Introduction to Deafness
In everyday terms deafness is viewed as being unable to hear and although this is basically correct there is much more in depth information relating to deafness that many people are unaware of.
Many hearing people still do not realise or understand that you cannot treat communication with a deaf person like talking to another hearing person or talking in a noisy room.
There are varying communication methods that are preferred by deaf people and the information in this section of our web site will explain the terms and definitions of deafness, as well as providing an introduction and summary to deaf language and the preferred methods deaf people use to communicate.
Different ways to describe deafness
Here are some medical terms that are commonly used to measure and explain the different ranges of deafness.
- Mild: Low degree of hearing loss - Unable to hear soft sound and difficulty understanding speech in noisy environments. Unable to hear anything less than 25 Decibels (dB).
- Moderate: Unable to hear soft and moderately loud sound and difficulty understanding speech with background noise. Unable to hear anything less than 41 dB.
- Severe: Some loud sounds are audible but communication without a hearing instrument is impossible, difficulty talking on the phone. unable to hear less than 71 dB.
- Profound: High degree of hearing loss - May hear some extremely loud sound, may have difficulties communicating with hearing instrument. Unable to hear less than 91 dB.
Terms used to describe deaf people and how they are used
Deaf - Born with severe or profound hearing loss
Deafened - Born hearing but hearing loss in later life could start a few months after birth or during old age.
Hard of Hearing - Person with mild or moderate hearing loss
Deaflblind - Varying degree of hearing and sight loss
Terms such as deaf and dumb are offensive to most deaf people as the
word ‘dumb’ implies stupidity. Deaf people are no more or less
intelligent than anyone else.
Using big 'D' and small 'd' in deaf communities is to explain the definition of deafness that is viewed by deaf people.
These people are referred to as “Deaf” (with a capital “D”). These are usually people who were born deaf, or became deaf pre-lingually. Almost all will use British Sign Language (BSL) as their first language. They will also see the community as a linguistic minority and not regard themselves as disabled.
We use the word “deaf” (with a small “d”) to refer to all deaf people. They may have been deaf from birth or deafened later in life. This includes people who are heard of hearing.
In this website explaining deafness we will use the small 'd' in deaf to cover all range of deafness.