Audism When I first started thinking about this paper, I wanted a good definition so I went to wikapidia, and this is what they said.”Audism is a term typically used to describe discrimination against deaf or hard of hearing people” I liked this definition because it is simple and to easy to understand.
Audism is a word most people don’t recognize, and because of this fact most don’t realize when they are discriminating to the deaf or hard of hearing. When someone meets a deaf person for the first time they are usually awkward or even un-intentionally rude. I understand this because I did the same when I meet a deaf person for the first time. It wasn’t that I thought less of them or looked down upon them, it’s just that it was different for me, and I didn’t know what to do, whether to try and communicate with them or to have someone else do it for me, But after learning a little more about deaf culture and understanding a little more of what deaf people go though every day. I see them more for who they are and what they can do. And I don’t have that awkward feeling of ignorance. In class we watched a movie called “Audism Reviled”. It’s a movie about how audism has effected deaf people’s lives and gives an amazing insight on how it effects them, whether in the work environment or in school, or even on the playground. the amount of frustration, sadness, and even anger that ocours when someone is being discriminated against is almost always avoidable. If people become more educated and understanding, audism can begin to fade away, not that I’m saying it will disappear altogether, because I am sadly aware of human cruelty. But at least audism caused by shear ignorance can be minimized.