I have great sympathy for those with disabilities. I’m blessed to have my sight, hearing, speech, and mobility. It’s something I generally take for granted, but when I ponder the loss of any of those I’m not sure how I would handle it.

That said, I take great exception to the ubiquitous use of the word “oppression” to describe any little slight or inconvenience. This is a divisive word used to intentionally incite and inflame. With “oppression” you need two parties — the oppressed and the oppressor. One might “feel” oppressed or “discriminated” against, when the reality is far from either.

This, in my opinion, does injury to the overall issue as it dilutes and cheapens the efforts to increase awareness of the legitimate concerns of actual discrimination. It’s like crying wolf every time you see a squirrel, and I think most of the responses in this thread bear that out — we’re calcified because of the rampant culture of victimhood, which drowns out the cries of the real victims.

And for the OP, I can only imagine that you’ve had to develop some seriously thick skin dealing with people on a daily basis due to your hearing impairment. I’ve even noticed myself subconsciously speaking louder around those I knew were deaf — like that somehow helps. (Facepalm)