>Marian,
> I'm enlightened and confused....
>
>Do you mean "Deaf" as in choice of culture or cultureal preference
>and
>"deaf" as in diagnosis?
>or
>vice versa....
I mean Deaf (with a big 'D') as a linguistic minority identity and deaf
(with a small d) as hearing impairment/disability. Of course there are
overlaps, but there are definite differences in self- and social
identification and in the kind of representations that one is subject to.
>
>I may be having trouble with this as my speech synthesiser does not
>differentiate between upper and lower case.
I actually think that's a wonderful example of what I'm trying to get
across - and the problems of same word/different meaning as they relate to
disability. The difference between big D and small d is clear in writing,
and in sign, but not always in speech unless we are reflexive listeners (in
the auditory sense). And what does this mean for the listener who listens
in the visual sense e.g. through lip-reading or sign, and may only get
partial contextualisation.
>
>However your concept intrigues me, as it may well equally apply to
>"Blind" and "blind"
>and
>"blind" / "visually impaired"
>and ensuing cultural affiliations.
You're right, and I gather that the battles between the two - big B and
small b, are just as fraught (exclamation mark)
>
Best
Mairian
Mairian Corker
Senior Research Fellow in Deaf and Disability Studies
Department of Education Studies
University of Central Lancashire
Preston PR1 2HE
Address for correspondence:
111 Balfour Road
Highbury
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U.K.
Minicom/TTY +44 [0]171 359 8085
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Typetalk (voice) +44 [0]800 515152 (and ask for minicom/TTY number)
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"To understand what I am doing, you need a third eye"
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