It is a positive approach to re-affirming Deaf people’s role and place in society, history and the world.ĭeafhood also focuses on the historical, cultural and linguistic reality of Deaf people, and maintains a larger worldview as opposed to minimizing the community into miserable (or glorified) individuals who seek access solely through hearing. The author illustrates the pitfalls which have been created for those communities by the medical concept of deafness and contrasts this with his new concept of deafhood, a process by which every deaf child, family and adult implicitly explains their existance in the world to themselves and each other.'ĭEAFHOOD is described as a journey that each Deaf person undertakes to discover his/her identity and purpose in this life as a Deaf person among other people. The book aims to assess the concepts of culture, on their own terms and in their many guises and to apply these to deaf communities. Within and outside deaf communities, there is a need for an account of the new concept of deaf culture, which enables readers to assess its place alongside work on other minority cultures and multilingual discourses. 'This text presents a Traveller's Guide to deaf culture, starting from the premise that deaf cultures have an important contribution to make to other academic disciplines, and human lives in general. His book ' Understanding Deaf Culture: In Search of Deafhood' was published in 2003. Both his writings and his Deaf activism have received international recognition, and in 1998 he was awarded the Deaf Lifetime Achievement Award by the Federation of Deaf People, for activities which have extended the possibilities for Deaf communities both in the UK and worldwide.Dr. Paddy Ladd is a Deaf scholar, author, activist and researcher of Deaf culture. He completed his PhD in Deaf Culture at Bristol University in 1998 and has written, edited and contributed to numerous publications in the field.

Ladd about his life as an activist fighting for Deaf rights, what lead him to write his world-renowned book Understanding Deaf Culture: In Search of Deafhood and much, much more – there'll also be time for you to ask questions too.ĭr Paddy Ladd, author of Understanding Deaf Culture: In Search of Deafhood, was lecturer and MSc co-ordinator at the Centre for Deaf Studies at the University of Bristol. Paddy Ladd, following the screening of his Lecture on Deaf culture, history and sign language. Join us in a conversation with award-winning author and activist, Dr.

Paddy ladd deafhood