Deafness

Richard K. Ogden

Deafness refers to the loss of a portion or all of the sense of hearing. This is the pathological definition and should not be confused with the term “Deaf” which is always capitalized and defines the culture of persons who cannot fully hear, do not view their deafness as a pathological or medical condition, and whose choice of communication is typically Sign Language. The term “deaf” (with a small “d”) refers to persons who have a hearing loss, and who do not consider themselves as culturally Deaf and frequently prefer spoken or manually coded language (i.e., Signed Exact English) and if they had no hearing loss they would be a part of the hearing world. In general, there are three types of hearing loss: conductive, sensorineural, and mixed. Because of the development of the fetus and the young child, there are different subtypes or etiologies when considering pediatric and adult ...

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