Problem Frame: Deafness is not a Disability

Ninety percent of deaf children are born to hearing parents. Deaf children are born into a divisive world that often immediately labels them as “disabled.” However, the term “disabled” is an inappropriate label. Not only does “disabled” invoke a sense of insult for the individual, it helps to reinforce the societal and institutional stigma that deaf people are seen as less than hearing people. Instead, I propose that we begin to see deafness not as a disability but rather as a linguistic minority in order to disturb the boundary between the deaf and hearing “worlds.”