The child was without aids and the writer and audiologist cried, "the child's life is in danger!"
A thief who thought the pretty pink things hanging on the child's ears were a music listening device grabbed the aids off the child. THAT was disgusting, especially to a child. BUT, that was not the burning point here. Let's focus on the attitude of Neo Maditla, the writer and the school's audiologist.
The Carel du Toit Centre (Tygerburg) in Parow, South Africa is where the child without pink hearing aids attends and the program trains deaf children to speak. Yes, you read it right. The program TRAINS deaf children to speak. They are NOT taught to think. Puppetering is so happening! Sign language is not allowed. *slap hands*
Here's an unrelated, but pertaining tidbits: The Starkey Hearing Foundation and Marlee Matlin, the enabler raised millions of dollars to donate hearing aids to little deaf South Africans, specifically third world parts of South Africa. Millions should generate toward building deaf schools. Those donated hearing aids will foot the grocery bills when the parents sell them to feed their children. Smart parents. I would, too, if I live in a third world country. And, who's going to pay for those batteries? DUH.
Back to the burning point.
Neo Maditla, a staff writer for Cape Argus whose face is such a welcoming spot for my face-slapping mood. She (it's only a wild guess that Neo is a female) wrote such an offensive and patronizing article. The child is being portrayed as helpless, dependent, incompetent and even worse, a basket case. It's my turn to portray Neo with adjectives. She's moronic, birdbrained, ignorant and shallow. For the audiologist, I'd make her eat ear wax!
Here are two examples that made my stomach doing somersaults (the blue parts are excerpted from the article and the italics are my responses):
1. She has now taken to isolating herself during class, and especially during informal play, because she cannot hear anything. Her personality has changed since the theft of her hearing aids,” said Coetzee Klingler. “Every day that she doesn’t hear, ensures that her speech and language delay increases – taking away her opportunity of mainstreaming at a later stage.” The child does not isolate herself. The school did. The school and parents made her feel that she's different than the others because she's missing her hearing aids. Oh my! *slaps forehead* That's the act of sheer ignorance. I am more pissed that the system makes the child FEELS incapable of being part of the community. Hearing aids do NOT define the person. It's merely a tool. Come on, people! What defines a person? LANGUAGE! The child's school focuses on speaking. Speaking is an ability, not a language. Anyway, it's said that the child's personality has changed. Of course! She's trumantized from the action of the thief. The article shifts the attention onto the child's loss of hearing aids, not the action of a thief. Shame on Neo!! She should seek for the community's help to find the thief for trumantizing the child by snatching the aids off the child! Only a person with half of a brain will write that. Without hearing aides, her speech and language delay increases. KISS MY WHITE ASS, if she signs she'd fare just fine!
2. School audiologist Surida Booysen said that without hearing aids, Inako could be in danger – she cannot hear a car coming or hooting or the phone ringing. Someone's response to this sums it all and here it is: "Ah oh... I am a dangerous person, putting my family in danger everyday, just cuz I don't wear hearing aids. Oh, I put people nearby me in danger all the time since I drive without my hearing aids. Boy, I am Deafly RADIOACTIVE." A very good sarcasm here. THAT's what I'm talking about.
The child loves pink. She dresses in pink clothes. She wears pink hearing aids. I'm sure she speaks a pink language, too.
Okay, enough with my sacrasm. Someone tweeted when I posted this blog entry and I had to come back and inserted this comment, "the thief would not be able to rob sign language from if it was given to her. Sad."
The link to the article is: http://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/thief-rips-little-girl-s-hearing-aid-from-her-ears-1.1127820
While I would not go as far to say that the child's life is in danger, it is really awful what happened to her. I hope they get her hearing aids back.
ReplyDeleteFrom personal experience, when I am without my hearing aids for a long stretch of time, it does affect the way I typically interact with others at work or in social settings. I don't really interact as much, not because the people or schools are isolating me, because I don't really want to deal with trying to communicate through speaking and listening in certain situations. One on one is fine, but group settings and noisy areas, forget it.
I have students who sign and have interpreters and they too withdraw and not interact as much when their hearing aids stop working. The same thing happens to students who don't sign.
I think it is because it feels weird when you are so used to hearing a certain way in some situations. If it impacts the way you feel it will impact the way you interact with others.
The sad thing about Deaf people in Africa is that there is no Deaf culture. Learned from my high school teacher who is from Africa.
ReplyDeleteyup, I agree with (e. Without my hearing aid, I don't interact much with hearing folks because I'm so used to having my HAs on when communicating with them. Used to be when I was a kid, I would REFUSE to go to school if my aids broke or If I ran out of batteries (mainstream). My HAs are very much part of who I am.
ReplyDeletee) & Candy: The problem is: That kid is NOT attending a public school nor is mainstreamed at all. She's attending a deaf school. So your arguments are irrelevant at its best.
ReplyDeleteR-
No, not arguing. Just making a comment about what I personally go through when my hearing aid goes out. Perhaps this was what the young girl was going through when they talked about how it seemed as if her personality changed and that she was not interacting with others as much. It does feel weird at first, but you get used to it. But, I do think they are overreacting when they cried that her life is in danger.
ReplyDeleteFYI, I am not claiming that I know what is going on in that school or with that girl. Why would I? I have never met the girl, went to her school, or South Africa. Who knows what is really happening.
Not arguing here either. I was explaining how it felt when I was without hearing aids. Even at school for the deaf I have to wear it every day - I could go a day without but not more. Every child is different which is why I wasn't about to make a case about this girl. The saying that one has to be deaf to understand applies to one has to have worn a hearing aid to understand and even within these group, every one is different. Not one deaf child/individual are the same.
ReplyDeleteCandy~
I have read all comments. *sighs* There are two different kinds of hearing aid users, from my own observations. First, the group of users who DEPEND on hearing aids to feel "alive" are co-dependents. The other kind of users who USE hearing aids to hear surrounding sounds and are not bigot about them are the ones who know that hearing aids do not define them as persons. Bite me if I turn your world upside down.
ReplyDeleteSorry you think I am a total asshole because I like using my hearing aids in certain situations. But that is my experience with hearing aids, I don't expect others to feel the same way. I suppose some feel more alive or happier with hearing aids. I could care less if others depend on them or not. I don't think they define me though, but others do and that is fine. If it makes you feel better to put down others who like to use their hearing aids, that's your business.
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