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Audism

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Audism is a term used to describe discrimination or stereotypes against deaf or hard of hearing people--for example, by assuming that the cultural ways of hearing people are somehow better or the only way things can be. Compare with sexism, racism, sizeism, heteronormative, transphobia, homophobia, etc.

Audists can either be hearing or deaf. Audism occurs when a deaf person is judged as incapable of a given behavior, occupation, etc. simply because he or she cannot hear. Audism is often coupled with a "hearing" superiority: an attitude of thinking one person is superior to another person because he or she can hear better than him or her is comparable to the belief that a person with lighter skin is more beautiful than a person with darker skin. Audism takes another form concerning interactions between the deaf: deaf people who will not use sign language and who will not identify with the deaf community may consider themselves to be "better" than others who use sign language and are part of deaf culture.

While opponents of audism seek to educate the public that deaf people can do anything but hear, they recognize there are limitations in certain situations--service in the army, employment as a commerical pilot, or telemarketing, perhaps. However, aside from a few, select examples, audism's opponents argue that the deaf are capable of excelling in a myriad of settings and deserve equal opportunity.


Definitions

Audism (from Latin audire, to hear, and -ism, a system of practice, behavior, belief, or attitude) has been variously defined as:

  • The belief that life without hearing is futile and miserable, that hearing loss is a tragedy and "the scourge of mankind," and that deaf people should struggle to be as much like hearing people as possible. Deaf activists Heidi Reed and Hartmut Teuber at D.E.A.F. Inc., a community service and advocacy organization in Boston, consider audism to be "a special case of ableism." Audists, hearing or deaf, shun Deaf culture and the use of sign language, and have what Reed and Teuber describe as "an obsession with the use of residual hearing, speech, and lip reading by deaf people." (Pelka 1997: 33)
  • The notion that one is superior based on one's ability to hear or behave in the manner of one who hears. (Zak 1996)
  • An attitude based on pathological thinking which results in a negative stigma toward anyone who does not hear; like racism or sexism, audism judges, labels, and limits individuals on the basis of whether a person hears and speaks. (Humphrey and Alcorn 1995: 85)
  • The corporate institution for dealing with deaf people--dealing with them by making statements about them, authorizing views of them, describing them, teaching about them, governing where they go to school and, in some cases, where they live; in short, audism is the hearing way of dominating, restructuring, and exercising authority over the deaf community. It includes such professional people as administrators of schools for deaf children and of training programs for deaf adults, interpreters, and some audiologists, speech therapists, otologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, librarians, researchers, social workers, and hearing aid specialists. (Lane 1992: 43)


Examples of Audism

  • Deaf people cannot write well because they are deaf or because English is not their first language.
  • Signing in public makes deaf people look like animals.
  • Deaf people cannot be successful without the aid of hearing devices like cochlear implants.
  • Deaf people who can speak well are more successful or smarter than those who can't or don't speak.
  • Deaf people cannot perform well in sports due to their loss of hearing, which is related to the sense of balance.
  • Deaf people cannot drive.


Audism FAQ by Gallaudet University

deafness.about.com on audism

Audism unveiled A movie on the topic.

AUDISM.TV A website will be focused on Deaf peoples' monologues on Audism (launch pending)

STOP AUDISM NOW The Deaf Community has reacted in much the same way as other oppressed groups- through the use of an organized campaign with the slogan "Stop Audism Now." Bumper stickers and t-shirts can now be found at Gallaudet University and Deaf expos, Deaf festivals, and anywhere large groups of culturally Deaf individuals gather.

AUDISM Project Another shop of "Stop Audism" products.

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