Under the concept of Deaf culture, deafness is not a disability that needs to be fixed. Deaf culturists feel that society should not focus on a cure for deafness but should accept Deaf people as a cultural minority and respect their right to live as Deaf persons. Deaf culturists also insist, however, that deafness is a disabling condition that society should compensate for by providing special assistance to persons who cannot hear. Deaf culturists are therefore strong supporters of the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws requiring the public and private sectors to make accommodations for persons with impaired hearing. This article examines the ramifications of those conflicting precepts.
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References
1.
1. See, for example, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000a to a-6, 2000e to e-17 (prohibiting discrimination in employment and public accommodations on the basis of race, color, creed, national origin, or sex).
2.
2. 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-213.
3.
3. 29 U.S.C. §§ 501-5.
4.
4. 42 U.S.C. § 12101 (a) (5).
5.
5. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-13.
6.
T. M. Cook, “The Americans with Disabilities Act: The Move to Integration,” idem, pp. 393-470.
7.
7. The act ultimately passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 377-28 and the Senate by a vote of 91-6. 42 U.S.C. § 12101 (a).
8.
8. For a comprehensive discussion of the discriminatory attitudes and obstacles confronting people who are deaf, see, for example, Bonnie Poitras Tucker, The Feel of Silence (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995).
9.
9. See, for example, Jamie McAlister, “Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Criminal Defendants: How You Gonna Get Justice If You Can't Talk to the Judge?”Arizona State Law Journal, 26:163-200 (1994).
10.
10. Real-time captioning works as follows. A stenographer, similar to a court reporter, types what each speaker is saying as they are speaking and the typed information is simultaneously presented on either a large, movielike screen placed where everyone can view it or an individual computer placed next to the deaf individual. In this manner, the deaf individual can read the spoken words that he or she is unable to hear.
11.
11. See, for example, Bonnie P. Tucker, “Deaf Prison Inmates: Time to Be Heard,”Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review, 22:1-72 (Nov. 1988).
14. A TTY is a telecommunications device for people with impaired hearing or speech. When using a TTY, the telephone receiver is placed into two headset cups (similar to a modem) on a machine that resembles a small typewriter with a video screen and/or paper printout. The TTY user types a message on a keyboard, which is relayed to a party on the other end of the line with a similar device. The receiving party returns his or her message by typing it to the sender and the conversation proceeds via typewriter and video screen or printout.
15.
15. 42 U.S.C. §§ 12131-65.
16.
16. 42 U.S.C. §§ 12181-89.
17.
17. 42 U.S.C. § 12181 (7).
18.
18. The term “readily achievable” means “easily accomplishable and able to be carried out without much difficulty or expense.” 42 U.S.C. § 12181 (9).
19.
19. The primary federal law requiring that public school districts provide deaf and hard-of-hearing children with free, appropriate public education, however, is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400-85.
20.
20. 47 U.S.C.A. §§ 151-757.
21.
See also Harlan Lane, The Mask of Benevolence: Disabling the Deaf Community (New York: Knopf, 1992).
22.
See also idem, “The President Signs On,” ibid., p. 3 (Jan. 1991).
23.
idem, “President Signs On.”
24.
24. Thomas Balkany, “A Brief Perspective on Cochlear Implants,”New England Journal of Medicine, 328:281 (1993).
25.
25. See, for example, Noel L. Cohenet al., “A Prospective, Randomized Study of Cochlear Implants,”New England Journal of Medicine, 328:233-237 (1993).
26.
26. See, for example, National Institutes of Health, Consensus Development Conference, “Cochlear Implants in Adults and Children” (Statement, National Institutes of Health, 1995).
27.
27. Edward Dolnick, “Deafness as Culture,”Atlantic, p. 37 (Sept. 1993).
28.
28. Ibid., p. 40.
29.
29. See, for example, “Cochlear Implants in Children: A Position Paper of the National Association of the Deaf,”NAD Broadcaster, p. 1 (Mar. 1991).
30.
30. Charles C. Estes, “Bestest from Estes,”NAD Broadcaster, p. 3 (Jan. 1991).
31.
31. Jean L. Johnsonet al., “Implementing a Statewide System of Services for Infants and Toddlers with Hearing Disabilities,”Seminars in Hearing, 14:117 (Feb. 1993).
32.
32. Kendall Elementary School is a day school that has approximately 182 students. The Model Secondary School has both residential and day school programs, attended by approximately 258 students, most of whom are residential students.
33.
33. Philip K. Howard, The Death of Common Sense (New York: Random House, 1994).
34.
34. See, for example, Zimmerman v. Ausland, 513 P.2d 1167, 1169 (Or. 1973) (it is “well established that the plaintiff in a personal injury case cannot claim damages for what would otherwise be a permanent injury if the permanency of the injury could have been avoided by submitting to treatment by a physician, including possible surgery, when a reasonable person would do so under the same circumstances”).
