[Image description: A deaf person speaking in sign language, with the words “THEY/THEM” and closed captions printed on the screen, as well as a second smaller video of the same person speaking with their voice the same words that they’re saying in sign language.

/ End ID]

Transcript:

As a Deaf person, what’s the one thing I wish hearing people understood?

Recently I was having a coversation with my therapist, who is a hearing person.

I was expressing my frustration about how many artistic spaces are not accessible to me, and her first instinct was to ask if I wore hearing aids, and I said “Nope, ears bald,” and then she asked if I’ve ever considered a cochlear implant which, if you’re unfamiliar, is a pretty serious surgery, and I had to stop her.

Because, when hearing people and able-bodied people are faced with the reality of the inaccessible world that they have helped to create, their first instinct is always to try and fix the Deaf or disabled person.

I am not broken. My ears are not broken. My body is not broken just because it doesn’t function the same way yours does. We are only disabled because you have told us we are disabled. We are only disabled because you built a world for YOU, not for us. Why should I have to change myself when we can simply change the world?

CREDIT: https://www.tiktok.com/@themotherbirdie/video/7076229059000192299

I forgot to link to the original creator before! Sorry.