If I try too hard to interpret what Amanda means when she writes this post then I’ll risk putting words into her mouth. So instead I’ll say what it means to me:

I don’t want people to “look past” the fact that I am Deaf in order to accept me as a person. NOT because I object to the terminology but because I object to the idea that there’s anything wrong with being Deaf that people should have to ignore it in order to accept me. If people can only figure out how to accept me or tolerate me by pretending that I’m basically just a hearing person who “hears differently” or whatever then I just don’t want that brand of “acceptance” because that’s not “acceptance” at all. That’s just dressed up failure to accept who I REALLY am. And, yes, being Deaf is one part of that. It’s not all of who I am, it’s not even the most important part of who I am, but it’s there, and to try to pretend that out of existence is to reject one part of who I am–no matter what synonym you come up with for “looking past.”

There is a time and a place to have dialogue about language. But if you worry too much about terminology then you run the risk that you could end up overlooking far more fundamental issues related to how disability is perceived, or how people with disabilities are treated.

I think such a post, if/when you are able/have a desire to do so, will help a lot of people……if there are already such posts in existence…….could you or n or andreashettle or anyone else familiar with them please post them for us?
Thanks

Ivan

I don’t want people to “look past” my ADHD, either. It’s shaped my personality, my outlook on life – it’s part of me, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health…

Of course, I “pass” for normal more often than not, and have all my life. The oddities I have can be brushed off by those around me as little quirks that are just part of “Janna”. But my best friend, who’s known me for over twenty-five years, told me a couple of weeks ago that in the last six months I’ve seemed the most “normal” to her. I attribute that “normalcy” to a few things: finding the right meds; finally landing a job that allows me the freedom to work within my ADHD instead of constantly pushing myself to “overcome” it; and an overall lessening of stressors in my life.

The positive changes I’ve made in my life are, I think, an example of what life *can* and *should* be able to be like for everyone. I still have interesting “ADHD moments” (I left my car lights on twice in less than two weeks and drained the battery, for example; I now have a sign on my passenger seat that says ‘Turn off the lights, you silly silly girl!’) because medication doesn’t eliminate ADHD – and I wouldn’t want it to.

Don’t “look past” my ADHD; it’s impossible to do so. It’s wrapped up within my very being.

I never comment here enough, but every one of your posts resonates with me so deeply and puts into words what I can’t or don’t have the energy to write about.

Thanks so much. :-)

I’ve linked to a couple of your posts for BADD, BTW.