Post #15: Chapter 37

Ch. 37:

                This chapter really broke down most the words used to describe deaf people. “Labels help us understand the mindsets of those who do the labeling…” (pg. 220).The first word analyzed was mute. This term is extremely harsh and rude in my opinion. Mutism is defined as, “the inability or refusal to produce sounds” (pg.213). It was a belief in the 19^th century that deafness leads to muteness, which is a ridiculous thing to think. “’Deaf-mute’ suggests that a deaf person is doomed to a life of silence, without speech, without hope. We’ve run into these terms repeatedly, and we find them annoying, inaccurate, and insulting” (pg. 215). It is understandable why a deaf person would find this term so offensive. I also never thought of deaf people as being “silent”. “Deaf people sometimes accompany their signed conversations or reactions with a variety of grunts, clicks, snorts, whoops, or chuckles” (pg. 218). I have noticed this when I went to Deaf Culture Events in my ASL class. “‘Silent’ suggests sensory deprivation, mutism, and isolation, none of which accurately describes the Deaf experience” (pg. 219). I definitely think that the word “Silent” is not only harsh but inaccurate.

                The fact that the word “deaf” can be found harsh never occurred to me. I always used that term before learning more about ASL and deaf culture. Other terms the book mentioned were “‘hearing-impaired,’ ‘auditorily handicapped,’ and ‘non-hearing.’ Most deaf people dislike these terms, as they promote a negative image of deaf people as broken ears or malfunctioning machinery” (pg. 217).

I learned that the term “Hearing-impaired” was used to describe different degrees of deafness and that “‘hearing-impaired’ is no longer acceptable, and that ‘deaf/hard-of-hearing’ should be used in all future references” (pg.217). “‘Hearing-impaired’ ignores all the positive aspects of deafness: the Deaf community, language and culture” (pg.231). I was glad I read this for in the future.  

The label deaf-and-dumb lead people to believe there was something wrong with a deaf persons vocal ability. It frustrated me that The British Deaf Association had to print a paper explaining how the term ‘deaf-and-dumb’ was wrong. That shouldn’t have been necessary. People should be able to realize that. Kim Schive explained it well when she wrote, “A person who is deaf cannot hear; a person who is mute cannot make any sounds… Most deaf people have fully functional vocal apparatus” (pg.225). I think this really breaks down for a reader why the term “deaf-and-dumb’ is incorrect.

The word “Deaf-mute” is also looked at in a very negative light. “It now carries a negative connotation, suggesting the pathetic, subhuman, mentally backward, helpless” (pg.226). The authors also brought up a valid point that the words “can’t hear”, “Implies that it’s simply a matter of loudness, that shouting will remedy the problem. It doesn’t” (pg.237). I have experienced people trying to yell to a deaf person as if that is the right thing to do, I don’t exactly understand the logic behind this but apparently it is a common misconception.

I had always wondered why the word deaf was sometimes capitalized and lowercase other times. I learned that it is lowercased when it is referring to people with hearing disorders and capitalized to discuss the culture and community (pgs. 236-237). Most deaf people find pride in being deaf because they, “Have a history, a language that is the source of our culture, a heritage, an ethnic identity. We have a folklore and a sense of humor. We are human and whole” (pg. 240).

The author’s did an awesome job making sure not to just bash labels but to also give the readers a call to action in order to make a change. I think this chapter was definitely beneficial for the book because the author’s even point out that “All we ask is that these terms be recognized as obsolete” (pg.229). “There is nothing unpleasant or undignified about the term ‘deaf,’ so no polite substitute is needed” (pg. 233).