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?
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