Myths About Deafness

1. Myths About Deafness

2. Myth All Deaf people can read lips.

3. Fact Some Deaf people are very skilled lip readers, but many are not. Only about 30% of spoken English is visible on the lips. This is because many speech sounds have identical mouth movements. For example: p and b look exactly alike on the lips.

4. Myth All Deaf people are mute

5. Fact Some Deaf speak very well and clearly; others choose not to use their voice if they think that they are difficult to understand or have problems gauging their pitch or volume. However, most Deaf people do have the physical ability to speak and therefore, they are not technically “mute”. 

6. Myth People who are Deaf are “Deaf and Dumb”

7. Fact The inability to hear affects neither intelligence nor the physical ability to produce sounds. Deafness does not make people "dumb" in the sense of being either stupid or mute. Deaf people, understandably, find this stereotype particularly offensive

8. Myth All deaf people use sign language

9. Fact Many Deaf people use Sign Language exclusively while others us a variety of educational sign systems. Still some who are “medically deaf” do not use sign language

10. Myth Deaf people are less intelligent

11. Fact Hearing ability is unrelated to intelligence. Lack of knowledge about deafness, however, has often limited educational and occupational opportunities for deaf people.

12. Myth Deaf people can't use the phone

13. Fact Special telecommunication aids (TTYs/TDDs) and videophones have been developed for deaf people

14. Myth All deaf people use hearing aids

15. Fact Many deaf people benefit considerably from hearing aids. Some may only be able to hear loud environmental sounds such as a fire alarm or a car horn. Still others may not benefit at all.

16. Myth Deaf people lead totally different lives than other people

17. Fact Most deaf individuals occupy their time just like hearing people. Of course, individual differences exist.

18. Myth Deaf people cannot appreciate the arts because they can't hear music, movies, etc.

19. Fact Throughout history, deaf individuals have participated in and contributed to the performing arts. Beethoven is one example.  Today there are deaf artists, dance troupes, and actors.  Captioning of movies and other audiovisual media is helpful for deaf citizens. As long as there is rhythm and visual image, deaf will be valued performers and patrons of the arts

20. Myth Deafness is genetic.  All people who are Deaf will pass Deafness onto their children

21. Fact There is a type of deafness that is genetic, and some deaf people do have deaf children, however 90% of all deaf people are born to Hearing parents and will also have Hearing children.  

22. Myth Sign Language is bad for Deaf people because they will rely on it too much and it will make them unable to communicate with hearing people

23. Fact Study after study has shown that keeping Sign Language away from Deaf people does nothing except keep alllanguage away from Deaf people, and it can have numerous negative effects on their ability to learn. 

24. Myth Sign Language is universal.

25. Fact Actually, there are at least 70 signed languages existing in the world at this time, that we know of, and all of them are incredibly distinct.  American Sign Language is used in the United States, parts of Canada,and has loose relations to French Sign Language.

26. Myth Deaf people don’t want to be deaf, they are hoping for some miracle cure that will make them hear

27. Fact Most Deaf people actually like being deaf. 

28. Myth Deaf people can’t drive a car

29. Fact Deaf people drive cars all the time.  In fact, some studies have shown that Deaf people are actually better drivers than Hearing people due to the fact that Deaf people have enhanced peripheral vision and are less distracted.

30. Myth American Sign Language is spoken English conveyed through signs

31. Fact Sign Language is not a manual code for the spoken language. Deaf people do not sign word-for-word to form grammatically correct sentences. Many students who Learn Signed English do not realize it is Signed English they are learning and not ASL

32. Myth Deaf people are not sensitive to noise

33. Fact Some types of hearing loss and use of hearing aids actually accentuatesensitivity to noise. Loud noises become garbled and uncomfortable.

34. Myth All deaf people are part of Deaf Culture

35. Fact Deaf Culture is an identity that must be embraced by the individual. Members of Deaf culture choose to view their lack of hearing as a different human experience, and not a disability

36. Myth Sign language is just mime and gestures

37. Fact A signed language is just like any spoken languages, there are words and uniqueexpressions as well as sentence structure and grammar.

38. Myth Deaf and Hard of Hearing people prefer to be called Hearing Impaired

39. “Hearing impaired" is considered by many people to be politically incorrect, because the word impaired can sound derogatory and imply something is wrong with a person. The more accepted term is “Deaf.“ Fact

40. Myth Deaf People Read Braille

41. Fact No, only blind people read Braille. deaf people can see but cannot hear.

42. Myth It is easy to learn sign language

43. Fact Some exceptionally language oriented people can learn it in 2-4 years. Others take at least 5-7 years. Fluency involving all the intricate nuances of the language takes a while. There is so many things that happen at the same time in ASL that to incorporate them all flawlessly requires work.