Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is
hearing loss
Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to Hearing, hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to Language ...
that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an
audiological
Audiology (from Latin , "to hear"; and from Greek , ''-logia'') is a branch of science that studies hearing, balance, and related disorders. Audiologists treat those with hearing loss and proactively prevent related damage. By employing various ...
condition.
In this context it is written with a lower case ''d''. It later came to be used in a cultural context to refer to those who primarily communicate through
sign language
Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign l ...
regardless of hearing ability, often capitalized as ''Deaf'' and referred to as "big D Deaf" in speech and sign.
The two definitions overlap but are not identical, as hearing loss includes cases that are not severe enough to impact spoken language comprehension, while cultural Deafness includes hearing people who use sign language, such as
children of deaf adults.
Medical context
![International_Symbol_for_Deafness](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/International_Symbol_for_Deafness.svg)
In a medical context, deafness is defined as a degree of hearing difference such that a person is unable to understand speech, even in the presence of amplification.
In profound deafness, even the highest intensity sounds produced by an
audiometer
An audiometer is a machine used for evaluating hearing acuity. They usually consist of an embedded hardware unit connected to a pair of headphones and a test subject feedback button, sometimes controlled by a standard PC. Such systems can also be ...
(an instrument used to measure hearing by producing pure tone sounds through a range of frequencies) may not be detected. In total deafness, no sounds at all, regardless of amplification or method of production, can be heard.
Neurologically, language is processed in the same areas of the brain whether one is deaf or hearing. The left hemisphere of the brain processes linguistic patterns whether by signed languages or by spoken languages.
Deafness can be broken down into four different types of hearing loss: conductive hearing loss, sensorineural hearing loss, mixed hearing loss, and auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder. All of these forms of hearing loss cause an impairment in a person's hearing where they are not able to hear sounds correctly. These different types of hearing loss occur in different parts of the ear, which make it difficult for the information being heard to get sent to the brain properly. To break it down even further, there are three different levels of hearing loss. According to the CDC, the first level is mild hearing loss. This is when someone is still able to hear noises, but it is more difficult to hear the softer sounds. The second level is moderate hearing loss and this is when someone can hear almost nothing when someone is talking to them at a normal volume. The next level is severe hearing loss. Severe hearing loss is when someone can not hear any sounds when they are being produced at a normal level and they can only hear minimum sounds that are being produced at a loud level. The final level is profound hearing loss, which is when someone is not able to hear any sounds except for very loud ones.
There are millions of people in the world who are living with deafness or hearing impairments. Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) indicate that fewer than 1 in 20 Americans are currently deaf or hard of hearing. There are a lot of solutions available for people with hearing impairments. Some examples of solutions would be blinking lights on different things like their phones, alarms, and things that are important to alert them. Cochlear implants are an option too. Cochlear implants are surgically placed devices that stimulate the cochlear nerve in order to help the person hear. A cochlear implant is used instead of hearing aids in order to help when someone has difficulties understanding speech.
Cultural context
![Sign Union flag](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Sign_Union_flag.svg)
In a cultural context,
Deaf culture refers to a tight-knit
cultural group
Cultural identity is a part of a person's identity, or their self-conception and self-perception, and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, locality or any kind of social group that has its own distinct cultu ...
of people whose
primary language
A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...
is
signed, and who practice social and cultural norms which are distinct from those of the surrounding hearing community. This community does not automatically include all those who are clinically or legally deaf, nor does it exclude every hearing person. According to Baker and Padden, it includes any person who "identifies him/herself as a member of the Deaf community, and other members accept that person as a part of the community",
an example being
children of deaf adults with normal hearing ability. It includes the set of social beliefs, behaviors, art, literary traditions, history, values, and shared institutions of communities that are influenced by deafness and which use
sign language
Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign l ...
s as the main means of communication.
Members of the Deaf community tend to view deafness as a difference in human experience rather than a
disability
Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, dev ...
or
disease
A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...
.
That many non-disabled people continue to assume that deaf people have no autonomy and fail to provide people with support beyond hearing aids is something that must be addressed. Different non-governmental organizations around the world have created programs towards closing the gap between deaf and non-disabled people in developing countries. The Quota International organization with headquarters in the United States provided immense educational support in the Philippines, where it started providing free education to deaf children in the Leganes Resource Center for the Deaf. The Sounds Seekers British organization also provided support by offering audiology maintenance technology, to better assist those who are deaf in hard-to-reach places. The Nippon Foundation also supports deaf students at Gallaudet University and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, through sponsoring international scholarships programs to encourage students to become future leaders in the deaf community. The more aid these organizations give to the deaf people, the more opportunities and resources disabled people must speak up about their struggles and goals that they aim to achieve. When more people understand how to leverage their privilege for the marginalized groups in the community, then we can build a more inclusive and tolerant environment for the generations that are yet to come.
