Guest Author - Kelli Deister

Many years ago, when discussing deaf individuals, the hearing community referred to them as deaf and mute or deaf and dumb. Consider, for a moment, how one might use the term dumb. It usually refers to someone being stupid and unintelligent. Dumb is not a word that holds any degree of respect. On the contrary, it is a word that expresses a complete lack of respect.

Mute means the person cannot talk. However, deaf people are not mute. They have the same functionality with their vocal cords as a hearing person does. The difference is that they cannot hear the words in order to enunciate them clearly. The terms deaf-mute and deaf-dumb were used many years ago to describe an individual that was deaf and could not speak. Surprisingly, there are still some hearing individuals that consider those terms appropriate to use.

Regardless of whether or not a person chooses to believe that there is prejudice still occurring against deaf people, it does indeed occur in modern times. Granted, it may not happen as much as it used to, but it is still a valid issue to address. Deaf individuals are not stupid. Just because they don’t have the ability to hear does not make them stupid or dumb. It simply means they cannot hear.

Please understand that when a person addresses a deaf individual as deaf and mute or deaf and dumb, it is considered extremely insulting. It also shows a significant lack of respect towards the deaf person. When speaking about a person with hearing loss, remember that there are three terms that can be used. The first is the term deaf. This term means any person that has the medical incapability to hear sounds. The second term is Deaf. When capitalizing this term, it signals that the deaf person is a member of the Deaf community and Deaf culture. Lastly, the term hard of hearing expresses to others that the person can hear slightly, but not completely. Please do not use the terms deaf and mute or deaf and dumb. The Deaf are equally intelligent and successful.