When working with employees who identify as Deaf or deaf, it can be confusing to know which is which and how your organization should assess and adopt best practices. We review the differences between Deaf and deaf and how best to foster an environment of effective communication.
Being Deaf is more than being differently-abled. The Deaf community revolves heavily around cultural and political issues, as well as language. Deaf employees don’t see their differing abilities as a disability and find any reference to it as such insulting.
Deaf employees will usually rely on American Sign Language (ASL), or another iteration of sign language, and captions. Some Deaf people can understand lipreading, but don’t assume this. You’ll have to provide some sort of alternative to audio-visual materials, whether that’s auto-captioning, transcripts, or ASL interpretation alongside it. Some Deaf employees might request an interpreter, which may refer to everyday tasks or only certain occasions such as conferences or meetings.
For Deaf employees to access meetings remotely, they will need ASL interpretation, captioning software, or a notetaker.
You’ll find that many Deaf employees don’t use hearing aids or cochlear implants, preferring instead to celebrate their different abilities and culture. Cochlear implants are a controversial topic amongst Deaf people because, as a community, they choose not to ‘fix’ or ‘correct’ their differing abilities.
Deaf employees are usually born Deaf to Deaf parents, but this isn’t necessarily always the case.
For those who identify as deaf, instead, it usually means a profound hearing loss. This can be because they were born deaf or because they were ‘deafened’ or ‘acquired’ their hearing loss in early childhood or even later in life. Many deaf people are born to hearing parents and have no connection to the Deaf community.
Employees who identify as ‘deaf’ don’t usually have any issues wearing assistive technological devices, such as hearing aids or cochlear implants. It’s easy to fall into the trap of assuming these devices ‘fix’ the hearing loss, but this is not the case. There are different levels of hearing loss, and for some people, implants or aids may only help them hear things like alarms and not conversation. For others, devices may help them understand the dialogue at certain times or in certain situations, and they may still struggle.
Your deaf employees may require the same types of accommodations as Deaf employees, such as transcripts, notetakers, ASL, or lip-speaking interpreters and the ability to lipread. However, there are no political or cultural connotations to being ‘deaf.’
For anyone with profound hearing loss, or Deaf employees, you may find you are asked to accommodate a hearing dog in the office.
The Deaf and deaf worlds can be overwhelming and confusing. Ultimately, it is always best to communicate with your employees as they will know what is best for them. Doing so will ensure you are doing your part to foster a culture of effective communication, accessibility, and inclusion. If in doubt, don't be afraid to ask your employees for more information, most of us are happy to help.