Deaf Can

So, I have new hearing aids, and I love them. They’re transparent blue Phonak Naida Q UP, and I remember why I preferred the sound of Phonak over Oticon. 
I decorate my hearing aids, as I’ve shown on this blog before. I do it because…if I’m gonna wear them, I want to be proud of them! I long for the day that hearing aids and deafness are no longer something to be ashamed of, are no longer something a hearing person sees or learns about and goes, “Oh, I’m so sorry,” and then shuts down. 
The other day, I was hanging out at Target/Starbucks with my earphones in, and hearing aids out. As my roommate Crobat came to pick me up, a pretty girl at the table across from mine apparently piped up to say that she loved my hair. I didn’t hear her. Crobat told her, “Sorry, they’re deaf.” The girl evidently apologized, turned red, and looked down, as if she couldn’t talk to me because I’m deaf. 
That made me feel pretty bad, to be honest. Often, hearing people discover the person they’re speaking to is deaf, and they instantly shut down. They stop talking, they look away, they leave, because apparently deaf people aren’t worth talking to, or we’ll never understan what they said, so what’s the point? 
It’s a really harmful and…I suppose, frankly upsetting view to have. Among that are the ideas that deaf can’t read or write, deaf don’t know English, deaf don’t voice (only sign, obviously). Deaf can’t…. 
Deaf can’t. It’s bullshit. We CAN! Deaf can! We say, “Deaf can do anything…except hear.” And it’s very true. There are deaf football players, deaf actors, deaf doctors. We can do anything we decide to do, and yet, I still meet people who believe deaf people shouldn’t even be allowed to drive, or be allowed outside at night without a hearing person with them. 
Deaf can, hearies. Deaf fucking can.