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From Dictionary.com





For 2,000 years the word "dumb" in English meant "unable to speak". It had no reference to intelligence at all.


In my lifetime:


Fifty years ago, before ASL was considered a language, before civil rights, before ADA -- FRIENDS of the Deaf World, such as my mother, used the term "deaf and dumb" to describe people who could neither hear nor speak. They were using the word in its original meaning of mute and never once gave a thought to any reference to intelligence or lack of it. 


People who were disdainful of Deaf, often authority figures such as police, teachers, social workers, called Deaf people "dummies" -- referring to the ventriloquist's dummy who had no voice of their own until the ventriloquist spoke. They did this openly with no thought of repercussions or political consequences.


People who nowadays would be called oralists, but in those days were called liberals, decided the best thing they could do for deaf people was fight against the ignorance of the masses and convince people that deaf were not "dumb" they were as smart as anybody -- Never realizing they were campaigning for their own ignorance, both of the language and of the people who were using the terms.


Their proof that deaf mutes were as smart as anybody wasn't that they were as smart as anybody -- but that they could learn to read lips and use their voices just like normal people. I met these people as a child, my best friend was a CODA who taught me sign, and I never saw one of them who could sign or had any respect for sign language.


The first thing they did was attack people who were friendly to the Deaf community and antagonized them and in the process encouraged Deaf people to reject those hearing who cared the most about them. The message was, "People who use the phrase 'deaf and dumb' are your enemy," somehow lumping them with the same people who called Deaf people "dummies".


It had no effect on people who disdained the deaf community until Stokoe proved ASL was a language, the civil rights movement succeeded, and ADA came into effect. Then openly anti deaf people in authority had to at least pretend to show some respect for the Deaf community.


I don't know if this post effects the way you view someone who uses the term "deaf and dumb" or not, but my first reaction is to look past the words and try to understand what the person means and why they are using it.


I wasn't there, and I don't know the age or attitude of Moonflower's grandmother, but it is possible the poor old lady was judged unfairly.


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