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Deaf Drivers

Here's a special-order Pennsylvania "vanity plate" (apparently for Deaf pride).
We bet some hearing drivers will think it's required by law. Or that it announces, "Hey folks, I'm driving a car even though I'm deaf, so wish me luck and stay clear".

Here's a bumper sticker we saw in an automotive magazine. If not seen as a joke, it will get the same reactions as the plate above.
At red light stops, some other drivers will turn to stare at the deaf
driver, to see what a real live deaf person looks like, as most people never knowingly saw one (and that's not a joke either).

Here are some more to scare other drivers with.

The third one means well, but some will read it as: "Driver is deaf, and more likely than most to cause and be injured in an accident".

Meet the Wakaba stickers..............

.If you are deaf with a driver's license in Japan (very restricted for deaf people), you must show this big (5" diameter ) "Wakaba" sticker on front and back of your car, announcing your deafness to all the other drivers. (Two ears form a butterfly).

Why? To announce your supposed limits as a driver, and to advise others not to depend on their horns. Or even to warn them to be smart and stay clear of you.
Ask your deaf friend in Tokyo about this.

Other stickers are required there for the elderly, beginners, and non-deaf disabled. If you're a beginner (driving for less than a year), not deaf but have some another "affliction" (such as lameness), and are 70 or older...........
-----you're stuck with eight stickers, four in front and same four in back.
Wow !!, you'll scare other drivers and have the whole road to yourself.
There are three more, from left:
For physically disabled driver (other than deaf).
For those driving less than a year.
For those 70 and over. (A downward-pointing arrow? Do they
think you're on the way out at age 70?)

In Japan, a deaf citizen could not drive until 1975, and then only with a
hearing aid and special rear-view mirror. The aid requirement was dropped in 2006. That's when profoundly deaf people were first allowed to drive in Japan. (Welcome Japan, to the 21st Century !! Now get rid of all those stickers).
_____________________________________________________________

 "PLEASE WATCH OUT" !!

The large state of Telangana in southern
India (33 million people) is more up-front than Japan in warning others of a deaf driver. Deaf drivers must show this
6" X 5" emergency-red sticker in back, and a smaller one in front. (Smaller ones are required for motorcycles).

Ask your deaf friend in Hyderabad about this.
_______________________________

CONFUSED AUTHOR DEPT. 
Safe Driving Handbook (Grosset)
Page 28: "It has been proven that ....handicapped drivers do better on the road than the average driver".
Page 29: "A person who is almost completely deaf is quite handicapped
as a driver"._________________________________________________________

THAT "SOMETHING IS FISHY" LOOK

Almost all deaf drivers have been asked , "Where (or how) did you get a driver's license?" That often comes with a something-is-fishy look, or a suspicious smirk. Or a knowing wink, as if strings were pulled ----like you paid off a MVB clerk. Or your uncle is a municipal big shot and pulled some strings. It's not uncommon to get hit with this even from the most intelligent of people.

You say it's been legal for almost a century, and the inquirer politely accepts the fact. But quite a few do with subtle expressions of confusion and disbelief.

Then comes the standard question about the ambulance or fire engine. You say, " I see it before you hear it". The response would often be "Huh?", or a polite ( but unconvinced ) "Oh !"
Our Deaf New Jersey friend has a standard reply:
"I got my driver's license where I got my pilot's license". If that doesn't shut them up (it usually does), his "Pilot's License" does, which he shows if asked. His son, a commercial artist, created a phony from an expired New Jersey pest exterminator's license. (States don't issue pilots' licenses, which rarely occurs to a questioner). Our friend carries a photo of a Piper Malibu PA-46 to show, if asked what craft he flies.

We have no polls to point to, but we believe many Americans are unaware that Deaf people are allowed to drive -----and quite a few would disapprove if made aware.
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Something Else is Fishy
Everybody (and their uncles) know that these strange Deaf people must require specialized training, testing, restrictions, signal devices, etc. -----to safely drive, or    drive at all.
Here are all those we've heard of. (The absurd first    three were dreamed up by the frightened State of Maryland in the 1920s).

A hearing adult must always be next to the deaf driver
   60-day probationary period for new deaf drivers.
      Deaf drivers may not cross state lines
   Deaf drivers may not have any additional disability
      Specialized training and testing
  Assigned-risk insurance (regardless of age)
Dashboard light to indicate horns and sirens
Hearing aid (especially that)
Exceptional need to drive
  Cycloramic or multi-faced interior mirror
Curfews (i.e., driving limited to daytime)
Specially marked plate and license

"Is it safe to let these strange people drive", asked the wary State of California? So they ordered a study in 1964. (Yes, over 50 years ago, but
please don’t go away. That study is still referred to today).

It “proved” that California's deaf males, are almost twice as likely
(actually 1.8 X) to have an accident than their hearing males. There !!
Just as we all imagined !! They can't hear horns and sirens, you know.

The study compared two groups, hearing and profoundly deaf (male and female). But a critical review found the deaf males were mostly lower socio-economic with high

mileage experience, and no formal driver training. That wasn't applied to the hearing group as a uniform variable.

We assume one variable was accident records. Who’s to blame?
Records are mostly “he said, she said”. Guess who is slicker with the cops at the accident scene, to point out the other driver's fault? Guess who is sharper on the phone with the insurance company in disclaiming fault? And guess who says "I blew my horn four times" (when s/he did nothing of the sort).

Other participant information came from fill-in forms distributed to people at Deaf clubs. How representative of deaf drivers are people who hang out in Deaf clubs? How dependable are scribbles on a fill-in form? Assuming the hearing group got the same forms, guess who filled them out more craftily.

