Deaf Past Perceptions

How they were perceived in the past and how they are perceived today will undoubtedly help us understand deaf persons better. The unending studies conducted to investigate their cognitive functioning have continued to shed light on the mysterious minds of the deaf. Century after century, we have become more and more literate not only of the Deaf culture but also of their mental ability.
In the past, deaf persons were considered to be mentally inferior or retarded, less intelligent compared to their hearing peers, and unable to mentally process abstract concepts. These past perspectives on deaf persons to be mentally inferior, unintelligent, and concrete-based thinkers and learners were supported by less comprehensive studies in the past. However, in the present, deaf persons are now considered to have abstract thinking ability, intelligence comparable to their hearing peers, and more cognitive development when intervened …show more content…
First, the National Research Council reported in 1924-1925 that Pinter Non-Language Mental Test revealed deaf persons to be between 2-3 years retarded compared to hearing persons (Scheetz, 2012). In other words, deaf students’ mental abilities were believed to be 2-3 years below grade level. Second, the study of Pintner, Eisenson, and Stanton in 1941 showed that children who were deaf had inferior intelligence (Scheetz, 2012). This means that once a student was identified as deaf, he was expected to be less intelligent than the hearing students. Marschark and Wauters (2011) described this perspective as deaf as inferior. Third, the study of Myklebust and Brutton in 1953 concluded that deaf learners were restricted to the world of concrete objects rather than of abstract things (Scheetz, 2012). Deaf students were not able to process abstract information because they heavily relied on what they saw. Marschark and Wauters (2011) described this perspective as deaf as