Simply being human comes with everyday challenges. Imagine being deaf on top of that. As much as deaf individuals find ways to live their lives as comfortably as possible, it still does not change the fact about the certain hindrances hearing loss presents to their normal life functioning, and as a result of the hearing loss they suffer from, their challenges remain unique. Yet, some of these unique challenges are also common to hearing individuals. In this article, we will be examining some of the challenges of deaf individuals and also look at the ways each of these challenges can be overcome.
Challenge #1: Self-Esteem Problems
In most cases where deaf individuals feel that suffering hearing loss puts them at a disadvantage, they have low self-esteem. Confidence in themselves as individuals and in their capacities which has nothing to do with if they can hear or not generally reduces because society makes them feel inadequate and sometimes you find that hearing individuals treat them as lesser individuals.
How to Overcome This:
The first thing deaf individuals can do to overcome the problem of self-esteem is to continuously remind themselves that they are more than their hearing capacity. Surviving as a human being requires strength that is not limited to the function of one’s ears.
While they bear this in mind, they must also surround themselves with people (family and friends) who love them and who see and define them beyond their hearing loss.
Challenge #2: The Problem of Independence
For deaf individuals, having to rely on others to navigate life due to their hearing loss and being in a hearing society that constantly struggles to make steady considerations for the deaf, there is the issue of having their independence snatched away from them (sometimes involuntarily).
When they are kids, being independent is not such a big problem because kids generally have to depend on others, but as adults, dependency does not look too good and it might become quite burdensome for deaf individuals and for those they have to depend on.
How to Overcome This:
While it might be easy to suggest that deaf individuals get hearing aids or cochlear implants or even hearing dogs, not all deafness is resolved with any of these.
Having a good means of communication, and a way to safely interact with the world around them is essential. This is where learning ASL comes in.
ASL gives deaf people an alternative to spoken language as well as a means to express themselves without always relying on others.
Challenge #3: Safety Problems
Deaf individuals can be vulnerable in the dark. Sometimes, their inability to hear sounds can make them jumpy and easily startled and as a result, they feel unsafe. Even during the day, they might be unable to tell when emergency sounds are made, this can therefore put them in harm’s way.
How to Overcome This:
Deaf individuals are usually advised to have hearing dogs so that their presence not only reassures them but they could act as a sort of alert in cases of night sounds or general daytime emergencies.
Visual signs should be made in public places to enable deaf individuals to navigate these places without endangering themselves.
Image by Freepik
Challenge #4: Sleep Problems
Related to the third challenge of some deaf individuals’ feeling of vulnerability at night, there is also the challenge of having sleep problems given to the understandable jumpiness that comes from hearing loss.
How to Overcome This:
Those who live with deaf individuals should do well not to add to their discomfort at night by not springing up on them from behind. As in overcoming the third challenge, hearing dogs helps.
Challenge #5: Having to Constantly Prove that They Are Employable
Deaf individuals have a higher percentage of unemployment than hearing individuals. First of all, there is a lower percentage of educated deaf individuals due to the technicalities involved in deaf education. After becoming educated, you find employers who remain skeptical about the competency of deaf individuals simply because of their hearing loss.
How to Overcome This:
Various institutions and establishments should be made to follow the non-discriminatory labor policies that allow qualified people (with or without disabilities) to work.
Challenge #6: Lack of Awareness/General Deaf Education
There are still more people who need to be better oriented with the deaf culture and communities, this includes the false assumptions made about deaf individuals that people still hold on to. It poses a problem for deaf individuals when they are constantly misinterpreted
How to Overcome This:
Various stakeholders of society (government, organizations, and individuals) should actively seek/make deliberate efforts to learn the deaf culture and find out real facts about what deafness means and personally understand the uniqueness of the deaf individuals they come across.
You will be surprised to learn that what people call ‘deaf’ is usually ‘hard of hearing.’
Challenge #7: Limited Sign Language Users
Imagine a society where sign language is known, learned, and used the same way as the commonly spoken language of that society, deaf individuals will have no reason to feel odd in a crowd, nor will any unnecessary attention be given to them because of what is perceived to be a deficiency-hearing loss.
As popular as ASL is, hearing individuals who use ASL remain fewer. Deaf individuals find themselves in crowds of hearing people where they can only communicate with less than a handful
How to Overcome This:
Part of deaf awareness involves societies no longer perceiving sign language (ASL) as a language only for the deaf or family relatives of the deaf. Schools can do well to include ASL into their curriculum from kindergarten level to college. This is to enable many people to learn ASL as easily as any spoken language.
Conclusion
It is easy to look at these unique challenges of deaf individuals and try to excuse yourself from contributing to any of them. While this might be true, there is the question of what deliberate efforts you have made to ensure that deaf individuals feel safe and appreciated. One way you can be able to accomplish this is by learning ASL.
Do not take ASL as a language for only the deaf. It is a bridge between hearing communities and deaf individuals. You can go through SignBee Academy’s ASL learning resources today.
Thumbnail Photo Credit to : Image by Freepik