So? What did California do to protect their precious male hearing drivers, and justify the cost of their study? Nothing we know of. But, awwww, to look good they proudly distributed the results to all the other states. Over 50 years later, this study is still referred to, as there have been very few comparative studies. (It's known as the Coppin & Peck study).

California's big splash was planting it in the Federal Register. That was instrumental in having deaf CMV (commercial-licensed) drivers nationally banned from driving interstate (and kept out of UPS and similar trucks).

The study also "discovered" that their deaf women have safer driving records than their hearing males. What does gender have to do with deafness? All women drive more cautiously than men ----you could have learned that from your dad or your insurance company.

To us, all it "revealed" is that low socioeconomic, self-trained deaf male drivers who drive a lot, are more accident-prone than classier, trained male hearing drivers who drive moderately. (Did that knock your socks off?). Very few similar studies have since been made, and none correlate the California study. One even disputes it. These links take you to the subject.

https://apps.dmv.ca.gov/about/profile/rd/r_d_report/Section%206-Summaries.pdf

http://trid.trb.org/view.aspx?id=116206

This one is convoluted enough to put you to sleep, but please read it.
https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/sites/fmcsa.dot.gov/files/docs/hearing4.pdf

And by the way..........

............. if you missed it on the previous page:
California has the dubious distinction of being the only American state mentioned in that famous book at left.
It was praised for its leading EugenIc efforts to prevent people they wouldn't like from being born. California inspired its Nazi admirer to do likewise in Germany._______________________________________________

Deaf? Why Would You Need to Drive ?

In the lower part of the last Century, several states did
not allow deaf drivers. Some did, but many were apprehensive.
New York was one of them.

In New York.............
A deaf person's application for a driver's license needed approval from the Superintendent of the New York State School for the Deaf
(in Rome, New York). He had nothing to do with cars and didn't know you from Adam.

Why him? Well, to the powers that were, his title made him a sort of tender-of-the-flock to these strange people. He gave a sense of official government control to the matter, and someone to pulverize if deaf drivers became a threat (which "common sense" thought possible, if not certain.

With this bigwig's nod, you needed a separate referral explaining your need to drive. For unusual you, there had to be a convincing "need" ( and tooling around town with your girlfriend wasn't one of them ). It had also to assert that you were a mature, law-abiding citizen and all that, and would be capable of safely driving a vehicle. It was to come from a "somebody" such as a teacher, pastor, or employer (but not from you -----as a deaf person, you weren't considered much of a "somebody").

In Detroit ..........
In 1919 Detroit police revoked the license of every deaf driver they encountered. It was "justified" by an extant law that prohibited "defectives" from driving. Attorneys from the Ford Motor Company (at the request of the National Association of the Deaf) succeeded in reversing the revocations.

Nationally.......
There were strong proposals then for a national ban on deaf drivers. Of course, "common sense" says that a driver who cannot hear, is unsafe. However, there were no studies or adverse happenings to support such a belief.

~~~~~~~

Albert Einstein.......
....... had an explanation for "common sense", or "truths" with nothing behind them. He said they are a "deposit of prejudices laid down in the mind prior to the age of eighteen. Every new concept has to battle this accretion of truths".
He said, "Common sense proves that the earth is flat"
~~~~~~
There was an article in Yahoo! Answers listing 26 countries that ban deaf drivers. Here is one of the reader postings (note "common sense"):

"I would hope/assume [deaf people] are unable to drive in any country... for several safety reasons. They can't hear emergency vehicles ... they could cause a delay in the arrival [of those vehicles] to the scene and cause death or injury that could have been avoided otherwise. They can't hear horns from fellow drivers, and that could also cause issues, accidents, loss, and injury. It's common sense. But who knows what can happen when political correctness goes mad!"
~~~~~~
You'll find the names of countries that ban deaf drivers in this link, though the information is from 2008:
http://www.modernghana.com/news/568216/1/can-deaf-people-drivesome-surprising-facts.html
~~~~~~

Here's someone's opinion from the Reddit link below,
CMV: DEAF PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO DRIVE, from just a few years back.

It begins with a grandiose definition of common sense ("a simple train of logical thought").

"It should be a simple train of logical thought. People are not allowed to wear earplugs or headphones while driving. The justification for this is that hearing is a fundamental sense necessary to drive. Deaf people, by definition, cannot hear. Deaf people, lacking a fundamental sense necessary to drive, should not be allowed to drive. Some more specific risks that deaf drivers pose:

Talking with their hands, when they should be on the wheel.
Trying to lip read a passenger while driving.
Not being able to hear emergency vehicles coming.
Not being able to call for help if their car breaks down.
Not being able to talk to an officer if they are pulled over.
Not being able to hear warnings their car is giving them.
https://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/comments/2inzpj/cmv_deaf_people_should_not_be_allowed_to_drive/

 ~~~~~~

All the way up to the 1980's, most licenses of deaf drivers had a statement, code, or icon indicating a hearing aid must be worn while driving (even if you were 101% deaf). "Common sense" fostered the mindset (encouraged of course by aid and battery manufacturers) that an aid provides the hearing necessary to drive safely.

Enforcement was lax. Most police were unaware of the matter as they rarely encountered a d/Deaf driver. Savvy deaf drivers kept a phony earpiece and wire in the car, just in case.

In an opposing sense, some academic nonsense speculates that people with aids are more likely to have a crash if they wear them when driving. The logic is that feedback whistles could cause a dangerous distraction. (Sun glare on eye glasses would do the same thing, so let's ban eye glasses). It's in the the link below (in last sentence of paragraph titled Literature and Driving Review).
http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/research/Medical_Condition_Driving/pages/Sec3-Hearing.htm
~~~~~~

In a post on the link below, Akasha487 asks in protest, why it's not illegal to sign while driving. S/he noticed a signer's both hands were off the steering wheel, as the car swerved between lanes with on-and-off braking.

