Friends of Libraries for Deaf Action  --  www.folda.net
The Red Notebook



Deaf Unity
@ Your Library


Deaf Community

Here, for our purposes, the term - Deaf Community - consists of individuals with varying communication modes and backgrounds, both deaf and hearing, who share common characteristics of hearing losses and/or deaf culture.
  1. People who may identify themselves as deaf, Deaf, culturally deaf, hard-of-hearing, hearing, early-deafened, late-deafened, hearing impaired, deaf-mute, hearing-mute, or as having a hearing loss or hearing disability or other
  2. People whose primary language is a sign language
  3. Family members of the above two
  4. People who have a career and/or specific interests in deaf culture, sign language, diversity, hearing losses, auxiliary aids, disabilities and/or others
  5. People of the above four who are blind, have cerebral palsy, and/or have come into confront with physical learning and life-functioning challenges

Interest Groups

People in each of the five above groups may be connected with one or more of the following:
1.
 Children

2.
 Young adults

3.
 Post-secondary students

4.
 Older adults

5.
 Members of diverse ethnic groups

6.
 Members of various religious traditions

7.
 Rural populations
8.
 Females and males (Gender)
9.
 Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals

10.
 Homeless and transient people
11.
 Prisoners

12.
 People at work
13.
 People at leisure

14.
 People in need of health care

15.
 People recovering from various kinds of abuse and other



Deaf Culture

For our purposes, the deaf culture term includes ways of living, use of visual language, shared history and stories, and common values among people with diverse deaf characteristics within family, school, work, and social circles.

Hearing spouses/siblings of deaf adults (SODA), hearing children of deaf adults (CODA) and hearing parents of deaf children may be considered a part of deaf culture.

Diverse groups within the deaf community include those based on ethnicity, gender, lifestyle, career, leisure, and age. Yet within these groups, many deaf people as well as their hearing family members share similar experiences, tendencies, desires, and goals.

For examples, flexibility of communication modes, encouraging eye contact, use of auxiliary aids, participating in deaf festivals and sport competitions and/or others.


Cultural Literacy

The following subjects appear in books, newspapers, magazines, videos, DVDs and/or others at your library and in which they have a connection with deaf culture – arts, history, language, literature, and hearing issues.  Such subjects were a part of the list of over 1,000 subjects that E.D. Hirsch, author of a best seller, Cultural Literacy, said every American needs to know.
Aristotle
Auditory nerve
Babel, Tower of
Beethoven, Ludwig van
Bell, Alexander Graham
Eardrum
Edison, Thomas A
Genetics
Goya, Francisco de
Johnson, Samuel
Keller, Helen,
Martha's Vineyard
Meningitis
Morse, Samuel F. B.
Visual aids

American Deaf Culture
Within Five Cultures

Please include deaf culture when celebrating annual events of the following:
  • African Americans
  • American Indian and Alaskan Native Populations
  • Asian Pacific Americans
  • European Americans
  • Hispanic Americans

©2001, 2008
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