So because a group of people are proud of being deaf, that means every child who can be cured should instead remain deaf as well? Why would you willingly let a child stay deaf? Or are you telling me these people are happy to have been born deaf, like if they had a choice in the matter, they would have chosen to be deaf? Please.
Obviously stuff like blindness or deafness are things to be fixed, and if we have the ability to fix them, we should.
If I find out that my child will be born deaf, long before they are born, yes. I will willingly let my child be deaf. I would willingly let my child to be blind. I would willingly let my child have down syndrome, or be born missing part of their left arm, or be born with a mental disorder that causes their brain to work very quickly and not focus on one thing for a very long time.
That last one? I'm mentioning ADHD. I
have ADHD. And there are people out there who want to cure that, or think how terrible it must have been for my parents! How terrible it must have been for my grandmother, who raised a boy without a limb! How terrible!
No! It is not terrible! My children will likely suffer from my genetic mental disorders too, and that's okay. It's okay because it is something they can grow and learn from. Mental illness is horrible, yes, I hate living with it, sure, but I wouldn't trade how my brain works for the standard, run of the mill "perfect" brain. (Most mental disorders end up being double edged swords. Have you heard of a woman named Temple Grandin? Fantastic woman. Fantastic
autistic woman. She used her different way of thinking to radically improve how we keep livestock.
Her TED talk is worth watching, in it she explains that the world needs "all kinds of minds," that the way we are wired is not necessarily a bad thing. Many people who have learned to manage their depression are some of the most artistic minds out there. I pride myself on my ability to quickly connect two things that "normal people" wouldn't see as anywhere near related. Guess what? That's my ADHD working.)
Or are you telling me these people are happy to have been born deaf, like if they had a choice in the matter, they would have chosen to be deaf?
Yes. I am. People who are born deaf often see their deafness as a gift, not a curse. It is something that makes them different, they have learned and grown within their deafness to enrich both their own deaf culture and ours. If you gave deaf people who were born deaf a choice, would they have chosen to be deaf, they would likely say yes. They would.
If you asked me, would you have chosen to have ADHD, MDD, and GAD? The answer is yes. That is how my brain functions, and sure, it gives me hell, but it is another struggle to overcome -- and through my struggles, I am better able to help and comfort those who are in a different place in their journey, but where I have been.
I have asked my dad, others have too, would you have chosen to have a left hand? He will tell you
no, that he is complete the way he is. The reason why he never uses his prosthetic hook is because he doesn't need it, he's never needed it. You can't miss what you've never had.
How are things like blindness or deafness "obviously things to be fixed"? Do you see it that way because you are not blind or deaf, and can't fathom living without your sight or hearing?