ADA: The 1990 Americans with
Disabilities Act. This
is one of the most important pieces of legislation, advocating the rights of
deaf people, as well as other individuals with disabilities. It states that
reasonable accommodation must be offered to people with disabilities as long as
the accommodation is not an undue burden.
Alexander Graham Bell Association for
the Deaf: Organization
that promotes oralism and discourages sign language. The association has
approximately 10,000 members, approximately 500 of whom are deaf. See also NAD.
ASL: American Sign Language.
Bi-Bi: Bilingual-Bicultural. An educational approach in which deaf
students learn both ASL and English, focusing on ASL, which is easier to learn
than spoken English for deaf children, then using the means of communication
afforded by ASL to teach student English. Although this is considered to be a
new approach to the education of deaf children since the shortcomings of Total
Communication and Sim-Com have come to light, really the bi-bi philosophy has
been around at least since Edward Minor Gallaudet, founder of Gallaudent
University. He was a proponent of students learning both English and ASL.
C.A.S.E.: Conceptually Accurate Signed English.
CI: cochlear implant.
Closed Captioning: Captioning, or words on a screen
similar to subtitles, that can be turned on and off, like on a television,
unlike open captioning, like at movie theaters that offer open captioning,
which is printed on the film of the movie and cannot be turned off. Under the
Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990, all televisions 13 inches or larger
sold in the U.S. after 1992 must have built in captioning decoder circuitry.
Further, under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, all new programming on
television and commercial videotapes used in the U.S. from 2004 must have
closed captioning, with the exception of an undue burden cap of 2% of the
producer's gross income. Unfortunately, this law goes unchecked all too often,
and a lot of new television programming and commercial videotapes still do not
have closed captioning. See also open captioning and reflective captioning.
CODA: child of Deaf adult(s). This term is usually applied to
hearing individuals whose parent or parents are deaf, whereas Deaf individuals
with Deaf parents are usually known by such terms as "Deaf of Deaf".
Codas play a unique role in Deaf culture in that they are hearing yet still
live in the Deaf community and understand to a great degree the challenges of
the Deaf. Often codas become interpreters, and some have even become hearing
mouthpieces for Deaf advocacy. It is also not unheard of for some codas to
reject Deaf culture during adolescence only to embrace it again later as
adults.
Cued speech: A system of hand shapes around the
face used to show the different sounds of spoken language. Cued speech was
developed 1966 by Dr. R. Orin Cornett at Gallaudet University to help deaf
people learn to read English. See also MCE.
DPN: Deaf President Now. Protests held at Gallaudet University
in 1988, protesting the installment of hearing a candidate who did not know
sign language and had no experience with Deaf culture as the university
president over qualified Deaf candidates. The Deaf President Now protests lead
to the new president stepping down and the installation of the first deaf
president, Dr. I. King Jordan, as well as greater awareness and advocacy of
Deaf rights.
Finger Spelling: A set of hand shapes and motions that
represent each letter of the alphabet. Also spelled fingerspelling.
Gallaudet University: The only university in the world
dedicated to the education of the deaf. Located in Washington D.C., the
university was founded in 1864. See also DPN.
Gestuno: An invented sign language, made in an
attempt to create a universal sign language. Although Gestuno is only used at a
few international gatherings, the myth that all sign language is universal has
risen, even though there are over 200 different sign languages worldwide.
HH: hard of hearing. Same as HOH
HI: hearing impaired. You want to be
careful when you use the term hearing impaired. Even though it was created to
avoid offending deaf people by sounding politically correct, some deaf people
take great offense to the term because they do not consider themselves to be
impaired or disabled. Generally speaking, such individuals tend to be well
rooted in the Deaf culture, whereas some deaf individuals who have lived
outside of the Deaf culture may not see the term as offensive. Other terms to
avoid include "deaf-mute" and "deaf and dumb." Although the
term "dumb" refers to being unable to speak, not having low intelligence,
the stigma of the homonyms still exists. Moreover, not all deaf people are
mute; rather, many can speak so well that often hearing people refuse to
believe they are deaf. (This in turn causes difficulties when people
continually forget a deaf person cannot hear them because they can talk, and
also when government employees refuse to give deaf persons benefits because
they do not believe a person who is deaf could speak so well. Thus, many deaf
people prefer not to speak in such situations so that people will understand
that they are deaf.)
