Not gonna comment on the deaf people wanting deaf children, there is too much stereotyping and assuming that the attitude of the whole is exemplified by the attitudes of a few radicals
I take exception with tihs comment from a scientific point of view. I recently saw a very good lecture on the physics of hearing and the Chochelar Implant (yet another hot topic in the deaf community). It was presented by a Perdue prof. who lost his hearing due to the use of an oto-toxic antibiotic used during his leukemia treatment.
While "hearing" may be the sensation of compression waves entering the ear canal, the whole function of the Chochlea is to convert that compression wave (after it has been converted into the physical motion of bone and membranes, yes, vibration), including separating out the variouos frequency components, into an electrical signal that can be processed by the brain. Whether a "deaf" person can "hear" any type of vibration depends upon the source of hearing loss. If it is nerve damage, then no, vibrations are not passed, in any fashion. I think many hearing people tend to forget that our "hearing" of music is not simply the neurologic signal that starts at our eardrums, but also the vibration in all parts of the body caused primarily by bass. Vibrations can be "detected" by many parts of the body, not just the ears.
As to the overall topic, any time you get a "minority" group together, they will have a set of common experiences. Hell, even "majority" groups have common experiences and create communities, but that is beside the point. Minority groups tend to identify with the experiences that set them apart from the majority, rather than those that include them. Since the "majority" will not, generally, develop language or practices that are not a part of the "majority" experince, part of the process of developing a "community" or "culture" must naturally include developing that language. It is also natural that the "minority" will identify "inequities" between the standard operation of the "majority" and how those practices apply to the "minority". That said, it would surprise me if there wasn't a "deaf culture", a "gay culture", a "recovering drug addict" culture, an "active drug addict" culture, a "criminal" culture, a "this disease" or "that disease" culture, a "scientific" culture, a "religious" culture ... I need not go on ad infinitum. What does surprise me is that people seem surprised that these things exist as wholly functioning things.
:king: Dr. Mr. Snow Dog