Deafness As Ethnicity!??
- Michael Ballard (Iowa State University)
Abstract
While American Sign Language (ASL) was not thought to be a true language until the 1960’s, deaf individuals and communities have long been thriving in the United States since its inception. And, despite the effects of eugenics as well as cultural and linguistic genocide, ASL and the Deaf Community are alive and well. This presentation will focus upon the identity of a Deaf person, not as an individual coping with a sensory perception loss, but as a thriving member of the American Deaf Culture. Integral to this is a discussion of the metamorphosis of Deaf Identity. We will explore how the concept of deafness has transformed into a discussion about Deaf Community, the concept of Deafhood and Deaf Identity, and now to the more expansive concept of Deaf Ethnicity.