Do Deaf people have to choose between the Deaf community and the hearing community?
No. Many people who are not familiar with the Deaf community imagine that Deaf people have created or “disappear” into the Deaf community because they cannot cope with or they reject “the hearing world”. This is a myth. Most Deaf people have hearing families, and they continue to be part of their family. Most Deaf people also work with hearing people. They go shopping, to the bank, the doctor, the dentist and the hairdresser, to the movies, the pub, ten pin bowling and other recreational venues, and to church. They buy houses and cars and they fly on planes for interstate and overseas travel, and they stay at hotels, youth hostels and caravan parks. All these activities tend to be hearing dominated and therefore part of “the hearing world”. Most Deaf people are effectively bicultural. They interact with both Deaf and hearing communities and cultures. This is very similar to people who belong to ethnic communities in Australia : they belong to both their ethnic community and to the wide
