Deaf, deaf, & Hard-of-Hearing Definitions

Click here to read the entire article on the definitions of Deaf, deaf, and Hard-of-Hearing. Here are the definitions. My personal opinion-don't use these definitions to define who you are as a person. I would not be accepted by Deaf Culture, and I'm fine with that. I choose not to communicate through sign language. I am not a label. I am who I am-a sinner saved by the grace of God through Jesus Christ. I am perfect in His eyes.

Deaf” and “deaf”

According to Carol Padden and Tom Humphries, in Deaf in America: Voices from a Culture (1988):

We use the lowercase deaf when referring to the audiological condition of not hearing, and the uppercase Deaf when referring to a particular group of deaf people who share a language – American Sign Language (ASL) – and a culture.  The members of this group have inherited their sign language, use it as a primary means of communication among themselves, and hold a set of beliefs about themselves and their connection to the larger society.  We distinguish them from, for example, those who find themselves losing their hearing because of illness, trauma or age; although these people share the condition of not hearing, they do not have access to the knowledge, beliefs, and practices that make up the culture of Deaf people.

Padden and Humphries comment, “this knowledge of Deaf people is not simply a camaraderie with others who have a similar physical condition, but is, like many other cultures in the traditional sense of the term, historically created and actively transmitted across generations.”  The authors also add that Deaf people “have found ways to define and express themselves through their rituals, tales, performances, and everyday social encounters.  The richness of their sign language affords them the possibilities of insight, invention, and irony.”  The relationship Deaf people have with their sign language is a strong one, and “the mistaken belief that ASL is a set of simple gestures with no internal structure has led to the tragic misconception that the relationship of Deaf people to their sign language is a casual one that can be easily severed and replaced.”  (Padden & Humphries)

“Hard of Hearing”

“Hard-of-hearing” can denote a person with a mild-to-moderate hearing loss.  Or it can denote a deaf person who doesn’t have/want any cultural affiliation with the Deaf community.  Or both.  The HOH dilemma:  in some ways hearing, in some ways deaf, in others, neither.
Can one be hard-of-hearing and ASL-Deaf?  That’s possible, too.  Can one be hard-of-hearing and function as hearing?  Of course.  What about being hard-of-hearing and functioning as a member of both the hearing and Deaf communities?  That’s a delicate tightrope-balancing act, but it too is possible.
As for the political dimension:  HOH people can be allies of the Deaf community.  They can choose to join or to ignore it.  They can participate in the social, cultural, political, and legal life of the community along with culturally-Deaf or live their lives completely within the parameters of the “Hearing world.”  But they may have a more difficult time establishing a satisfying cultural/social identity.
Deaf Life, “For Hearing People Only” (October 1997).