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Editor: So who exactly are we talking about here? What defines membership in the "Awakening Oral Hearing Loss Community"? My definition is "anyone with hearing loss who prefers to communicate using spoken language." Here with some additional thoughts is Randy Collins, who regular readers will know pretty well by now ;-)

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"Deaf and hard of hearing". There's that Deaf lite perspective again, and confusion concerning who we are continues. We know who we are, but we are not getting the message out to the Deaf and hearing worlds. "Deaf and hard of hearing" is NOT a single disability - it's two, and if we want to be more specific there are actually three distinct types of Deaf and hard of hearing. What so often happens is that Deaf and hearing people morph linguistic and audiological differences into one disability - Deaf and hard of hearing. 'Taint so.

Linguistically there are culturally deaf people or as they prefer - and I agree - Deaf, with a capital D. Deaf people, usually prelingually deafened, if not born deaf, use sign language, ASL, as their preferred mode of communication. It is their first language, their native language. Language is part of the critical mix in the cement that holds a culture together; all cultures. As such Deaf people have a rich, vibrant and wonderful culture.

Audiologically the same are people who were born deaf or deafened early, but educated in an oral method, or people who are postlingually deafened, as in later in life. The key cultural factor however is NOT audiological - and that is where the confusion starts. The key factor here is linguistic; in the US it is English. The native language of deaf (little d) people is English and their culture is mainstream, English based, America.

Can a deaf person (an orally educated deaf child or a deafened adult) become a member of Deaf culture? Yes, it happens but it is not normally the case. Such a person must become fully fluent in ASL, but that is not enough. That person must also socialize primarily with the Deaf community and learn to accept all the nuances of Deaf culture. I. King Jordan would be a prime example of someone who was deaf and is now Deaf.

Then there are the rest of us. Hard of hearing people, born that way or those who became so later in life (including Late Deafened), prefer oral communication, English in the US. Most of us began to lose our hearing later in life. Mainstreamed, English based, America is our culture - or was. Here's the HUGE distinction most people never address - As language is a key component of culture and by virtue of the fact that we have lost or our losing our hearing, we are losing our ability to participate fully in our culture. We have a culture but we are in a sense losing it and there is no culture to replace it! We don't have a critical mass of peers readily available to access for support and guidance.

Hard of hearing people are out there on the high wire of life without a net. This is in sharp contrast to Deaf people, who have a culture that is complete with thriving and rewarding social outlets.

One group consists of Deaf people. I include culturally Hard of Hearing in this group - those who are audiologically hard of hearing, grew up in a Deaf environment, and likely attended Deaf schools. The other group is hard of hearing people. In this group I include oral deaf and late deafened adults. [Ed: this is the group that I'm calling the Oral Hearing Loss (OHL) community.]