We've infrequently seen a similar thing ourselves. Well, as it's said, every herd of horses has some jackasses mixed in by mistake.
Read :
http://www.realpolice.net/forums/ask-cop-112/print-102378-why-isnt-illegal-use-sign-language-while-driving.html

Oh yes, and we've also noticed something illegal, dangerous, and stupid (much more than once)---- Deaf drivers VideoPhoning through a text phone propped onto the dashboard's instrument cove (or worse, between their legs) -----eyes darting off and on the road while driving and signing.
Do you know anyone who does this? If so and you're partial to deaf drivers, you know what to do (and it should be more than just a kick in the behind).

If all this is an insolvable problem, we'll have to wait ( until 2040?) for the upcoming self-driving cars.
~~~~~~
If you want to take a brainy olympic dive into this, go to
Communicating Through Distraction: A Study of Deaf Drivers and their Communication Style in a Driving Environment (Caution: 81 pages).

http://scholarworks.rit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=10065&context=theses
________________________________________________________

"TO DEAF DRIVER:
NO SIDEKICK [or] T-MOBLE. WATCH OUT"

We are guessing that on this highway somewhere, a hearing driver noticed another (apparently Deaf) driver signing and texting. It was reported by cellphone to the police who promptly posted it for that driver to read (and everyone else to shake their head over).

It's from almost two decades ago, when those brands of texting devices were popular.

______________________________________________________________

".......your mom or dad......."

We heard this from a Deaf stock broker who looks well over thirty.
He drove into Boston from Toronto to visit family and friends. He stopped at a mall to buy them gifts, noticed a locksmith booth, and presented his car key for duplication. The locksmith thought him a walk-in local, and wrote : "I don't have that key blank in stock right now. Tell your mom or dad I will do their key on Thursday".
_______________________________________________________________

"........in 28 years of police work......"

A Deaf lady told us she was stopped by a motorcycle cop for failing to signal. After she let him know she was Deaf. He asked, "Do you have a drivers' license?". She noted his puzzled facial expression, which appeared to strongly anticipate her reply like, "No, I don't" or "What's that?". (This was in 2009, not 1949).

We respect the police. It's just that some cops (or anybody) go into slight shock upon having to deal with a Deaf person in some important matter, never having had any meaningful contact with one.

Here is an officer's comment taken from the discourse in the link above:

"To be honest, in 28 years of police work, I don't think I came across more than 3 or 4 deaf people and none who were driving a car at the time."
______________________________________________________

Stopped By a Cop? ------ Let Marlee Matlin give you some helpful advice, related to driving and otherwise. Watch her captioned video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAvewviVwjY

Here's a related video in ASL with captions and act-out parts:
"Deaf Sensitivity Training Video for Police Officers"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9aNpMRHH2c
_____________________________________________________

This Actually Happened in New York City
   "Oh what a fire the savages of New York
must light for their supper".    Christopher Morley

We got this from a Deaf friend who went to NYC Magistrates Court in the early 1970's, to fight a red light ticket. He brought photographic proof for his defense. He took his hearing brother as interpreter.
(Why bother you with a 40+ year old incident? Because the same thing can happen anytime now).

The court was packed. Cases before theirs gave an idea of their "fair trial" ------E.g.: a young guy pleading "not-guilty", was sharply cut off by the judge with a "guilty" verdict and a token $5 fine, to move things briskly. When he demanded to be heard, to avoid demerit points on his license, a pot-bellied court officer roared out, "Oh, shut up !! Pay the five bucks and get lost ! Next case, docket number...... ".

When the same loud-mouth called up our friend's case, he bellowed an incredulous aside to the judge that could be heard (according to the brother) way out in the hall: "Coupla deaf mutes!!" (after noticing them signing to each other, thinking them both Deaf).

"Unbelievable stupidity........"

The Magistrate refused to hear our friend's case. "REVOKED" was scribbled on his license, and the license dumped into an out tray, as one tosses paper into the trash. He ranted to the room on the "unbelievable stupidity" of allowing deaf people to drive ---repeatedly pounding his fist on his gavel anvil. He then stiff-armed his two shocked victims toward the exit. The hundred or so nodding donkeys in the audience seemed to agree, all eyes following the pair leaving the courtroom. A few looked amused; imagine that: a couple of deaf mutes playing with a car they aren't qualified to drive, getting caught, and coming alone to a place like this!! Ha ha ha.

"Where did this nucking fut go to law school?"

Our Deaf friend consulted a lawyer who commented, "Huh? What?A City Magistrate who thinks he can revoke a State license? Where did this nucking fut go to law school?" The lawyer angrily phoned the court's
Chief Magistrate and our friend eventually got his license back (with "REVOKED" still scrawled on it). And the red light? He had enough; he
mailed in the fine and received demerit points on his license ----for following a bunch of drivers through an erratic red light ----and being the only one ticketed because he was last in line.

Dissolution of the Magistrates kangaroo court

Subsequently, an editorial in the New York Times was titled:
MAGISTRATES COURT DOES NOT HAVE THE RESPECT
OF THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
