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Deaf Culture Discrimination

Decent Essays

When terms such as discrimination and prejudice are heard; commonly, the example is racism. However, discrimination and prejudice are similarly defined as: a preconceived negative judgment of a group and its individual members. (Myers, Social Psychology, 2013, p. 336) Our minds, being influenced by our environment and memories, tend to overlook other peer groups; specifically Deaf culture. This paper will discuss: my personal experience, discrimination, and Deaf culture. In late 2016, I was granted the opportunity to attend an American Sign Language class, at my local community college. Prior to this, I had only one experience meeting a deaf person. I was seventeen at the time, working my first job. I felt like a deer caught in headlights, …show more content…

According to World Health Organization, in 2017, there was an estimated three hundred sixty million people worldwide; who had reported some type of hearing loss. While this may seem like a lot, it only makes up a little over five percent of world population. When talking to the general public, it is learned that most people have similar stories. Either they have never had an encounter with a Deaf person, or maybe they saw some people signing in the mall once. Because these occurrences are so few and far between, it is not surprising that our biological instincts take over. We fear the unknown, and we panic when we do not have solutions. Regardless of excuses; actions have consequences. From a very young age, we are lead to believe that when something is different, it is wrong. This mindset has an influence on how we view ourselves, as well as how we view others. Deaf people are labeled as handicapped from day one, and deafness is considered a disability. This creates a stigma that Deaf people are something to be feared, unintelligent, and need ‘fixing.’ Despite having strict laws with the American Disability Act, Deaf people are frequently mistreated. Sadly, most officials are not taught how to communicate with American Sign Language. It is not unheard of for a person to be falsely arrested, because they could not properly communicate with an officer. Patients in a hospital can receive improper care, because …show more content…

They consider it a lifestyle; separated from the hearing world. They have different beliefs, and social behaviors. They value American Sign Language, and view it as an art form. An expressive language used as their primary source of communication. Some believe that Deaf people should only marry within their culture, some believe that using their voices is disrespectful. They have beliefs that deaf should be capitalized when referring to people, but lowercase when referring to the diagnoses. They have different terms for things such as: Audism. Audism is defined as: "The notion that one is superior based on one's ability to hear or to behave in the manner of one who hears." (Oberholtzer, Humphries "Audism Tags: deaf, faq, research guide", Doctoral dissertation, p.12. 1977, 2009) Most have respect for the hearing world, and will treat hearing people with respect if the respect is returned.
Discrimination is a very prevalent problem in our society. Despite having a changed personal view of Deaf culture, there are still battles being fought for the rights of humans. Humans that are just like everyone else, but cannot hear. It is with hope that society will continue to educate about Deaf culture in order to grow awareness, and provide a deeper, and more sympathetic

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