Unfair Discrimination Against Deaf People Is Actually a Lot Like Agism

 

Senior citizens struggling with hearing loss

Imagine you are at the grocery store and you cannot hear what the young cashier is saying and you keep asking, “What?” and the cashier begins to shout at you so you can hear. At this moment, you feel that you are getting old and losing your hearing. According to an article published in the National Library of Medicine, “Hearing loss affects approximately one-third of adults 61 to 70 years of age.” Aging is an unfortunate part of life that we cannot avoid and two consequences of aging is hearing loss and discrimination. Another consequence of aging is discrimination in the work place. The company you have worked at for the last 20 years fires you for someone younger and more “able.” When you try to find a new job, you are less likely to be hired because of your age. This is the same discrimination that Deaf people face.

People often shout at Deaf people like it will magically make them hear. Just like senior citizens, Deaf people are always told they cannot do things and are never hired because they are seen as weak; just like how seniors experience agism, Deaf people experience discrimination. Hearing people have been discriminating against deaf people and controlling their lives since forever. Many Hearing people discriminate against Deaf and hard-of-hearing people because of ignorance and the feeling of superiority. According to Arielle Schacter, a deaf person who had many experiences with discrimination and had a blog for teenagers with hearing loss, “There are so many false ideas floating around about what a person who is deaf or has a hearing loss is like or can do. Apparently, the condition includes being old, uneducated, and unable to speak.” Deaf and hard of hearing people who use sign language to communicate should not have to conform to a hearing society just because they are a minority.

Even though it is 2021, some demographics still face discrimination, such as agism, just like how Deaf and hard of hearing people face audism. Audism refers to hearing people who look down upon people with deafness. According to Deaf Choice Inc., someone is only referred to as an Audist if they discriminate against Deaf people even though they are educated about deaf culture, but choose to ignore it. Like agism, audism can present itself as lowering expectations for Deaf people in school or the workplace, saying they cannot do sports or other tasks because they are Deaf, and expressing a negative attitude towards them. This is forcing the Deaf community to conform to a hearing world which can have lasting effects on the community.

Deaf people love their culture because it provides them a community of people who relate to their struggles, and give a sense of belonging. When people discriminate against Deaf people, they feel like hearing people are trying to destroy or suppress their community. But according to VeryWellHealth, all the discrimination has actually inspired Deaf people to write about their struggles in poems, books, and plays to spread awareness. This has helped the fight against Audism since people are now more aware about how to treat Deaf people, but stopping discrimination completely is nearly impossible. Unfortunately, many people still think that since Deaf people are a minority, they will not be able to live in a hearing world, so they need to adjust to us. This is an outdated attitude that needs to be put to rest because according to the Canadian Association of the Deaf (CAD) telling a Deaf person to speak and learn English instead of using sign language because we live in a hearing world is like telling a blind person to see because they live in a “seeing world,” or telling someone in a wheelchair to walk because we live in a “walking world.”

The world needs to stop making Deaf people feel like there is something wrong with them. Deaf people do not see their deafness as a loss because they like being Deaf since it makes up their identity. Most of them do not wish to hear, so people need to stop looking at Deaf people with pity. Organizations run by hearing people should also stop making decisions for Deaf people and stop telling them they need to be put in hearing schools to learn to speak and read lips. Teach them to use Sign Language and that they should not be ashamed of who they are. The CAD states that many schools argue Deaf children should not be taught sign language because we live in a hearing society. Yet, these same schools have no problem teaching sign language to non-Deaf children. Early childhood educators and several medical professionals are also strictly against teaching Deaf children sign, but fully support hearing children learn sign because it has been shown to improve brain development and help children with communication disorders to communicate. This is again, a form of audism and it is suppressing the Deaf Community. The solution to this problem: hearing people in charge should not force Deaf children to be like hearing children.

Discrimination, whether it be agism or audism, will always be an issue. No matter how much you try to educate people about discrimination and the proper way to treat people, there will always be hate. You can do your part by recognizing this hate and standing up for these people when you see it because you know what discrimination feels like. As always, people should follow the golden rule, “treat others the way you want to be treated.”