It gave many reasons, including one about this particular judge screaming at lawyers. This version of Magistrates Court was soon abolished, its functions integrated into a different system. The "nucking fut" (who had become a judge via New York City's usual political and financial shenanigans) was sent back to chasing ambulances ------or to search for (or buy) another judgeship elsewhere, to continue his rants on deaf drivers, revoking their licenses, and screaming at lawyers.
_____________________________________________________________

Oh, about that judge------ This was written about people like him by Dr. McKay Vernon:

"In practice the authoritarian type personality perceives of....handicapped persons as deserving an underprivileged status. ...... The exact relationship between anti-deafness and authoritarianism results from the fear and anxiety the authoritarian personality feels about his own weakness and defects .... which
he then projects to the deaf person."

Here's a judge for you !

That Magistrate in the incident above, wasn't qualified to shine the shoes of the judge at the left. This one was the first hearing person with any real clout to go public in support of deaf drivers' rights.
He was Sherman G. Finesilver (d. 2006), a Federal jurist in Colorado (1971-1994), and an adviser on traffic safety to the Feds and the state of Colorado.

He had no deaf relatives nor anything personal to gain. His advocacy was devoted, persistent, and effective. He spent five years compiling hundreds of pages of related statistics related to deaf drivers. He interviewed driving instructors, traffic court judges, insurance industry people, police, MVB officials, etc.

He chaired the first (1963) Symposium on Deaf Drivers. He received an
honorary doctorate for these efforts, from Gallaudet University.

Among other things, he opposed the prevailing universal requirement for deaf drivers to wear hearing aids. He labeled it demeaning and worse than useless. His respected and widely circulated general conclusions, claimed the deaf driver to be at least equal to the hearing driver, and more likely superior in regard to safety.
________________________________________________________________

The Police

The posting below is by a Wisconsin police officer in 2001 (2001, not
1951). It launches a thread (titled "Deaf Driver?") on the blog, Officer.com. The responses by other-area officers, illustrate how little was understood at that late date (or even today !!).

Note: This full thread in Officer.com is well worth reading.
http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?48432-Deaf-driver

_____________________________________________________

The sixth response down the above thread, by a Canadian officer ("Springbok"), is quite funny. He stopped two Deaf people in a car
for blowing a stop sign. He was somewhat amazed by this novel experience of meeting a Deaf driver, and was adverse to writing back and forth. So he let the driver go without a ticket.

His closing comment was: "[ If they weren't really Deaf ] they deserve an Oscar".
____________________________________________________________

Of Interest: Should a deaf driver pay extra for auto insurance? Go here.

ttp://insureme.us/deaf-drivers-pay-auto-insurance/
______________________

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEPP !

"He Didn't Hear My Horn !!"

Insurance companies usually avoid the mishmash of blame in parking lot collisions, by assigning 50/50 fault, no matter what. An advisory on that subject (in link below) got 450 postings, this one from Chris MacDonald:

"............ A truck decided to back out, while I was in the [approach] lane.
I stopped & honked at least 5 times.... when I realized he wasn't going to stop,
tried to reverse but it was too late. He smashed the front of my hood. ........ he tells me that he is deaf and didn't hear our horn and that our ........car was too small to see........ I feel he is 100% at fault....he is deaf, didn't hear the horn, backed out when unsafe to do so.

"However, his insurance [firm says the fault is ] 50/50. [They said] being deaf has no bearing on this......how is this possible? Why do I have a horn then???
I have no issue with a deaf driver but clearly they should ....... be more observant when reversing. YES, I saw him coming & I tried to get him to stop (by honking) and he didn't because he's deaf. How is that 50/50?"

https://www.insurancehotline.com/fault-determination-in-a-parking-lot-accident/

Our opinion: The hearing driver is more or less correct. A deaf driver who fully deserves having a horn blown repeatedly at him or her, would be better off not driving.
______________________________________________________________

Deaf Driver's Shooting Death by Trooper in NC

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article96565352.html

______________________________________________________________

Here's something done right. This video from the Spokane Police Department is about how the police should relate to d/Deaf and HOH drivers. From the credits list, scores of people, and particularly
knowledgeable Deaf people, were involved in creating this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSKZHZdflmc&feature=endscreen&NR=1

Here's an excellent signed and captioned video: Deaf sensitivity Training for Police Officers----
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9aNpMRHH2c
_____________________________________________________

The U.S. Department of Justice has a loose statement for police officers, related to deaf drivers.

http://www.ada.gov/lawenfcomm.htm _________________________________________

________________________________________________________________
Examples of cards to show police officers, issued by private ASL interpreting services, with phone numbers to call to contact them if needed

ABOVE) Examples of cards to show police officers, issued by private ASL interpreting services, with phone numbers to call to contact them if needed.

