Deaf culture
Sign language heritage
The community and identity built around sign language, shared experiences, and values specific to deaf people.
The capital D signals cultural identification rather than just audiological status—someone who is deaf may or may not identify with Deaf culture.
He didn't discover Deaf culture until college.
Deaf culture emphasizes visual language, storytelling traditions, and often rejects the view of deafness as a deficit to be fixed. (Lowercase deaf culture is sometimes used interchangeably.)
- Gallaudet UniversityUniversity serving deaf community
- sign languageVisual-gestural communication system
- visual languageMeaning through images
- ASLManual visual communication system
- signingInscribing one's name
residential schools · pride · identity · fingerspelling · Deaflympics · interpreter · TTY · hearing aid · disability rights · language preservation · eye contact · accessibility · mainstreaming · handshapes · captioning · gesture · British Sign Language · communication
- GallaudetASL, American Sign Language, sign language