On the other hand, the word deaf with a lower-cased, views deafness as an impairment. Those characterised as deaf largely have challenges with processing linguistic information. However, people with deafness are not a homogeneous group, their levels of hearing loss may vary.
Given this understanding, there is a medical emphasis on audiological examinations that can establish the aetiology of the impairment. The audiological assessments are also done so that intervention and / or management can also be considered for people with hearing impairment. For example, educational placement, counselling of parents of children with hearing loss, type of hearing aids to be used, prognosis of the hearing loss, speech training and training in selective perception of sound.
The concept of deafness with a small letterdtherefore recognises that deafness is a medical condition that exists in a continuum, that is a condition that has varying degrees (mild, moderate, severe and profound). This understanding of deafness argues that the audiological system has broken down and is crying out for remedial measures. This worldview focuses on integrating children with hearing impairment into the hearing world by teaching them speech, that is the aural-oral approach.
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Given the above perspectives, it is important to appreciate that they are as different to each other just as apples are to oranges. Their worldviews inform educational practices differently. For example, the Deaf Community would prefer a curriculum where Deaf children are taught using Sign Language.
Sign language is to them a source language that would help them grasp concepts, and Sign Language is a manual language that ought to be given a premium value like any other language in the hearing world. Those in the Deaf Community would stoutly argue that what to teach and how to teach are considerations that should be made with the full consciousness of the needs and rights of the Deaf Community. With respect to those who hold that deafness is a medical condition, the school should emphasise speech training which would help deaf children to fit in the hearing world.
This approach has been identified as oralism, and its apologists have been characterised as oralists. The characterisation of Deafness as either an impairment or a cultural difference would therefore depend on one’s orientation in terms of pragmatic scope. If one is coming from a medical school where the biomedical model rules supreme, deafness becomes a pathology and if one is guided by the Cultural polemic, Deafness is understood as an identity of a cultural and linguistic minority. Takudzwa Mafongoya (Writing in own capacities)
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