What is Deafhood?

The organic cure for deafness.

DEAFHOOD IN BRIEF

Deafhood has two components:

It is a way of gathering together and framing what we already know of Deaf culture, life, politics etc.

The framing process itself reveals ways in which we can move beyond present Deaf cultural limitations resulting from the colonialism of Sign Language Peoples (SLPs).

PADDY LADD ON DEAFHOOD

The word Deafhood was first developed by Paddy Ladd in 1993. The concept was further developed through his doctoral dissertation on Deaf Culture in 1998. Ladd published a book on the subject in 2003, Understanding Deaf Culture - In Search of Deafhood. One of the books main aims is achieving Deaf unity.

Understanding the concept of colonization is an integral part of the Deafhood philosophy. The term Deafness, and others like it, are seen as arising from the colonization process. Hence there was a need to develop our own Deaf-centered term, Deafhood.

Deafhood acknowledges that ALL Deaf people embark on a journey towards deepening and refining their Deaf selves. Many are content to reside within the boundaries of existing Deaf cultures, yet some press on to stretch those boundaries.

DEAFHOOD ENCOMPASSES...

the total sum of all positive meanings of the word Deaf past, present and future

all the largest meanings of what Sign Language Peoples have been, are, and can become. Including:

- all that Deaf people have created in this world,

- all that they created which has been lost to sight (because of colonialism).

- all that they might create in future

Why another word for Deaf people?

Adapted from original article written by Nancy Mitchell Carroll and Ella Mae Lentz published in California Association of the Deaf Newsletter in 2006.

You have probably seen other people talking about the word Deafhood lately.

Why another word for Deaf people? Whats wrong with terms such as deafness, or deaf and hard of hearing? Deafhood is a term created by Dr. Paddy Ladd, a Deaf scholar in the Deaf Studies Department at the University of Bristol in England. Deafhood is found in Ladds book Understanding Deaf Culture: In Search of Deafhood (2003).

[We are]... people of the eye.

George Veditz

We are visually oriented in dealing with the environment. We feel most at ease using a signed language rather than a spoken language. If you fit that description, you have begun the search for Deafhood. The degree of your hearing or speaking ability does not matter. Each persons search for Deafhood occurs on all levels: physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, cultural and linguistic. And through that search, each Deaf person is linked to the amazing collective experience called the Deaf community and culture.

However, the search is not without obstacles. Those obstacles are Oralism and Audism which peaked in the early 1900s with the activities of eugenicists such as Alexander Graham Bell.

Deafhood is a process to decolonize our mind, body, and spirit from colonialism.

Paddy Ladd (2003)

Eugenics is the science of controlling the population by eliminating certain characteristics that are considered negative. This is done through selective breeding, sterilization, and at its worst, genocide. Oralism and Audism have come back more ferocious and dangerous in the 2000s with rampant mainstreaming, cochlear implants, and genetic engineering. At a 2005 California Association of the Deaf Conference, Patrick Boudreault called these tactics neo-eugenics because when it comes to Deaf people, their ultimate goal is to eradicate the

deficit, that horrible isolating disability, through technology and education.

Oralism is the educational philosophy and practice that focuses on developing speech and listening skills. This practice degrades Sign Language and claims it interferes with Deaf peoples acquisition of speech and listening skills.

The word Audism was coined in 1975 by Dr. Tom Humphries, a Deaf scholar currently working at the University of California in San Diego. Audism describes the behavior and/or attitude of an individual, profession, or institution that believes that being hearing is superior to being Deaf.

As an example, at the 2005 California Association of the Deaf conference, members voted to replace the term deaf and hard of hearing with Deafhood or Deaf in the CAD by-laws and other publications. The main reason was that the term deaf and hard of hearing has been very contentious in the Deaf community as we have tried to find an appropriate label for ourselves. The term has fostered unhealthy competition based on our varying levels of Deafness and language use. One result has been different groups of Deaf people accusing each other of rejection. The greatest success of Oralism is that groups of Deaf people are divided and one group accuses the other of being brainwashed into believing people with better hearing or speech are superior. This has caused resentments to arise.

The true success of Deafhood is when Deaf people feel at home with being Deaf and find a commonality with other Deaf people in their visual orientation and use of Sign Language. When we are secure with our own natural language and community, we can be healthier, more creative and more able to embrace the diversity that surrounds us.

The Deafhood Foundation desires to fight neo-eugenics, the oppression by Oralism and the arrogance of Audism by unifying into a political bloc those of us who seek our Deafhood. We begin by celebrating the many gifts springing out of our community, history and language. We vow not to fight against other Deaf people, but to support each other in our journeys towards Deafhood, and to challenge the influences of Oralism and Audism in our lives. We will fight against the systemic Audism prevalent in our schools, jobs, and families. We will also fight against financial interests and remove the masks of benevolence of the hearing companies or professionals that think they know all about the Deaf, but know nothing about our thoughts and souls, our feelings, desires, and needs.

We acknowledge there are people who do not see the need to search for their Deafhood. Some of those people are the ones who became Deaf in their later years, and feel they have no use for Sign Language or a Deaf identity. We understand that their primary language is spoken, their culture is hearing and naturally they may desire to restore their old identity and abilities. We know there are other organizations catering to those people and we do wish them the most happiness possible.

However, we declare that those people are also welcome to initiate their own journeys into Deafhood. To begin the journey, we encourage those people to learn and use our vibrant and exciting Sign Language, and to open themselves up to the challenges, joys and friends among other Deaf people. We will encourage them and welcome them, but we will never try to manipulate or control their bodies, their minds, or their souls as the Audists and Oralists have done to us for years.

It is essential for Deaf people to participate in this discourse as we collaborate to protect our dignity as a people, to protect our language and the right to use it and to share our Deafhood with the future generations.

For more information, e-mail info@deafhoodfoundation.org.

Read more here:

What is Deafhood?