Cultural view of d/Deaf people: deaf individuals are seen as normal, capable human beings who embrace life in a different way from other normal, capable human beings who are hearing, rather than disabled, abnormal, etc.
Deaf (Capitol 'D"): denotes individuals who, in addition to having a significant hearing loss, function by choice as members of the deaf community, subscribing to the unique cultural norms, values, and traditions of that group.
dEAF (small "d"): denotes anyone who has a significant audiological loss regardless of their cultural identity.
Deaf (deaf view): Deaf is a label of pride and solidarity with others who have similar experiences, use a shared form of communication and who subscribe to Deaf Cultural values, norms, and traditions. Deafness has little to do with the amount one can hear. The Deaf experience is viewed as positive, normal, and sometimes inconvenient in the same way that most hearing people view the ability to hear as positive, normal, and sometimes inconvenient.
Deaf (hearing view): refers to the inability to hear as compared to "normal" hearing, thus deafness is a deficit or impairment. Hearing is measured and deafness is referred to as a decibel loss (60dB loss in the right ear or 90dB loss in both ears, for example) or with a term that indicates the degree of hearing impairment (mild, moderate, severe, profound).
Accessibility: modification to building design, program delivery, or forms of communication which will allow d/Deaf and disabled individuals to gain access to service provided by an institution or agency.
Congenital deafness: to be born deaf or hard of hearing.
Decibels (dB): a unit for expressing the relative intensity of sounds on a scale from zero for the average level where sound induces pain. The B is capitalized in honor of Alexander Grahm Bell.
Hearing-Impaired: a term used by some non-deaf people in an attempt to politely refer to d/Deaf and hard of hearing individuals; this term is viewed by d/Deaf people as negative and stigmatizing because they do not view themselves as impaired. Preferred term: D/Deaf and Hard of hearing.
Lineage of d/Deaf children: 90% of all d/Deaf children are born to hearing families who have no deafness in their immediate or extended families.