Home sign: a set or system of signs that is
developed by a highly localized group and that is different than commonly known
sign language. As the name suggests, home sign is sometimes developed between
hearing parents and their deaf children.
IDEA: The Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act. Passed in 1975 and amended in 1990 in the ADA, this legislation
guarantees the right to free and appropriate public education (FAPE) for all
children, including deaf (or otherwise disabled) children. See also ADA.
MCE: Manually Coded English. Manually
Coded English encompasses all of the various code systems used to show English
through sign language. Some of the more well known MCEs include Signed English,
SEE 1, SEE 2, cued speech, and the Rochester Method. In their book, A Journey
in the DEAF-WORLD, Harlan Lane and his fellow authors describe MCE systems as
"any of several signing systems invented by educators to represent words
in English sentences using signs borrowed from ASL combined with signs contrived
to serve as translation equivalents for English function words (articles,
prepositions, etc.) and prefixes and suffixes" (270). MCEs are not
languages; they are codes that represent the English language, whereas ASL and
other sign languages around the world are actually languages, as first proven
by renowned linguistics Dr. William Stokoe and Dr. Ursula Bellugi in 1960.
NAD: National Association of the Deaf.
Founded in Ohio in 1880, the NAD is the U.S. representative organization in the
WFD and has approximately 28,000 members, approximately 24,000 of whom are
deaf. The NAD promotes sign language and speech. NAD board membership is
limited to deaf persons. See also WFD and Alexander Graham Bell Association for
the Deaf.
Open Captioning: Captioning, or words on a screen
similar to subtitles, that cannot be turned on and off, like at movie theaters
that offer open captioning, which is printed on the film of the movie and
cannot be turned off, unlike open captioning on a television, which can be
turned off. Movie theaters in the U.S. are not required to offer open captioned
movies under Title II of the ADA. See also closed captioning and reflective
captioning.
Oralism: A school of thought that encourages
deaf people to learn to speak and lip read (see also "speech
reading") rather than learn sign language. Proponents of oralism argue
that it allows deaf people to interact with the hearing world. Opponents say
that oralism is extremely difficult and that many deaf people are incapable of
learning it. Oralsim proponents say that sign language "advertises" a
person's disability and that the use of sign language makes deaf people not
want to learn to speak, while opponents say that sign language is the natural
language of deaf people.
Parameters of ASL: The characteristics of each sign in
ASL that make it unique from all other signs in the language. The parameters
are: 1) Hand Shape--how many fingers are extended and how, 2) Position--where
the hand(s) are in relation to the body, 3) Movement--the way the hand(s) move,
4) Orientation--the direction that the palm of the hand faces, and 5)
Expression--facial expression. Some argue that expression and body language are
not a true parameter of the language because some but not all signs have
specific facial expressions that differentiate them from other signs. One
factor that is not addressed by these five parameters is the number of hands
used in a sign, since there are some signs that have all five of these
parameters identical but differ from other signs only by using one or both
hands. The ASL parameters also do not address the existence of homonyms, which
are found in all languages.
PSE: Pidgin Sign English or Pidgin Signed
English. PSE is somewhat in the middle of the continuum between the conceptual
ASL and English. Researchers have noted that a person's signing style changes
depending on whom they are conversing with; two Deaf people signing together
may use very conceptual sign, whereas when signing to a hearing person, their
signing style can tend to become more pidginized towards English. Some hearing
people who sign may not know ASL grammar well, but sign great PSE. PSE is also
known as contact sign, or a contact language, referring to contact between
people who speak different languages and how they use a pidgin to communicate.
(A pidgin is a form of communication developed between people who speak
different languages. Pidgins are used in many parts of the world, especially
among linguistically diverse regions. Pidgins tend to use simplified grammatical
structure and often include repetition of words. A pidgin, also known as a
contact language, becomes a creole when a later generation learns the pidgin as
their first language. English could be said to be a creole of Latin and a
number of other languages.)
