Socio-Cultural Barriers Towards Deaf People & People with Disabilities

​The prevalence of deafness or a disability in an individual often brings about some degree of social stigma which is ubiquitous in every country. However, in certain cultures there is a higher degree of stigmatization and discrimination compared to other cultures towards people who are Deaf and hard-of-hearing or who have a disability. This is extremely blatant in Asian, Middle-Eastern and African cultures.

It is important to challenge our perspective on what is "normal" as that differs from individual to individual, as well as among people groups and countries.Social-cultural perceptions of deafness and disability can be more limiting to the individual than the disability itself.

In many Asian, Middle-Eastern and African contexts, societies hold a deficit view of deafness and disability due to their cultural beliefs and attitudes just like people have stereotypes of places such as Africa such as the people there are poor and sad. This also exists in Western countries, but to a lesser degree. Such views of thinking lead to discrimination of deaf individuals and those with disabilities. Some of these beliefs are:

• Deaf people are disabled because they cannot hear and speak well.
• A child with a disability is possessed by an evil spirit.
• An individual is disabled due to a curse or a misdeed they committed in their past life, or committed by a member of their family. The disability is punishment for that wrongdoing.
  
• A child with a disability is a loss of face to the family
  
• People with disabilities cannot learn at school or get a job.
• People with disabilities are not normal.
• They are labelled superheroes for achieving things that "normal" people achieve such as a Masters degree. 
  
• Deaf people and people with disabilities are pitiful and need compassion.​
• People with disabilities are less than human. 

To gain a greater insight into how the social-cultural perception of disabilities and cultural stereotypes can be limiting and create distances among people, watch the videos on this page. ​