EXPERIENCE A TRANSFORMATION

FROM DEAFNESS TO DEAFHOOD 

Marvin Miller presenting during a Deafhood Fundraiser at Old Jim, Gallaudet University, June 2015

Melvin "Mel" Patterson explains, in American Sign Language (ASL), the meaning of Deafhood.   

Dr. Paddy Ladd, author of Understanding Deaf Culture: In Search of Deafhood (2003), coined the word Deafhood to describe wholesome ways of being Deaf in spite of medicalized attitudes, discrimination and oppression. He presented a framework to understand our past, work within the present and plan for the future which Deafhood Foundation works to further. To learn more about his work, please go to Dr. Paddy's Corner.