Unfortunately, when deaf and hard of hearing people look for work, they may encounter employment discrimination. Prospective employers can discriminate, either openly or subtly. This discrimination happens because of either overt prejudice, or because of ignorance about deafness and hearing loss.
In the 1970s, about half of all deaf children in America attended special schools, many of which immersed them in sign language. Today, 80 percent of deaf children attend ordinary local schools, and more than half of kids born with hearing impairments receive cochlear implants, with the proportion rising every year. A dramatic shift is under way in the American experience of deafness. To many who are hard of hearing, this shift represents not a victory over disability, but the dissolution of a thriving culture—what they call Deaf culture, with a capital
