Communication is a prerequisite to belonging. Belonging to a family, a school, a culture—it does not matter the venue or context: what matters is that the first step toward belonging is communication. Two-way communication. Easy two-way communication. Easy for both communicators.
I stress “two-way,” “easy” and “both” because communication—like all human interactions—involves a balance of power. If communication is not equally easy for both parties, or obviously if it is a one-way conversation, then one party has a clear upper hand. In that case, the dominated party’s sense of belonging is imperilled; she or he may become little more than a belonging.
Nowhere is the importance of easy, equal, two-way communication more disrespected than in the Hearing world’s approach to people who are deaf. (Note: I am following Joanne Weber’s practice in The Deaf House of capitalizing “Deaf” and “Hearing” when referring to language-defined communities and using...
James Roots, although currently living in Kanata, Ontario, is a born and bred Torontonian. He learned photography from his father, one of Toronto’s most popular wedding and portrait photographers for half a century.
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