Guest Author - Kelli Deister

When a household appliance breaks down and can no longer do the job it is supposed to do, it is deemed broken. When someone drops a plate on the floor and it shatters, it is obviously broken. When the shoes we are wearing begin to develop holes from over-use, they are broken. For all of the above scenarios, when something breaks down, it needs to be fixed.

Some people believe that a deaf person is somehow broken and needs to be fixed. For hearing people, their ability to hear actually connects them with their world. This connection leaves them feeling as though a person without hearing must be broken, since they cannot hear all available sounds. After all, a hearing person relies on their hearing twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. They then make the connection that if someone cannot hear what they, themselves are able to hear, then there is something broken within the other person.

It is important for hearing people to understand that deaf people are not broken. Just because they cannot hear the multitude of sounds that a hearing person can, does not mean that they are broken. When a hearing person judges others that are deaf or hard of hearing, based on the standards they live with on a personal level, it creates conflict. Has our society become so rigid on this issue that deafness is something that is automatically considered as being broken? How can a person miss hearing sounds, when they have not heard sounds their entire life. This is one area that I am firm on, in my own life. When hearing people expect deaf people to do all they can to hear and speak, this is putting that particular person in a box and essentially expecting them to perform. .

For some hearing people, they sincerely believe that a deaf person is not happy, simply because they can’t hear. Our society needs to come to terms with the fact that there are many successful deaf people. Hearing is not a required trait, in order to be successful. Part of my goal for this site is to feature individuals that are deaf and successful. Just because someone cannot hear, does not mean they cannot be successful. Deaf people are certainly not broken.