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A Rough Week of Being a Deaf Person

After Mrs. Risma's action to force a Deaf boy and woman to speak went viral on December 2th, 2021 ahead of celebrating the International Day of Persons with Disabilities to be held every 3 of December, I had a rough week and worked up to rebuild my feelings and mental health. Mrs. Risma's action and clarification were really unacceptable and offensive. She shows how does audism its finest and being a normal thing, that seems perfect, better, and must achieve of becoming a hearing person as standardly. Even although, we don't be and we have our identity and culture that are the huge difference from hearing people who are about the majority. We are about to tell hearing people that must know ours first.  

That is really not easy that spend a week, I had a stressful and headache. Things that made me of overthinking is how do Deaf children who were raised by hearing family who doesn't know sign language and Deaf culture. That's the answer that I have been afraid of. Surya Sahetapy is a Deaf activist that ever spoken that there is almost 90% of Deaf children were raised by a hearing family who doesn't know sign language. I'm one of it, that which I spent my childhood without sign language teaching and spending to the hospital, clinic, therapy, tests, and the shaman. I have a hearing daughter who was spent with a verbal language meanwhile I wasn't. Does it fair to compare? 

Having a Deaf person would never be easy to survive, except if you are lucky to have a Deaf parent who knows sign language. Hearing people are about the majority that has the life standard that must be achieved. That's the problem that I have been through of achieving the standard.  Like how being an audism and how audist works that being finest and a normal, that is it what is it that I want to be talked now.

Do you want to get to know how did I learn how to oral-speaking method at school? It was a Deaf school, but it was named special needs school for the Deaf, however, that wasn't really a Deaf school because this school uses an oral-speaking method that was brought by the Netherlands. The process was really hurting and torturous. My hands tied ropes. I was forced to reach the hearing standard. What the ways of hearing people thinking is really working until now. Being Deaf people is considered to be an illness and it doesn't look perfect so that they have to be fixed and to be a hearing person who looks perfect and better. Like medicine that can be recovered. The analogy that I have been thinking in the whole of my life.

Frustration, angry, and crying that the facts I will never achieve as same as standardly that I had to be what they wanted and created. Did the hard work as good as the possibility that never is done, because every human has the limit and the lack that must be realized. I have a limit and lack, I realize, okay. My limit is my voice unclear and messed up, the only closer people I spoke and they understand, but another who don't understand. Hearing people's responses are different, that is tough. Some know and some don't. Not easy. 

But, yeah, there are a few Deaf people who can speak well. But, you have to remind that how their background that have. If they were raised at a mainstream school that had the experience to learn with hearing students, that should be understood to answer why they can speak well. Everything doesn't the same.  

The hearing privileged is to access anything easier their life and hasn't the problem. Deaf people will always get the problem of their life because they are the minority.  Not many hearing people realize that they have the privilege, they force Deaf people must reach their standard without being what they get to be realized how the privilege they have. 

In conclusion, what we're expecting of being an inclusive and open society is that just learning and hearing from the community first. Get involved with them and feel the experiences that you need to have. Learn, hear, and support are powerful words that can be helped to remind easily. That is just what we wanted. To be respected and acknowledged sign language to being named an official language.

I hope Mrs. Risma apologize and sit down together with the Deaf representatives. To acknowledge and respect our culture, then gain an inclusive education for the Deaf. Hope to be better and more gaining the friendly ethics to respect our community in Indonesia. 

Thank you, everyone.

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