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Audism : The Oppression Of Audism And The Unaf Community

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Audism is something the deaf community has dealt with for decades. It is a form of oppression meaning it is the unjust or cruel use of power (Oppression, n.d.). There have been several types of oppression experienced in the world throughout history, and are still being exercised today, such as racism and sexism. Audism specifically, however, is the belief that a person is superior based on their ability to hear or to behave in the manner of one who hears (Oberholtzer, 2002). This can be done by deaf or hearing people. This can be things such as thinking the person is not able do something simply because they are deaf, such as speak well, or things such as not employing a deaf person due to the thought they are inferior and will have to be accommodated.
Audism is a branch of ableism, which is the discrimination against someone with a disability (Audism, 2017). The word audism was first used in 1977 by Tom L. Humphries in his doctoral dissertation. However, Humphries definition of the term dealt with individual attitudes and practices rather than the oppression of deaf people which began to come about after the word was used in Harlan Lane’s writings (Audism, 2017). This alone does not make a person an audist. There are people in the world who have had little to no contact with a deaf person, and therefore do not know appropriate behavior around them. One may only be considered an audist if they have ample experience around deaf culture and still believe the deaf are inferior.

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