Plain and simple; that "deaf person hears for first time" video

Go to http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/03/why-you-shouldnt-share-those-emotional-deaf-person-hears-for-the-first-time-videos/359850/ for the article.

DISCLAIMER:

 I don't have a hearing disability, so the views and perspectives expressed in this post are those of a 20 year old with normal hearing. I do not claim to represent or understand the feelings and thoughts of the deaf.

The following post is just a jumble of my thoughts on the article & video.

So I chanced upon this article today, titled "Why You Shouldn't Share Those Emotional Deaf Person Hears for the First Time Videos". We've all seen them on our Facebook newsfeed, all these inspirational or emotional viral videos that have been shared by our friends. To be completely honest, I am rather sick of all this "sharing" that seems to flood my newsfeed. On the other hand, I do come across some really meaningful videos once in a while that invoke some deep pondering and renewed appreciation for what I have, and what I was born with. One of these videos would be the one singled out in this article, of "40-year old Joanne Milne of Gateshead".

If you haven't watched the video, I'll explain it briefly here. Basically, the star of the video has presumably just had cochlear implants inserted, and she is hearing for the first time in her 40 years of life. It is a really emotional video, and I did tear a little while watching it. It made me so much more grateful that I do not have a hearing disability, and much more aware of the simple things in life I have taken for granted, i.e. the gift of hearing. In all, watching the video was an uplifting experience, as I was also really happy for Joanne Milne, and she was obviously also exhilarated and shedding tears of joy upon hearing her first sounds. I liked that a truly beautiful moment had been captured and shared with the world, so I was really puzzled when I spotted a link to the article in question.

Lilit Marcus has expressed his disdain at how these videos have gone viral, and his argument stems from his opinion that it propagates and spreads the idea that "deaf people are broken and need to be fixed". He further elaborates that these videos tell the deaf that the people in these "deaf person hears for the first time" videos have been fixed, while they will always be broken.

I must say that I beg to differ, and I feel that his article is a classic example of people over-reading into a positive issue, and turning it into something negative. This seems to be a growing phenomenon, where people nitpick and try to find fault with whatever they can think of.

For example, if my friend were to share a newspaper article which was written about a student who won a prestigious scholarship to an Ivy League university, I could choose to be overly bitter about it, I could even write to the newspaper forums, complaining about how publicizing and glorifying such success stories could really discourage other individuals who may not be blessed with academic brilliance, or high IQ. Perhaps this is a bold and flawed analogy, and some people may point out that deafness is a disability, while the lack of high intelligence is pretty much what majority of the human population "suffers" from. But what about those who have below average IQ? Wouldn't that count as a disability as well? My point is, perhaps we are delving too deep and negatively into these viral posts, which should merely be enjoyed and viewed with a positive mindset. I, for one, definitely did not look at the video and think to myself: "Yay, a broken person has been fixed.". I watched the video, felt her emotions, and felt so happy for her, that she had obviously gotten something that she had wanted very badly all her life.

On the other hand, Lilit Marcus's lament does highlight the fact that the same piece of information brings forward different emotions and feelings in different people. As a child of deaf adults, he most definitely has a lot of insight to how lifestyles of the death are like, and probably understands their thoughts and feelings very well. I do not doubt that the deaf, or their loved ones, may be picking up a different message from the same video, a message that may or may not feed their insecurities. Perhaps they are much more sensitive and susceptible to inferring negativity therein. Or perhaps they might be happy for someone who qualified for, and successfully got and started living with cochlear implants. Admittedly, I do not know.

What I do know, is that if I had shared that video with the notion of spreading appreciation and awareness, maybe I don't want to be told that I'm being selfish and making no attempt to learn or think about the lives of the deaf. (For the record, I didn't share the video. Like I said, I hate it when videos and articles are "over-shared"). Maybe I just want to share a beautiful and touching moment with everyone else. Maybe I just want everyone to feel happy for the newly hearing person, and bask in her excitement. Maybe it's just that, plain and simple.