strangecarpenter366103

Recently there was articles about two 45-year-old Belgian deaf twins who discovered they were going blind. Therefore, they both decided to end their lives by medically assisted suicide. http://www.mengsns.com/home.php?mod=space&uid=6216946 Fortunately for them, they lived in Belgium, a country where euthanasia is legal. They said goodbye with their family and went into that eternal slumber that people all eventually face.I couldn't help but feel profoundly sad for these two men. One reason is that I just don't think the life span of a deaf and blind person is worthless. Also because I don't think that people who are depressed should be allowed to end their lives. Psychiatrists can help both with therapy and medications, if necessary.The main reason I feel sad for these men is that I saw the movie, The Miracle Worker, about Helen Keller. She actually is famous worldwide as a female who was both deaf and blind who became an author, public speaker and political activist, traveling around the globe. If Helen Keller could make a life worth living, why couldn't both of these men?I find it hard to believe that challenging medical advances out there, they couldn't come up with a solution to help their deafness or prevent them from going blind.I recently saw a movie about cochlear implants. These devices have allowed children who were born deaf to hear and become the main hearing world. However, in this movie, they did say these implants aren't as successful in adults. The cochlear implant allows them to listen to but they don't necessarily understand what they're hearing so they still rely on lip-reading. Because children's brains remain developing, they are more likely to learn to understand and communicate such as a hearing person.Let's just assume these men looked into all the medical likelihood of improving their eyesight and hearing, and there were none. What options are left for them as deaf and blind people?The problem with cochlear implants and solutions for the deaf is they assume you can see. After all, the deaf world is filled with people who can easily see. Likewise, the blind community is filled with people who can hear. Somebody who is both deaf and blind would have one foot straddling both communities. Yet they would not really be considered a full member of either world.I started to think about all the difficulties of a person who can neither see nor hear. Then I thought who am I to judge these men on the decision? After all, I am speaking from the position of privilege. I can see, although not in addition to I used to be able to. I could hear, albeit with some hearing loss.What kind of life would someone deaf and blind live? What would each day in their life end up like? When I think about all the things I do on a daily basis that a deaf and blind person would not be able to do, I realize why the twins felt so hopeless. But if Helen Keller read, wrote, graduated from Radcliffe College, and made her life worth living, why couldn't they?What would I do every day if I were in their shoes. These men wouldn't normally be able to work. They could not be self-sufficient and may possibly be institutionalized or at least require a helper using them all or quite often. Their only potential for having any activity in their life would be if they learn Braille so they could read.I know that being deaf and blind makes communication with all of those other world difficult, but when you can read and write, you can find ways of staying in touch with other people. I've no doubt that people would like to read their opinions and also read a book that they wrote about their life experiences and difficulties. In the end, when you think about difficulties they face, you realize how minor your own problems are.I do not think badly of these men for giving up on life, but I really do believe they had other choices. They could have already been types of two men who triumphed over two of the biggest disadvantages in life. In the end, I am sad about the inspiration these men could have been to many people around the world if they had chosen to keep living. After all, I really believe among our biggest purposes in life is to inspire others. As long as you be capable of think, speak and write, you can do this. It's important for everyone to remember that.