“What’s it like, being Deaf?” he asked.
“Well, for me, it depends on who I am with at the moment. If I’m alone, then I am content with being Deaf. If I’m with people who can communicate with me, that’s good too. It’s not an issue. But when I’m with someone who can’t communicate with me, well, sometimes it’s hard.”
“How’s it hard?”
“Depends, again. You got people who are willing to make the effort to communicate, to meet me where I am, and you got people who expect me to do the work, meeting them where they are. But meeting them where they are isn’t always possible. Sometimes I feel like it’d be similar to a person in a wheelchair outside a building that is only accessible by steps, and the person inside is saying ‘come on up.'”
“That wouldn’t be fair.”
“You got it. It’s not. But what would you do, if you were the one who needed the other person to take those steps toward you?”
What would YOU do? How would you answer the question of what it’s like to be Deaf?
