What does deaf mean?

The meaning of deaf is diverse.  It can mean ‘can’t hear, hearing loss, hearing impaired, deafen’ etc.,  in many standardized English dictionaries.

Or it can mean Deaf (as in Capital ‘D’) which defines Deaf as American Sign Language user/culture. User’s can have a wide range of hearing loss from mild to profound, as well as normal hearing (‘D’eaf families). They use ASL regardless of where they are on an audiogram.

Myth: The main stream often think ‘deaf’ means can’t hear at all and uses sign language.  In reality  the majority of those who are deaf/HOH on an audiogram do not know sign language.

Why does this matter?  Because it affects communication access.  The mainstream think sign language covers the majority of the deaf/HOH at conferences, Mass, and classes etc. when it fact, the majority need audio induction loops, CART, Thinkwell,  and captioning. It also creates confusion with deaf demographics statistics because just because someone is deaf doesn’t mean they also use sign language. Demographics statistics need to distinguish between ‘deaf’ and ‘ASL users’ in their data in computing populations.

In reality the deaf/HOH are diverse with their communication access needs and ‘effective communication’ needs to be provided for all. What does deaf mean? :  http://www.cad.ca/definition_of_deaf.php

How do you make it Inclusive to all those who are deaf and hard of hearing?

"However, in order to serve ALL deaf, hard of hearing, 

the hearing impaired or people with hearing loss 

(whichever terms you choose), all of these accessible 

solutions need to be provided, and the Deaf and 

hearing impaired should always be placed down front 

where they can use their eyes to see to hear and the 

audio amplifiers to be picked up by their assistive 

devices. Captions should be on the wall or a screen for

 those who need to read what is being said." 

 (Source:  http://limpingchicken.com/2014/01/16/deaf-discrimination-to-deaf/)