Who are the Australian Deaf Community?
People with a hearing loss can be divided into two groups. Those in the first describe themselves as ‘Deaf’ with a capital ‘D’, use Australian Sign Language (Auslan) and identify with the Deaf community and culture. The second group are those that have a hearing impairment and are referred to as ‘deaf’, ‘hearing impaired’, or ‘hard of hearing’, commonly losing their hearing from the effects of ageing, industrial accidents or noise. They do not necessarily see themselves as part of a separate culture or community. The Australian Deaf community is made up of a diversity of individuals and families who share a common culture and language, generally not known to the hearing community. Many Deaf people identify with the Deaf community and see themselves as members of a cultural and linguistic minority group whose first language is Auslan and second language is written English. They do not necessarily see themselves as a person with a disability, but rather as living within a sub-culture of
