Deaf and hard-of-hearing people make up one of the world’s largest linguistic-cultural minorities. The Deaf World is DeafMonitor’s reference to the whole of it — not a medical condition to be fixed, but a language, a history, an art form, a body of law, and a community with its own heroes and milestones. Start anywhere.
Many people write Deaf with a capital D to mean cultural and linguistic identity — people who share a signed language and community — and lowercase deaf for the audiological state of not hearing. You’ll see that convention throughout these pages.
Explore the Deaf world
Deaf Culture & Identity
Big-D Deaf, shared values, the concept of Deaf gain, and what binds a global linguistic community.
History & Milestones
From the shared signing of Martha's Vineyard to the Milan Congress to the 1988 Deaf President Now protest.
Sign Languages
ASL and the world's signed languages — real, grammatical, and gloriously visual, not pantomime.
Schools & Institutions
Gallaudet University, the American School for the Deaf, NTID, and the residential-school tradition.
Laws & Rights
The ADA, IDEA, Section 504, and the CVAA — the legal scaffolding of language access.
Notable Figures & Firsts
Oscar winners, Olympians, scientists, and trailblazers who happen to be Deaf.
Deaf Art & De’VIA
Deaf View / Image Art — a visual-arts movement and a culture all its own.
Deaf Sports & the Deaflympics
A century of Deaf athletics, from the 1924 International Silent Games onward.
Technology & Access
TTYs, captioning, video relay, and the tools that opened the hearing world's door.
The Community Today
The NAD, the World Federation of the Deaf, and a living, organizing, thriving global community.
A few turning points
- 1817The first permanent school
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc open the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut — the seedbed of American Sign Language and Deaf community in the U.S.
- 1880The Milan Congress
An international congress of (mostly hearing) educators votes to suppress sign language in Deaf schools in favor of oral methods — a decision that shadowed Deaf education for a century.
- 1960ASL recognized as a language
Linguist William Stokoe publishes Sign Language Structure, proving ASL is a full natural language with its own grammar — not broken English on the hands.
- 1988Deaf President Now
Students shut down Gallaudet University until it appoints I. King Jordan as its first Deaf president — a watershed for Deaf self-determination worldwide.
- 1990The Americans with Disabilities Act
Landmark U.S. civil-rights law guaranteeing access — including effective communication and interpreters — across employment, government, and public life.