deaf people

7/24/2019 Deaf People

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Why Deaf People Have Poorer Health than the Rest of thePopulation

It is a matter of fact that disable people have to face many dicultiesin life. It is a situation prevailing in every part of the world. In 2!2 the

"ancet published medical evidence which shoc#ed the deaf community$ bycon%rming that &Deafness might damage your health. Dr 'ohannes (ellinger$from the Heath )entre for the Deaf at the Hospital of *t. 'ohn of +od in "in,$-ustria$ argues that there is considerable health ineuality between Deaf andhearing people /(ellinger$ et al.$ 2!20.-lthough it is proven from this studythat deaf people lag behind in health from hearing people but they are insuch condition because of limited access to services$ lac# of socialcommunications$ lac# of parental care and some economic factors.

(irstly$ Deaf people are the victim of diabetes$ heart diseases andsome others proportionately more than the hearing people because of

limited access to health services /1mond$ 2!0. 3heir %rst language is signlanguage which is no matter cannot be understood by all doctors andphysicians. 3he best these doctors can do is that they can hire an illustratorwhich could ma#e deaf people understand that what the doctor is saying andhow to use medicines$ but this facility cannot be a4orded by every doctor asit ultimately burdens the poc#et of the patient. 5ecause of this situation athospitals and clinics the deaf people are limited to health facilities and theirdiseases are not cured properly which cannot be attributed to their loss ofhearing. 6oreover$ for deaf people there is lac# of health care informationavailable for sign language user at internet and other places through which

they can cure themselves /-non.$ 270. -ccording to the published research%ndings$ deaf study participants had a problem of high blood pressure$ whichleads to hypertension /(ellinger$ et al.$ 2!20.(urther$ half of the Deafparticipants with heart disease didn8t appear to be receiving propertreatment$ and one9third of deaf participants had high cholesterol$ but theirtreatment rates were : lower than rates among the general population.3he researchers reported that the deaf patient with similar level of diabeteswere found their disease growing more than the hearing people because ofunawareness of the disease and poor control of diabetes /-non.$ 2!0. 3hehypertension leads to other diseases and ma#e the situation worsen for deafpeople. 3he poor health facilities for deaf people are worse in undevelopedcountries than in developed countries /'o#inen$ n.d.0. ;ne of the main reasonfor their condition is may be the lac# of health facilities even for normalpeople in these countries. When government is unable to ful%ll the healthneeds of normal people than how can they thin# of providing these facilitiesfor deaf people. *o$ natural hearing problem is not the only problem forworse health condition for deaf people but also the lac# of health facilities


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and poor health control because of unawareness of di4erent diseases leadsto poorer health of these people.

*econdly$ deaf people are unable to sociali,e with other people easily.-s it was also described in the last paragraph that sign language is the %rst

medium to communicate for them which is #nown by a very less proportionof the people in the society so everyone cannot communicate with themeasily. 3his lac# of communication leads to frustration$ loneliness and some#ind of inferiority comple< in these people which itself is a social disease/-non.$ 270. 3hey feel separate even in the most crowded places whetherit is a college$ school or some picnic place. (irst of all there are some limitedallotted seat for these people in normal colleges and after all process if theyare luc#y enough to get into a prestigious institution then they are unable tounderstand teachers8 lectures and presentation because of no use of signs intheir language. It leads to poor academic performance. 3here are somecolleges and schools available for these people where they are taughtaccording to how they understand the thing but level of education there isnot matched by the other institution who they have to compete in future life/-non.$ n.d.0. -lso$ when these special people are recruited by some of thecompanies because of their corporate social responsibility$ these people areunable to perform well because of their poor communications s#ills and alsothey are not able to get good compensation of their wor#. -lthough thesepeople are more hardwor#ing than the other people but still they are unableto get good promotion at wor#places because of their poor sociali,ing s#ills.*o$ we can say that lac# of communication is also a cause of poor conditionof deaf people.

