The central goal of the movement was equality and it wanted deaf people to be given the same rights, responsibilities and value as everyone else. For deaf identity, sign language played a central role and the movement wanted it to be recognised by the wider society. According to the movement, deaf people should be proud of their language, and they should feel as valuable as any other member of the society.

Deaf awareness highlighted matters that had already been discussed within the community but now these matters were formulated more clearly and presented in a more emphatic manner. The movement offered a new perspective from which all areas of life could be viewed, and the Association for the Deaf considered this when it set its goals. Deaf Awareness revolutionised the way deaf people saw themselves and their community because it focused on the deaf people and their needs rather than the demands of the surrounding society.

It can also be said that the Deaf Awareness movement has its roots within the international deaf community. For decades, deaf people had understood that they had their own culture because they had succeeded in maintaining their own language throughout the reign of oralism. As the attitudes of the hearing majority gradually changed, deaf people had more opportunities for developing their language and culture and promoting equality.

The Deaf Awareness movement also wanted to make it possible for deaf people to develop their knowledge of their identity. Therefore, the central ideas of the Deaf Awareness movement were that deaf people should learn to demand equal treatment and to develop into individuals who had a positive self-image and identity.

The Deaf Awareness movement had grown more popular in the Nordic countries and the first deaf culture festival arranged in Aalborg, Denmark in 1978 marked an important milestone. At the festival, Swedish participants discussed deaf self-esteem and Lars-Åke Wikström, a deaf sign language researcher, gave a talk on the topic. Having learned about the Deaf Awareness movement in the US, he stated that a deaf-aware deaf person was not ashamed of his or her deafness but was proud of it and used sign language. Wikström discussed linguistic disability, which could also pertain to a hearing person in a situation where he or she tries to communicate in a group of deaf people who use sign language. Wikström stressed that to be able to participate in decision-making in matters related to deafness, deaf people should obtain information and education. It was also important that deaf people could convey their own personal experience of deafness because this was the only way to have influence.

The term deaf awareness was used in Finland in 1978 at the latest. Raija Nieminen, the head of the cultural centre of the Association for the Deaf, wrote about it in the Kuurojen Lehti magazine in 1979. In the article, she stated how important it was for deaf people to be able to be deaf and feel valuable as they were. Improving self-esteem was only possibly if sign language was recognised as a language and deaf people were allowed to use it as their mother tongue. Comparing the Deaf Awareness movements in the US and the Nordic countries, Nieminen noted that they differed in their focus: the American movement emphasised work with families and education whereas in the Nordic countries the focus was on influencing the entire society. In the 1970s, the Deaf Awareness movement had spread the widest in the US and the Nordic countries. In these regions, the status of sign language was better than elsewhere.

In Finland, the concept of deaf awareness was given a definition in 1979. According to this definition, deaf awareness refers to the idea that deaf people should see themselves as people with equal rights in society. They must find their own identity, and know themselves, their language and the value of the sign language culture. The goal was to promote the rights of deaf people to ensure that they enjoy full equality. The right to sign language and its approval as a teaching language in schools were at the heart of the movement. A Nordic Deaf Awareness seminar, which was arranged later, emphasised that, as advocacy groups, deaf associations had to be deaf-aware and had to define the areas where changes were needed.

Finland’s first Deaf Awareness seminar was arranged in the Malminharju training centre at the beginning of 1980. The event attracted 50 participants, many of whom were young. The seminar emphasised the equal status of deaf people in society and the significance of deaf culture in fostering self-esteem. A deaf-aware person is aware of his or her rights, responsibilities and possibilities and tries to influence matters.

In 1982, the Association for the Deaf began to arrange discussions for its employees on ways to spread deaf awareness. Materials on deaf awareness were also needed and the work to prepare them began. Training on the topic was also arranged. It was important to reach as many deaf people as possible in all age groups, as well as relatives of deaf people and people who interacted with deaf people because of their work.

The first deaf awareness course was held in 1983. The training was arranged in short courses spread over a two-year period. People who were active in associations and other suitable people were chosen to participate. They mainly represented the younger generations and went on to spread the word about deaf awareness. Later, the courses formed a complete training programme aimed at instilling a positive self-image among deaf people and giving them tools for influencing their own lives.

The courses provided information on deafness, deaf history and oralism, the development of a deaf child, language acquisition and family life. In addition, the participants learned about deaf culture, the legal position of deaf people, ethical questions and the status of sign language. Finally, the participants learned about means of promoting the goals of the Deaf Awareness movement. The Association for the Deaf adopted deaf awareness as part of its strategy and wanted to attract young people to participate in its operations and share the responsibility. Many of the people who attended the course ended up holding notable positions in the community.

At their best, the courses empowered individual deaf people and offered them an opportunity to learn about themselves. The courses also included philosophical discussions on topics that were not touched upon in schools for the deaf or at association events. The courses changed the values of many participants, making the language and community even more important to them.

In 1983, a document called Kuuron ihmiskuva (deaf self-image) was prepared and it formed the basis for the operations of the Association for the Deaf. In the document, the identity of a deaf person is described and the ways to achieve an equal status in society are discussed. The document stated that the views held by parties responsible for rehabilitation and education were not based on an understanding of deaf people or their situation, language and culture. Therefore, decisions on matters related to deaf people were made without giving them a say, and this patronising attitude prevented deaf people from becoming fully functioning members of society. For decision-makers, the document offered information on the views of deaf people concerning their situation and why they had to be involved in the development of services.

By 1984, the Deaf Awareness movement had left its mark on the discussion within the community, irrespective of whether the topic was the status of sign language, attitudes towards it or aids for deaf people. In sign language work, offering tuition in sign language, making its status official and starting research on it were set as the goals. Deaf awareness also affected the community’s cultural activities, and at the national cultural events it was clear for everyone to see how the performers’ self-confidence improved and the scripts now depicted the writers’ own experiences, in their own language.

In the 2000s, new concepts emerged alongside deaf awareness and people talked about empowerment of the community. The deaf researcher Paddy Ladd introduced a cultural concept Deafhood to complement the old Deafness concept. Deafness was linked to a lack of hearing. In contrast, deafhood means

choosing a positive, life-enriching attitude to deafness. In this ideology, sign languages are seen as a richness, similarly to global citizenship and international connections of the deaf community. Deafness is seen as a meaningful characteristic and not as a flaw. The central idea is that sign languages also enrich the hearing society and that deaf people have the right to the experience of deafness.

The Deaf Gain concept is close to Deafhood and it, too, considers deafness as a resource. The basic idea is that deafness involves large quantities of silent information and therefore only deaf people can know what it is like to be deaf. It emphasises the positive aspects of deafness and the positive impacts it brings to deaf people’s lives, such as easy communications in sign language. Deaf Gain promotes cultural and linguistic diversity and emphasises that deaf people have a lot to offer to society. As a whole, sign languages have changed our view of language and human creativity.

Whether we talk about deaf awareness, Deaf Gain or empowerment, ultimately we are talking about the same thing. Deaf people must have a right to their own culture and language.