or HOH to communicate. It also is rooted in the belief that hearing\npeople don\u2019t have to make any meaningful effort to communicate with us. That\u2019s\nwhy we say the main difference between D\/deaf, HOH and hearing people is\nprivilege. This is not the way Bible teaches us to treat others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\nChristians, whenever it is in our power and capacity to act, please do good to\nothers (Proverbs 3:27). Meet other\u2019s needs even if it means going out of your\ncomfort zone to do so. This is what it means to fulfill the law of Christ\n(Galatians 6:2).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I encourage\nyou to start being more mindful of D\/deaf and HOH communities. Try learning\nmore about sign language and take the journey to understand how it is a\nlanguage equal to spoken and written language. Try to understand how D\/deaf and\nHOH\u2019s experiences are shaped with challenges from learning spoken and written\nlanguage. Just as you would struggle with learning and communicating through\nsign language, we too struggle with communicating in spoken and written\nlanguage. Despite the fact that our language and method of communication is not\nconsidered to be \u201cnormal\u201d by hearing people\u2019s standards, it does not make sign\nlanguage any less significant or fully expressive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re an\nemployer, I strongly recommend you to accommodate the D\/deaf or HOH\u2019s needs the\nbest you can in a manner that helps them work and communicate fully without\nhindrance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are all\nmade in the image of God. We all are here for His purpose. We are not a burden.\nWe are your blessing in disguise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen the\nLORD asked Moses, \u201cWho makes a person\u2019s mouth? Who decides whether people speak\nor do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the\nLORD? \u201c \u2013 Exodus 4:11 (NLT)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note: This is a raw, honest testimony. Because it comes from a D\/deaf point of view, it will be very different from what hearing people understand and experience. I would like to thank you for taking the time to read. This is not a “pity me” post. It is a call to action. Are you … Continue reading Sharing Burdens<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nyhanmaum.org\/EM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nyhanmaum.org\/EM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nyhanmaum.org\/EM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nyhanmaum.org\/EM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nyhanmaum.org\/EM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=630"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/nyhanmaum.org\/EM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":643,"href":"http:\/\/nyhanmaum.org\/EM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630\/revisions\/643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nyhanmaum.org\/EM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nyhanmaum.org\/EM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nyhanmaum.org\/EM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}