Discrimination Against the Deaf

Discrimination-Religion Jewish Law (around 1000 BC): Talmud denies the deaf the right to own property Not allowed to appear as witnesses in court Not allowed to participate in spiritual rituals Torah protects deaf from being cursed Early Christianity (around 500 AD): Deafness to a child was believed to have been a punishment against parents for previous sins –St. Augustine CC BY 3.0 Horsch, Willy – eigenes Foto (Zeughaus)

Early Philosophers Innate Intelligence philosophy Intelligence, language, ability to reason and to understand abstract ideas are present at birth. Without speech, it was assumed one was incapable of language or ideas and was without intelligence -Plato

Early Philosophers Ancient Greece (300 BC) “education was impossible without hearing.” -Aristotle “Deaf are incapable to reason”-Aristotle Those who couldn’t speak Greek were considered barbaric

Discrimination-Dark Ages Subject to ridicule Used as court jesters Were thought to have been possessed by evil spirits Forced into asylums for the insane Banned from church Could not “hear” the word of God (necessary for salvation), which was presumed to have been God’s punishment Believed to have been predestined for Hell Depiction of an asylum

Eugenics- 1800’s through 1900’s Eugenics proposed by Francis Galton Francis Galton was a cousin to Darwin and sought to implement his views on the movement towards “natural selection” or “survival of the fittest” Advocated practices to enhance the gene pool of a population Galton coined the term “nature versus nurture”

Eugenics- 1800’s through 1900’s Eugenics A proactive (& controversial) social philosophy to “improve” the human race via ethnic cleansing, separation & elimination of those with less desirable traits Was believed to be a natural extension of Darwin’s theory on evolution. Man assisting “natural selection.”

Eugenics Methods Population segregation Marriage restriction Genetic screenings Birth control Forced sterilizations Forced abortions Forced pregnancies (trying to “breed” more desirable traits) Genocide-mass murder Euthanasia Groups affected Mentally ill Racial groups (i.e. Jews under Hitler’s Nazi Germany) Deaf Blind homosexuals Prostitutes Potentially anyone with undesirable trait

Eugenics logo from the 2 nd International Eugenics Conference held in 1921 (New York City ) Contributing Factors: Genetics Genealogy Psychology Geography Religion Medicine Anatomy Education Others… (See illustration)

Eugenics Improving the Human Condition or an Abuse of Power?

Audism Defined The notion that a hearing person is superior to a deaf person, based on the ability to hear & that life is more meaningful to one because they are hearing. The assumption that life for the deaf is miserable and less meaningful simply because they cannot hear.

Audism & Discrimination It is believed by some that deaf people are less qualified for certain things, simply because they are deaf. Deaf people have been denied employment opportunities because people don’t want the “hassle” of dealing with deaf people In some cases, property owners have been known to turn away deaf applicants for housing

Linguistic Audism Has to do with banning the use of sign language in public or school settings Less common today but still practiced in some areas

Linguistic Audism Related to the notion that if a person relies on sign language, they will not learn to speak True or false?

Audism Amongst the Deaf It Goes Both Ways Some deaf people believe they are superior to other deaf people because they can speak Some deaf people believe they are better than others because they know sign language Sometimes, deaf people who speak but don’t sign are excluded from the deaf community at large Deaf people who choose to speak and not sign may choose to not associate with other deaf people that do sign

Discrimination Today- Denying Interpreters Deaf people have been denied interpreters In: Hospitals The workplace Contract negotiations Social events School settings Many more…

American’s with Disabilities Act of 1990 Civil rights law enacted by Congress in 1990 Prohibits discrimination based on disability Similar to the Civil Rights Act of 1964

ADA Title I – Employment Prohibits employers from discriminating against persons with disabilities ADA Title II – State & Local Governments Requires that state & local governments make their services available to persons with disabilities (e.g. providing interpreters for the deaf)

Title III – Public Accommodations (Businesses) Requires that businesses open to the public provide access to persons with disabilities, for their business. Equal access includes providing interpreters where needed, for the deaf Includes: hospitals, stores, social services, doctors & lawyers offices…

ADA & Interpreters Under the ADA, deaf people have the right to use an interpreter in settings such as: business meetings employment opportunities contract negotiations Hospital visits Educational settings & many more

ADA Trivia True or False? If the expense of providing an interpreter causes “significant difficulty, expense or undue hardship” a business is still required by law to provide an interpreter? False If the burden is unreasonable or too expensive, the business is not required to provide the interpreter. Proving “undue hardship” can be difficult, however. Source: Enforcement Guidance: Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship Under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Sections “Undue Hardship” section

ADA Title IV- Telecommunications Requirement that all telecommunication companies, in the U.S., provide equivalent communication services for people with disabilities, as is available for people without disability. Especially relevant to the deaf community Led to the installation of TTY’s (teletypewriters) in public locations across the U.S., in the 1990’s.

TTY’s & Video Relay Service Teletypewriters less common today. Replaced mostly by Video Relay Services. Electronic device used for typing information from one point to another Texting before texting

Video Relay Services Video Relay Services: Glorified Web Cameras. Deaf person signs with an interpreter at a remote location, via the web cam. Interpreter “relays” message to a third party (usually a hearing person)

Video Relay Service Example CC BY-SA 3.0CC BY-SA 3.0 SignVideo, London, U.K (Wikipedia)

Other Technology Web Cameras FaceTime Skype Video phones Phone cameras

Fun Fact Senator Tom Harkin, Author of the ADA bill delivered part of the ADA introduction speech in sign language, for his deaf brother