There are many terms for the levels and different cultures within the deaf community. Two of the main terms used were ‘deaf’ and ‘Deaf.’ There are also other terms for variations on hearing levels and involvedness in communities, for example, hard of hearing or oral. These terms however are not the foundation of this paper. There is a difference between ‘deaf’ and ‘Deaf,’ the main difference being the inclusion or exclusion of culture in the meaning.
According to ASL Stew, lowercase deaf refers to a hearing difference from a medical perspective. It does not have cultural connotations it just means the inability to hear. Uppercase Deaf on the other hand, is inclusive of culture. It means someone who uses ASL or sign language and are involved …show more content…
The term deaf is inclusive of anyone with hearing difference, it does not include the discrimination and struggles that people go through as a community. This calls for the creation of new term that does include these things this is where the term Deaf comes from (Berke, 2017). The main difference is the choice of language used to communicate, deaf people choose mostly to speak English and lipread, while Deaf people use ASL and sign language (Berke, 2017). Not only do the terms deal with the language differences, it also has to do with the activeness in the Deaf community. If someone uses ASL but does not interact with anyone else from the Deaf community they more likely fall under the deaf label. On the other hand, someone can have difficultly hearing and be able to speak but choose to communicate with sign language, they would more likely fall under the Deaf label (Berke, 2017). There is no linear definition for deaf and Deaf, it is more like a spectrum that people fall on. The meaning of deaf is normally intended as someone who has a medical hearing difference but does not inclusive cultural aspects. The meaning of Deaf is intended as a person who someone who has a hearing difference, uses sign language and included the cultural aspects of the Deaf community
According to ASL Stew, lowercase deaf refers to a hearing difference from a medical perspective. It does not have cultural connotations it just means the inability to hear. Uppercase Deaf on the other hand, is inclusive of culture. It means someone who uses ASL or sign language and are involved …show more content…
The term deaf is inclusive of anyone with hearing difference, it does not include the discrimination and struggles that people go through as a community. This calls for the creation of new term that does include these things this is where the term Deaf comes from (Berke, 2017). The main difference is the choice of language used to communicate, deaf people choose mostly to speak English and lipread, while Deaf people use ASL and sign language (Berke, 2017). Not only do the terms deal with the language differences, it also has to do with the activeness in the Deaf community. If someone uses ASL but does not interact with anyone else from the Deaf community they more likely fall under the deaf label. On the other hand, someone can have difficultly hearing and be able to speak but choose to communicate with sign language, they would more likely fall under the Deaf label (Berke, 2017). There is no linear definition for deaf and Deaf, it is more like a spectrum that people fall on. The meaning of deaf is normally intended as someone who has a medical hearing difference but does not inclusive cultural aspects. The meaning of Deaf is intended as a person who someone who has a hearing difference, uses sign language and included the cultural aspects of the Deaf community