The Language of the Deaf - The New York Review of Books

But what if the deaf have their own language—not oral but signed—as rich and expressive as any oral language, and as suitable for discussing science, art, or any other topic? What if this language is central to an independent culture of the deaf, with its own history and traditions, its own art forms and poetry? The deaf would then have to be viewed not as sharing a common pathology, but as a linguistic and cultural minority. This is the "linguistic-cultural" view of deafness. It challenges the view of deafness as a pathological condition to be treated or corrected, and concentrates instead on a community with its own language, traditions, and culture.