Audism

Under Audismus (of English. Audism ) the attitude is described, which is directed against deaf and hard of hearing people, resulting in various forms of systematic discrimination can come against them.

Description

The mindset includes the high esteem of hearing and speech and rated deaf people as pitiable people with the defect of hearing and speech, which should be corrected medically and electrical engineering by hearing aid or cochlear implant. This also makes the established sign languages ​​of deaf people, the culture associated with them and their way of life will be devalued.

Deaf people are stigmatized by their deafness; they feel discriminated against and oppressed. So give Listening to the needs of interested parties not paying enough attention and let that deaf and hard of hearing people at a disadvantage.

From the perspective of those affected, for example, the lack of use of sign language in the general society, makes hinders deaf people, not their Hörunfähigkeit. The company, in contrast considers the Hörunfähigkeit as the problem at all, this applies to rectify it. According to her it is, they suffer from deafness; the Company must not in behavior and approach change towards them and they need to learn at their conventions and norms to adapt. This is done since the beginning of Surdopädagogik. So the deaf man is forced, for example, only to learn the spoken language, which requires a lot of class time for the clear articulation of the spoken language to the detriment of general education. The sign language is suppressed. This goes in the history under the term " (pure ) oralism " accompanied. As the end of the day, many deaf people are other-directed to the half-educated and functionally illiterate in the language of the majority, and so is her life in many areas.

Audismus can be uncomfortable degenerate, as the above-mentioned oralism, eugenics, discrimination in speech and deed at work and general life, disregard of the institutions (government, the press, television, politics, medicine, technology, language, among others ). He can come to the fore when they internalize the mentality of their listening environment even when some deaf and hard of hearing people.

Considerations, such as the Audismus can be reduced in the Company are provided in the discussion of Audismus. This can be seen as "anti- Audismus ".

Conceptual history

The term was coined in 1975 in the unpublished PhD thesis of Tom Humphries Audism: The Creation of a Word introduced, defined as " self- better - own pleasure " attitude towards deaf people by people who hear and speak better than them. Only since 1992, the term is taken up by other authors and examined. He will then extensively discussed in forums and blogs in many countries and shown in several films.

The first author by Tom Humphries, Harlan L. Lane, expanding the concept to discrimination against deaf and hard of hearing people and deaf culture through reduction hearing. According to him, deaf people are not human beings having a defect, but formed a peculiar ethnic group. You could have a culture sui generis, its own rites and cultural practices and would marry each other. Lane rejects cochlear implantation from this reason.