Sound Judgment  Cathy Young calls the Deaf Pride movement a
"reductio ad absurdum" ("Sound Judgment," April). Is that Latin
for nucking futs? Deaf parents refusing to allow their deaf
daughter a cochlear implant for "cultural" reasons is just
outrageous.  My hearing's toast, a combination of RH factor and
scarlet fever as an infant, along with guns, chainsaws, and
other power toys later in life. While I still do OK in "normal"
society, I twitch to contemplate what my life will be like if,
when my hearing goes completely, an implant can't fix it. The
thought of practical isolation from the wider world should
frighten everyone. Yet it seems that various groups -- not just
the deaf -- seek precisely that, wallowing in their isolation
and their insular views under the fig leaf of "cultural
diversity," often state-subsidized.  And yet diversity-niks
criticize the rest of us for being small-minded? I do know the
hand signal for what I think of that, and it needs no
translation.  Dave Skinner Whitefish, MT  Cathy Yo