Concept of DEAF COMMUNITY AND CULTURE

Deaf people, as a community or culture, can be considered a linguistic minority, and as a result, some members of this community may feel misunderstood by those who do not understand sign language.

Deaf culture

It is the set of social beliefs, behaviours, literary traditions, history, values, and shared beliefs among institutions of communities influenced by deafness and using sign languages as the primary means of communication.

Deaf Culture supporters say that recognising Deaf-mute people as a minority culture with their own language and social norms promotes Deaf people’s right to collective space within society to pass on their language and culture to future generations.

Participating in the Deaf community and culturally identifying as Deaf has been shown to significantly increase positive self-esteem in Deaf-mute people. Hearing family members of deaf people and sign-language interpreters who identify with Deaf culture may be part of the community.

Places of Importance in Indian Sign Language
WHAT IS SIGN LANGUAGE ?

Sign language

It is a method of communicating that relies on hand gestures and movements, body language, and facial expressions rather than spoken words. Sign languages are prominently use by Deaf and Hard of Hearing people.

Sign Languages are natural human languages that have developed wherever deaf people have come together to form communities. Sign Languages are fully complex human languages that are on a par with spoken languages at every level of linguistic organization means they have their own grammar and lexicon like spoken language.

In Sign Language, fingerspelling is extremely important. A particular sign is there for each letter of the alphabet.

On your hand, you can use these letter signs to spell out words – most commonly names and places – and sentences. If you don’t know or can’t remember some signs, fingerspelling is a simple way to communicate.