Disability fact file
Deafness and hearing disabilities
The deaf people's movement is one of the largest and most outspoken parts of
the disability movement. Marches and rallies for the recognition of BSL (British
Sign Language) are commonplace, especially in London, and deaf culture is by
far the most distinct cultural identity within the disability movement.
Entertainment and activities by and for deaf people are in contrast to, and
often more imaginitive and vibrant than, that of the hearing community. For
example, combining BSL with dance has created the concept of singing
in BSL.
Red Disability is in favour of the rights of deaf people and the deaf community,
so we support:
- The demand for BSL to be taught to all children, hearing as well as deaf
- The presence of sign-language interpreters at all public facilities
- All public phones and mobile phones should be available with video displays,
or keyboards for easier text communications
- a greater number of TV programmes using text subtitles and sign-language
windows. This should be increasingly feasible, with the extra bandwidth available
as a result of terrestrial and satellite digital TV services
- All deaf people should be exempt from the TV licence; hearing people can
get news, information and entertainment using a radio, which you do not need
a licence to listen to. Since audio only broadcasting is not available to
deaf people, it is a form of back-door discrimination that they must have
a licence to gain access to broadcast up-to-date news and information.
However, the down side of any cultural identity is that there are elements
within the community who wish to preserve their culture at the expense of freedom.
For example, there are some people within the deaf community who wish to ban
or age restrict operations (such as cochlear implants), which would enable some
deaf people to hear some sounds. Unless there is a medical reason for such a
ban, we oppose it for the following reasons:
- we believe all people, disabled and non-disabled, should have control over
our own bodies. On the one hand, we should have the right to refuse to be
cured and to not be placed in such an artificially disadvantaged
position that we see being cured as the best option. But on the
other hand, those who do wish to have medical treatment for their disability
should be allowed to have it.
- we believe a ban on such operations does nothing to address the underlying
causes of our oppression, and, as such, is a political distraction
- in the case of age restrictions, we oppose because we are against all oppression
of young people - of which all
age restrictions are an example
Generally speaking, however, the deaf people's movement is one to be celebrated
as the most advanced section of the disability rights movement. Hopefully, as
the disability movement in general grows, we can all reach a stage where
our culture is not only tolerated, but actively respected.
Types of hearing disability
- Profound deafness, where no sounds can be heard
- Partial deafness, where there is a low threshold of audibility. This is
where hearing aids are most often used, to boost the volume of sounds
- Distortion of sounds or interfering sounds, such as Tinnitus
How are deaf people handicapped by Capitalism ?
- BSL (British Sign Language) is still only spoken by a small
percentage of the UK population. It could be much more widely taught, if accepted
onto the schools curriculum.
- Due to its relatively recent development (19th and 20th centuries), BSL
is not compatible with American Sign Language, leading to unnecessary communication
problems.
- Communication aids, such as video phones, mobile keyboards, and Teletext
TVs for subtitles, are available but at a price. These items should be freely
available on demand to deaf and hearing disabled people.
- People with hearing disabilities often also have speech
disabilities (which incur similar forms of oppression to those incurred
by hearing disabilities)
How can hearing people benefit from adaptations to help
deaf people ?
- Sign language can communicate further and more efficiently in a noisy environment,
such as a disco or main road
- Teletext subtitles enable you to watch the news on TV, while simultaneously
listening to the radio or whatever
- Mobile phone text messaging certainly seems 2 be quite popular!
Links
probably more links to come. please e-mail
us with any interesting links, especially to do with deaf culture
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