Impact of Audism on Deaf Resilience

Sep 21, 2024

Lecture Notes: Effect of Audism and Linguisticism on the Developing Deaf Person

Introduction

  • Speaker: Rhonda Jacobs, an alumna of Gallaudet University with a Master's in Linguistics and a Ph.D. in Psychology.
  • Current position: Works at the Deaf Studies Lab at RIT.

Key Concepts

Audism

  • Coined by Dr. Tom Humphries in 1977.
  • Defined as prejudice against individuals based on hearing status.
  • Perception that deaf people are inferior and need to be "fixed."

Linguisticism

  • Introduced by Dr. MJ Bienvenu.
  • Prejudice against a language, particularly the perception that ASL is inferior to spoken languages like English.

Focus of Study

  • Resilience: Ability to bounce back from adversities, stress, conflicts, and disagreements.
    • Weak resilience: Leads to difficulties in recovering from adversities.
    • Strong resilience: Enables individuals to continue with daily life despite setbacks.
  • Protective and Risk Factors
    • Protective Factors: Enhance resilience.
    • Risk Factors: Weaken resilience.

Hypothesis

  • Being Deaf itself is not a risk factor.
  • Internalized Audism: Belief in the need to "fix" deafness is the risk factor.

Methodology

Measuring Resilience

  • Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale: Used to measure personal competence, trust in instincts, tolerance of negative effects, social support, and action-oriented problem solving.

Measuring Internalized Audism

  • Deaf Implicit Association Test: Adapted from tests measuring racism and sexism.
    • Computer-based test analyzing reaction times to assess attitudes towards Deaf as "good" or "bad".

Results

  • Correlation between Audism and Resilience
    • Individuals who see Deaf as "good" have resilience levels similar to hearing peers.
    • Those who see Deaf as "bad" have weak resilience, indicating internalized audism.

Protective Factors

  • Deaf Acculturation: Involvement in the Deaf community is a protective factor.
  • Sign Language Skills: Proficiency in ASL is correlated with stronger resilience.

Deaf Capital Theory

  • Deaf Capital: Knowledge and skills gained from the Deaf community that help navigate challenges.

Statistics

  • Parents’ Hearing Status: Majority of deaf children are born to hearing parents.
  • Language Exposure: Less than 25% of hearing families use sign language with their deaf children.

Conclusion

  • Risks: Audism and linguisticism are detrimental.
  • Benefits: Deaf acculturation and sign language learning are beneficial.
  • Importance of educating society about the value of ASL and Deaf community involvement.
  • Encouragement for mentoring young deaf individuals to become educators and leaders.
  • Final Note: Society's undervaluation of ASL and the Deaf community perpetuates audism and linguisticism, emphasizing the need for awareness and educational efforts.