2010 Fifth National Training Forum
Rehabilitation Services Administration
State Coordinators and Related Professionals Who Serve Individuals Who Are Deaf,
Deaf-Blind, Hard-of-Hearing, and Late-Deafened
Partner Building Bridges
August 23-25, 2010
Overcoming Unintentional Audism
in Rehabilitation Settings
Jesse Woosley
Rehabilitation Counselor Education Masters
Candidate
Western Oregon University
Agenda
• Presentation on Overcoming Unintentional
Audism in Rehabilitation Settings
• Reflection Activity
• “Audism Unveiled” movie/discussion
Overcoming Unintentional Audism in
Rehabilitation Settings
Outline:
• A history of audism
• Identifying unintentional audism
• Overcoming unintentional audism
A History of Audism
• Ages old phenomenon
– Strong connection between hearing and speaking
language ability to identity of human race
“How dull they are in general. How little do they differ from animals.”- J.C. Amann
“human in shape, but only half human in attributes” –L.Dudley
“a perfect non-entity, a living automaton...” A. Sicard
“to be human was to speak. To sign was a step downward in the scale of being.”- D. Baynton
Bauman (2004)
A History of Audism
• First usage of term “audism”
– Coined by Dr. Tom Humphries, 1977: Communicating
Across Cultures (Deaf/Hearing) and Language Learning
– Audism: The notion that one is superior based on
one’s ability to hear or behave in the manner of one
who hears.
– System of privilege based on ability to hear
A History of Audism
• “It’s just another –ism”
– Validation
– Recognizing audism helps resist audist behavior
and practice, whether intentional or not
A History of Audism
• Creating the future:
– Increased awareness of unintentional audism
enhances service to deaf and hard-of-hearing
populations
– How can rehabilitation professionals contribute?
Identifying Unintentional Audism
• Audism and Unintentional Audism: What’s the
difference?
– Unintentional audism is often overlooked and the
more prevalent type of audism.
– Audism is the more obvious form of oppression
with malicious intentions.
Identifying Unintentional Audism
• What are some examples of unintentional
audism?
-Looking away or mumbling while talking to a person who lip reads
-Avoiding to make eye contact with deaf or hard-of-hearing person
-Passing up opportunity to learn and use sign language
-Not enough lighting in room
-Raising voice at the person
-Stereotyping or making assumptions
-Talking to interpreter instead of directly at client
Identifying Unintentional Audism
• Possible causes of unintentional audism:
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Good intentions/ bad interventions
Traditional training
Cultural tunnel vision
Blaming the victim
Either/or thinking
• How good intentions may be harmful:
– Unwillingness of professional to critically examine
one’s own actions
Ridley (2005)
Identifying Unintentional Audism
• Personal bias, preconceived notions and
assumptions:
– We are not taught to recognize hearing privilege
– Often the advantages of hearing privilege is taken
for granted.
– Expectations that “they” should be more like “us”
Overcoming Unintentional Audism
• Examining one’s own privilege
-White privilege: Unpacking the invisible
knapsack by Peggy McIntosh
“As a white person, I realized I had been taught about racism as something that puts
others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects,
white privilege, which puts me at an advantage.”
Overcoming Unintentional Audism
• Taking the initial steps:
-Power to make positive changes for deaf and
hard-of-hearing people often lies in the hands
of people who have hearing privilege
-Unacknowledged hearing privilege and
audism can contribute to phenomenon of
“invisible oppression”
(McIntosh, 1988)
Overcoming Unintentional Audism
• Recognizing microaggressions:
-”subtle in nature and can be manifested in
the verbal, non-verbal, visual or behavioral
realm”
-often subconscious and conditioned
behavior
(Sue and Sue, 2008)
Overcoming Unintentional Audism
• Awareness or “critical consciousness”
-Vital to make changes happen
-Willingness of professional to participate in difficult
dialogues about audism with peers, clients, and
others.
-Recognize and confront typical defense mechanisms
that privileged individuals may use
(Watt, Curtis, Drummond, Kellogg, Lozano, Nicoli, & Rosas, 2009)
Reflection
• How can you share hearing privilege or
“power” with deaf and hard-of-hearing
individuals?
• What were your experiences with
“unintentional audism” like?
• What direction should we take with our
awareness of “unintentional audism”?
Movie
• “Audism Unveiled”
References
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Bauman, D.L. (2004). Audism: Exploring the Metaphysics of Oppression. Journal of
Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 9, 239-246.
Chaney, M.P., Foley, P.F., and Smith, L. (2008). Addressing classism, ableism, and
heterosexism in counselor education. Journal of Counseling and Development,
86, 303-309.
Curtis, G.C., Jerri Drummond, J., Kellogg A.H., Lozano, A., Nicoli, G.T., Rosas, M., and
Watt, S.K. (2009) Counselor preparation, privileged identity exploration:
Examining counselor trainees’ reactions to difficult dialogues. Counselor Education and Supervision, 49, 86-105.
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Harrington, T. (2009) FAQ: Audism. retrieved from
http://library.gallaudet.edu/Library/Deaf_Research_Help/Frequently_Asked_Ques
tions_%28FAQs%29/Cultural_Social_Medical/Audism.html
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MacIntosh, P. (1988). White privilege and male privilege: A personal account of
coming to see correspondences through work in Women's Studies. Wellesley,
MA: Center for Research on Women, Working Paper Series, no. 189.
Peters, S. W. (2007) Cultural awareness: enhancing counselor understanding,
sensitivity, and effectiveness with clients who are deaf. Journal of Multicultural
Counseling and Development, 35, 182-190.
Ridley, C. (2005) Overcoming Unintentional Racism in Counseling and Therapy.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications
Sue D. & Sue D.W. (2008) Counseling the Culturally Diverse. Hoboken, N.J.: John
Wiley & Sons, Inc.