(BELOW) New placard, front and back, for d/Deaf drivers in Michigan. It's well thought out. Note the question about the concealed weapon. That's the first thing you should reveal if stopped for a violation. Well done, Michigan !! We hope this will become national.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________
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Deaf Art & Artists

De'VIA, is an acronym created in the 1960's for visual art that expresses an issue related to deafness, or more so to cultural deafness. It's made from the words "deaf view image art" and spells "devia" to reflect its deviance from other art. (An artist need not be deaf to create De'Via art).

http://www.deafart.org/Deaf_Art_/deaf_art_.html
____________________________________________

Beethoven couldn't lipread at all.......
...... so he carried notebooks for others to write in. Over 400 survived him, but only 183 remain (one shown here). Why? His first biographer, a monumental jackass, burned the rest (considering them irrelevant, but more likely to get rid of scandalous information involvingr himself). What he destroyed was priceless. Perhaps inspired by that .......

.............. a Deaf artist, Joseph Grigley, had a show in a Manhattan (NYC) gallery in the 1990's. It was entirely of arrangements of notes saved from conversations with hearing people ----on napkins, envelopes, backs of bills, scraps of paper, etc. ----each identified with its circumstance. This startling statement on deafness got a glowing review in The New York Times.
________________________________________________________________

Deaf Artists in America by Deborah M. Sonnenstrahl

There's plenty of this subject worth knowing and here's your book, with nothing comparable.

About $65 new from Dawn Sign Press, or $45 from Amazon. And of course there's the library.
There are, and have been,
more Deaf artists in America than can fit into a single book, even this heavy one of 423 pages.

http://www.dawnsign.com/product_print.php?item_id=126
_______________________________________________

Jerry Pagane
A notable exclusion is Jerry Pagane ----a short man now about 70, born deaf and without ears. He has over the past 30 years produced many paintings and prints, with many shows and awards ttp://www.jpaganesigns.com/jerrypaganeartshow.html

Notably, he's also a "gilder" --- the dying art of window lettering with gold leaf. Very few gilders remain. The New York Times had a major article on him for that.
www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2005/01/31/nyregion/31gold2.ready.html
A more recent article is:
http://thevillager.com/2017/08/31/signs-of-the-time-artist-marks-200-years-of-asl/
_______________________________________________________________

James Castle-- "The Artist of Silence"

Another notable exclusion from Deaf Artists in America, above, (for not meeting certain criteria) is James Castle (d. 1977). Born deaf, he remained illiterate and uncommunicative ---- didn't sign or lipread and wrote his name as "X".

He spent a lonely lifetime drawing and creating models and pictures of what he saw around him on the farm where he lived, and at places he visited ---using soot, spit, and whatever on discarded paper and cardboard. (Notice the work below, at the right, is on cardboard from a box). His work needs to be stared at, not just looked at. It generates a deep sense of sadness and disconnection.

His work is now very much in demand by collectors, and quite expensive.

"While most discussions of his work will inevitably be framed [by his deaf-mutism]........ beyond all else Castle leaves us with an extraordinary artistic legacy ----one of great imagination, invention, consistency, and depth. His is an achievement that might best be described as humbling." Frank Del Rio
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/arts/design/27cast.html

Go here to see images of his work:

https://www.google.com/search?q=James+Castle&biw=1924&bih=987&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CIkBEIkeahUKEwjDma-ejP_GAhVKND4KHZhlDJ0&dpr=1

_____________________________________________________________

John Brewster, Jr.

The image below is a treasure in the historical art of the United States. There were no art schools around the time of our nation's birth. But there were many self-taught "folk artists" supporting themselves with portrait painting. Only a few earned enduring fame. One was the deaf and mute John Brewster, Jr. His work shown here, One Shoe Off, stands very high in folk art.
It is among the 60 or so known works he produced.

http://www.folkartmuseum.org/brewster

Brewster (d. 1854) is one of the artists included in Dr. Sonnenstrahl's book, above. But there's a whole book on Brewster alone by Harlan Lane, A Deaf Artist in Early America (2004).

You can get it new from Amazon at about $30, or used (with luck) for under $5 (plus shipping).
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Granville Redmond (d. 1935) became deaf at two. After the California School for the Deaf, he advanced to the California School of Design. He became a landscape painter in the California Impressionism style. His work is in several art museums, including New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. You can see lots of it, with its bold and beautiful colors, through the link below. Please look; you'll be amazed.

His magnificent landscapes and seascapes command enormous prices today. He has been compared with Monet and Pizarro.
https://www.google.com/search?q=images+for+granville+redmond&rlz=1C2EODB_enUS583US583&biw=1283&bih=645&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CEYQ7AlqFQoTCKW5qPC168YCFYVVPgodkFINNw
~~~~~~~
He was a good friend of Charlie Chaplin, as well as an inspiration. Chaplin loved and collected his art, and was fascinated by Granville's signing and expressiveness. They worked together on developing some of Chaplin’s techniques. He also had some roles in Chaplin’s silent films. (Redmond is the sculptor in Chaplin’s classic City Lights). In the photo below, right, he is the Deaf valet in the 1926 crime comedy silent film, "You'd Be Surprised", facing then-famous Raymond Griffith.

