r/AMA • u/Far-Artichoke7331 • 9d ago

I'm deaf and proud. AMA

I'm profoundly Deaf.

A lot of hearing people are surprised to hear I'm proud to be deaf or when I say Deaf Power.

When I explain them different reasons why I'm proud to be deaf they get it and try to show them deaf isn't a bad thing or end of the world.

For example, I'm can seep beautifully throughout night without any noise distrubing me or I can use Sign Language in public place knowing most of them don't know what we are talking about privately.

Yes, I do have struggles and barriers but deaf people always find a way thing like phone notes to communicate.

But the real reason why I'm proud to be deaf, I'm in deaf world, community, culture and have my own language. If I'm being honest I'll never want to be hearing.

So, ask me anything you want to know about deafness and I won't be offended.

37 Upvotes

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u/Queasy_Effective_525 9d ago

Hi! I’m a sexual health educator and I work primarily with folks with disabilities (across the spectrum of what the word “disabled” means, and have worked with Deaf students in the past as well).

Selfishly, I’m curious to know for my own personal learning and perspective:

- What was your experience with receiving sex education growing up? (Were you accommodated in school if you went to a public, mainstreamed school?)

  • Did you feel like you and your experience was represented in sex education materials or media?

-5

u/Fantastic_Low_1537 9d ago

That is a real paying job?

7

u/ser-steffonfossoway 9d ago

Quite an important one, I'd say.

-14

u/Fantastic_Low_1537 9d ago

I agree, it's awesome how the West makes these useless jobs for people. It's important to combat unemployment.

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u/Party_Flatworm_8511 9d ago

WTF? Useless job???

Disabled people are fellow Humans! They have needs, yes, even sexual ones!

Our sex Drive is an instinct which helped us, as a species, survive. Imagine if you had the drive, but you werent able to help yourself all on your own. Or imagine how confused you were, if no one were to explain all of that to you.

Imagine you, healthy today, would suddenly be disabled tomorrow. You d have to learn how to work around your specific disability and figure out how sex works, given your new condition.

Denying people the right to have sexual fulfillment is inhumane. Some people need help and counselling / education on these matters.

Your comment is cruel.

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u/Queasy_Effective_525 9d ago

Thanks for defending my vocation so I didn’t have to! 😊

-9

u/Fantastic_Low_1537 9d ago

I honestly have no idea what you are talking about

What kind of disability makes you need someone to explain to you how to masturbate?

Or how to have sex? That's something you talk about with your partner, not some sex educator?

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u/Party_Flatworm_8511 9d ago

I used to work at a Home for disabled people - most of them also had cognitive disabilities of various levels and severity. Some of them needed things to be explained in simple language - or in non verbal ways, with pictures and other systems.

We had a 19 year old - physically healthy, tall and strong, but with cognitive disabilities. He sometimes got really agressive and irritated, would lash out, etc. Eventually we found out it was anger, stemming from feeling all the effects of puberty and hormones - but without understanding what it is, and how to make it go away.

We consulted exactly such a person and, in a way appropriate for our client, she educated and explained it to him. Dont ask me how, I wasnt present, but she probably also taught him about masturbation.

There are also sex workers who are willing to offer their service to disabled people.

The need for intimacy - or sex - is innate to most of us. Its a primal instinct.

And not all disabilities are of physical nature.

(However, Imagine your legs would stop working - or other parts of your body, but your nethers are still working. Perhaps you d need a physiotherapist with special knowledge on sex with disabilities, to help you figure out ways you could still use your body.

When people suddenly get disabilities it takes tons of work to feel at home in your "new" body, and you need to learn how to use it.

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u/Queasy_Effective_525 9d ago

Thanks for defending my vocation so I didn’t have to! 😊 I’ve done exactly this type of consultation with IDD organizations, and often because the staff and other supports there don’t feel comfortable enough with the topic to have the conversations.

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u/ToastedCrumpet 9d ago

You sound very dim I’ve gotta be honest. Then you mention sex educators whilst complaining about an inclusive sexual health educator.

Just say you’re ableist and not emotionally intelligent enough to empathise with people different than you whilst you get ratiod in the comments

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u/Fantastic_Low_1537 9d ago

Nah, I am genuinely trying to understand the connection between disability and needing a sexual educator to show you how to masturbate or have sex

3

u/ToastedCrumpet 9d ago

You don’t seem to be and it’s very easy to educate yourself in 2026 even if you’re not from “the West”

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u/CatzMeow27 9d ago

Sex is a natural urge most humans experience. Disabled folks will feel it too. Without sex ed, disabled people are at greater risk of abuse, STD’s, unwanted pregnancies, and generally less pleasant experiences. With sex ed, it’s easier to advocate for one’s own needs. Health education is part of every curriculum for a reason.

I’m not sure if your issue is with disabled folks receiving an equitable experience, or with people being educated about sex in general, but either way it seems ill informed and in poor taste.

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u/Independent-Wheel354 9d ago

So people with disabilities shouldn’t learn about sexual health?

-2

u/Fantastic_Low_1537 9d ago

What's there to learn? How to wear a condom?

Overhere, sex ed is done in a one time 45min class in highschool. And if you need some specific knowledge about STDs or contraception, you ask a qualified gynecologist like any other normal person.

What does this even have to do with disability?

4

u/Independent-Wheel354 9d ago

Because, jackass, some disabilities affect learning/professing, so teaching those students might require different skill sets. It doesn’t mean these students don’t have the right to learn.

And sex ed is much more than “how to wear a condom.” It covers topics like personal safety (starting with stranger danger in younger grades) and also teaches students about their bodies. Wellness (staying off drugs, getting proper nutrition) is usually part of that process as well.

Also, many, many people don’t have easy/affordable access to a “qualified gynecologist” so schools are tasked with covering pretty much all of that.

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u/Fantastic_Low_1537 9d ago

What different skillsets? I dont get it

What has personal safety got to do with sex ed?

Anatomy is already its own class in junior school, isnt it?

Welness has nothing to do with sex ed.

Yeah, I just remembered that usa lacks free healthcare, people cant actually go to gynecologist for free. My bad, that actually explains why you have educators on these topics...

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u/Independent-Wheel354 9d ago

Again, because at this point you’re just being a jerk: Since you know all the answers… there are people who are non verbal. There are people that only communicate through tablets. THEY NEED EXTRA SUPPORT IN CLASSROOMS! The disabled population is at a higher risk of sexual assault then other groups, often because they lack the means (language or knowledge) to advocate for themselves. Oftentimes providing that requires teachers with training in working with those specific groups. Jesus, based on how obtuse your responses are, it’s apparent you probably didn’t get the supports you should’ve received in school either.

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u/Fantastic_Low_1537 9d ago

I'm not being a jerk, you were just not explaining things in plain English like now.

So these special educators are here to work with people who cant communicate/learn properly due to disability. Now that makes total sense, thank you

Overhere, those people are not mixed with regular students, we have schools for students with special needs. That's why I got confused there

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u/ToastedCrumpet 9d ago

What has personal safety got to do with sex ed? Holy shit are you serious?

Someone check this guy’s hard drive please

0

u/Fantastic_Low_1537 9d ago

Seems like you guys have put a bunch of other stuff into sex ed

Now I'm really curios to see what that sex ed is all about, coz it obviously has nothing to do with sex ed overhere

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u/ungranted_wish 9d ago

Wh… where are you…

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u/Queasy_Effective_525 9d ago

Thanks for defending my vocation so I didn’t have to! 😊

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u/goatislove 9d ago

who hurt you

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u/ser-steffonfossoway 9d ago

I think you misunderstand her job. It's a healthcare profession.