Deafism and Audism -What does that mean in Church?
I found this quote interesting saying "Deaf psychologist Shirley Lee, meanwhile, brought to light two words proposed to be added to the English dictionary, 'audism' and 'deafism'.
"A simple definition of 'audism' would be that it is a negative or oppressive attitude towards deaf people by either deaf or hearing people and organisations, and a failure to accommodate them," Lee explained.
An example of it is the refusal or failure to use sign language in the presence of a sign language dependent person. It is cited as discrimination against the deaf for which there should be a lawsuit, they said. { same with real time, closed and open captioning, CART, as well as assistive listening devices like
audio induction loops}
'Deafism', on the other hand, is internal discrimination of persons in the deaf community. It is defined as a form of bigotry against certain deaf people not perceived to be ‘deaf enough' by other deaf persons who are not considered to be culturally deaf.
The 'deafism' form of oppression is also aimed at those who have spent too much time with the hearing people." {like refusal or failure to provide CART for a deaf person who uses it}
This is closely related to 'ableism'. It is all in the same camp -Deafism, Audism, Ableism -an ism kind of thing that discriminates, excludes and marginalizes certain groups of people.
I wonder if that is why Catholic deaf and hard of hearing ministries at the Diocese level rarely
I wonder if that is why Catholic deaf and hard of hearing ministries at the Diocese level rarely
provide CART in spite of the fact that the largest deaf population are the late deaf and they typically
speak English, not ASL. CART is English in verbatim real time which is their language. They
read the CART receptively to understand, and if they are oral, respond by speaking expressively as a two directional communication access which is appropriate for their cultural, social and linguistic model framework for accommodation and access to the Mass and other parts of church life.
Perhaps Catholic deaf and hard of hearing ministries at the Diocese are infected with both Deafism and Audism? Captioning is the language of many who are deaf and hard of hearing. It's the social, cultural and linguistic model for many of us. Yet, most Catholic Diocese deaf and hard of hearing ministries (as well as churches under them) rarely provide CART for those you use it and often times refuse it under the disguise of saying the accommodation is either being distracting or too expensive instead of acknowledging their 'ism'. If anything, you get more bangs for your bucks using CART over audio induction loops and sign language because more people can use CART. No excuses here.
In reality, all three most common accommodations, be it sign language, CART and audio induction loops should be provided for all.
read the CART receptively to understand, and if they are oral, respond by speaking expressively as a two directional communication access which is appropriate for their cultural, social and linguistic model framework for accommodation and access to the Mass and other parts of church life.
Perhaps Catholic deaf and hard of hearing ministries at the Diocese are infected with both Deafism and Audism? Captioning is the language of many who are deaf and hard of hearing. It's the social, cultural and linguistic model for many of us. Yet, most Catholic Diocese deaf and hard of hearing ministries (as well as churches under them) rarely provide CART for those you use it and often times refuse it under the disguise of saying the accommodation is either being distracting or too expensive instead of acknowledging their 'ism'. If anything, you get more bangs for your bucks using CART over audio induction loops and sign language because more people can use CART. No excuses here.
In reality, all three most common accommodations, be it sign language, CART and audio induction loops should be provided for all.
They need to stop discriminating against the majority of the deaf and hard of hearing and be more inclusive by making the church accessible to all the deaf and hard of hearing people and not just a certain population of the deaf and hard of hearing. Deafness is diverse. Most deaf and hard of hearing people use real time captioning, open captioning, closed captioning and audio induction loops.
Sign language is wonderful for those who use it, and if someone uses sign language, that should be provided for them, but they must also provide 'effective communication' for the other (and majority) of the deaf and hard of hearing who speak English, not ASL. We are being discriminated against, excluded and marginalized by denying us 'effective communication' access to the Catholic Mass and other parts of church life such as Catholic conferences if CART is not being provided.
Sign language is wonderful for those who use it, and if someone uses sign language, that should be provided for them, but they must also provide 'effective communication' for the other (and majority) of the deaf and hard of hearing who speak English, not ASL. We are being discriminated against, excluded and marginalized by denying us 'effective communication' access to the Catholic Mass and other parts of church life such as Catholic conferences if CART is not being provided.
Surely the ministries are infected with both Audism and Deafism because we are not being provided with effective communication access for the deaf and hard of hearing. Could that explain the lack of accessibility for the diverse deaf and hard of hearing?
They need to adopt the ADA model of inclusivity and embrace multi cultural components of human diversity instead of running Catholic deaf and hard of hearing ministries like Deaf schools in which sign language is the de facto communication access, even if the majority of the deaf and hard of hearing use captioning and audio induction loops instead. We need to have more accessible churches
for the late deaf, oral deaf and hard of hearing. Not everyone knows sign language. Not everyone uses audio induction. Many deaf and hard of hearing can use captioning. Contrary to popular myth, the majority of the deaf are the late deaf and the majority of the deaf do not know or use sign language.
CART which is basically real time captioning is a universal design because more deaf and hard of hearing people can use CART. Only a small portion know sign language. Many deaf and hard of
hearing are bilingual and can use either CART or Sign language. But CART is a Universal Design because more people can use CART as an accommodation.
hearing are bilingual and can use either CART or Sign language. But CART is a Universal Design because more people can use CART as an accommodation.
Accommodations should be provided for all, be it sign language, CART or audio induction loops, FM system in the universal church called Catholic. The church is ADA exempt but ADA is the model
of inclusivity.
Captioning, be it real time captioning, CART, open captioning and closed captioning
is a Universal design access. More people can have access to the word of God.
We need to get rid of isms and provide access for all in churches. We need to make the church accessible for the deaf and hard of hearing. We need to end discrimination,
exclusion and marginalizing people in churches. We need to embrace the ADA model even though
the church is exempt from ADA laws. Its a good law to follow to include all. Churches could benefit by being more inclusive and more accessible for everyone. The church can benefit from an increase in time, talent and tithe and diversity in churches by being more inclusive. The 2010 revision of the ADA law includes 'effective communication' respecting the person's primary language and mode of communication access. We need to embrace diversity in human connections. We need to share the Joy of the Gospel to all.
Kennedy Center in DC area use captioning (and sign language and assistive listening devices).
See http://www.kennedy-center.org/accessibility/hearing.html
Catholics With Hearing Loss Yahoo Forum Group
If you are Catholic with a hearing loss (mild to profound) and interested in
discussing with others about how to make the Mass and other parts of church
life more accessible, along with supporting one another spiritually - Subscribe at
Staying connected with CaptionCall:
Catholics With Hearing Loss Yahoo Forum Group
If you are Catholic with a hearing loss (mild to profound) and interested in
discussing with others about how to make the Mass and other parts of church
life more accessible, along with supporting one another spiritually - Subscribe at
cccatholic-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Group Description
Catholics with Hearing loss interested in having the Mass in CC (CART and Typewell), audio induction loops and other accommodations, along with conferences and workshops and how to support accessibility in the church and one another.
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