Watch the fake-hands scene here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9RSobni0CM
DON'T MISS IT !! IT'S SUPER-CHAPIN !!

At left, he's the dance floor manager in "A Dog's Life". On right (in same film) he inspired Chaplin to provide gesticulating hands to the drunk via a hidden Chaplin.

Watch Redmond's bio in ASL here (sorry, no captions):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf5D4NfFf0U

Here is an excellent bio in text:
https://ifmyhandscouldspeak.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/granville-redmond-impressionist/
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One Way, Deaf Way by James Van Manen

Art that makes a graphic statement about Deafness, is "Deaf Art" or De'VIA (see above).
If it's in the pop-art format, it's "Deaf Pop Art".

This book is about another artist in Deaf Artists in America, Ann Silver (b.1949). It's on the life and art of this doyenne of Deaf Pop Art. Type the title into Amazon's site to read their interesting descriptions. It's $65 from Amazon (and all elsewhere at the moment because it's relatively new), or try your luck at the library.
Empyreal Press, 2012, 198 pp., paperback).

Go here for the artist's interesting bio:
http://www.deafart.org/Biographies/Ann_Silver/ann_silver.html
~~~~~~

Here's another in the Deaf Artists Series, same editor, cost, publisher, and suggested source. It's on Nancy Rourke, whose works in primary colors are prolific in the De'VIA genre.

Googling her name will bring you to sites for images of her works and biography.

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Just Corn or Trash, Not De'VIA

Some depictions of deafness or deaf ears come from hearing commercial artists, created to decorate media articles on deafness. Most are not in the spirit of De'VIA. The third one might be. (The 5th, 6th, and 8th are tattoos).

Deaf and Dumb

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AMNESIA AT THE NEW YORK TIMES

N.Y Times Manual of Style & Usage (1976)
deaf and dumb; deaf mute: Avoid these phrases. They are not precise and have cruel overtones. There are other ways of saying that a person cannot hear or speak.
N.Y. Times Everyday Dictionary (1986, ten years later)
deaf mute: One who is deaf and dumb.
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"It's beautiful, if you're deaf and dumb".
Drama critic Brook Atkinson, criticizing one of Shubert's plays
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Deaf, Dumb, etc. Music
"We have new titles, Boogie Woogie and Deaf and Dumb"
                                                   Deaf and Dumb Music, Stockholm, Sweden

At left is an album cover of a popular band of the name shown. (We wouldn't like to bump into him in a dark alley).

Where Did This Stuff Come From?

All this deaf and dumb music stuff began with the popular inner-city slang word, "def" (short for definitely"), used to emphasize (e.g., def eats, meaning "good food"). It got into song titles and group names in the junk, punk, metal, hardrock, etc. music world -----with the usually weirdo British leading the way.
"Def" crystallized into "deaf", its homonym. Of course, "deaf" is an odd word to associate with music. But it fits well for the pot-smoking tattoo freaks behind this, with their wacky ways and anti-social mores.

"Deaf", of course attracted " dumb" and eventually added "blind" in some cases.

Names of songs and bands balooned into Dumb Numb & Deaf, Songs for the Deaf, Beethoven was Deaf, Deaf and Dum Dum, Kiss of Deaf, Def Dumb & Blond, Stone Deaf Forever, Life & Deaf, Deaf Dumb & Blind
............ad nauseum.

To justify a title, it can also get into the lines. E.g., in some noisy number, Lyrics to the Deaf and Dumb, we have:
            Drugged up minds with no responses
            Deaf and dumb is how they want us

Of course, no one associates this thing with deafness.  But before it burns itself out (if it ever does), it will have done the immense disservice of embedding the term "deaf and dumb" into the brains of at least two generations of young people (so far), many who go for (or tolerate) this kind of music. It works against the long effort to obliterate the term from usage and even memory.

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 Charming album cover for
Till Deaf Do Us Part by the weirdo British rock group, Slade.

There were complaints from all over about the very disturbing image, so it was changed. But the pot-smoking purists got it changed back to what you see here.

Meet the charming Slade boys below:

Here's the nationally known Deaf Ear music recordings store in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. It's quite deep and thus much bigger than the store front indicates. It's loaded with all those
def-deaf-dumb-blind-etc.-etc. titles.

(You can buy your crack pipes upstairs and get your tattoos around the corner. But leave your pot stash in the car, please.)

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A statement on "deaf and dumb" by the
Doyenne of Deaf Pop Art, Ann Silver. If this was at all accurate, the 1993 plate would look like the 1903 plate, but "& DUMB" would be 50% smaller. Of course, it's still around.

See the article on the book about her, down in the left column of this page.

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"Deaf and dumb" goes back 800 years, and was originally, in Middle English, "dumbe and deaf". Despite the campaign against it, it's still alive and well in colloquial speech. It is alliterative, and alliterative terms stick in hearing brains. That's why colorful characters are often given alliterative names like Beatle Bailey, Mickey Mouse, Billy Batson, Wonder Woman, Peter Pan, and Donald Duck.

If it wasn't alliterative, we believe it would be gone by now. Oooops, sorry, no---- the punk, junk, rock, etc. tattooed freaks are keeping the term alive as ever.
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There's a railpass rule in India offering the "deaf and dumb" 50% off all train tickets in India. But it requires that "both afflictions must be present in the same person". That is, you must

be both deaf AND "dumb" to get the cheapie fare.

Why such an insistance? Maybe prior to that, this late-deafened, fully verbal deaf girl, above, and her dumb (dopey) hearing boyfriend, both got the discount by faking each other's "affliction", and their stunt got reported to the authorities.

("Deaf and dumb" is a standard-use term in India, and in several other backward English-speaking countries like England and Canada).
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"Deaf, Dumb, and Dynamite !" was the title of an article on a Deaf fashion model, that appeared years ago in the dim-witted, sensationalist supermarket tabloid, National Enquirer.
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Deaf, Dumb and Blonde is a 1954 crime novel by John Creasey. He cranked out carloads of pulp-grade stuff like this.

Def, Dumb, and Blonde is a song sung by Deborah Harry.

iPhone cover with comic street culture term for a totally
out-of-it person: "Classless, Assless, Deaf & Dumb".

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"Justice is Blind as Well as Deaf and Dumb"

That started in Greek mythology, with Themis, Goddess of Justice, who wore a blindfold. The meaning, of course, is that justice considers only what is pertinent to the argument. Thus, by paying no attention to appearances, justice is blind.

The earliest it was heard that justice is also deaf, came from the English politician, Algernon Sydney, who said in 1698, "The law no passion can disturb....It is deaf, inexorable, inflexible" (all three words meaning the same thing, more or less).   Likewise, but more in the current sense of protest, it came from our 2nd president, John Adams. That was before independence, when he was a colonial court lawyer: "Justice is deaf to the entreaties of the populace!".

It moved closer to its present form in 1900 with Mr. Dooley, a creation of the American humorist, Finley Dunne:
"Justice is blind an' deaf an' dumb, an' has a wooden leg".

In the present form, it's a bromide expression used by somewhat unrefined people who strongly disagree with the result of a legal decision.

BTW--- That guy up there is Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mike Royko. The "justice" headline was most likely stuck in by an editor at the New York Daily News, well known for its clever (and sometimes creatively stupid) headlines.
NOTE---They managed to win the grand prize with a clever headline about Gloria Vanderbilt leaving the hospital:
"SICK GLORIA IN TRANSIT MONDAY"
It's a take-off on the famous sic transit gloria mundi ---- Latin for "so passes the glory of the world".
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Love is Deaf too?
If that's not a Photoshop phony, this guy has dedicated his body to his sweetheart, stating that their love won't hear a word against it, because it's deaf. (Tattoos are painful and expensive to remove. If this Romeo breaks up with her, well, no problem; he can simply tell the next girl it's new and meant exclusively for her).

He might better to have laid off the " deaf " stuff and gone with
1 Corinthians 13:8: "Love never fails" or "Love is eternal".

Hey, Romeo: Tattoos are forbidden in the bible. See Leviticus 19:28.
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BTW .......... The tattoo gun is a deaf person's invention. It's one of the 1,000+ patents of Thomas Edison.

TIME FOR ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK

I stopped drinking when I started hearing double.
A blind comedian

My father was so deaf, he said his prayers kneeling on the family cat. Anonymous

How did Helen Keller burn her ear? She answered the iron.
How did she hurt the other ear? She answered the stapler.
How did she get hurt again? They called back.
                                                        Truly Tasteless Jokes (Ballantine, 1982)

HIRE THE HANDICAPPED. THEY ARE FUN TO WATCH.
Suggestion for a Bumper sticker, ibid

Why is the Deaf pianist playing with only one hand?
Because he needs the other hand to "sing" the lyrics.      Anonymous

What's deaf, dumb, and blind, and always tells the truth?
Answer: a mirror.                                                        Anonymous

Patient: I hear ringing in my ears.
Doctor: So go and answer it. Anonymous

"Tea why, who? You can get tea at the snack booth over there"
                                 Response of a clerk at JFK airport when we asked
                                 where the public TTY was located.

   The breasts of a barmaid from Crale
    Were tattooed with the price of brown ale.
    And on her behind,
    For the sake of the blind,
    Was the same information in Braille . British, anonymous.
~~~~~~

