Since most people in this world can't imagine their lives without speech/sound & believe they cannot function without it, I want to share something I think is truly remarkable. There is a space where full detachment from sound exists, & it can be found in the deaf community. 1/

Being a multigenerational deaf person, I have always found it natural, even easy, to navigate the whole wide world without sound. It never crossed my mind that sound was integral to living my life "fully," and that my life has been "less" because I don't hear and speak. 2/

When I interact with hearing people, I find their obsession with sound quite foreign. In the community I was raised in, there is sincere indifference towards sound. I think this level of disassociation is upsetting to hearing people because their whole lives revolve around it. 3/

When hearing people see deaf people being happily deaf & having no interest in sound, it goes against the core essence of who they are & their sensory experiences. It makes them disturbed, angry, and offended. It is as if we are invalidating what is the most important to them. 4/

Noticing, observing, witnessing, experiencing, and thinking about this always trips me out! 5/

In my community, I was taught that deaf people’s inner worth and measures of success have nothing to do with how well we can hear or speak. So, when I am around other signing deaf people, whether they can hear or speak never crosses my mind. I often never know! 6/

Over the years in my interactions with people outside the deaf community, I’ve encountered lots of clashes in beliefs & values. For example, when they first meet me, they often ask me, “How well can you hear? How well can you speak?” 7/

And then there is the assumption that I cannot do many things because I don’t hear or speak. I’ve often heard people making those comments: “Deaf people need to hear and speak so they can interact with hearing people, travel around the world, have a good job, and so on…” 8/

I've met so many deaf people raised in the hearing community believing this about themselves, too. I’ve seen them say: “If I didn’t hear or speak, I would not be able to play football." "If I didn't hear or speak, I would not be able to travel to Greece.” This blows my mind! 9/

Interestingly, one of the common things deaf children raised in the hearing community would say to me after sharing their names is “I am not deaf. I am hard of hearing. I can hear and speak.” or “I am deaf, but I can hear and speak well.” This always throws me off! 10/

Why is this information relevant? I am deaf, and I can’t hear and speak. You are deaf, and you can hear and speak some. What does our hearing/speaking (or the lack thereof) have to do with who we are, our worth, our interests, and our passions in life? 11/

In the hearing community, there is a hidden ideology that sound is what makes a person fully human. I find that really fascinating. It is not my living experience at all. Many of my deaf friends and family members have very exciting, fun, and fulfilling lives. 12/

Whenever we face hardships in life, I attribute them to: (1.) normal human experience (life is hard!) & (2.) hearing people’s ignorance, biases, & bigotry (making it even more harder).

Yet, many hearing people think I have a harder life *just because* I don’t hear and speak. 13/

"The deaf experience" is actually very different from what hearing people think it is. It is as if there is a flourishing underground community of deaf badasses who challenge the hearing-centric notion of what it means to be human. 14/

Simply put, I find it really cool, and I am honored to be deaf.

Thanks for letting me trip out on this. 15/