Deaf awareness

In the late 20th century, people from the deaf community began to express open criticism against oralism, which had been the dominant teaching method in the schools for the deaf since the late 19th century and which did not acknowledge the value of sign language. At the same time, cultural life among the deaf community was thriving and the status of sign language was debated actively. This activism formed into the Deaf Awareness movement in the 1970s.

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.