IN A WORLD OF MY OWNDisability and Identity As a Woman

with a Hearing Impairment

Dr.V.JanakiAssistant Professor

Department of SociologySri Kanyaka Parameswari Arts and Science

College for WomenChennai-600 001

Silence

Sulleness

Retreating to a corner

Reading books in solitude; books my window to the outside world

moodiness

Coping with fears:

Moving images

http://enabled.in/wp/author/dr-v-janaki/

http://www.flexicareersindia.com/newsletter/nov2015/janaki.htm

IN MY OWN WORDS.. ONLINE

Family: frequent verbalisation of having an inferiority complex

Fear for future Irritation at slow responses from me Resigned attitude that things will not

change

Friends: acceptance, helpful, compassion Colleagues: encouragement, acceptance

and praise for what I am good at

Actions and reactions

Self advocate: conveying my disability at first meeting itself and the limitations thereof

Walking the talk always doing first before I ask others to do it eg as above

It’s an imperfect world, so who is perfect in anything?

Relationships matter, situations matter, communication, verbalising limitations, not taking things or anyone for granted, compromising but not at the cost of your dignity

Lessons learnt and learning still…

Books of any genre enhanced my love for reading and writing

Achievers of disability and anyone who beat the odds

My family, despite misgivings gave me unconditional love and support in all my endeavours, glorying in my achievements

inspirations

Our minds are like parachutes, they function only when open

Quote unquote

"Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all - the apathy of human beings." - Helen Keller

Truth be told….

Silence

Sulleness

Retreating to a corner

Reading books in solitude; books my window to the outside world

moodiness

Coping with fears:

http://www.disabled-world.com/disability/statistics/

Women and girls with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to abuse. A small 2004 survey in Orissa, India, found that virtually all of the women and girls with disabilities were beaten at home, 25 per cent of women with intellectual disabilities had been raped and 6 per cent of disabled women had been forcibly sterilized.

Women with disabilities are recognized to be multiply disadvantaged, experiencing exclusion on account of their gender and their disability.

Having a disability places you in the world's largest minority group

Disturbing facts….about hearing impairment

A hearing impairment or hearing loss is a full or partial decrease in the ability to detect or

understand sounds. A hearing impairment exists when an individual is not sensitive to the sounds normally heard

by its kind. In human beings, the term hearing impairment is usually reserved for people who have relative insensitivity to sound in the speech frequencies.

Hearing loss can be inherited. Both dominant and recessive genes exist which can cause mild to profound impairment. If a family has a dominant gene for deafness it will persist across generations because it will manifest itself in the offspring even if it is inherited from only one parent.

People who are hard of hearing have varying amounts of hearing loss but usually not enough to be considered deaf. Many people who are deaf consider spoken language their primary language and consider themselves "hard of hearing".

People with unilateral hearing loss (single sided deafness/SSD) can hear normally in one ear, but have trouble hearing out of the other ear. Problems with this type of deficit is inability to localize sounds.

Those who lose their hearing later in life, such as in late adolescence or adulthood, face their own challenges. For example, they must adjust to living with the adaptations that make it possible for them to live independently. They may have to adapt to using hearing aids or a cochlear implant, develop speech-reading skills, and/or learn sign language.

Famous people with hearing impairment Include Helen Keller Ludwig Beethoven Thomas Edison.

Very disturbing …

For me hearing impairment and disability have merged into one they are 2 sides of the same coin..

Situations, interactions, reactions from family, peers, colleagues have had a lasting impact on my life in terms of life choices, opportunities, my reactions to people and situations

Have learnt that self advocacy, strong self belief, walking the talk are key to a better quality of life..experience is the best teacher..

To conclude…

Thank you