Deaf Gain Research Paper

Deaf Gain is a term used to reevaluate the term “Deaf.” This refers to the diversity of Deaf people as a community and their ability to contribute substantially to humanity (Reframing). Deaf gain is centered around three concepts. These are the ideas of normalcy, human diversity, and disability. These three are extremely controversial topics. What is needed to consider someone “normal” or “disabled”? For starters, normalcy is the condition of being normal (Normalcy). However, what is considered normal today, may not have been considered normal a decade ago. So, how do we decide this? Also, the term disability refers to anything that puts one at a disadvantage (Disability). However, lack of education could put a person at a disadvantage but is not considered a disability? Therefore, what is it about Deafness that is considered not normal, or what about this puts the individual at a disadvantage? The term Deaf Gain originated in 2001 when a performance artist, Aaron

That someone who is Deaf should go through medical treatment that would allow them to hear and thus fitting into societal norms. However, the cultural views of those who are Deaf embrace who they are, and are proud of the community they live in. In an article by Don Grushkin in Quora, he attempted to explain this concept, he used a video exert from the show Switched at Birth where a teacher of a Deaf class asked her students if they could take a pill and wake up the next day hearing, would they take it? All the students said they would not, they stated that being Deaf gives you community, perspective, and identity (Grushkin). Pathological views do not see it this way, they see those who are Deaf as being disabled. They believe that because someone may be Deaf that they are lesser of a person, however cultural views state that Deafness is who you are, and it gives you a completely new way of seeing