Social Question

NostalgicChills's avatar

As a teenager, would you care if someone was deaf?

Asked by NostalgicChills (2741 points ) August 9th, 2012

Okay, imagine you’re a teenager again. You see a girl walking down your school hallway with her hair up and you see her hearing aids. What do you think? Would you care? Would your teen self have made fun of her? Be as honest as humanly possible please. This is a serious question.

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16 Answers

WestRiverrat's avatar

Nope, I grew up with a deaf friend. We didn’t make any more or less fun of him than the rest of the gang. He was the best center fielder and clutch hitter on the little league team.

Sunny2's avatar

I didn’t know anyone who was deaf. I certainly would never make fun of any disability. . . . ever. Only a compete jerk would do that!

Pied_Pfeffer's avatar

Nope. There was a school for the Deaf and Blind in my home town, and they were encouraged to join local youth groups. All that participated were welcome. For the few people that would tease or get frustrated by their disability was quickly put into place by their peers.

MilkyWay's avatar

I am a teenager and I definitely wouldn’t have had any silly thoughts or made fun of a deaf kid.
In fact, I’d make an effort to learn about deaf people, and then communicate with her… She might turn out to be an invaluable friend :)

Ponderer983's avatar

No. My sister had a friend who was deaf, so I was around her a lot. The only issue I would have would be the ability to communicate, as I don’t know ASL. My sister’s friend could hear a little, I think, but she was also a good lip reader. I never had to sign with her and she always understood. And I could understand her when she spoke back.

Bellatrix's avatar

No. I don’t believe so. I can’t remember having any friends who were deaf when I was at school but I suspect that’s because they were perhaps segregated and sent to other schools. I am glad we are now more inclusive in our schools.

I think as much as some young people can be exclusive and shut people out, many young people are very inclusive. Attitudes to people of different races, sexual orientation, hearing and vision ability etc. are learned, therefore the school (and family) environment young people have the greatest connection to influences how accepting they are.

Pandora's avatar

Nope, but I probably would’ve feared approaching her. Only because I feel awkward at times around people with disabilities. I never know if they want me to treat them as everyone else, or if they would appreciate being offered any help. I did try a few times to offer help and sometimes the reaction was as if I had slapped them or I was mentally challenged for assuming they may need something. So after a while, I just avoided them all together.

ucme's avatar

Both parents of one of my teenage friends were deaf, I got along with them famously.

SuperMouse's avatar

I would not have cared in the least.

wonderingwhy's avatar

As a teenager, at different times, I had a couple friends who were deaf. So, for my teen self, the only issue I’d have had with the girl in your example would’ve been deciding how interested I was in her.

Mariah's avatar

I certainly wouldn’t have made fun, and I actually might have thought it was kind of cool. I dunno, I just like learning about what life is like for people of all different sorts.

MilkyWay's avatar

@Mariah I get ya! :)

filmfann's avatar

We had a deaf child in my Kindergarten class, and she moved through school with me. For a long time, we didn’t know she was deaf, only that she had trouble hearing.
Since my wife is deaf, I think I can honestly say I never thought less of the deaf.

SavoirFaire's avatar

No, I wouldn’t care. Special education in my area was divided up for efficiency, and my school had the group that dealt with deafness and speech disorders. This sort of early exposure really normalized the whole thing for the rest of us, especially because the hard of hearing and speech impaired students went to normal classes with everyone else and only had their special sessions while everyone else had music class or a study/free period. It even turned out that one of the more popular girls in high school was from the hard of hearing group.

JLeslie's avatar

No. My grandmother had a close friend who had twin granddaughters who were deaf, and my sister and I used to play with them when we were in elementary school. It didn’t matter they were deaf. I think this would have carried through into my teen years. Plus, my grandfather was slightly hard of hearing. In fact, we had several kids with various disabilities, or were “different” in my jr. high and high school and I don’t feel they were shunned in any way. I guess maybe it was happening at times and I wasn’t aware. I for sure don’t remember any blatant teasing or harassing of those students.

augustlan's avatar

Nope. I learned the ASL alphabet when I was very young, so I’d make it a point to introduce myself in sign.

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