In 2021 it is estimated that over 61 million Americans live with a disability. As the country continues to improve access for all citizens, the use of People-First Language has been widely adopted throughout the country. Here we examine sensory disability terms and modern use.
Blind (as insult or metaphor)
The word "blind" refers to the way many people derogatorily use blindness, a genuine medical condition, as a descriptor of things or people about which they feel negatively. Many people with disabilities disapprove of the usage of “blind” or “blindness” as a metaphor. For example, if someone has a hard time understanding something that other people find obvious, they may ask the person, “what are you, blind?”
However, despite the regularity with which many people use the word “blind,” many blind people find such casual usage to be offensive. Fiona Woods, who is blind, wrote that such language:
tells me that I am laughable, incapable of sound judgement, and not deserving of respect. Second, they reflect assumptions about our abilities. They inform decisions or conclusions people will reach when a person who is blind applies for a job, or if their son brings home a blind girlfriend, or if they themselves later lose their sight.
She said that the usage of terms such as “being blind-sided” and “the blind leading the blind” can “equate blindness with ignorance and a lack of ability to judge or even to know what is going on.” Thus, people should avoid using “blind” in any context except a strictly literal, disability-related one.
Hearing-impaired
A label to describe people who do not hear, or who use hearing in a limited capacity, that many such people find offensive.
The National Association of the Deaf observed that it focuses “on what people can’t do. It establishes the standard as ‘hearing’ and anything different as ‘impaired,’ or substandard, hindered, or damaged. It implies that something is not as it should be and ought to be fixed if possible.”
Deaf woman Stacey Marlene wrote that:
The term “impaired” implies that there is something wrong with us. We’re broken. We can’t function in society. We can’t communicate. We are ‘abnormal.’ It’s impossible. It’s unfortunate. It’s horrendous. It’s shameful. We need to be ‘fixed.’ This term segregates and excludes us from the ‘normal’ society. It emphasizes that Hearings are ‘normal’ and We are the ‘other.
Educational website Deaf Linx writer Amy Frasu noted that “the use of "hearing impaired" may be considered less blunt by many hearing people, but within the Deaf community, it is an insulting term and a sign of ignorance.” However, she made an exception for aging adults, who may use the term to describe themselves if their hearing loss occurs later in life.
Some mainstream institutions have banned the use of “hearing impaired.” For example, in New York law book publishers have removed the term from their books.
Some believe that the term “hearing impaired” devalues the capabilities of people who don’t use, or have limited use of, hearing as a way to interact with the world.
Deaf (as a metaphor)
The word "deaf" refers to derogatory metaphorical uses of the word “deaf,” such as “falls on deaf ears,” which are felt to increase the stigma around deafness. Many people feel that such uses of the word associate deafness with incompetence.
The Hastings Center cited scholar Liz Bowen’s take on the idiom:
Phrases like “falling on deaf ears” reinforce damaging associations between disability and undesirable states of being like confusion, suffering, and ignorance. These associations correspond to real-world biases and inequities: in one recent study, 82.4 percent of physicians reported that they believed people with significant disabilities have a worse quality of life than nondisabled people.
People like Bowen believe that casually demeaning references to deafness can cause people to perceive it in a negative manner.
Deaf (uppercase)
A term to describe people who don’t hear and who believe that their deafness is part of their identity. This label can refer to both Deaf individuals and a broader community of Deaf people that has its own culture and customs.
DEAF.inc mentioned that Deaf people “may have any level of hearing loss. Deaf people share a common language, values, social norms, traditions, and beliefs that characterize Deaf culture.” In the same vein, closed caption provider ai.media pointed out that “people who are Deaf often take great pride in their Deaf identity.”
Connecthear.org stated that Deaf people do not feel they have a disability. Furthermore, VAWnet wrote that
For people who identify as Deaf, people-first language does not apply. For example, while people-first language applies when referring to a “person with a disability,” the correct reference in Deaf culture would be "Deaf person" (emphasizing the person's cultural identity) rather than "person who is Deaf."
However, closed caption generator ai.media said that “some do not refer to their deafness as a disability, but others do.”
Further, ai.media noted how “people who identify as Deaf are often born deaf and sometimes have other family members who are deaf. However, there are many people who may have hearing parents or were not born deaf but lost their hearing later in life and have become part of the Deaf community.”
deaf (lowercase)
A term used to describe both the medical condition of deafness, as well as some people who do not hear who use the term as an identity label.
DEAF.inc remarked that “generally, this refers to the audiological condition of hearing loss and includes all groups with hearing loss."
Closed caption creator ai.media noted that:
The ‘lowercase d’ deaf simply refers to the physical condition of having hearing loss. People who identify as deaf with a lowercase ‘d’ don’t always have a strong connection to the Deaf community and don’t always use sign language. They may prefer to communicate with speech. There are a variety of reasons why a person identifies as deaf with a lowercase ‘d’. For instance, they may have been born to hearing parents and grown up in the hearing world with little or no exposure to the Deaf community.
Your community is your guide
While language continues to change, there are also those who argue that there is no one way to refer to or acknowledge a person's disability. For example, the phrase "Tom who is blind", may be preferred among those who advocate for people-first language, while others see the term "blind" alone as more appropriate as it places the role a person's disability plays in their life and overall identity front and center.
Every community and individual’s relationship with their disability can be complex and even contradictory. In truth, there is no all-purpose way to talk about disability, the best way to do it is with the disability community.
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