Deaf Gain reframes the concept of “Hearing Loss” to “Deaf Gain”. This promotes that deafness contributes to cognitive, cultural, and creative diversity. In general, most people think that being Deaf means disabled; that you can’t do something or there is a lack of something, but that’s not true. Rather than a lack, deafness is a “distinct way of being in the world, one which opens up perceptions, perspectives, and insights that are less common to the majority of hearing persons”, said Bauman.
The most common way to refer to deafness is by calling it “hearing loss”, which places value on something we potentially don’t need. Some people view the words “hearing loss” or “hearing impaired” to describe a limitation, however others feel the terms hold a negative connotation.
Deaf Gain is a way to re-frame deafness into something positive, offering a diversity of experiences and perspectives that can benefit everyone, hearing or Deaf. Deafness allows people to gain community, perspective, and identity summarized as Deaf Gain; described in the Switched at Birth video excerpt below.
Biodiversity and Cultural Diversity
We should look at the world through a lens of cultural diversity instead of a lens of normalcy, or average. Drawing a link between biodiversity and cultural diversity. The health of an ecosystem is determined based on the amount of biodiversity that is present. The health of a society should be measured through a similar lens looking at the diversity of cultures, languages, bodies, and minds. Human diversity is both natural and positive for the survival of our species. These differences should be celebrated and encouraged, they benefit individuals and society by introducing diversity.
Photo by Fauxels
Cognitive Diversity
Deaf people are visually oriented in the world around them, notes a Deaf Studies scholar Ben Bahan. The link between better visuospatial abilities and use of sign languages has been identified in many studies. Often, Deaf people have a well-developed peripheral vision, increased spatial cognition, and better facial recognition skills due to their experiences using sign language, a visual-based language. These Deaf Gains can be advantages in situations where these skills are beneficial.
“Vision may have an advantage, for it is neurologically a richer and more complex physiological system than hearing. Sight makes use of much more of the brain’s capacity than does hearing” - William Stokoe (2001)
Cultural Diversity
It is a common experience for Deaf travellers to meet other Deaf travellers in a foreign country and be able to communicate with them. By improvising, using visual gestures, and using universal signs they are able to chat. In comparison, hearing travellers must take time to decipher each other’s language before trying to communicate effectively. These Deaf travellers don’t experience this formal language boundary and are usually more successful in these encounters.
Photo by cottonbro
Creative Diversity
While designing conference meeting rooms, hearing architects often propose rectangle tables. In contrast, Deaf architects usually suggest round tables so that people can interact with everyone present around the table. As sign language is very visual, being able to see all individuals in a group setting is critical and increases effective communication. This ability to see everyone around a table is beneficial to Deaf and hearing groups alike.
More so, in building design, light sources are often left for the end, or are of lesser priority for hearing architects. However, Deaf architects often prioritize this aspect of the design as it is crucial to allow proper communication between signers. If a space has poor lighting, effective sign language would not be possible. This focus on lighting benefits all of society, with the input of Deaf people who have different creative approaches, spaces can be designed in a way that promotes a more human way of coexisting.
Photo by Fauxels
Deaf Gain and Society
An example of Deaf-gain as a contribution to humanity is the Deaf Swiss junior national snowboard team coach. The coach realized that the snowboarders were listening to the sound of their board cutting the snow to determine if they were making the sharpest turn possible. These audio cues were not always the most reliable in different snow conditions. He asked all the athletes to train with earplugs, at first the athletes kept falling of their boards due to their lack of familiarity. However, the earplugs forced them to rely of the feeling of the snow under their board. Once they removed the earplugs their performance improved remarkably. This fresh perspective and learning style from the Deaf coach allowed the team to achieve results that could not have been possible otherwise.
In another sport, baseball, William Ellsworth Hoy was the first Deaf major league baseball player. He has been credited with creating the hand signals that are used by umpires today. When he started in baseball, the umpires shouted all the calls. When Hoy was up at bat, he asked his third-base coach to raise his right arm to indicate a strike and his left arm to indicate a ball. Gradually, hand signs became common use in baseball amongst Deaf and hearing players. The value of the Deaf perspective has been identified and is being adopted in many activities.
Framing “hearing loss” to “Deaf Gain” allows people to be more aware about how Deaf people have many things to contribute to society and how their diversity increases the health of the population. Contributions of a Deaf person benefits not only the individual, but general society as well. Their unique perspectives, culture, and identity are important to the growth, development, and advancement of communities.
If you want to learn more about Deaf Gain, forty-two scholars have put together a book, Deaf Gain: Raising the Stakes for Human Diversity, published by the University of Minnesota Press, which constructs a new way of defining and increasing the value of human diversity. It outlines philosophical, language, sensory, social and creative gains that result from deafness.
References
Ahmed KhalifaFounder & Director at Hear Me Out! [CC]Working on bridging the gap between the hearing and deaf worlds by raising deaf awareness via public speaking. (2020, August 13). Deaf gain: REFRAMING how being deaf is positive to individuals & society. Retrieved March 28, 2021, from https://hearmeoutcc.com/deaf-gain/
AiMedia01. (2018, February 15). [Asl] asl stew - what is deaf gain? Retrieved March 28, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE9sTtB4CJU&t=7s
Bauman, D. (2014, November 13). An introduction to deaf gain. Retrieved March 28, 2021, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/deaf-gain/201411/introduction-deaf-gain
Bauman, Dirksen & Murray, Joseph. (2009). Reframing: From Hearing Loss to Deaf Gain. Deaf Stud. Digit. J. 1.
Brinkmann, P. (2020, February 03). What is 'Deaf Gain' AND 'Deaf Identity'? Retrieved March 28, 2021, from https://www.hearinglikeme.com/what-is-deaf-gain-and-deaf-identity/
Deaf gain - deaf space. (2013, April 21). Retrieved March 28, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8QO9av7XQM&t=306s
Jay, M. (2019, October 01). Home. Retrieved March 28, 2021, from https://www.startasl.com/dummy-hoy/