And kid you better get the picture.

One of the guys who was molested by that priest in the school for the deaf like 30 years ago just said “If I had never been molested, I would have been normal.”

mykicks:

Obviously molestation is a serious thing that has longterm effects for the victim, but I also have to wonder… “Did he molest the hearing out of him, too?”

Mike… I love reading your stuff, so I’m definitely not going to unfollow you because of this one ignorant/misguided comment you made.  As a person who was raised in the Deaf community, I feel the need to shed a little light on your response to this man’s statement. 

While I don’t want to put any labels on this guy, his statement (along with details of his life such as attending a school for the deaf) leads me to believe that he probably considers himself “big-D deaf.”  While being “deaf” indicates that a person experiences partial or complete hearing loss, the concept of being “Deaf” means that a person considers themself to be a part of the larger Deaf community or Deaf Culture.  People who subscribe to the concept/social movement of Deaf Culture do not see deafness as a disability, just a different human experience.  Deaf people have their own distinct language, social/recreational institutions, schools, and folklore/literary tradition/artistic expression.  While it was not the case even 15 years ago, technology has advanced to the point where people who experience hearing loss are able to perform in the “hearing world” with limited accommodations. 

Point being, in Deaf Culture, deafness is not seen as a condition that needs to be corrected.  Rather it is seen as a way of being and living that is completely normal, though it may be different from the experience of others.  In this context, the man’s statement that he would be “normal” had he not been molested, makes perfect sense. 

As I said earlier, I think you’re a funny guy and I know that you were trying to make a joke here.  (This is why I won’t even get into data regarding the higher rate of sexual and physical abuse amongst deaf children compared to hearing children.)  Like I said, my intent was just to provide a different perspective on the situation.