Good quotes!

An educator attended a convention in the mid-west at 1990's. During one of the workshops, a hearing mother said proudly that her oral son aged five had seven words in his vocabulary: "He can pronounce seven words perfectly." Another hearing mother said proudly that her oral son had 15 words in his vocabulary and could pronounce the 15 words fairly well. Several deaf mothers gasped: "Seven words?" "15 words?" The two hearing mothers nodded with the glowing joy. The several deaf mothers then said, "Why? My deaf children have over 500 words in ASL."

Jean Boutcher, 1994




I happen to be postlingually deaf and speak quite well. When I have to, I use my voice in situations like ordering food in a restaurant.

My mother, on the other hand, is prelingually deaf and never has been able to speak despite years of speech therapy as a child. She always signs or writes on paper.

Technically speaking, in terms of ability, I should be considered the least sheltered member of my family because I can use the mode of communication used by hearing people.

However, it doesnt work out that way; what usually happens is that the minute I use my voice, hearing people inadvertantly assume I can hear better than my mother and they begin to talk faster. In no time, Im lost. I have to say "whoa, waitaminute, back up a bit here..." and the hearing person has to repeat the whole thing. And they usually have to repeat often.

My mother, on the other hand, writes down her question on a piece of paper and establishes from the get-go that she's completely deaf. With that understood, the hearing person is usually more accomodating and writes back on the notepad. In no time, my mother has the information she wants, while I'm still going "eh, what did you say?" with my superior (but worthless in this situation) speaking skills.

Mark Deffman, 1995