The UnSayable and the UnSpeakable

"One of the things a writer is for is to say the unsayable, speak the unspeakable, and ask difficult questions."                

-Salman Rushdie. (1995). Independent on Sunday.

The quote by Salman Rushdie represented what I would like to do. Rushdie is Indian-born and British-American novelist. In 1989, he got a fatwa for his fifth book, The Satanic Verses. He got death threats for that book. I would like to focus on his quotable above.

Now, I’ll like to ask a difficult question and even maybe say “the unsayable and the unspeakable” within our deaf communities. Unsayable is defined as expressing an opinion determined to be too controversial to mention. The definition for unspeakable is “indescribably bad or evil.” Some similar words for unspeakable are:

appalling; horrible; inhuman; monstrous; shocking; unbelievable; unimaginable.

Within our deaf communities, we’ve been prevented from “saying the unsayable and speaking the unspeakable.” Even those stuff that does harm to deaf babies and their families.

It is difficult to understand why we do not encourage families and their deaf babies to begin learning signed languages as part of intervention strategies. I remember, some years ago, a very unsayable incident where some deaf leaders gave a presentation suggesting that not teaching deaf babies sign language should be considered “child abuse.” I also remember the outcry that we were shut up…by both the deaf and hearing people. That can be considered the “unsayable and unspeakable.”

This very one recommendation that families should learn signed languages with their deaf babies can save deaf children and their families from lifetime struggles from language deprivation syndrome and dinner table syndromes. 

I am wondering…

Why has EHDI policy been reauthorized in December 2022 despite its harmful effects on deaf babies and their families? (Hatrak, 2022)