We thought it would be a good idea to debunk a few myths that are commonly believed about deaf individuals that just aren’t true. Often people have a single interaction with a deaf person or hear about an interaction and pass that info on. Things can be misconstrued over time or just not thought out properly. This section will help you understand and pass these things on to help others know the truth
- People who are deaf cannot hear anything
- The terms “deaf” and “hard of hearing” have a wide range. And the range of hearing loss is vast; numerous factors including type (conductive or sensorineural), age at onset, and others, contribute to what an individual is able to hear. Deaf does not mean the complete absence of sound in the ears. Deaf is an identity and an individual does not have to be profoundly deaf to identify as Deaf.
- All deaf people can read lips
- Lipreading is quite difficult to rely on alone. Only about 40 to 50% of English can be seen on the lips. And contrary to popular belief, over-enunciating does not help people understand better, it actually makes the message harder to understand by distorting your mouth into shapes that do not fit regular speech patterns. Rather than lipreading, people engage in speech reading, which incorporates body language, facial expressions, eye movement, and more. Oftentimes, this is a skill that people learn in speech therapy, but it is not fair to assume that all deaf people can read lips. It helps, but it’s not a substitute for full communication. Of the many ways to communicate with someone who is deaf, this is one of the most difficult.
- Deaf people cannot read
- People who are deaf can definitely read. When learning to read, your child may need a little extra support, because phonics can be a bit challenging without the ability to hear the sounds of the language they are learning to read. But there are teachers who specialize in teaching deaf children to read. There are tons of educational approaches that can be catered to a child’s individual needs.
- There is an untruth that is often mentioned that deaf people are only able to read at a 4th-grade level. The study that reached and published this result was conducted in the 1960s and the factors that went into the study were not very reliable.
- Deaf people cannot talk
- The way a baby with normal hearing learns to speak is by listening to their parents and the people around them, repeating those words and listening to them, and eating feedback from others and their own ears. Babies are able to practice In order to perfect their speech. Because a deaf child doesn’t have the same ability to repeat and get feedback, the process is not the same. Many deaf choose not to use their voices because they feel they could be ridiculed for their volume or pronunciation or that people will not understand them. However many others undergo speech therapy to learn to form words and speak. Deafness does not affect the vocal cords, just the process of learning to speak requires different support.
- ASL is English on the hands
- ASL is its own language with its own syntax, morphology, and phonology. It is a visual, gestural language that communicates concepts simultaneously with spatial relationships verbal, nonmanual markers, and so much more. It is not English. there are many words and concepts that cannot be translated into English ASL utilizes so much more than just the hands, it involves the entire upper half of the body. There are even accents in different dialects throughout the US. In the same way that soft drinks are called soda in some regions and soda, pop, and others; signs like birthday and serial differ by region and state as well.
- Sign is international
- This is one of those things that makes you say to yourself “Ohhh yeah“. American Sign Language is not international, it is only used in the US, Canada, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Each country’s, deaf community develops its own language in the same way, that spoken language is developed and differs from country to country. Even British Sign Language (BSL) is very different from ASL.
- A few sign languages to explore: Ethiopian Sign Language, Japanese Sign Language, French Sign Language (LSF) – from which ASL originates, Auslan (Australian Sign Language), and Mexican Sign Language (LSM). And there are so many more!
- In the 1970s, the World Federation of the Deaf’s Commission on the Unification of Signs created Gestuno, which was later named International Sign Language. It is used at gatherings like the Deaflympics (deaf Olympics) and international conferences.