Real-time captioning: captioning provided on a computer
screen for live speakers. Real-time captioning is sometimes used in such
situations as classrooms, where a real-time captioner types out the
instructor's lecture as it is delivered. Some deaf people prefer real-time
captioning, while others prefer sign language interpreters or cued speech.
reflective
captioning: Unlike closed captioning, which appears on a screen and can be
turned on and off, and unlike open captioning, which appears on a screen and
cannot be turned off, reflective captioning is showing the mirrored image of
words at the back of a room so that individuals holding mirrors or reflective
pieces of plastic can read the words as the watch the screen at the front of
the room. Although this is not as good of an accommodation for those requiring
captioning as open or closed captioning, it allows certain theater venues to
provide captioning without having the captions on the screen. This is used at
such places as the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. See also closed captioning
and open captioning.
Residential schools: Schools founded specifically for the
education of the deaf. Residential schools are often where deaf individuals are
exposed to deaf adults who are fluent in ASL, thus giving them the opportunity
to develop their signing skills. Residential schools are also where a great
deal of Deaf culture has traditionally been passed down from one generation to
the next. Due to mainstreaming, fewer and fewer deaf children are being educated
in residential schools. See also LRE and mainstreaming.
Rochester Method: Fingerspelling every word, originally
developed in Rochester, New York.
SEE 1: Seeing Essential English. An MCE
system that breaks English words down and uses arbitrary signs to represent
each part of the word based on their sounds. For example, the word
"butterfly" could be signed using the separate signs for
"butter" and "fly." This system was developed in 1966 by
David Anthony, a deaf teacher at the Michigan School for the Deaf. See also
MCE.
SEE 2: Signing Exact English. An MCE system that borrows many signs
from ASL. Often, the SEE 2 sign for a word involves the same motion as the ASL
sign except one or both hands will be in the shape of the finger spelling
letter, which the English word starts with. However, SEE 2 signs show English words
litterally; for example, in SEE 2 there is only one sign for "right"
whether the word refers to direction, correctness, or privilege (Lane, 270).
SEE 2 was developed in 1969 by Gerilee Gustason, a deaf professor at Gallaudet
University. See also MCE.
Signed English: An MCE system that incorporates
inflections for English verbs and articles. This system was developed in 1973
by Harry Bornstein, a hearing professor at Gallaudet University. See also MCE.
Sim-Com- or Simultaneous
communication: Speaking
and signing at the same time. Also known as sim-com or sign-supported speech.
Many if not most people who are capable of signing and speaking prefer not to
sign and speak at the same time because both the sign and speech suffer.
Because ASL and English grammar are different, usually when people use sim-com,
their signing tends to become more like PSE or SEE 2. However, signers who are
capable of signing and speaking use sim-com at times, such as when addressing
mixed groups of deaf and hearing people, especially when the hearing people do
not know sign language.
Soda: spouse of Deaf adult. A term coined
by Elaine VanOrman in 2003 who is hearing and whose husband is Deaf. This term
could also be used to refer to someone is a sibling of a Deaf adult.
Speech Reading: The technically correct term for the
commonly used phrase, "lip reading", since the activity of visually deciphering
a person's speech involves observing more than just the lips.
TC: total communication. Using sign language, lip reading, and
any other means of communication freely in order to accomplish the goal of
communication. Total communication did not always have this definition;
originally it meant signing and speaking at the same time, but as that
definition does not technically fit the term, speaking and signing at the same
time is now called simultaneous communication or sim-com. Some purport that as
far as education, total communication does not live up to its concept of using
all means of communication available, but rather in practice just becomes sim-com.
See also simultaneous communication.
TTY: TeleTYpewriter or text telephone.
Same as TDD. Of the two terms, TTY is more commonly used among the Deaf
community, while the term TDD is used more in government legislation.
VP: video phone.
WFD: World Federation of the Deaf.
Recognized and funded in part by the United Nations and the World Health
Organization, the WFD was founded in Rome in 1951 and currently has 124 member
nations. Only one organization is recognized in the WFD to represent each
country. The NAD is the organization that represents the United States in the
WFD. WFD board membership is limited to deaf persons
