Dr Kelly Fleming

“Are you stupid?” uttered to me the first day of kindergarten has stayed with me for 45 years and will continue to stay with me my entire life.

I decided that day that I would show people I wasn’t stupid because I’m Deaf.

It has, most likely contributed to me becoming an overachiever but aside from a handful of ignorant people before I was 18, no one has called me stupid and I’ve certainly never let it hurt me again.

There is so much ignorance in the world when it comes to disabled people. The assumption that because someone uses a wheelchair or is blind or Deaf, or whatever their disability may be, that it somehow affects their ability to think.

I know of disabled people who are non-verbal, locked inside their body, unable to express themselves in words or by picture or computer aids. They are not stupid. The love the show, the laughter they share, is proof they are not stupid.

If a Deaf person does not verbally articulate themselves like a hearing person, it doesn’t mean they are stupid. I cannot voice the same as a hearing person, sometimes it sounds like “broken English” or an accent but most of the time it is just simply a Deaf voice. I’m not stupid.

I have friends with Cerebral Palsy or muscular diseases that affect their speech. They are not stupid.

Some of the people I have met over the years are highly educated with many degrees.

Others whom I have met have never and will never get a university degree but their ability to show others their skills or interests makes me proud that they don’t give up. No doubt, they too have been called stupid.

I think the one thing I’ve learnt that I want everyone to remember…

No one is stupid and you can succeed in life in whatever your goals may be. If it’s loving music and vocalizing with music, then do it. If it’s a specific degree or job that you want to do, don’t give up, go for it!

Don’t ever let someone stand in your way and tell you to have less lofty goals. Forget them. You are able to succeed!