We saw this one in YAHOO! Answers:
Some guy, middle-aged from his photo-icon, said he got "turned on" by a Deaf British movie star, and would love to bed her (in words not that
polite).
He asked, "Where can I meet and pick up deaf girls? I'm not deaf. I think deaf girls are really cute, especially when they try to speak, or use sign language". One answer (from a male, voted "best") advised him to learn ASL.
Another (from a female not pleased with his foul mouth and wise to his intentions), was: "If you're so obsessed with [this], go find a girl and ask her to pretend to be deaf for you".
~~~~~~
For those who love peace and quiet, a phoneless cord.      Anonymous
~~~~~~
The British poet, W.H.Auden, about to begin a lecture, announced that he had a weak voice, then said "If there are any of you at the back of the class who can't hear me, please don't raise your hand because I'm also nearsighted".
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Who had the last word in that fierce argument between a Deaf couple? The wife did. She turned out the light.

In a another (male-favored) version, she angrily pulled the cord, bringing the fixture and part of the ceiling down on her head.

Believe-It-Or-Not , above, says:
"MRS. KATHERINE KRUEGER [OF] DETROIT, BORN TOTALLY DEAF, CAN UNDERSTAND PHONE CONVERSATIONS PERFECTLY BY HOLDING THE RECEIVER TO HER CHEST."

Oh, come on, Mr. Ripley, she has no ears on her chest. Risking a slap in the face, you should have peeked under her blouse. This is from 1939. Back then, most hearing aids were in a cloth chest harness. She surely had one there with a wire running unnoticed under her hair to the earpiece (and a fat battery pack on her waist or leg). She was hard-of-hearing, with quite a lot of residual hearing, nowhere near "totally deaf". ____________________________________________________________

"Sign Language Chairs"

These "Sign Language Chairs" were on a website showing various art by disabled people. The creator is Pedro Reyes (disabled by what, it doesn't say). The idea is to arrange the movable slats to convey a hand gesture, such as a welcome to sit down (the armrest, as you guessed, is the thumb).
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Something Believe It or Not Overlooked

This 1925 newspaper clipping says this regal, 60+ years old deaf woman crossed the Nubian Desert in the Northern Sudan, solo.
If she did that last week, we'd think it impressive. In 1925, however, 60 was "elderly" and elderly women didn't travel alone through strange lands. Nor did they cross deserts by themselves. And being deaf then, popularly meant not being capable of much.

All that would surely have qualified for Believe it or Not.
We guess it was overlooked.
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Funny..................

From the New York Times --- May 10, 1903

An important meeting in China, between China and the United States in 1903, was to negotiate commercial treaties ( fishing rights, trade, etc.). It was conducted in English.

This comedy of errors began with the key senior American minister being stuck in some other part of China.

