Audism as a crutch excuse?

He talked about cure, but that's the very reason we call some people audists. These are the type of people who want to make people "hearing".
 
The first half of the blog... doesn't make a very good transition to the second half of the blog. I wasn't expecting the biotechnology aspect to be in it. To me, the second half of the blog is an altogether different issue from the first half.
 
Lighthouse77 said:
He talked about cure, but that's the very reason we call some people audists. These are the type of people who want to make people "hearing".
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Not according to what I know of the definition. An audist is someone that discriminates against or feels superior to others because of their hearing or deaf status. I don't recall anythig about wanting to cure deafness. I will go back and review.
 
This from the Gallaudet Library.

Source: FAQ: Audism

FAQ: Audism

Audism (from Latin audire, to hear, and -ism, a system of practice, behavior, belief, or attitude) has been variously defined as:

The notion that one is superior based on one's ability to hear or behave in the manner of one who hears. (Humphries 1977:12)

...the belief that life without hearing is futile and miserable, that hearing loss is a tragedy and "the scourge of mankind," and that deaf people should struggle to be as much like hearing people as possible. Deaf activists Heidi Reed and Hartmut Teuber at D.E.A.F. Inc., a community service and advocacy organization in Boston, consider audism to be "a special case of ableism." Audists, hearing or deaf, shun Deaf culture and the use of sign language, and have what Reed and Teuber describe as "an obsession with the use of residual hearing, speech, and lip-reading by deaf people." (Pelka 1997: 33)

...an attitude based on pathological thinking which results in a negative stigma toward anyone who does not hear; like racism or sexism, audism judges, labels, and limits individuals on the basis of whether a person hears and speaks. (Humphrey and Alcorn 1995: 85)

...the corporate institution for dealing with deaf people, dealing with them by making statements about them, authorizing views of them, describing them, teaching about them, governing where they go to school and, in some cases, where they live; in short, audism is the hearing way of dominating, restructuring, and exercising authority over the deaf community. It includes such professional people as administrators of schools for deaf children and of training programs for deaf adults, interpreters, and some audiologists, speech therapists, otologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, librarians, researchers, social workers, and hearing aid specialists. (Lane 1992: 43)

Persons who practice audism are called audists. Audists may be hearing or deaf.

The term audism was coined by Tom Humphries in Communicating across cultures (deaf-hearing) and language learning (1997: 12). The term lay dormant until Lane revived its use 15 years later. It is increasingly catching on, though not yet in regular dictionaries of the English language. Humphries originally applied audism to individual attitudes and practices, but Lane and others have broadened its scope to include institutional and group attitudes, practices, and oppression of deaf persons.

The first half of Lane's book The mask of benevolence: disabling the deaf community is the most extensive published survey and discussion of audism so far (Lane 1992).

References:

Humphrey, Jan, and Alcorn, Bob (1995). So you want to be an interpreter: an introduction to sign language interpreting, 2nd edition. Amarillo, TX: H&H Publishers.

Humphries, Tom (1977). Communicating across cultures (deaf-/hearing) and language learning. Doctoral dissertation. Cincinnati, OH: Union Institute and University.

Lane, Harlan (1992). The mask of benevolence: disabling the deaf community. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Pelka, Fred (1997). The ABC-Clio companion to the disability rights movement. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-Clio.
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rockdrummer said:
Not according to what I know of the definition. An audist is someone that discriminates against or feels superior to others because of their hearing or deaf status. I don't recall anythig about wanting to cure deafness. I will go back and review.
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Right, discrimination and the feeling of superiority. The notion of a "cure" means that hearing is superior and the idea that we need to cured alone is discriminatory if you look at it from a culturally Deaf model or even a social model of disability if you aren't culturally Deaf. If you are aligned with Deaf culture and someone tells you they want to "cure" you that is discrimination! It is most certainly audism!
 
Interesting blog posting by kokonut.

I agreed with him that it is a crutch. I have never liked the word audism and feel that prejudice describes the situation quite nicely. Prejudice is a typical human condition from which no one group is immune. Why do we need a new word for it? Kind of a secret society mentality to say the least.

It seems the deaf community felt it necessary to adopt an "insider" word to label others who don't agree with it's groupthink. I guess people are the same the world over and nothing ever changes...nothing new under the sun but was already old (paraphrased from Ecclesiastes).
 
JennyB said:
Right, discrimination and the feeling of superiority. The notion of a "cure" means that hearing is superior and the idea that we need to cured alone is discriminatory if you look at it from a culturally Deaf model or even a social model of disability if you aren't culturally Deaf. If you are aligned with Deaf culture and someone tells you they want to "cure" you that is discrimination! It is most certainly audism!
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Quite true, JennyB, quite true.
 
Getting a bit paranoid, eh?

Nobody telling anybody to get cured. Once a cure is available it'll be self-explanatory to people who will want that cure. No different for those with vision loss or those who are unable to walk due to nerve damage to their spinal cords will they seek that cure that's ready for the public.
 
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Lighthouse77 said:
He talked about cure, but that's the very reason we call some people audists. These are the type of people who want to make people "hearing".
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wrong, its more about attitudes that you're better than other deafs with your superiority of spoken/written languages of the national (hearing) languages
 
personally, I don't really care. But there are plenty of people who want deafness to go away. They don't want to deal with it.
 
Grummer said:
wrong, its more about attitudes that you're better than other deafs with your superiority of spoken/written languages of the national (hearing) languages
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Audism takes in many forms.


Thinking that you're better than other Deaf because your family is genetically deaf... is one form of audism.
 
The hearing people is using audism as crutches. They want us to speak so they don't have to learn ASL (or PSE or even SEE). That is the crutches to the hearing people. I have learned to speak and I still am waiting for my family to learn ASL. I doubt they will ever learn it. When will they ever let go of their hangup?
 
Buffalo said:
The hearing people is using audism as crutches. They want us to speak so they don't have to learn ASL (or PSE or even SEE). That is the crutches to the hearing people. I have learned to speak and I still am waiting for my family to learn ASL. I doubt they will ever learn it. When will they ever let go of their hangup?
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Not ALL hearing people are like that. Please don't lump us into one category.
 
Mod's Edit: Previous quote removed.

Deafhoodism - a Deaf status quo regarding Deafhood; a system of Deaf beliefs accepted as authoritative where acceptance and, sometimes, blameless actions toward other deaf and hard of hearing individuals outside of Deaf culture would be required. It is also a self-discovery oriented process involving sustained meaningful interaction with and commitment to, Deaf social, cultural and/or political life where a deaf or hard of hearing person would become a Deaf person someday.
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Kokonut Pundit: DEAFHOODism

Kokonut Pundit: DEAFHOODism: Part II

Kokonut Pundit: DEAFHOODism: Part III - The Shining

:cool2:
 
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No matter what anyone says I love my Deaf friends and being involved with the Deaf community. I thank my lucky stars constantly that I learned ASL and found the Deaf community. Sure, it is not perfect but are people perfect? I see the glass half full and enjoy my life being Deaf than being deaf.
 
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