ASL 101 Connor LeDonne Audism Paper PDF

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Connor LeDonne Dr. Kimberly Hale ASL 101 15 October 2021 Audism Investigation Essay Imagine a world where you are unable to communicate with anyone; no one sharing an interest to communicate with you and a world of unequal treatment for no logical reason. A world that is ultimately absent of your daily luxuries that you once took for granted. This unearthly world is currently a reality for deaf people across the globe. Deaf people are treated unequally on a daily basis. As a deaf individual, the world is substantially different from what is offered to a hearing person. Simple everyday tasks such as ordering food or going to the movie theatre are stunted by the inability to communicate or understand spoken English. Furthermore, the deaf individual is treated with prejudice on a daily basis due to hearing individuals not making an effort to communicate with the deaf individuals. This may be intentional or unintentional, but deaf people are familiar with hearing people not making an effort to communicate back with them. From a hearing person's perspective, it may seem that this prejudice is nonexistent, but they may unintentionally look away from the deaf person to avoid conversation or not even attempt to communicate with a deaf person as they are trying to communicate with them. Furthermore, some hearing people consistently believe that deaf people are unable to complete objectives and tasks that a hearing person could complete. This is called audism, which is defined as the belief that the ability to hear makes one superior to those with hearing loss (Britannica). In this paper, we will explore audism, investigating the historical foundation of audism, the current understanding of audism within our community compared to different “-isms”, and how audism affects the deaf community today. First off, before learning about what audism is today, it is important to understand the history behind the term “audism”. Audism is not only a recent issue, but it is rather an issue rooted in history. According to Briannica, the term “audism” was first coined in 1975 by Tom L. Humphries (Britannica). The creation of this word was credited due to the constant discrimination of ASL and the deaf community

over the past couple of centuries, as audism could be seen in America as early as the 1800’s (Britannica). In the late 1860’s the oralist method, or oralism, was introduced. Oralism teaches deaf individuals to not sign, but to rather cope with spoken English by learning how to read lips and in return speak English (SOURCE). This causes a conflict considering that deaf people are unable to hear, in turn causing them to be unable to speak how they intend with their peers, eventually causing them to learn spoken English. Due to ignorance, many people do not understand that ASL is a completely different language than English. Moreover, ASL is not synonymous to English and are completely different languages. In the video, “Through Deaf Eyes,” The implementation of this new method of communication ultimately caused the ban of ASL in schools for the deaf (Gallaudet University). This is an evident case of early audism, although that term may not have been created at that time. Furthermore, it exemplifies the negative attitude that the people of the United States had towards the deaf community as a whole. As presented, audism is an issue which is deeply rooted in American history. It is important that audism isn't treated differently than other social issues in American history such as racism and sexism. It is unfortunate that the history of audism is underexplained in mainstream education, but it is important to keep in mind that audism is as much of an issue as any other “-ism”. As the deaf community contains a large number of individuals, it is important that their hardships are equally represented and fought against. To continue, the topic of audism is not a widespread knowledge in our community. As previously stated, audism has not had much of a representation throughout history compared to other societal issues. Although the education of what audism is has become more frequent in today's society, it is still not widespread knowledge of the average person. Audism is of equal importance in American history as other social discriminations that have been presented throughout history. Top social justice issues include racial injustice and discrimination, as well as sexism. Although the top noted social justice issues are important issues necessary for reparation and education, it is important to not let those injustices shine over others. The current understanding of audism may be that it isn't an issue of importance, but to the deaf community it is a daily issue within their daily lives. The deaf population in the US makes up .22% of the

entire U.S. population, which equates to 2.2 deaf people per every 1000 people (Gallaudet University). Statistically speaking, the deaf community has a small representation in the United States. Despite this, it is important that you refrain from engaging in audism when engaging with a deaf individual in society. Normally, audism may be unintentional due to ignorance, but it is important to be educated on the topic as you would racism or sexism. Like other social justice issues, audism greatly impacts the deaf community in an unfair way, and the education of the topic to the public could be a step towards ending the discrimination against the deaf community. Finally, audism has a large negative impact on the deaf community as a whole. As said before, audism may either be intentional or unintentional, which is accredited to the overall ignorance of the topic of audism. Throughout history, there have been prevalent intentional cases of audism. The previously mentioned ban of ASL in schools for the deaf in the mid-1800’s had a great impact on the deaf community, causing a stunt in education for deaf students (SOURCE). Moreover, in the past and even in today's society, some parents will do anything to cure their child of deafness whether the child is born or unborn at the time. According to Audism Unveiled, many parents would subject their children to inhumane or otherwise irrational surgical procedures in hopes of not having to deal with raising a deaf child (Audism Unveiled). Many deaf people today have experienced that trauma of feeling unwanted due to audism. Audism can come in many forms and could occur unintentionally without you even knowing. Something as simple as avoiding conversation with a deaf person could be identified as audism due to the constant starvation of conversation that a deaf person experiences. While in the presence of a deaf individual, it is important to make an effort to treat them as you would normally treat someone without hearing loss. After all, deaf people are normal individuals too. In conclusion, audism is an issue in American society that time and time again has proven to be an issue of importance. The education of what audism is not represented enough in today’s society, more often than not being an issue that is institutionalized within America and moreover, the world. Audism has been an issue historically and it is important to treat the deaf community with equality. Hopefully this

investigation offers a glimpse into the issues currently experienced by the deaf community and ultimately instills a responsibility to refrain from partaking in audism.

Works Cited DawnSignPress. Audism Unveiled. Vimeo, 20 Oct. 2021. Accessed 17 October 2021. vimeo.com/ondemand/audismunveiled. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. Audism. Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed 21 October 2021. https://www.britannica.com/topic/audism. Gallaudet University. Through Deaf Eyes. Gallaudet University, 12 Jan. 2021. Accessed 17 October 2021. www.gallaudet.edu/history-through-deaf-eyes/through-deaf-eyes-documentary. Gallaudet University. Demographics. Gallaudet University, 12 Jan. 2021. Accessed 17 October 2021. www.gallaudet.edu/office-of-international-affairs/demographics/deaf-employment-reports/#: %7E:text=Across%20all%20age%20groups%2C%20approximately,over%2065%20years%20of %20age....