Deaf and mute

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Belinda Dill

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How do you like those terms, deaf and mute person?
those bother me because hearing people think deaf and mute are stupid or dumb.
i dont like this words. it is like another slang word. sorry if you disagree.
 
well deaf isn't really a slang word. I know "mute" isn't a well liked word tho. I'm not exactly sure why but I have heard from other people that it isn't the correct term to say for someone that doesn't speak.
 
I did educate one of my co worker when my co worker said,"mute person wanted to see you,". I said, " you mean this person is hearing and cant talk?". my co worker said, "no this person can't hear". I said, " oh so you mean this person is deaf. Ok. let you know most deaf people can speak, so mute is an old fashion word that dont use anymore." My co worker said, " oh I am so sorry i didnt know. "
 
Both terms are misleading not to mention insulting. Deafness doesn't make someone mute or dumb.
 
CJB said:
Both terms are misleading not to mention insulting. Deafness doesn't make someone mute or dumb.
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That's untrue. Deafness can have muteness as a feature. There are plenty of deaf/mute people still.

You could say aphasic if the term mute bothers you.

But the point is, these people absolutely definitely exist.
 
Bottesini said:
That's untrue. Deafness can have muteness as a feature. There are plenty of deaf/mute people still.

You could say aphasic if the term mute bothers you.

But the point is, these people absolutely definitely exist.
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It can happen but doesn't always happen. Deaf-mute implies that as a rule Deaf people can't talk.

Aphasic would be even more misleading because that would imply deafness inherently impairs the ability to form language, which it doesn't. Lack of exposure to language does, not deafness.
 
I would say most of us would be Deaf and selectively mute if you really want to get specific lol. I can talk - I just don't most of the time. I am not really insulted when I am called "Deaf mute" which happens quite often in medical situations but that is really the only place. I am more annoyed by their lack of knowledge. They aren't really doing it intentionally and once corrected they learn. If a person were to call me a Deaf mute with intensions of insulting me then I would be insulted.
 
CJB said:
It can happen but doesn't always happen. Deaf-mute implies that as a rule Deaf people can't talk.

Aphasic would be even more misleading because that would imply deafness inherently impairs the ability to form language, which it doesn't. Lack of exposure to language does, not deafness.
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THink what you are saying. Does Deaf/blind mean both conditions always exist together?

I don't think you would argue that. It is ridiculous. and it is the same as your first sentence above, except using a different second condition.
 
I'm late deafened, but not mute. One of my ex-bosses was a really nasty man. One day, someone called me on the job, and my boss told him "she's deaf and mute", you can't talk to her", and hung up.

The next day, I asked my friend why he did not call to let me know the news (something important), and he told me what my boss had said. I was enranged!....I confronted my boss about it, and he replied, "well, I didn't know you could hear on the phone."! I said, "I can't, but whenever someone calls for me, someone takes a message for me." And "I'm deaf, but I'm not mute, as I'm standing before you telling you this". His face was "RED".....

All employees were allowed 3 minutes on the phone. Very seldom did I get a phone call! And my boss made me feel as if I was not entitled to a phone call.

The same boss told a gay man that was hired...."If you would stop taking it in the rear, you would be alright." And he quit working there!

I've no qualms with the word "mute". If I was mute, that means I can't talk. But for some people to "think" that a deaf/mute person is the same as "dumb"....that raises the hair on my head! And I'm quick to defend that. I've met some really "hearing and dumb" people in my life. And they have all their facilities, no reason for them to be dumb!
 
Bottesini said:
THink what you are saying. Does Deaf/blind mean both conditions always exist together?

I don't think you would argue that. It is ridiculous. and it is the same as your first sentence above, except using a different second condition.
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I don't think it's the same.

