Akademik

(AW.diz.um)

n.

Discrimination against deaf people.

— audist n.

The year after Liz was born, Tom Humphries, then a deaf graduate student and now associate director of the Teacher Education Program at University of California San Diego, coined a term for discrimination against the deaf and their culture: "audism."

— Jenifer Goodwin, "Unbreakable lives," San Diego Union-Tribune, July 27, 2003

I'm writing in response to "Deaf studies net funds" (Feb. 26) which described deafness as "one of society's most depressing disabilities."

I am deaf, and I am not depressed. I am not isolated, stressed, or unsafe because of my deafness. Any barriers to inclusion, equality, or social contribution are imposed upon me by others. I, and my deaf peers, are proud of who we are and what we have to offer our countries.

Comments from individuals such as Denis Piquette smack of paternalism and audism.

— Linda Barbian Russell, "Letter of the day," Calgary Sun, March 1, 2002

Hearing people, Lane says, view deafness as a disability — but the deaf see themselves as a linguistic minority, feel that they have a richer social life than hearing people, marry each other, and celebrate the birth of a deaf child as a precious gift. After developing these preconception-shattering revelations, Lane reveals the meshes of paternalistic control exercised by ''audism'' — that institution of school administrators, speech therapists, psychologists, and social workers that authorizes views of the deaf, governs where they go to school, and exercises authority over their community.

— book review of "The Mask of Benevolence: Disabling the Deaf Community," Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 1992

The above citation tells us that Tom Humphries coined this word "the year after Liz was born." "Liz" is Liz Stone, the deaf daughter of Jill and Evan Stone, who are featured in the story. Liz was born in 1974, so that means the word audism has been around since 1975. Unfortunately, this assertion is the only evidence I have of this early coinage date, so for now I'm going to stick with the 1992 date of the earliest citation, below.