Today was OK, but that's not what I'm here to rant on.

Canada pisses me off. No, that's not what I mean. Social services pisses me off. No, that's not it either. The people that made the decision to take this baby piss me off. Yeah, that it, along with all the other social workers that are so desperate to save a life they draw names from a hat and don�t look into the situation.

This mom is deaf. She's not a social burden and she's not incompatent. She's not an ignorant left over hunk of human that doesn't deserve or can't take care of anyone else.

Ok, so according to the article, mom was letting the baby cry. Since WHEN did CPS have the right to come in and take a child just because they cried? She wasn't beating the baby, unless the baby looked malnourished, dirty, sick etc., there was no point. Yeah I hear you. I know babies shouldn't cry all the time. But what if this baby is colicky? Not to mention, they said the deaf baby monitor wasn't working correctly. What did they do to help fix it? How do they know it's not working? There is no way they could have gotten a good explanation with no one there to interpret.

Sign language is just that. Another language. And since you're doing English to hand movements, that is about the equivalent of trying to decipher the Choctaw language. (Do your history. During the civil war Choctaw Indians were often used to transmit messages, via Morse code, since almost no one but the Indians can understand it. There are a few who can but not many).

So OK. They walk in, hand her a card, maybe look around to see the place, and then take the baby and go only God knows where. That is BULLSHIT.

I have seen CPS take MONTHS to take away abused kids. Sometimes they NEVER go. What was wrong with this baby to take him/her? If anything it was probably a bitchy landlord that just got tired of the normal baby fussing. She went to classes and she's breastfeeding. Honestly people. How many people do you know that breastfeed and went to classes to learn everything you could about caring for a baby are abusive? Sure there maybe one or two, but I doubt any more than that.

Also, Let me explain a few things about being deaf. When you're deaf, you look just like everyone else walking down the street. There's no cane, no facial features, and no wheelchair. Nothing shows that you're different from anybody else. Sure, that may make things easier, till someone says something to you. Then suddenly, everything changes. Hearing people don't normally get angry, but they act odd. Like they're in shock. Behind that shock is almost a feeling resentment. "You look 'normal', therefore you should BE normal". This is not a good thing. This is why there is Deaf Culture, and deaf people who believe that they and other deaf people should live together, work together, play together and have nothing to do with hearing people. It's all about that slight edge people get when they can't be understood. It's about the fact that because they may not talk like everyone else. When deaf people try to talk, people are very uncomfortable. Have you ever heard somebody make fun of a mentally retarded person? "Aahh waaambt tooooooo gooo sTOoooooo nowbt". Isn't it odd that deaf people talk just like that too? So, if mentally ill people= talk funny and deaf people= talk funny, then deaf people= mentally ill people, and there fore aren't worth trying to talk to! EURKEA! Elementary my dear, it is elementary.

Well, ok. Then there are the not so smart deaf people who aren't so smart. Betcha can't guess why though. It's not their fault. It's because of crappy deaf schools with half educated teachers and crappy public schools that don't even know where to start with teaching a deaf child. It's about parents who don't have the chance to get their child into speech therapy and get whatever it takes to teach their child.

It's up to hearing people to listen to deaf people. Just like it's up to the mentally healthy people to help the mentally handicapped. Just like it's up to the seeing to help the blind. Just like it's up to the young to help the old. (boy! You "normal" people have a lot of work cut out for ya) It's our JOB people. It's not freaking community service; it's not a good deed. It's something we SHOULD do, something we shouldn't think about doing. Why is it we can shoot our family members or rob a bank but we sit on our butts for years thinking we should do more "community work"? That just makes no sense to me. If we see something that needs to be done, we should do it. End of discussion.

Guess what? I'm deaf. No I really don't have resentment for hearing people only the ignorant hearing ones. The ones that catch me off guard and speak, and then say, "nevermind" when I say "Excuse me, I didn't hear you?" Or the ones that see my hearing aids and just blow me off, like they can say whatever and laugh and giggle and totally leave me out of it. That's where the hurt and resentment comes in. It's also another reason I closed myself off for a long time, and sought out friends via internet. They wouldn't know I was deaf unless I told them. I'm not ashamed, just tired of not hearing or mishearing. It was just a lot easier that way.

So what's it like to be hard of hearing? Even with hearing aids it's not easy. Sometimes it's worse because if you wear hearing aids, you should hear just fine right? nope. Just like glasses can't always make your vision perfect, hearing aids are the same. Many times I can hear, but I can't understand. Turn on your radio to your favorite FM station. Now, turn the dial a bit over either way, to the point that you can tell it's the same radio station, you can still hear it ok, but it doesn't sound right. The words sound rather garbled and it's not clear and easy to understand. That's exactly what you may sound like to a person wearing hearing aids.

Now, what's it like to be totally deaf? Well, watch me as I take my hearing aids out. PRESTO MAGICO! I'm deaf. BOO! Now seriously. Imagine not being able to figure out what a radio is good for. Imagine sitting in a crowded room, watching everyone but never hearing a word they say, only when you're deaf, it can be your best friend sitting right in front of you. Imagine not hearing anything. No mumbles, no ocean, no birds, no cars, no crying babies, no anything. It's all quiet. Nice you say? Not really. There's nothing soothing about not hearing the ocean waves, the trickle of water, the wind, someone at the door, a family member calling on the telephone, your child's cries, your father's last words. No.. It�s not soothing. Being blind cuts you off from worldly things. Being deaf cuts you off from people. And in this case, being deaf cuts you off from your own child.