| Abstrakt: |
To the Editor.—There is not only a "Problem of the Deaf Child," as noted in The Journal (221:303, 1972), but there is also the problem of the deaf people.Deafness evokes rejection behavior from the person who cannot hear and from the person who cannot make himself understood. Older deaf people reject hearing aids or use them improperly, and even partially deaf people are subject to reprimand or accusations of "not listening."For the blind, all sorts of organizations, aids, and sympathy are available. Partial blindness, with the possible exception of myopia, is recognized as a serious handicap.Can it be that our profession shares a responsibility for those divergent attitudes toward two crippling conditions, deafness and blindness? Is it perhaps due to the fact that Snellen charts are inexpensive and audiometers expensive? Have we, as a profession, more to offer the blind than the deaf? |
