Issues Facing the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Community Today

    The challenges facing the deaf and hard-of-hearing community have been going on for some time. According to an article by Robyn Correll, MPH, "When a big storm destroyed Ben Soukup Sr.'s farm in 1960, he went to banks all over town to get a loan to rebuild. Every one of them denied his application for one simple reason: He was deaf" (Correll). While there have been laws passed to help the community, they still face different problems today. They deal with issues such as mental health and prejudice. Parts of the community often find themselves struggling with having access to proper mental health help. "Mental health services are difficult for deaf people to access. One small study involving 54 people found that more than half hadn't been able to find mental health services that they, as deaf people, could use" (Marcia Purse). Not only are mental health services hard to access, being deaf can lead to these issues as well. It's a horrible cycle that needs to be stopped. People can help by making sure mental health information is given to the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities. This way, we can prevent some of these worries. 

    Prejudice also exists within these communities. Most prejudice comes from the hearing world in the form of Audism. Jamie Burke discusses how "Audism is a term used to describe a negative attitude toward deaf or hard of hearing people. It is typically thought of as a form of discrimination, prejudice, or a general lack of willingness to accommodate those who cannot hear" (Berke). Audism is different from having no knowledge about the deaf community. People who use Audism are referred to as Audists. "...the audist label is used most often for those who do have knowledge of deaf culture but choose, for one reason or another, to ignore or defy it" (Jamie Berke). This is a discriminatory practice and should be looked out for and prevented in any way necessary. It should be treated as important as any other form of discrimination. We should start by educating people about it so they know not to do this practice, whether intentionally or unintentionally. 

    Another issue that faces this community is public health: "...very little research exists on the health needs of the deaf and [hard of hearing] population. Health surveys...are often conducted over the phone to the exclusion of deaf people, and most large-scale public health studies do not have ways to parse out data specifically regarding those with hearing loss or deafness" (Robyn Correll, MPH). This is a very important discussion because nobody should be excluded from learning about their health. We should find ways to teleconferences and interviews for the deaf and hard-of-hearing so that they can have an interpreter to clue them in on all the necessary information. 

    While there are issues that the deaf community still faces, there have been many advancements in the community. Many include better closed captioning and interpreter access.