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Voices of Deafness Transcript
Darby J. Leigh, 27, Graduate Student
"Myself, personally, I'm often asked, you know, if I could take a pill, that would somehow overnight make me into a hearing person, would I take it? And my answer to that question has always been, no, I wouldn't. Because, again, like I said before, I value ... I very much value the experience of being me, and my deafness has become, you know, an integral part of my own identity, which, I would have no desire to remove. I think ... I mean, the idea is terrifying. And I think it's no different than asking a hearing person if they'd like to take a pill to make themselves deaf overnight. You wouldn't do that. Nobody would want to wake up as a completely different person. I wouldn't want to wake up with a different skin color. I wouldn't want to wake up with a different gender. I'm used to who I am ... The cochlear implant issue is a very sticky one in the deaf community right now. I'm not sure exactly how I feel about it. I am very uncomfortable with implanting infants ... I think we need a lot more information, and we need a lot more research about long-term effects, about sense of self, about emotional growth and maturity of children who have implants. If you're an adult, over the age of 18, then, you know, I think so. I say go ahead. Whatever you want ... Where do I put deaf people with cochlear implants, as far as deaf culture or hearing culture? I give every deaf person the right and opportunity to identify themselves ... I do believe that every deaf person with a cochlear implant, with a hearing aid, or with nothing at all, is a member of the deaf community. The deaf community is all-inclusive. It is everyone who has a hearing loss and experiences the world in that specific way."
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