Terms like deaf-mute lead people to thinking that just cause someone can speak means they can hear. It leads people to thinking that just because someone can't hear they can't speak. Deafness can occur independent of the ability or inability to speak. Deafblindness by definition includes both hearing and vision loss. Someone who is only deaf/hard of hearing or only blind/low vision is not considered deafblind. So why would someone who is only deaf/hard of hearing and not mute be considered deaf-mute?
 
CJB said:
I don't think it's the same.

Terms like deaf-mute lead people to thinking that just cause someone can speak means they can hear. It leads people to thinking that just because someone can't hear they can't speak. Deafness can occur independent of the ability or inability to speak. Deafblindness by definition includes both hearing and vision loss. Someone who is only deaf/hard of hearing or only blind/low vision is not considered deafblind. So why would someone who is only deaf/hard of hearing and not mute be considered deaf-mute?
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I understand you are a blind person who is coincidentally losing hearing.

THat is a very odd last statement as no one suggested it.

Study a little deaf history. DId you know that Deaf schools used to have classrooms for the "aphasic" as it was considered more politically correct?
 
Back in the day when those two terms, "mute/dumb" were used, they meant not able to speak.
 
If one is going to use terms, I prefer deaf-mute than deaf and dumb.
 
I guess I never really thought about it and I have seen it a lot in the news. At least our local news, when reporting on a deaf or hard of hearing person, and it is relative to the story, will mention either deaf or hard of hearing. We did have one instance where the words were exactly this: "Brianna **??**, who is deaf and also a mute, meaning she is unable to speak, has been missing for the afternoon." Someone obviously educated our local TV stations.
 
Defination of mute: "Refraining from producing speech or vocal sound."

If a deaf person can scream, is that deaf person mute?

Another defination of mute from the same link: thefreedictionary.com

"Often Offensive One who is incapable of speech." Bingo! it is often offensive.
 
You could say aphasic if the term mute bothers you.
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Botte, small correction. Aphasic is related to spoken language brain damage (like from a stroke)
I think the word you're looking for was apraXic. You can have apraxia and be dhh (some hoh folks have poor oral skills) and you can also be apraxic on its own (some people with CP use ASL due to apraxia)
I have to say I do think that there should be a more up to date causal term for a Deaf person who isn't orally skilled. Nonverbal isn't good, since it's pretty much been preempted by the autistic and cognitively affected crowd.
 
deafdyke said:
Botte, small correction. Aphasic is related to spoken language brain damage (like from a stroke)
I think the word you're looking for was apraXic. You can have apraxia and be dhh (some hoh folks have poor oral skills) and you can also be apraxic on its own (some people with CP use ASL due to apraxia)
I have to say I do think that there should be a more up to date causal term for a Deaf person who isn't orally skilled. Nonverbal isn't good, since it's pretty much been preempted by the autistic and cognitively affected crowd.
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I wonder why deaf educators had specific "aphasic" classrooms, for children who did not develop speech? It did not mean brain damage in that context, they just thought is nicer that saying mute.

Oh yeah, I am autistic spectrum and verbal too.

Do you ever research or just talk?
 
I wonder why deaf educators had specific "aphasic" classrooms, for children who did not develop speech? It did not mean brain damage in that context, they just thought is nicer that saying mute.

Oh yeah, I am autistic spectrum and verbal too.
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Look here for the difference.
Apraxia of Speech
Aphasia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Actually maybe back then the general term was aphasia. Now that I think of it, that does kind of sound familiar, the usage of that term for kids with spoken language disorders back in the '60's/70's) Medical terminlogy has changed you know. For example back in the old days autism was classfied as either childhood onset psychosis or childhood onset schizeophernia.
I wasn't implying that autistic people can't speak. Where the hell did you get that? All I said is that
Nonverbal isn't good, since it's pretty much been preempted by the autistic and cognitively affected crowd.
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Being nonverbal if you're classic autistic is quite common. It's NOT universal (and there are a lot of high functioning autistic folks /Asperger's who can speak quite well) However, it's common enough that there's a HUGE therapy industry for autistic people who don't speak.
 
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