deaf v. Deaf v. hearing loss

[Karen Ozmun]

thought i'd pass along these comments by karen utter, associated with
self-help for hard of hearing (shhh), which address some of the
difficulties in labels for anyone with hearing loss.  karen

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Hi Gerry,
It's too late for all these dissertations!  However, one last thought, I think
using more generic terms sometimes is more helpful when we are talking about
training.  I usually refer to "people with hearing loss" and do not
discriminate on degree unless asked a specific question.  I'm  not sure that
labels are very important here and that we should strive to be as inclusive as
possible and include all persons with any degree of hearing loss..  This helps
to eliminate the deaf/Deaf stereotype.  So many times people with hearing loss
are elderly and don't know any help is available for them or what to ask for
in the way of accommodations, but they do know that they are NOT deaf.  Often
medical staff will talk "down" to them or treat them as if they were not quite
all there.  This is not respectful and mainly due to ignorance and/or lack of
specific training.

This is just a thought, but may be of some interest.

In friendship,                     Karen