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Liliana Martinez
Professor Vana DerOhanessian
English 114A
23 November 2014
Audism
If you ask any random person, What is Audism? there is a really high chance
that they dont know what it is. Audism is the notion that one is superior based on ones
ability to hear or behave in the manner of one who hears. Basically meaning the
discrimination of those who are Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing simply because they do not
hear normally. While researching the deaf culture in the United States, the word
audism kept coming up time and time again. When researching this term further I
realized that even in the deaf culture prejudice is alive and well (Silvia, 1). Audism is a
way of showing prejudice against those who cannot hear well; Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing
and can be shown in many different ways.
Many research papers, articles, and studies have been written about audism over
the past few years. Only thing is, Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing students who actually care
wrote them all. There are many Universities that welcome the Deaf Community such as:
Gallaudet University, National Technical Institute for the Deaf, and Rochester Institute of
Technology. Reading an article of a student who attended Gallaudet University and found
some interesting facts, The term audism has been in hiding for some time now, lurking
in the silent space between audiovisual and audit, depending on your dictionary. What
audism refers to --- the discrimination of Deaf people is nothing new. The word to
describe it, however is. Whether being denied rights to own property, to have children, or

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to drive a car, Dead people have rarely been treated with the dignity that should come
with being human (Bauman, 239). Audism has been around for quite some time; it
started in mid-1970, but wasnt discovered until the year 1975. Knowing that Deaf people
were treated so differently just because they couldnt hear is very disgusting to me.
Especially considering that I, myself am Hard-of-Hearing, I couldnt even imagine how it
must have been back then.
Even now, many employers discriminate based on ones ability to hear. I recently
applied to work at a retail store and they asked if I knew any languages other than
English and I responded saying that I knew how to speak in Spanish and that I know
ASL; as my interview continued, they asked how I knew ASL. I told them that I knew
ASL because I am Hard-of-Hearing. As soon as I said that, I could see the smiles
disappear. I was so appalled that this happened to me and I wasnt surprised that I didnt
get the job. We believe that there are misunderstandings between the deaf and hearing
cultures that have blocked the kind of attitude and motivation necessary for any learning,
especially language learning, to happen.... We feel there is difference in the value that
each culture places on English and ASL as a communication system and as a survival
tool. We feel that deaf people's attitudes about them selves, their self-images are often so
poor that they have contributed to what we see as a "failure syndrome" around the deaf
persons' learning of English.... We feel that the problem is related to the interaction
between these cultures, not to some innate inability in the deaf person to learn English,
not to the deafness per se. (p. 12) (Hauser, 1). I have been trying to prove work forces
wrong by proving to them that Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing individuals are hard workers
and can do anything a Hearing person can. Not only has that happened to me, but also it

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has happened to a handful of my friends. Only thing is, they ended up with getting an
offer to take job because they had to use a guilt trip or threaten to sue. My friends thought
it was so stupid, they decided not to take those jobs. How were they supposed to work for
someone who didnt believe they could work there in the first place?
Another way to express Audism is by childbirth and instantly being sad or
rejecting the child of being able to have communication with others. Believe it or not,
there are so many older documentaries, shows, and articles just talking about this. In the
past, no one knew what to do with a Deaf child, they didnt know they had to take them
to a audiologist every year or enroll them in schools that would be best for them. They
wanted their child to be just like them and they were terrified and mortified when they
found out their child was Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing. And this can also be interpreted in the
deaf world as well, being Deaf and having a Deaf child is like Christmas came early, but
if they end up having a hearing child well the results are different. Many deaf parents
celebrate and experience feelings of joy when they find out that their newborn is deaf.
This is not because of their child's hearing loss, but rather their biological propensity to
be more visually oriented. Deaf individuals have been known to seek partners based on
their chances of having a deaf child or have sought sperm donors who would increase
their chances of having a deaf child. This practice has had an impact on legislation in
England, where some have expressed the view that deliberately attempting to create a
deaf child is unethical and should be illegal (Bryan, Burke, & Emery, 2008). Some deaf
parents become depressed when they find out their child is hearing. The grieving process
is similar to what hearing parents experience when they find out their child is deaf
(Hauser, Wills, & Isquith, 2005; King, Hauser, & Isquith, 2006) (Hauser, 1). It amazes

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me that even deaf people discriminate towards Hearing people, but the sad fact is
Hearing people get more benefits and more recognition simply because they are hearing.
Audism is also shown in the form of being terrified or banning Deaf from their lives as
a whole. Some people choose to believe that being Deaf is not normal and is inhuman.
Being deaf is not a disease; it is simply how one is born. Language is human; speech is
language; therefore deaf people are inhuman and deafness is a problem. (p. 11)
By metaphysical audism then, I mean simply the orientation that links human identity
and being with language defined as speech. Historically, we humans have identified
ourselves as the speaking animal; if one cannot speak, then he or she is akin to human in
body but to animal in mind. In this orientation, we see our- selves as becoming human
through speech. Now we can trace the thread of metaphysical- institutional-individual
audism that has silently in- formed the very categories that determine the limits of our
existence and draw the porous line between the human and nonhuman, between civilized
and savage, and between hearing and deaf. It is within this orientation (language is
human/speech is language) that Deaf people have frequently been described as animals,
especially by those who have taught them. One of the earliest practitioners of audism,
Johann Conrad Amman writes in 1700 about uneducated Deaf persons: How dull they
are in general. How little do they differ from animals (Amman, 1873, p. 2). A century
and a half later, American oralist Lewis Dudley writes that the Deaf students are human
in shape, but only half human in attributes (Baynon, 1996, p.52) (Bauman 241-242).
Many people believed that being Deaf is not normal in this society. The only reason why
it is not normal is because it is different. Imagine how a Hearing person looks in the eyes

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of a Deaf person different. Deaf people just simply choose not to bother them or treat
Hearing people any differently. Why cant other hearing people do the same for Deaf?
This is the way that it has always been and it might be like this for a while. Since
the word Audism is not normal use of vocabulary and it isnt a topic that is brought up
so much, I thought this essay would be a good way to inform my professor and
classmates about this issue. There are a lot of Deaf students at California State University
of Northridge; treat them how you would want to be treated. We are all the same; we all
have imperfections and theirs just happened to be hearing loss.

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Works Cited
Bauman, H-D. L. "Audism: Exploring the Metaphysics of Oppression." Journal of Deaf
Studies and Deaf Education 9.2 (2004): 239-46. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.
Hauser, Peter C., Amanda O'Hearn, Michael McKee, Anne Steider, and Denise Thew.
"DEAF EPISTEMOLOGY: DEAFHOOD AND DEAFNESS." American Annals
of the Deaf. Winter 2010, Vol. 154 Issue 5, P486-492. 7p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov.
2014.
Silvia, Robert. "Audism." Audism. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.