Sign Language

 The website is quite informative on the meaning of a name/label that the society uses of people. Specifically the website looks at the community of the deaf. Initially, the society labeled individuals with hearing problems as deaf and dumb. This title is offensive as it insinuates that the deaf person cannot hear and thus has no reasoned thinking.  Labels such as deaf mute was also common and used to mean individuals that are silent and have no voice. This perception was wrong as the deaf have a voice. The problem is that they cannot hear their voice hence cannot articulate it. Another label was impaired hearing, which was well meaning but unacceptable to the deaf community.

The website reveals that people that are deaf should not be generalized and categorized in one group. In fact, there are three categories of the deaf community; the deaf, Deaf and Hard of hearing (National Association of the Deaf, n/d). The deaf refer to individuals who cannot hear; the Deaf refers to individuals who cannot hear but have adopted a form of language for communication purposes i.e. the American Sign Language.  The third group refers to individual with moderate and mild hearing loss. Unlike the Deaf, the hard-at-hearing are not affiliated to any community. Names and labels profoundly affect how the society views people. Negative labels such as deaf and dumb denotes an individual inability. Using labels such as impaired suggests that the individual has fault hence not normal. Labels such as deaf-mute and hearing impaired are negative as they emphasize on what an individual cannot do. Labels such as deaf and hard of hearing are hence acceptable as they emphasize that individuals are normal but unique in their own way (National Association of the Deaf, n/d).

Work Cited

National Association of the Deaf (n/d). Retrieved from http://www.nad.org/issues/american-sign-language/community-and-culture-faq