I recently saw some information regarding the deaf/Deaf issue. It seems that the person who coined Deaf, as opposed to deaf, regrets introducing the term, as it has split the community, and seems to have fostered some elitism in the community.
While I see their point, and understand it, I support using D and d. Why, you may ask? A lot of Deaf folks don’t learn about the culture/community/language until later on in life. I did not truly start to learn about it until I entered college. I’ll be posting my story later on (in a different post). Going your entire life without really belonging to any particular group of people takes its toll on you. You don’t have shared experiences with others, and you never really feel like you fit in, because people don’t understand what you are going/have gone through.
Using D to denote oneself as a member of the community and culture is such a wonderful thing for us. We feel like we belong, we feel like we have finally found our place. For the very first time in our life. While it may foster elitism within the community, it’s also a wonderful, powerful thing for many of us. I don’t condone elitism, but it is nice to belong, to understand who you are, to know that you’re not alone. “deaf” is a very, very wide net. I don’t appreciate people comparing me to their dog or grandparents. I am proud to be Deaf. My hearing loss doesn’t define me, but my viewpoints, involvement, and preferred method of communication do.
