What is the real disability?

There may be certain oppressions that I can face.

It can be an environmental factor, such as access to information that is provide verbally. There are people's attitudes, where I could be seen as something to be pitied at, or a brave soul. Finally the institutions; such as the education system, the medical institutions and social services departments.

There are two ways of looking at deafness; the medical model and the social model.

The medical model determines that deaf people cannot function in a society because of their hearing lost. For example:-

I could not go to my local school because my DEAFNESS requires special needs.

The social model says that deaf people cannot operate in society because the environment is constructed for hearing people. So for example:-

I could not go to my local school because the AUTHORITY was not prepared to pay for the equipment I needed.

So of the two models, the social model is easier to adapt and to overcome obstacles.

Thankfully, things have improved since I was a child, we still got some way to go, but I think things are looking up.

For me it is not my deafness that is the disability but rather how society perceives me. So I would say please look at the person, look at the ability not the disability.

For all that, when I look at myself and my deafness, I think, "I'm alright Jake!"