Where are the Deaf people hiding? Part 2

A few posts ago, I talked about not meeting any Deaf people since I moved here 2 years ago. Just 20 minutes away is the State's Deaf school and I thought the small town would be bursting with Deaf people walking around, not so. I finally met a Deaf teacher there and she was very nice and helpful and gave me some locations where the local Deaf go. Turns out there is a Deaf club that meets once a month, and also, a coffee shop where they meet to catch up on each other. We traded e-mail addresses and I am looking forward to attending one of these events and meeting other Deaf people. The Deaf people aren't hiding, I am just looking in the wrong places!

The woman that I talked with, she expressed her surprise that I had been here for 2 years and had not met anyone yet. I told her that it was partly my fault, because I didn't exactly beat a path to the Deaf school as soon as I moved here. As I said before, I kind of "dropped out" of the Deaf World so I could focus on my family and raise my girls. Now that they are a little older, I won't feel so bad leaving them for a few hours to meet other people. Plus, I am missing the culture and the familiarity of signing and the understanding that a fellow Deaf person shares. Who else knows, but another Deaf person, what you are going through. Who else can immediately understand what you mean when you talk about dealing with the Hearing World.

I am glad that I was able to meet her today, before school closed for the summer and most Deaf students and staff would be home. I am truly excited to meet the other local Deaf and will tell you how it went in a future post.

On a separate note: I asked about the hearing superintendent that was hired recently and the uproar about the Deaf applicant not being picked for the job. 15 people applied for the position, only 1 was Deaf. The Deaf applicant didn't have all the required qualifications for the job. This has NOTHING to do with so-called "audism". Why would anyone hire someone that was less than qualified for the job, just because they were Deaf?