“Deaf culture is powerful. It’s critical in helping Deaf people find support and thrive in the hearing world, while also providing social benefits to being in the community,” said Priscilla Hensley in an article for Brookings Institution.
According to Jonathan Ore in an article for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, attempts have been made throughout history to assimilate Deaf and Hard of Hearing people into hearing culture.
In response to this oppression, DHH people have created a community and culture revolving around a shared language and unique perspective on the world. In tandem, DHH activists and their communities have fought for strides such as the right to use American Sign Language and other sign languages, the right to employment and education, and readily available closed captioning on entertainment.
Ore explained that there were once many critics of non-verbal means of communication, including ASL. Victor Collazo of CyraCom International described that the most influential sign language critic was Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone and the originator of oralism. Oralism is the concept that the only way a DHH person can survive in the hearing world is through verbal education and learning how to speak and read lips.
At the height of oralism’s popularity, the Milan Conference of 1880 was held for Deaf educators to discuss superior methods for Deaf education. They decided that speech was far superior than all forms of sign language, which resulted in the use of sign language in schools being banned in the U.S. and many European countries.
However, according to Lucas et al. for Project Muse, sign language did not cease to exist after the implementation of oralism in schools. Instead, signing was forced to happen in secret. In Deaf boarding schools, often referred to as “residential schools” by the DHH community, signing went from the classroom to dorms and underground communities.
“Deaf Culture is the heart of the Deaf community everywhere in the world. Language and culture are inseparable,” stated Joanne Cripps of the Deaf Culture Center.
Michelle Jay of Start ASL stated that the general public did not recognize the unique culture of the Deaf community until it was written about in the 1965 book, “The Dictionary of American Sign Language,” by William Stokow et al. Jay noted that the book was revolutionary because it was the first mainstream work to recognize that Deaf culture existed beyond just the shared experience of hearing impairment. Only after the book was published was ASL recognized as its own language, not a version of English.
ASL was slowly reintroduced into Deaf education with the help of the Total Communication Movement in the late 60s and early 70s. The idea of Total Communication focused on teaching Deaf children with all means of communication necessary, including signing, as explained by Christina Mclaughlin for The Current.
“For the Deaf community, sign language is not simply a means of communication; it’s crucial for securing basic rights and it’s a part of belonging to a community,” said Subhajit Saha of Human Rights Watch. For many DHH people, the only time when all language barriers are absent is when they are in the presence of other DHH people.
One example of a trait unique to Deaf culture and the use of sign language are name signs. Name signs hold particular significance because they often represent a person’s introduction into the DHH community. As Jay explained, name signs are unique to a person and their characteristics, beyond just their birth name finger-spelled. Name signs can only be assigned by a DHH person, and they are often a play on an existing sign that relates to someone’s spoken name or a notable trait about them. Eye contact is also very important within sign language, as broken eye contact during a conversation is viewed as indifference on the listeners’ part.
Activism also holds an important place in Deaf culture and community. In 1988, the “Deaf President Now” protest at Gallaudet University showed the United States that the DHH community had a place in leadership positions. The student-led protest demanded a Deaf president for the DHH-exclusive university. After a hearing president was selected by the Board of Trustees, the students marched and secured the campus using chains and locks.
After a week of protest, the originally selected president stepped down, and Dr. I. King Jordan became the first Deaf president of Gallaudet University. The movement was “not just about leadership at Gallaudet, but claiming a leadership position for all Deaf people, ” said David Perry for Pacific Standard.
The DHH community was also highly involved in the Disability Rights Movement, which caused the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. This law prohibits all forms of discrimination against disabled people.
Many civil rights organizations have been created to support and advance rights for the DHH community. The most nationally well-known of these organizations is The National Association of the Deaf, created in 1880. Since then it has been a part of many actions in support of the DHH community.
Locally there are a multitude of organizations that are growing and fostering the DHH community in Washington state. The Hearing, Speech, and Deaf Center is located in Seattle and was founded in 1937. Along with the HSDC, the Puget Sound Association of the Deaf provides programs in the Washington area for DHH people. According to the PSAD’s website, its goal is to “provide maximum access for every Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing person in the Salish Sea region.”
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