Impairment
By Felicia Kane
@DesirousDreamer (34783)
Peoria, Arizona
March 7, 2017 2:30pm CST
There are some terms that are completely taboo to say, we know them, we do not say them because they are offensive and they have reasons to be offensive, they are considered slurs, hate speech, we just do not say them.
Today I learned a new term that apparently is frowned upon to say and that is:
Hearing Impaired.
What on earth? What sensitive little mouse made this word a taboo?
My mom was writing on a post stating she is, "Hearing Impaired" because she is deaf in one ear and hard of hearing in the other. She isn't going to write all of that in a comment, so it would be easier to say "I am hearing impaired" and someone commented back, "can you not say that? It is offensive!"
I looked it up on NAD (National Association of the Deaf) and I had to see it for myself as to WHY this work was considered offensive.
Apparently, it never was offensive until people, who knows who, was it the deaf community, was it someone who wasn't deaf, I don't know, decided that the phrase, "Hearing Impaired" was wrong.
Being impaired means that there is something wrong and needs fixing.
But people did not like it because they thought it would tell the world, they do not "function" properly. That they have a hindrance of being "Normal"
Why is that such a bad thing to say? Yeah, they have a defect! Some are born deaf, some become deaf, some have an accident that causes them to go deaf, yes that is a broken part of your anatomy.
Some people get hearing aids, some get cochlear implants, they do something to fix their defect.
And that is the definition to IMPAIRMENT. Weakened or damaged. Or A disability.
Well not hearing is a disability, so why can't you say you are hearing impaired?
So, is it wrong to say you have an vision impairment? If you are blind and get glasses or laser eye surgery to fix it?
Is it wrong to say you are mobility impaired, if you are in an accident and cannot move but there is hope you can walk someday?
My mom says she has not problem being called hearing impaired. It isn't offensive at all.
She told me when she went to Deaf camp that the sign would say, "Camp for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired" Because hearing impaired could mean so many times, hard of hearing, loss of hearing, losing hearing, will lose hearing, prevention of hearing.
So back in the 70s and 80s this term was okay to use, so because people do not want to be seen as "broken" a perfectly good explanation to what is wrong with someone became "offensive."
I do not understand. It is like not they are using the term, "dumb" like they did in the past. They are not using the terrible, R-word that is actually really offensive.
If you are offensive by this post, I am sorry, but look up what impairment means and it is a perfectly good word to explain someone's situation if Deaf and HOH is not the best explanation.
9 people like this
9 responses
@DesirousDreamer (34783)
• Peoria, Arizona
7 Mar 17
The term is actually politically correct, there are just some people that are for some reason offended by it. there are articles all over talking about it and the NAD had the best explanation that some people of the community do not use it but some people do not like it because they do not want to be seen as "different"
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
7 Mar 17
@DesirousDreamer Well, people are not alike, like it or not. If someone has only one leg, for example, he or she can't say that they're the same as someone with two legs.
1 person likes this
@Mike197602 (15487)
• United Kingdom
7 Mar 17
You're too modest...I expect if we both took an English grammar test you'd beat me.
PS...I'd disagree with PC not being big in Germany.
Maybe it is with regards to language but not in real things such as immigration.
1 person likes this
@nottoooldtowrite (2715)
• Philippines
7 Mar 17
If hearing impaired is offensive what term for that is not?
@nottoooldtowrite (2715)
• Philippines
7 Mar 17
@DesirousDreamer yeah. Or hearing difficulty? Challenged? Errr... I also do not know.
@DesirousDreamer (34783)
• Peoria, Arizona
7 Mar 17
I guess just hard of hearing? But that term is so vague, so I have no clue!
@rusty2rusty (6751)
• Defiance, Ohio
24 Mar 17
I am hearing impaired and use the term often. Whoever was offended needs to suck it up. Hearing impaired is not a bad word or offensive in any way.
@DesirousDreamer (34783)
• Peoria, Arizona
26 Mar 17
Exactly! Apparently there is a handful of people who gets offended by this phrase. It is crazy!
1 person likes this
@rusty2rusty (6751)
• Defiance, Ohio
26 Mar 17
@DesirousDreamer Anyone gets offended around me, I would tell the same. To suck it up!
@DesirousDreamer (34783)
• Peoria, Arizona
27 Mar 17
@rusty2rusty Haha good idea
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
7 Mar 17
That is ridiculous. This political correctness will destroy us because people use it to avoid the truth. People apparently don't like to hear the truth and would rather deal with euphemisms.
