Bridging the Gap Between the Hearing & Deaf Worlds
Even though there are various ways describing someone who have some kind of deafness, a common choice of phrasings is “hearing impaired/impairment”.
On most occasions, I don’t believe there are bad intentions. Still, it’s time we stop using those words, particularly as we tend to frown upon those phrases and there are better choices of words to choose from.
What if individuals and society looks at the concept of being deaf as a positive thing? What if it can actually be a valuable contribution to the world? In essence, this is what ‘Deaf Gain’ is all about.
The common perception of being deaf and the topic of deafness overall is that it is seen as something negative, something lacking, something void.
But by reframing that into ‘Deaf Gain’, it is possible for everyone to look at it in a more positive light, and it’s something the Deaf community proudly talks about…that being deaf is actually positive.
With more videos of signd videos on social media than ever before, it has helped to spread awareness and the beauty of sign language.
But with more hearing people creating signed videos too, is this a positive thing or is there a dark side to it?
Find out here on whether hearing people should create signed videos
It’s not a surprise that going to the theatres, art galleries, museums and other similar events are challenge for those who are d/Deaf and hard of hearing.
But thankfully, there are companies like Stagetext who provides live captioning for anyone who wants to experience arts and culture like theatre, art gallery and other live events.
Listen or read the interview with Stagetext CEO, Melanie Sharpe
It seems that many people are confused on what deaf can do and can’t do. A simple Google search starting with “can deaf people…” will bring up a list of search suggestions that seems very…interesting (which you can see in the shownote).
So I thought this would be a good time to talk about what d/Deaf people can do and dispel any myths that anyone may have about us.
