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Correcting stereotypes about hearing and speech
By Tseng Tan |
November 28, 2012, Wednesday
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I usually take my brisk morning walk along the footpath around an open field larger than a football field and surrounded by apartments on three sides. At 6:30am, I meet various individuals on the way to work using the same footpath that leads to bus stops.
Some individuals nod as we cross paths, others greet me with a cheery "good morning," and there are those who do not want any eye contact.
Still others are focused on the music in their wired ears.
One individual waves and gives me a thumbs-up sign each time I meet him. He must have noticed that I perform this routine nearly every day of the week.
One day he walked toward me and gave the same thumbs-up sign and I responded by saying, "Good morning. Going to work?"
To my astonishment, he pointed to his ear and mouth and gave a negative sigh. Oh dear, he was telling me that he is deaf and mute.
Then he held up his palm and we did a high-five! Soon he was off on his way to the bus-stop, galloping at a brisk pace with a smile. In this instance, I was guilty of stereotyping. I had assumed that all the individuals that I meet are the normal speaking and listening types.
As I watched his receding backpack getting smaller and smaller as he happily walked towards the bus stop I could not help thinking that this God's child with two missing senses would require less knowledge to survive in this complicated world to live a simple, humble and sincere life.
I had previously observed these groups in the shopping centers, joyfully communicating in their own language, which in the past was sign language. In the last few years, they have been using technology to supplement their communication of ideas - trading and showing "sms" on their mobile phones.
This added skill is certainly a vast improvement as it enables the recipients and the transmitters further visual support.
This skill enables them to lead a purposeful daily life.
As I reflect on this incident, it occurs to me that in the supposedly normal world, we are being fed more knowledge and information that we actually require for our daily survival.
Take the case of mathematical integration and differential skills that are taught in high school. Recently a government minister was asked by a student whether he had ever used these in his working life and the answer was a frank, "Never!"
The author is a senior HR consultant based in Singapore.
Some individuals nod as we cross paths, others greet me with a cheery "good morning," and there are those who do not want any eye contact.
Still others are focused on the music in their wired ears.
One individual waves and gives me a thumbs-up sign each time I meet him. He must have noticed that I perform this routine nearly every day of the week.
One day he walked toward me and gave the same thumbs-up sign and I responded by saying, "Good morning. Going to work?"
To my astonishment, he pointed to his ear and mouth and gave a negative sigh. Oh dear, he was telling me that he is deaf and mute.
Then he held up his palm and we did a high-five! Soon he was off on his way to the bus-stop, galloping at a brisk pace with a smile. In this instance, I was guilty of stereotyping. I had assumed that all the individuals that I meet are the normal speaking and listening types.
As I watched his receding backpack getting smaller and smaller as he happily walked towards the bus stop I could not help thinking that this God's child with two missing senses would require less knowledge to survive in this complicated world to live a simple, humble and sincere life.
I had previously observed these groups in the shopping centers, joyfully communicating in their own language, which in the past was sign language. In the last few years, they have been using technology to supplement their communication of ideas - trading and showing "sms" on their mobile phones.
This added skill is certainly a vast improvement as it enables the recipients and the transmitters further visual support.
This skill enables them to lead a purposeful daily life.
As I reflect on this incident, it occurs to me that in the supposedly normal world, we are being fed more knowledge and information that we actually require for our daily survival.
Take the case of mathematical integration and differential skills that are taught in high school. Recently a government minister was asked by a student whether he had ever used these in his working life and the answer was a frank, "Never!"
The author is a senior HR consultant based in Singapore.
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