Ahhh, my posting stupidity defeats me again. If anyone can repost that to an active link, I’d appreciate it.
I attended Madonna University. It’s close to Windsor, Ontario and Detroit. It had a deaf education program, where it welcomed deaf students from anywhere. The school had professors that were deaf, or not, but it even if not they knew how to do American Sign Language. I got to know many, many students that were deaf.
The “deaf culture” is a distinct culture. Those that cannot hear stay with their own kind. Some of them embrace cochlear implants, others do not. A lot of it had to do with whether or not they were genetically deaf, or if both of their parents were deaf. If they were raised in a family where hearing was not valued, because they were fine and had adapted to what the hearing call a “disability”, then they tended to frown upon cochlear implants. Others didn’t care one way or the other. Cochlear implants changed the lives of many students.
What I found fascinating was the lip-reading that everyone did. They were perfect at it, and they would let the hearing students know that they understood perfectly what the hearing were saying.
It was an interesting opportunity to learn about a different culture. I’ve never looked at deaf people the same, since. And I think I value my hearing a little more.