One of Visually Speaking’s greatest dreams is to nurture the integration of the signing community with the non-signing community in a healthy way. With that being said, we still have a long way to go because audism manages to make things difficult for the Deaf/HoH people, and unfortunately, we still live in a very much audio-centric environment in 2022.
Learning sign language and using them with your Deaf/HoH friends, families, co-workers, etc. is one step in the right direction. There’s so much more to it.
You might be wondering, what is Audism? In a nutshell, it is the attitude and standard thinking that negatively results in stigma toward anyone experiencing deafness anywhere on the spectrum, whether they identify as Deaf, deaf, or Hard-of-Hearing.
To make things simple, let’s positively start off with a quick guideline!
DO:
- Immerse yourself in the Deaf culture
- Allowing the Deaf/HoH Person lead in communication
- Learn sign language, at least a few basic signs and the ABCs
- Include your loved Deaf/HoH friends, family, co-workers in your conversations
- Demonstrate patience, understanding, and respect toward the signing community
DON’Ts:
- Show patronizing attitude or pitiful assumptions
- Force them to lipread for your inconvenience
- Assume that they are incapable of doing things
- Believe that hearing loss is something that needs to be fixed
- Talk behind their backs just because you can
- Forget to include them in your audio-centric conversations
Will you join us in dismantling audism for good?
Donations may be allocated to support Certified Deaf Interpreters, DeafBlind interpreters and support, ASL interpreters from marginalized communities, as well as fund requests for event access for Black Lives Matter (BLM) and various marginalized community events.