Hearing Impaired

 

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Attitudes Towards the Deaf: A Historical Overview

by Roger J. Carver, M.Ed.

"Alexander Graham Bell, considered by many as a "benefactor" of the deaf, exacerbated the situation for the deaf in North America with his crusade against sign language and intermarriage among deaf persons. His influence, backed by his wealth and fame arising from his invention of the telephone, saw many deaf teachers lose their jobs in many schools for the deaf, legislation enacted in some states providing for compulsory sterilization for deaf girls, and an oral communication regime imposed on deaf students, lasting for many years. Bell campaigned for sterilization of deaf girls, proscription of marriage between deaf persons in the name of "eugenics" in an effort to control the growth of a "defective variety of the human race". It is interesting to note that Bell limited his definition of the "defective variety" to the deaf, the criminally insane and the mentally defective. Such a grouping was very unhelpful and it could not fail to have an adverse impact on modern society's perception of deafness. "

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A discussion on deaf films: http://www.thefilmjournal.com/issue5/deaf.html