Are Deaf people aggressive?.By Chidi Olujie

Are Deaf people aggressive?

By Chidi Olujie.

NNAD National President.

So many hearing people have a wrong perception or impression about Deaf people, they think Deaf people are aggressive, even in schools, lecturers and professors lecture that Deaf people are aggressive by nature, it doesn’t stop there, even in the markets, streets and work places, etc. People believe that Deaf people are aggressive because of their past experiences. Even Researchers are supporting the fact that Deaf people are aggressive to the point that when i, myself come across some people, when they find out that i am Deaf, they would whisper "hey, this boy is Deaf, take it easy with him before he bursts".

Another problem is how hearing people use one Deaf person to generalize all Deaf people, for instance when they see a Deaf person steal money or something, they would say all Deaf people steal, when they see that a Deaf person is a fighter, they would say all Deaf people are fighters, and when they see that a Deaf person kills, they would say all Deaf people are killers, maybe that is why they get it wrong that Deaf people are aggressive. That is another ignorance that they have been manifesting for a long time. When you hear a hearing person named John steals money, you don’t just say it is a hearing person that steals but “John steals”, you don’t generalize, you are specific.

Today i have decided to clear up the misconception some people have for Deaf people generally. Some of the findings about deafness may be true but the truth is that they don`t apply to all deaf people. The only problem with deaf people that they are unable to hear that’s all, apart from that, there is no difference between Deaf people and hearing people, they are all human beings. Some Deaf people are born deaf, some became deaf when they were kids, teenagers, adults, etc. Most times, they are deprived, abused and their human rights violated.

As a curious and very detailed person, i decided to approach some Hearing people and i talked to them by sign language without speaking (i know they didn’t understand sign language at all), they tried to say they didn’t understand me but i kept signing to them, they were frustrated and they flared out, we could see that they were deprived, they felt they were sold, used, made jest of, etc because of communication problem, that’s what happens to Deaf people. Sometimes outta frustration, some Deaf people would flare out because of lack of communication and how they are treated, cheated, etc.

But on the right records, we have Deaf people who are very good, gentle, humble, sweet, down to earth, soft, loving, caring, supportive and listeners and on the other records, we have Deaf people who are aggressive, bad, hard, troublesome, careless, etc. The conclusion generally is that Deaf people are not aggressive, the aggressive ones are also human beings and just one of the characters some Deaf people have, just as so many hearing people have too.