Some deaf or hard-of-hearing people want to hear better and have little or no interest in using or learning any form of sign language.
Others view deafness as a cultural issue. If BSL (British Sign Language) is a language, they argue— and the British government has recognised it as being so— then the problem is not hearing but language barriers of the type faced by any culturo-linguistic minority.
Such differences in attitude stem from factors such as being born deaf, the school they went to, their ability to hear and use hearing aids, whether BSL is their first language etc.
Key to their diversity may be the models of deafness that have evolved from the disability rights movement of the 1970s. Below, they show the path a deaf person may take towards acknowledgement of Deaf Culture, although not all deaf and hard-of-hearing people follow or agree with this principle.
Medical Model
The medical model represents the notion of deafness as an impairment or “problem” that needs to be corrected. Many people who experience deafness later in life—either suddenly or slowly over time—are likely to identify with this model. It is also the first model that parents are likely to apply or see applied by doctors to their deaf children upon diagnosis.
Administrative Model
The administrative model comes into effect when the deaf person is assessed post-diagnosis for benefits or an education. It may mark the point at which he starts to "come out."
Provisional Model
This is adhered to by those who believe that deaf people's access requirements have been met once they start using their designated equipment or the services of a lipspeaker, notetaker or sign language interpreter (SLI).
Social Model
Over time the deaf person may start to question his sense of fulfillment. The social model of disability—first defined by Mike Oliver, following ideological developments by the Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation (UPIAS) in 1976—occurs when he eventually affirms that it is society, not his deafness, that disables him, based on the recognition that
- medical intervention, however comprehensive, does not address societal issues around deafness, and
- the current environment was not designed with deaf people in mind.
Debate continues over the inclusion of culturally deaf people in the social model because one of its qualifying criteria is the acknowledgement that they have an impairment—something that is alien to them.
Some point out that its application to culturally deaf (or big "D" deaf) people is limited in that it fails to address the linguistic barriers that they still face when, for example, using services that have been physically adapted for them.
Culturo-linguistic Model
Born–deaf or prelingually deaf people, Deaf families and Deaf communities are likely to relate to this model because they regard deafness not as a disability, but as a cultural identity.
This model is the most diametrically opposed to the medical model because it emphasises what the person has gained (as opposed to “lost”) through being deaf, i.e. a strong community, a language with its own syntax and grammar, enhanced visual perception, and a culture that he can truly empathise with.
Some prelingually deaf people who learn BSL later in life also identify with this model due to long–held beliefs—commonly supported by evidence of discriminatory barriers that continue in adulthood—that mainstream society or education has failed them.
Sources:
UKCoD. Good Practice Guide – providing access to public services for Deaf People. London: UKCoD, 2001.
Ladd, Paddy. Understanding Deaf Culture. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 2003.
Gregory, Susan. Constructing Deafness. London: Pinter, 1991.
