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Shocking Questions People Who Are Deaf Get Asked All The Time

Shocking Questions People Who Are Deaf Get Asked All The Time

Sometimes people ask stupid questions when they don't fully understand something. But a new video about the most annoying questions people who are deaf get asked is proving how surprisingly tone-deaf people can be (pun not intended).

In a nearly four-minute video by The Cut, the group reveals the most common questions they get asked, such as, "Can deaf people drive?"

While this one is valid, since many find it confusing that it's legal for those who are deaf to drive, but illegal for people to wear headphones behind the wheel, many of the other questions were pretty cringe-worthy, as they assumed people who are deaf aren't physically capable of doing regular things.

The Cut/YouTube

"Do deaf people actually have sex?" and "Can you read and write?" were some of the more bizarre inquiries, while one of the more offensive questions was whether they need a wheelchair.

"People ask me if I need a wheelchair, like when I'm at the airport," one man revealed in the video. "I'm like, hello, I'm standing right in front of you! I just can't hear."

Earlier this year, a woman from Scotland named Bea, who is also deaf, shared a similar video of herself revealing the stupid questions she gets asked. In the clip, which was posted by BBC The Social, she proved that her body — and the bodies of all other people who are deaf — are perfectly functional, by brilliantly responding to the question, "How do deaf people have babies?"

"My ear's not telling my womb to stop making babies. Just 'cause my ears [are] not working doesn't mean I can defy the laws of biology," she said snarkily.

But despite the ignorant questions they often get asked, the group of people in The Cut's video revealed that being deaf is part of their identity and they wouldn't want to change that about themselves.

"There's a lot of times I wish I could hear. You know, that sense of feeling normal," said one college student. "[But] my identity would sort of disappear."

The Cut/YouTube

"I don't think I would want to hear because I wouldn't have any reason to continue signing," another said. "I wouldn't have any reason to be part of this community, or this culture."

And finally, one added that people often think that having the ability to hear automatically means you have a "perfect" life. "But they've never experienced our life or our world," he said. "I couldn't even imagine anything else."

Hearing loss is more common than people think, with nearly one out of every four people reporting issues with auditory perception, according to the Canadian Hearing Society. Additionally, 10 per cent of people identify as deaf, deafened or hard of hearing.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story referred to people who are deaf as hearing impaired. This is incorrect, and the article has been updated with the correct terminology, which is deaf. Visit the National Association of the Deaf to learn more.

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