Eye Opening Ted Talk
This week I was able to watch a Ted Talk about sign language and being deaf. I was extremely touched by the video and I realized that people that are hearing often take this sense for granted. Hearing people are unaware of what it is like to not be able to communicate with our loved ones because they do not know sign language or how it feels when you miss out on jokes because no one will explain them to you. Austin Vaday, the man who was presenting the Ted Talk, spoke about many things but the topic that “stood out” the most to me was about teaching hearing children sign language. Parents do this because it allows hearing children to communicate before they can speak but with children that are hard of hearing/deaf the opposite happens. Parents try to speak to their deaf children without using sign language because they want them to be “normal.” Austin Vaday told the audience how detrimental this is to a growing child, it “upsets” their development and may even cause developmental delays. This need for deaf children to be “normal” is the main reason why my article on disability maintain streaming (from last week) is so important. Children that are hard of hearing are still “normal” children. They deserve to be in the mainstream world as much as anyone else does. I’m grateful I was able to watch this Ted Talk and hear what Austin Vaday had to say. It is important that everyone is able to voice their opinions and have a “say” in the way the world works.
As always thanks for reading and check back next week!
Deion