When I was young I had a friend that was mentally retarded. These days that term would be considered insulting and I might even get taken to court for slander. But "retarded" means that something has been made slower than normal and in people whose brains are impaired by some disease or injury it is the true description of their condition. In my day it was not a term that was used as an insult but most people said it with compassion.
I think that part of what has changed is that people have gotten meaner and less compassionate, more self-centered. When they say someone is mentally retarded they say it with derision and a sense of being superior to the person they are describing. To combat a person like that we are told to say mentally challenged or something other than the bare truth.
PC can harm people. When we say someone is big or weight challenged when they are fat, we hurt them irreparably by denying they have a problem and not naming it. They think they are normal and will continue their habits until they kill themselves with food or by their own hand.
I could go on and on but I'll spare y'all that. Hiding the truth is never a good thing and that's exactly what PC does, it hides the truth and denies the problem.
Oh, btw, back in the 80s scientists discovered the "gay" gene but there was such a hue and cry and protest that they hid it because it implied that something was "wrong" with them somehow. How advanced would we be now if that had been allowed out to the general public and publicized widely, showing that homosexuals were not sinners but born that way? Nothing good ever comes from running from the truth.
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
7 Mar 17
@DesirousDreamer I just don't understand why people are offended by the truth. Yeah, I don't like the R word much either because of what it's been turned into. Too bad people can't just be nice to each other.
@DesirousDreamer (34783)
• Peoria, Arizona
7 Mar 17
I don't like the R-word because people have and always had used it as a slur for people who are a bit slower. That is a little different of a comparision.
The term hearing impaired is actually politically correct, people just get offended.
1 person likes this
@DesirousDreamer (34783)
• Peoria, Arizona
7 Mar 17
@dragon54u I just wish people were not so sensitive, especially when they are the ones that are making the situation or word or whatever worse or offensive.
1 person likes this
@FayeHazel (40248)
• United States
8 Mar 17
I find that cringe worthy. We need ways to describe things.... and situations....
@DesirousDreamer (34783)
• Peoria, Arizona
8 Mar 17
It is hard to explain anything when who knows if the certain word you are using could be "offensive"
@Rusty_Coyote (1)
• United States
5 Apr 17
It's considered offensive to those who are Deaf (capital D) who use American Sign Language (ASL) as their main language and are fully involved in the Deaf community. We feel that we are not broken (impaired) and we can do everything a "hearing" person can except hear.
So the proper label would be "Deaf or Hard of Hearing".
But yes it doesn't offend those deaf (small d) who speak well, do not sign, and are more involved in the "hearing" world.
So it's a Cultural thing.
I hope this helps explain the difference.
@DesirousDreamer (34783)
• Peoria, Arizona
10 Apr 17
I have met many many people who are Deaf with a capital D who do not care. Impairment does not mean broken, it means it does not function like normal and there is room for improvement.
It used to be the Deaf and Hearing IMPAIRED. That is what classes were called, camps, that is what people still call it. It is not an offensive word. You are not an impairment, your hearing just is. And it isn't meant to be a bad thing, it just means it does not function. It is not like someone is saying "Oh you are a defect" but you call people who have a birth defect "a person with a birth defect" To me, being called defect way more offensive than being impaired because at least I have a dictionary and know what the word impaired means and being called defective makes you sound like an object.
I have met so many people, worked with so many people who do not give a rat's behind what they are called. It is only a handful of people who do not like being called Hearing Impaired.
I have talked to so many on which do they prefer and not one, not one out of the many people have talked to...do not care. And it isn't like I introduce people as "Hi, this is Suzy, and she as a hearing impairment" or "she is hearing impaired" No I just go, "Hi, this is Suzy." Because your impairment doesn't define you.
@1creekgirl (40515)
• United States
8 Mar 17
Being PC is so ridiculous. I hate to say I am hard of hearing because it makes me sound old.
I prefer to say I have a hearing loss!
I prefer to say I have a hearing loss!@DesirousDreamer (34783)
• Peoria, Arizona
8 Mar 17
This term is actually politically correct though just some people of the "community" do not like it. Probably not even 5% of it do not like it. The rest were probably taught the word has just another version to say hard of hearing or whatever. HOH should not make you sound old since I have had many people in my life who are my age that are deaf, losing their hearing, or beginning to. It is just a term!
1 person likes this
@Dena91 (15860)
• United States
8 Mar 17
People look for ways to be offended constantly. We have a niece who was born deaf, had the cochlear implants. We went to many classes for the deaf and hearing impaired to help her. People need to grow up.
@DesirousDreamer (34783)
• Peoria, Arizona
8 Mar 17
I swear people just want to always feel offended because feeling happy is just too much for them haha!
That is amazing that everyone is trying to help her.
1 person likes this
