Soapbox heresies: Low Expectations
This sounds familiar - pardon the pun. I have always felt somewhat, vaguely insulted when people praise me for doing anything remotely successful - such as going through university, taking Chinese as a 2nd Language (my mother tongue subject ie.) and being an old boy of a, erm, rather well-known school.
I get the uncomfortable feeling what impresses people is not so much my intellectual or academic ability, but that I did all that despite my (increasingly worsening) hearing loss. Some have even practically said so.
Sigh!
During my college career I have had to struggle against a stereotype about deaf people in general, fight against the common assumptions about a group of disabled people and constantly prove myself capable by shattering unfair but understandable generalizations. After blazing a trial in my own limited time (by breaking the prejudices of others) it did became tiresome and repetitive, exceedingly redundant that I have nothing to fight but the extremely low expectations and that whatever I do already clears the embarrasingly low bar is simply taken as brilliant, impressive, wonderful, amazing, or [insert any superlative here].
well, you intimidates me, is that better? laughs.
Comment by starmist — August 25, 2006 @ 6:46 am