Is curing deafness genocide of the Deaf community?

The argument goes like this: the use of gene therapy to cure hereditary deafness would result in smaller numbers of deaf children. This, in turn, would reduce the critical mass of signing Deaf people needed for a flourishing community, ultimately resulting in the demise of the community. read more

Aggressively pushing a cure for deafness, whether people wanted it or not, would be a form of cultural genocide, especially if it also included forcing people, especially children, not to use sign language. read more

“Members of the signing Deaf community argue that research which aims to eliminate or cure deafness is a form of cultural genocide,” Burke explains. “The argument goes like this: the use of gene therapy to cure hereditary deafness would result in smaller numbers of deaf children. read more

Prof: Curing deafness can be seen as ‘cultural genocide’ College Fix Staff • March 14, 2017 A professor at Gallaudet University has written that curing deafness can be seen as “cultural genocide” that results in the “demise” of the deaf community. read more