[NFB-DB] Identifying as deafblind

[Rod and Ele Macdonald]

Tony,

I have been "legally blind" since I was three, but did not really identify as a "blind" person until much later. I went through that tinnitus phase and know exactly how you feel.

After spending 12 years at Perkins I sort of knew I was "blind" but more often said I "don't see very well". I changed to "legally blind" about the time I joined NFB in 1973, when I was 31. 

Similarly, I referred to my hearing situation as "I don't hear very well." Since no physical defect could be found to explain my hearing issue, I was sent to a psychiatrist for six years to find out why I couldn't or wouldn't hear.

In 1975 an audiologist told me for the first time that I was "deaf". I found that to be a big RELIEF - to know that there was a valid reason for my inability to hear - I hadn't been able to hear speech for years.

And that was when I found my identity as both a blind person and a deaf person - now a Deaf-Blind person. The emphasis became on the word PERSON. No matter if I  am blind, or bald, or deaf, or have a broken finger - yes, have had or do have all these things, but I am still a 100% human being, and no one can ever take that away from me.

I also self-identify as "Deaf-Blind" because I self-identify as being from the Blind community AND a part of the Deaf community (but not the Deaf culture - I do not use American Sign Language). I hyphenate the two words because my two very-dissimilar disabilities are combined, not merged. I might use the analogy that I have a right hand and a left hand, but that does not mean I am ambidextrous - I am right-handed, but I read braille with my left hand. Both hands are equally important to me, but I do have two separate hands.

So to answer your question: For me, the point at which I self-identified as a Deaf-Blind person came when I accepted myself, and presented myself to others, as a Deaf-Blind person, without denial, arrogance or pretense. For me that came in 1979, when I joined the AADB.

Rod


----- Original Message -----
From: kg 6sxy \(kg6sxy\) via NFB-DB  <nfb-db at nfbnet.org>
To:  nfb-db at nfbnet.org
CC: kg6sxy at gmail.com
Date: Sunday, August 15, 2021 11:55 am
Subject: [NFB-DB] Identifying as deafblind

>
>
> For those of you that were not born deafblind, how long did it take you to self identify as deafblind?  My tinnitus has been really driving me around the bend lately where I'm completely deaf more often than not but it still feels like I shouldn't be self identifying as deafblind because I still have functional hearing from time to time. It's probably not important either way, just a matter of not feeling like an imposter, I guess.  Just having a bad week all around.  I appreciate your feedback.
> 
> Take care,  
> Tony
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> NFB-DB mailing list
> NFB-DB at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-db_nfbnet.org
>