3hirdly$ according to stats 7=: of the births of deaf children happen tonormal hearing parents who don8t #now what are the common dicultiesfaced by deaf people /*mith > )hin$ n.d.0. - study of deaf children of agebetween ! to != years old shows that parents underestimate that how hardit is for the deaf people to hear /Hall$ n.d.0. Deaf children feel li#e a minorityin a family because of the negative behavior of their parents or inability oftheir parent to behave in a proper manner with them. When deaf childrenface diculties in communication with their parents their childhood growthsu4ers which su4ers their overall mental and physical growth. Parents areunable to communicate them well which creates a feeling of loneliness inthem and it also become a reason of them to not able to sociali,e with otherpeople as well. 3hey feel left out in the society and frustration of it leadsthem to hypertension$ high blood pressure and other diseases. ?ot onlyparents but also the siblings of these deaf children who are normal hearingpeople can a4ect their condition. -n a4ectionate sibling can have a positiveimpact on their health and a sibling which does not try to understand theirsituation can leads to worsen their situation /-ntonopoulou$ 2!20. It is also


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seen that parents are more inclined to their normal children when one oftheir children is deaf which creates a #ind of inferiority comple< in thesechildren and it has negative impact on their health /De@ault$ 2!0.6oreover$ when they see their siblings prosper in life with the same e4ort asthey were putting in their academics they tend to believe that deafness is

the reason of them not getting what they might have got in its absence andthey give up. - study8s results show that deaf children %nd more happinessand comfort with other deaf people and with the a4ection of their familymember /Hall$ n.d.0. It emphasi,es the importance of parents and otherfamily members in their physical and metal growth. It is also con%rmed fromthis study that not only e4ective counselling of these children is necessaryfor their mental growth but also proper training of their parents and teachersis also necessary for their good health care and early growth. Without this itimpossible to inculcate good communication ualities in them. *o$ parentalcare and a4ection as well as the behavior of their sibling a4ect the early

growth of deaf children which ultimately a4ects their mental and physicalhealth.

6oreover$ as it is supported by (ellinger8s study that deaf people arefound more of the victim of se


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them appropriately. 3here is only a small proportion of people who succeedin completing their school education /Willoughby$ 2!!0. -fter completingschool education there is a lot of diculties in getting admission intocolleges as described in the second paragraph they have limited seat fordeaf and disable people and if somehow a deaf person is able to get

admission in good college then the academic structure designed there is fornormal people which does not cater to the needs of these disable people.6oreover$ there are %erce competition when they have to apply for Cob.3here is only a handful of those companies who adCust these people in thewor#place but still they cannot get the competitive salaries as other peopleget at the same position and because of lac# of communication s#ills theycannot get good promotion and cannot prosper in their lives /-non.$ n.d.0. Itleads to psychological disorder seeing their peers getting good salaries andwell promotion than them. It may be a cause of high blood pressure$ diabetesand hypertension in these people. *o$ economic factors li#e basic schooling

and Cob environment also a4ect the condition of deaf people.

In conclusion$ (ellinger8s study was mainly based on some e


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Work Cited:

-non.$ 27. Loneliness or Feeling Lonely Owing to Emotional Imbalance. F;nlineG

-vailable at httpwww.charminghealth.comapplicabilityloneliness.htmF-ccessed 2J K 2!G.

-non.$ 27. The Current State of ealth Care for !eo"le with Disabilities. F;nlineG-vailable at httpwww.ncd.govpublications27*eptE27F-ccessed 2J K 2!G.

-non.$ 2!. Deaf !eo"le Lac# $ccess to Care% Su&er !oorer ealth. F;nlineG-vailable at httpwww.hearingreview.com2!2deaf9people9lac#9access9care9su4er9poorer9healthF-ccessed 2J K 2!G.

-non.$ 2!. Deafness and hearing loss. F;nlineG-vailable at httpwww.who.intmediacentrefactsheetsfsEenF-ccessed 2J K 2!G.

-non.$ n.d. Em"loying a Deaf or hard of hearing "erson. F;nlineG-vailable at httpwww.dea%niteinterpreters.co.u#news9events.phpL?ewsIDM!F-ccessed 2J K 2!G.


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-non.$ n.d. !osition Statement on Schools for the Deaf. F;nlineG-vailable at httpnad.orgissueseducation#9!2position9statement9schools9deafF-ccessed 2J K 2!G.

-ntonopoulou$ N.$ 2!2. Parenting *tyles of 6others With Deaf or Hard9of9Hearing)hildren and Hearing *iblings. O'ford (ournals% pp. E=9E!J.

De@ault$ 6.$ 2!. 6ediated )ommunication in )onte )hin$ ?. P.$ n.d. Social Determinants of ealth in Deaf Communities.F;nlineG-vailable at httpswww.urmc.rochester.edu?)DHRdocumentsIn3ech9*ocialQdeterminantsQofQhealthQinQdeafQcommunities.pdfF-ccessed 2J K 2!G.

Willoughby$ ".$ 2!!. *ign "anguage Osers8 1ducation and 1mployment "evelsNeeping Pace with )hanges in the +eneral -ustralian PopulationL. O'ford (ournals%

pp. K!9K!E.

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