Deaf in DC: A Memoir

44. Terms of Impairment

183 44 Terms of Impairment DEAF PEOPLE USED TO BE JUST THAT: DEAF. IN INDIA, THEY were known as deaf and dumb in 1967. This term didn’t refer to a deaf person’s intelligent level; it just pointed to his inability to speak. At Gallaudet , I learned that “dumb” in English means stupid and it was dropped a long time ago. I wrote to my friends in Delhi about it and they worked on changing the organization’s name from “Deaf and Dumb Association to “Delhi Association of the Deaf.” Little did I know how many changes in the nomenclature were to going to occur. Recognition of ASL and Deaf culture has led to diversification within the Deaf community. In 1988, Deaf people wanted a Deaf president. In 2006, they protested against the selection of Dr. Fernandes, as the president of Gallaudet University, because that she was “not deaf enough.” This sounded a pretty ambiguous term, so I Googled it at that time and got over 2,500 hits. There was even a book titled Not Deaf Enough. The “deaf” were simply “deaf” or “hard of hearing” until the 1970s, when we were labeled “hearing impaired.” This term, according to those who used it, encompassed all people with any kind of hearing problem. However, the novelty of this grandiose term faded fast. This was also the time when deaf identity along with the concept of ASL as a bona fide language was taking shape; thus the term “hearing impaired” was rejected by the Deaf community. “We are deaf,” it declared, “not impaired anywhere .” The term died its natural death in America but is very popular abroad—just like Marlboro cigarettes. The burgeoning Deaf community, like any minority, began to stratify itself. Not all deaf people are alike and soon there were labels for various subgroups that composed the D/deaf community. Many people take credit for the nomenclature for the four subgroups identified within the 184 d e a f i n d c deaf community. Since no one has filed copyright for authorship, I will leave this issue alone and simply say that Deaf people coined these terms. The first group, of course, is Deaf with the capital D. They have their own cultural and linguistic identity. Their families and friends are Deaf. Their contact with the hearing community is limited to working with them or living in their neighborhoods or associating with parents and siblings who happened to be hearing. This group considers itself to be the pure “Brahman Deaf” group and calls one another “deafies.” The second group is deaf people who are “audiologically deaf,” but who don’t consider themselves to be culturally deaf. This group comprises persons who are late deafened, associate with hearing people, and use Signed English. According to deafies, this group is not “really deaf” or not deaf enough, because its members think and act like hearing people. This group is labeled heafie—half deaf, half hearing. The sign for heafies is the same as hearing, except the place of sign is in front of the forehead. The deafies consider heafies as outsiders as Muslims are to Christians. The next group is hearing people who by birth or by association have binding ties with the Deaf community. Hearing children of deaf couples (codas), hearing family members of families with a large number of deaf people, some interpreters, and those who work closely with the deaf and, more importantly, think like them are known as “dearies.” They are hearing, but they think like deaf people, use ASL fluently, and socialize with the Deaf most of the time. Of course, dearies, despite their hearing, are more accepted in the Deaf community than the heafies despite the fact that they are hearing. Then there is the vast majority. That is hearing people. No need to define them. They make up 99.99 percent of the world population. They are simply “hearies.” They may sign or not and they may love deaf people or not. They are just hearies. ❖ Deafness is a low-incident disability. We are a very small minority and since our disability is invisible, the general public recognizes us only when we use signs (or, perhaps, carry a sign proclaiming deafness). Since we are small, we need to be united. Every member of the Deaf community has t e r...