Post #21: Chapters 47 & 48

Ch. 47:

The term eugenics was a new one for me, I had never heard of that before. I learned that “Eugenics was an exceedingly popular topic in the 19^th century, when many hearing educators and philosophers decided that it was better for the ‘future of the race’ if deaf people could be prevented from reproducing more deaf people” (pg. 289). Reading this really frustrated me and I could not get over how ignorant people were! That is awful! I was shocked to read that Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, even “discussed various measures for preventing deaf people- whom he called ‘undesirable’- from breeding. He proposed legislation to prohibit deaf people from marrying each other, although admitting that this was an impractical expedient” (pg. 289). I couldn’t believe this considering that his mother and wife were deaf. Reading about the Nazi’s killing deaf Jews, and Christians was sad and terrible to read about as well. I never realized how much they were discriminated.

“An estimated 90% of all deaf people have hearing parents. And 90% of all deaf parents have hearing children” (pg. 290). This just goes to show how wrong those who supported eugenics were. I learned that “Hereditary deafness can be autosomal-dominant or autosomal-recessive” (pg. 290). Deafness is not just hereditary. “Early-deafened children may have gotten their deafness from a bacterial or viral infection (e.g., spinal meningitis), high fever, or accident. Those deafened by exposure to a virus, illness or accident would not necessarily be carrying any deaf gene whatsoever-even if one or both parents are deaf” (pg.290). Many people don’t think about all the other reasons one may become deaf, most people tend to focus on the fact that it must be hereditary.

It is interesting that most hearing children “grow up with a positive self-image, a more comfortable sense of identity, than do many deaf children of hearing parents” (pg. 292). It reiterates what was stated in Chapter 46, which is the importance of a parent’s role in making the best decision for their deaf child.

Ch. 48:

I had never heard of a woman falling during pregnancy being a cause of deafness. To me that sounded a little strange and I found it hard to believe that there could be a correlation between the two. The authors apparently agreed with me. They said, “It would seem more logical for a baby injured before birth to be born with dislocated limbs, not defective hearing” (pg. 296). I think in that case I would check to see if it was hereditary instead of a physical incident. I thought that the authors provided Shelley MacLean good advice when they suggested she visit a “genetic counsel, who can test you, give you a more informed idea of the odds, and provide reassurance” (pg. 297).