Non-Vocal Deaf People vs. Vocal Deaf People 

An English translation provided by Amy Hund: Hello! I want to talk about the word “deaf”. For a long time, many ways of being deaf have been included in the general understanding of what it is to be “deaf,” which I think is a great thing… truly. But there is something that has given me pause lately-and I think it warrants a deeper examination, especially because it is easy to overlook-and that is the difference between deaf people who are able to comfortably communicate through speech and hearing and deaf people who have either very limited or no speech abilities. In the Deaf World, there are deaf people who can make use of residual hearing and maybe also speech abilities in order to communicate. Maybe they grew up strongly connected to what we call the hearing world. Maybe they learned to sign later in life. There are lots of characteristics we could attribute to people in this category. At some point, some of these people become-or try to become-involved in the Deaf World, and there are occasions where their efforts are met with resistance… that type of treatment is wrong. The Deaf Community should welcome these fellow deaf people’s participation with open arms. I think it’s important to remember that in the Deaf World, respect for sign language is paramount. Communicating through sign language is what makes Deaf spaces safe and comfortable for Deaf people. Coming into Deaf spaces and using only spoken language deprives Deaf people of that safety and comfort, and that’s not acceptable. Even for deaf people who have the ability to use hearing and speech, mainstream society is not 100% accessible, so it’s easy to understand why participating in the Deaf World is appealing. Those who put hearing and speech aside in Deaf spaces, try their best to sign, and who have no intention of acting in ways that oppress non-speaking Deaf people may still be met with a cold reception-or outright rejection. It’s understandable that deaf people in this group want to participate in both the Deaf World and society at large. Although this is a point of contention for some non-speaking Deaf people, I think it’s unnecessary to suggest that they must choose one or the other. So we have this group of deaf people who may have been raised with an emphasis on using their hearing and speech, who may have learned to sign later in life, etc., and then we have this other group of deaf people, whom some may refer to as “elite” Deaf-I want to be clear that for my purposes, the deaf people in this group are not only those we would refer to as “elite”… while that is an interesting discussion, it’s not my point here today… I am referring to Deaf people from all walks of life whose primary means of communication is through sign language, those who grew up in the Deaf World, are involved in their local Deaf communities, and so on. Does this group enact oppression against deaf people who have some ability to use hearing and/or speech? This is something that has been discussed, but I feel that there is more specific dialogue to be had around the understanding that while some deaf people have the ability to participate, at least, to some extent, in both spheres, it is exceptionally difficult for non-speaking Deaf people to participate in mainstream society (and please remember that not all non-speaking Deaf people have strong sign language skills). We see time and again how mainstream society shunts aside those who cannot speak. When a deaf person is hired, it’s usually someone who can make use of speech and hearing. For example, in the field of acting, a director may not want to work with a Deaf person who does not hear or speak at all, favoring someone who can. I could list instance after instance of this type of situation in different fields; it is all too common and familiar. Let’s turn to the topic of leadership roles. In the hearing world, when a deaf person is given a leadership position, we commend the hearing people for selecting a deaf person-and, again, it’s typically a deaf person who has some ability to use hearing and speech... and that’s not a bad thing, but where is the representation of non-speaking Deaf people in leadership roles in mainstream society? The answer is there just aren’t many. This is something worth examining. Maybe the thought is that the Deaf World offers more than enough leadership opportunities for non-speaking Deaf people. After all, there are residential schools for the deaf, there’s Gallaudet University, and the like, and these opportunities would favor a non-speaking Deaf person who primarily signs over a deaf person who can speak and use residual hearing. I don’t know that for a fact and need to look into that more, but that seems to be the perspective within the community. But even if it is true that there are plenty of opportunities in the Deaf World, what is plenty on that scale, compared to the concept of plenty in mainstream society? In the Deaf World, there are certainly a limited number of openings when compared to the hearing world, where opportunities are seemingly innumerable. We also can’t ignore the fact that the mainstream economy is significantly better than the Deaf World economy. The Deaf ecosystem is actively developing, and that’s a terrific thing! Nevertheless, in comparison-and I’m talking about here in America… I can’t comment on what’s happening internationally… that is a much more involved discussion, and outside of the scope of what I’m talking about right now-the economy of the hearing world is extensive and healthy. Of course there are communities or sectors of mainstream society that experience economic struggles, like the Black community, for example. But if you take the economic situation of mainstream society as a whole and weigh it against the economic situation of the Deaf World, there’s no contest: the economy of the hearing world is off-the-chart. I do think that deaf people who can use their hearing and speech to communicate have more opportunities to benefit from participating in the mainstream economy than non-speaking Deaf people-I think that the mainstream economy offers very few opportunities and choices, and everything that follows from that, for non-speaking Deaf people. When we frame deafness as a disability, we focus on the ability to hear. Can a person hear, or can’t they? How much can they hear? There’s not as much focus on whether or not a person can speak. That brings to mind the idea of “deaf-mute”. Ella Mae Lentz shared her thoughts on the topic some time ago. She talked about how, during the 1800s and 1900s, as Deaf culture grew here in the United States, there was this concept, this label, of being deaf-mute. People who were thought of as “deaf” could use speech to communicate, and those who were thought of as “deaf-mute” only communicated through sign language. This does not mean that those in the “deaf” category did not use sign language at all-of course many of them could sign. Some argue that, as Deaf people, we should not create divisions within the larger group, and I agree with that-I do not support tribalism, or opposing factions within the community. However, I do think it is important to analyze power relations. I think it’s important to recognize when one group has more power than another group, understand how those power dynamics play out, and how all of that affect a person’s or group’s position in mainstream society. How can we do this? We need to look at not just similarities, but also differences. We can look at the experiences of Deaf people who have the ability to use residual hearing and speech, and we can look at the experiences of Deaf people who do not speak. It’s obvious that their experiences are vastly different. Am I proposing that we return to using the label of “deaf-mute” for Deaf people who do not communicate through speech? Well, this might be a good idea. One thing I know for sure is that when we discuss deafness as a disability we also need to discuss the disability of deafness slash having no speech abilities. There are two different subsets under the disability category of deafness: deafness and deafness slash having no speech abilities. The latter involves two disabilities as compared to the former involving only one disability (of course, people within these groups may have more than one or two disabilities). That means that in mainstream society, those of us who are deaf and non-speaking, our experiences could be thought of as those of people who are multiply disabled. At least, that’s my thinking. What do you think? Thank you for watching.

Processing what looked like become. Same different... swimming water

This is an issue that hits close to home, as my own child is deaf and does not speak. I am glad you are delving into this topic as it is rarely discussed. One thing, I think there may be too much stigma attached to the term "deaf-mute." I typically tell hearing people who try unsuccessfully to communicate with my child in spoken English that she is deaf/non-verbal.

and the translation ? sorry