http://bloom-parentingkidswithdisabilities.blogspot.com/2018/05/deej-upends-what-you-think-you-know.html
Lacking speech does not mean lacking intelligence, or capability, or humanity.
This seems like such an obvious thing to say. Thing is, it's not. Speech is the single most common communication method for humans. It's taken for granted that you can and will communicate via speech at a moment's notice. If you can't express yourself "normally" via speech, people automatically relegate you to a rung normally occupied by pets and very small children.
Deej, the interviewee in this article, knows this far better than anyone I've ever met. He suggests, in the article, asking neurotypical people why it is that speech is associated with humanity.
I'm not NT, and never will be... but I would guess that it's because it's one of the things we as a species think separates us from other animals. It's one of those age-old assumptions, that speech is what makes for sentience, and therefore because humans have speech and language, we are superior to all other animals. (Also unstated, therefore humans lacking speech aren't sentient and therefore aren't human.)
It's false, of course. Language as we recognize it may be a specifically human form of communication, but it doesn't make or break a person's humanity. Deej shows us this clearly, in this interview and in his movie. He is fully human. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
I have never been physically disabled or had any extended period of time where I couldn't speak. But a few lines from a YA science fiction series comes to mind. A character in the story has a pretty severe case of cerebral palsy. He generally can't speak a single word without a lot of effort. In the story, he gains the ability to communicate using telepathy. While using this ability, he comments, "You know what hell on Earth is? Having a large vocabulary, an encyclopedic knowledge of musical theater, and a speech impediment."
I kind of wish telepathy was a real thing, or that we had two or even three primary communication forms instead of just speech, so that people like Deej, and this character, could express themselves freely.
Communication is important. Speech, though, is only one form of communication. It's time we recognize and prioritize other forms of it as well, so people like Deej aren't told, by our words and our actions, that they are less than human. We have so much to learn from him, and from people like him.
Find Deej's website here, and his movie's website here.
Lacking speech does not mean lacking intelligence, or capability, or humanity.
This seems like such an obvious thing to say. Thing is, it's not. Speech is the single most common communication method for humans. It's taken for granted that you can and will communicate via speech at a moment's notice. If you can't express yourself "normally" via speech, people automatically relegate you to a rung normally occupied by pets and very small children.
Deej, the interviewee in this article, knows this far better than anyone I've ever met. He suggests, in the article, asking neurotypical people why it is that speech is associated with humanity.
I'm not NT, and never will be... but I would guess that it's because it's one of the things we as a species think separates us from other animals. It's one of those age-old assumptions, that speech is what makes for sentience, and therefore because humans have speech and language, we are superior to all other animals. (Also unstated, therefore humans lacking speech aren't sentient and therefore aren't human.)
It's false, of course. Language as we recognize it may be a specifically human form of communication, but it doesn't make or break a person's humanity. Deej shows us this clearly, in this interview and in his movie. He is fully human. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
I have never been physically disabled or had any extended period of time where I couldn't speak. But a few lines from a YA science fiction series comes to mind. A character in the story has a pretty severe case of cerebral palsy. He generally can't speak a single word without a lot of effort. In the story, he gains the ability to communicate using telepathy. While using this ability, he comments, "You know what hell on Earth is? Having a large vocabulary, an encyclopedic knowledge of musical theater, and a speech impediment."
I kind of wish telepathy was a real thing, or that we had two or even three primary communication forms instead of just speech, so that people like Deej, and this character, could express themselves freely.
Communication is important. Speech, though, is only one form of communication. It's time we recognize and prioritize other forms of it as well, so people like Deej aren't told, by our words and our actions, that they are less than human. We have so much to learn from him, and from people like him.
Find Deej's website here, and his movie's website here.
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