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If you could become Hearing, would you?
(A common question that Hearing people ask or secretly want to ask to Deaf people.)
Question: Would you choose to be hearing if you could?
Answer: I'd choose to be Superman if I could.
I know the popular (Deaf Culture approved) answer to "Would you choose to be Hearing if you could?" – is "Oh no! I wouldn't do that!"
However, let's be nuanced -- instead of superficial.
What I like about being Deaf isn't the silence but rather it is the connection to others in the Deaf community.
If I could maintain all of the wonderful friendships, networks, and connections to which I have access now – then sure, I'll accept any and all physical improvements* the universe seeks to bestow upon me. Bring it on.
If it means giving up one bit of connection with my loved ones? Screw the universe.
[William G. Vicars, EdD, 2022]
Notes:
*Note: Cochlear implants are "not" an improvement. At present such implants are destructive to the cochlea and preclude benefiting from future biological-based solutions.
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