Deaf Mute Disfellowshippings

Celtic

Anyone know of anyone who has been disfellowshipped who has deaf and mute impairment? How did they cope and what support network platform is there for them on leaving?

peace

Mark
Hug Trees

refiners fire

this causes me to ponder the benefits of being a deaf mute jehovahs...

dont have to answer at meetings.
No ministry school Bible readings.
If you did give your first ministry school talk in sign language
you could say ANYTHING. Who would know?
They would applaude, but you couldnt hear it.
The possibilities are endless.

I leave it to others to add to this....

Celtic

Do you have a point? Only its not too obvious.

Celtic

Lady Lee

I know of a couple of people who were deaf JWs who were disfellowshipped. Well on the JW side we know what happened. But more sadly because the deaf community was so small and so many of them were JWs the two women were both left with essentially no support. As JWs they had cut themselves off from all non-witnesses. Once they were disfellowshipped they had no one. One moved to another country and we heard she remarried. Her first husband - a JW elder - had been terribly abusive to her and their children and to other JWs in the deaf group. He was never reproved for this. He remarried a deaf JW sister and started a new family - whom he also abused. I met one of his daughters from the first marriage and she confirmed all the above information.

The other JW became very depressed and disappeared from the congregation. I would see her occasionally in my work in the deaf community (after I left the JW) and she had resorted to alcohol to deal with her depression

Very sad

GinnyTosken

(Just checking for Helen Keller jokes.)

Ginny

Kismet

In Toronto as well as in some of the major US cities there are Deaf congregations or at least deaf groups associated with a local hall wherein all meetings are signed etc. They also have a section reserved at the conventions for sign language translation.

There are always elders assigned to these groups so judicial committees would always have at least one elder or someone to translate for the 'accused." If this didn't happen I would hate to be the local elders involved should the media ever discover this...hint hint.

Kismet

D wiltshire

In the one of the Waterbury,Connecticut congregations their was a deaf mute couple DF'd for apostacy about 20 yrs ago.
As to what happened to them after that I have no idea.
Also a little while after that they got alot more restrictive as to qualifications of being an interpiter.

If someone lived a trillion X longer than you, and had a billion X more reasoning ability would he come to the same conclusions as you?

Celtic

Kismet

You bring up an interesting point, judicial committee elders, signing, and the disciplinary process. How can the elders unless versed very well in sign language understand the expression behind the words as there is a whole semiotic difference in sign communication vs spoken language semiotics.

If the elders, as usually is the case, have no real foundational knowledge of therapy or psychology, how can their assumptions under the law, be legal and/or fair, in judicial hearing for the individual concerned.

If anyone knows of anyone who has been disfellowshipped that is deaf mute, would you please email me to forward my details to such one?

In appreciation to all who answered, thankyou.

peace

Celtic
Hug trees

Seeker4

There were some translators who may have been df'd. I think Tim Green who lived at the Natick Assembly Hall for some time was.

Does anyone know what happened with Victor Vigna (not sure of that last name spelling) who was a legend among JW translators? He was from Maine, but worked all over the US for the Soceity.

It has been years since I've seen either of these men, or heard anything about them. Would be interested in knowing what happened to Tim. He was quite a flirt and I think he always thought my wife was such a babe. She is.

S4

Deaf Mute Disfellowshippings

Share this