Sunday, September 25, 2011
Difference Vs. Disability
I found the discussion about whether having deaf children receive implants when they are born is the right decision or not. In the beginning of class, my first instinct was to question why a parents wouldn't want their children to have the ability to hear if they were given that opportunity. As class continued, I realized that most of the time even if children or young adults have the choice, they will not choose to have this procedure done. This forces us to think about who is to judge what the norm is for people. I liked how the video we watched in class said that what if I were to walk into a room of all deaf people, I would be the one out of place because I would not be able to follow the conversation. This calls up the question difference and disability. If it's a true disability and there is a fix for it, that would be an easier decision. But if it's just a difference, then what? Sometimes we can wait for the children to grow up to make decisions about medical procedures, but sometimes it is necessary to make them earlier. It is a tough call to decide if someone's differences qualify as disability or not.
This discussion made me think about the larger concept of one person making a decision for another person and how that would be more difficult than making a decision for yourself. If I had to choose whether to have a medical procedure for myself, I would do all the research, ask a lot of questions, talk to people who have chosen the procedure and to people who have chosen not to have it. I would make the best decision I could, and then I would live with the consequences. But to have the responsibility to make that kind of decision for another person would be hard. I would do all the same things in making the decision, but because it wouldn't be ME who has to live with the consequences but rather someone else, it would be much harder. That person would have different opinions and life experiences that might make a decision that I would be happy with something that he or she would not be happy with.
Parents have to make a lot of decisions for their children: whether to immunize; what schools to attend; whether to raise them in a small town or a big city, etc. Those decisions alone would be difficult. But to have to choose about having a medical procedure that will alter the course of their kid's life would be really hard. I suppose the best way to do it is to apply the same method you would use for making your own decision...get as much information from as many sources as possible, especially from people who are in the specific situation as the child, and then decide.
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I was the same way at the beginning of class, thinking why would somebody not want to hear? I did come to see the community in the deaf culture and why they would want to stay that way. It is a hard decision to make for another person, especially knowing all of the parts of their life that it will change. I agree that parents should get as much research as possible and not just think the idea of staying deaf is absurd. I don't know if there is a right or wrong answer, but it should be an informed decision with knowledge of the Deaf community.
ReplyDeleteThat's very true, i don't know how capable I would be to make a decision about a medical procedure for some one else, i have a hard enough time deciding simple ones for myself! However, focusing just on the parents; i feel that that's part of the whole parenting process - making decisions that will essentially make your child who they will be in the future. In that sense it seems scarier, but in the end doing what is "best" for them may not be so clear and therefore i feel parents can't hold their decisions to themselves as much. Sure it'd be hard to live with, making a decision like that - but in the end a decision had to be made and it was.
ReplyDeleteWell I think I'm going to try to recreating the epic post I just typed, seeing as how there was an "error" in posting it. Sorry for the tangent.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that the question of a difference or disability continues to come up. A disability is defined as: lack of adequate power, strength, or physical or mental ability; incapacity. A deaf person is disabled. It isn't a question. The question would be more to the effect of asking whether the disabled person is thriving with the disability. The only rational reason why someone would not want a cochlear implant would seem to be this, and the only people who could be in such a position would be those who are old enough to choose for themselves. Babies, however, have not learned the language of a deaf person, and have not missed out on the chance to be anatomically correct. A parent is responsible for choosing what is "best for their child, and is allowed the privilege to decide what the "best" thing is. Allowing your child a healthy life is always the best.
I lost my post too :(((
ReplyDeleteAnyway, to not enable your child, who is disabled in our sound-driven world, is preposterous and tantamount to abuse, effectively making the choice for them that they'll remain deaf to the world for life. As I mentioned on another comment, deaf people miss out on a TON of important information every day, even discounting language. To have it would make them far more effective in our sound-based world, just as to not have it is a clear disability.