History
The first known record of
sign language in history comes from
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
's
Cratylus
Cratylus ( ; grc, Κρατύλος, ''Kratylos'') was an ancient Athenian philosopher from the mid-late 5th century BCE, known mostly through his portrayal in Plato's dialogue '' Cratylus''. He was a radical proponent of Heraclitean philosophy ...
, written in the fifth century BCE. In a dialogue on the "correctness of names",
Socrates
Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no te ...
says, "Suppose that we had no voice or tongue, and wanted to communicate with one another, should we not, like the deaf and dumb, make signs with the hands and head and the rest of the body?" His belief that deaf people possessed an innate intelligence for language put him at odds with his student
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
, who said, "Those who are born deaf all become senseless and incapable of reason," and that "it is impossible to reason without the ability to hear".
This pronouncement would reverberate through the ages and it was not until the 17th century when manual alphabets began to emerge, as did various treatises on
deaf education
Deaf education is the education of students with any degree of hearing loss or deafness. This may involve, but does not always, individually-planned, systematically-monitored teaching methods, adaptive materials, accessible settings, and othe ...
, such as ''Reducción de las letras y arte para enseñar a hablar a los mudos'' ('Reduction of letters and art for teaching mute people to speak'), written by
Juan Pablo Bonet
Juan Pablo Bonet (–1633) was a Spanish priest and pioneer of education for the deaf. He published the first book on deaf education in 1620 in Madrid.
Juan Pablo Bonet was born in Torres de Berrellén (Aragon), and became secretary to Juan Fer ...
in Madrid in 1620, and ''Didascalocophus, or, The deaf and dumb mans tutor'', written by
George Dalgarno
George Dalgarno (c. 1616 – 1687) was a Scottish intellectual interested in linguistic problems. Originally from Aberdeen, he later worked as a schoolteacher in Oxford in collaboration with John Wilkins, although the two parted company intellectu ...
in 1680.
In 1760, French philanthropic educator
Charles-Michel de l'Épée
Charles-Michel de l'Épée (; 24 November 1712 – 23 December 1789) was a philanthropic educator of 18th-century France who has become known as the "Father of the Deaf".
Overview
Charles-Michel de l'Épée was born to a wealthy family in Versail ...
opened the
world's first free school for the deaf. The school won approval for government funding in 1791 and became known as the "Institution Nationale des Sourds-Muets à Paris."
The school inspired the opening of what is today known as the
American School for the Deaf
The American School for the Deaf (ASD), originally ''The American Asylum, At Hartford, For The Education And Instruction Of The Deaf'', is the oldest permanent school for the deaf in the United States, and the first school for children with disa ...
, the oldest permanent school for the deaf in the United States, and indirectly,
Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University ( ) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. It was founded in 1864 as a grammar school for both deaf and blind children. It was the first sc ...
, the world's first school for the advanced education of the deaf and hard of hearing, and to date, the only higher education institution in which all programs and services are specifically designed to accommodate deaf and hard of hearing students.
See also
*
Hearing loss
Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to Hearing, hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to Language ...
*
Models of deafness
The three models of deafness are rooted in either social or biological sciences. These are the ''cultural model, the social model, and the'' ''medical'' (or ''infirmity'') ''model''. The model through which the deaf person is viewed can impact ho ...
*
Deaf culture
*
Deaf education
Deaf education is the education of students with any degree of hearing loss or deafness. This may involve, but does not always, individually-planned, systematically-monitored teaching methods, adaptive materials, accessible settings, and othe ...
*
Deaf history
The history of deaf people and deaf culture make up deaf history. The Deaf culture is a culture that is centered on sign language and relationships among one another. Unlike other cultures the Deaf culture is not associated with any native la ...
*
History of sign language
The recorded history of sign language in Western societies starts in the 17th century, as a visual language or method of communication, although references to forms of communication using hand gestures date back as far as 5th century BC Greece. Sig ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deafness
Deafness
Hearing loss
Audiology