Audism
Humphries
fixing the hearing loss, preventing deafness, the risk of genetic deafness, opening up the world of
deaf people, etc.. This is something deeper than simple ignorance.
Whatever the cause, audism is. And it is the cause of much of my anger and frustration.
Naming it, as I have done, helps me deal with it, helps me to discuss it with other, and reminds me
that what I am dealing with is yet another -ism that each individual (hearing and deaf) and society
as a whole must come to grips with.
I have tried to come to grips with it and to the point that I recognize my own audist self
and have tried to change, I have succeeded. My thinking about audism has helped me to understand
my other -isms just as other groups fighting these -isms have helped me to understand audism.
When I am confronted with my male-chauvinism, I gain some insight into audism. As I understand
what I have done that oppresses blacks, I understand what has been done to oppress me as a deaf
person. That is why I have been able to change and get from there to here."
SASLJ, Vol. 2, No. 2 – Fall/Winter 2018
67