The senior Chinese minister spoke no English, unusual for a diplomat in such a meeting. So he had to use a language interpreter. The Americans were very distrustful of this in-between person and the accuracy of the translations.

The next high level Chinese participant was "extremely deaf". (The blooper headline misidentifies him as American). Every word in the whole discussion had to be laboriously written on paper for him. The American side expressed much annoyance at the long delays this caused. They were anxious to finish and go home.

The article is long and can be read on-line in the NY Times Archives.
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Artist unknown

Corny Video ...........on how a deaf person knows when the phone is ringing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7L3iSZsNpY

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Oldie Deaf Jokes

(This one is much funnier when enacted in sign, but here goes)

At the stockholders' meeting, the President spoke for 20 minutes.
He had a hoarse voice. He paused often to dip his drinking cup into the
large water bowl near the podium. Next, the Deaf VP came up with an interpreter. He signed enthusiastically in ASL, and paused often to dip his hands into the bowl.
(A 92 year old Deaf friend said this joke was popular when he was in grade school).
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Another Oldie

A hearing stranger approached a Deaf man in the street and mumbled a question to him. The Deaf man, pointing with gestures, instructed the stranger to go three blocks straight, turn right, continue for three blocks, and turn right again.
The stranger then wrote on a piece of paper, "I asked if you had a match".
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You heard this classic before, but here goes.

This Deaf couple were staying at a fully occupied motel. The husband couldn't sleep, so at 2 AM he drove to an all-night store to buy snacks and cigarettes. On return he realized he forgot his key and room number, and the reception desk was closed for the night. He leaned on his horn for several minutes until every window lit up except one. That was his room.
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Silly "Brain Teaser"

This was in a group of Brain Teasers in Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.

A Deaf and mute man enters a store to buy a pencil sharpener. To communicate that, he sticks a finger in his ear and rotates his other finger around his other ear. He leaves with his purchase. Then a blind man enters. How does he communicate that he wants to buy a pair of scissors?
(This tricks you to think of a similar gesture related to blindness).
The answer (found 590 pages up) is--
He says "I want to buy a pair of scissors".

This is a relatively recent one, and widely circulated in the general media:

A Mafia Don discovered that his Deaf bookkeeper had stolen $ 3,000,000 over the years. He brought his attorney to confront the bookkeeper, because the attorney could sign. The Don held his gun to the bookkeeper's head, while the attorney signed, "Where's the money? The bookkeeper confessed in sign that it was buried in a trunk in his uncle's back yard at 43 Elm Street. The impatient Don asked what the bookkeeper said. The lawyer replied, "He says you don't have the guts to pull the trigger". ______________________________________________________________ ~~~~ END OF THE COFFEE BREAK~~~~
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Of Interest...........

A Woman Faces Truth As She Slowly Goes Deaf and Blind

http://nypost.com/2014/09/14/a-woman-faces-the-truth-as-she-slowly-goes-blind-and-deaf/
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About 1,000 people in the USA have Ushers Syndrome, which leads to deaf-blindness. It is well explained here:
https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/usher-syndrome#a
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Teen Going Deaf and Blind Lives Dreams
in Paris, London, and Germany.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/local/columnists/kyle-munson/2016/09/15/teen-going-deaf-and-blind-lives-dreams-paris-london-germany/90351882/

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Impending Blindness from Usher's Syndrome

This book, Orchid of the Bayou, tells the story of
a deaf woman facing blindness from Usher's Syndrome.
It is available in paperback from Amazon for $24 new or as low as $1 used.

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A Day in the Life of a Deaf Person

Short video to fill an empty space a bit (and worth watching):

http://magazine.good.is/articles/a-day-in-the-life-being-deaf
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An interesting Video on Lip Reading
From the UK
Scroll down the web page to click on the video which is lower down.
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=CiDQa&m=Ifg8FvQFbNzJGv&b=Rf5obtc0D_O_TM6dg5dLNg
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One of the White House receptionists is Deaf. She'll tell you about it here (in ASL with open captions).

ideafnews.com/2016/09/19/white-house-west-wing-receptionist-leah-katz-hernandez-shares-her-story

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Three Masterpieces

Deaf and Dumb ~ or ~ Brother and Sister
This incredibly beautiful, life-sized marble sculpture, was commissioned to Thomas Woolner by the wealthy industrialist, Sir Thomas Fairbairn.
It illustrates the love his children, Constance and the younger Arthur, had for each other in their isolation by deaf-mutism.

It was begun in 1857 and completed five years later. It was exhibited to much acclaim at the London Exhibition in 1862.

Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote that the sculpture was "not pretty, but infinitely pathetic". What influenced him to say that? Obviously that the children were deaf ---which back then was something of a calamity. But Tennyson did express some admiration for the work. He did report that the great Victorian British parliamentarian, William Gladstone, said it was the finest thing he had ever seen.

The actual titles-of-record for this work are unfortunately "Deaf and Dumb", or just "Brother and Sister".

(Source of photograph: www.VictorianWeb.org and Geo. P. Landaut)

~~~~~~

Only by Deafness......... Only by Dumbness.........
Robert Browning was deeply affected by the sculpture. In 1864 he composed this stunning, emotional poem, Deaf and Dumb.

Only the prism's obstruction shows aright
The secret of a sunbeam, breaks its light
Into the jeweled bow from blankest white;
So may a glory from defect arise:
Only Deafness may the vexed Love wreak
Its insuppressive sense on brow and cheek, Only by Dumbness adequately speak
As favored mouth could never, through the eyes.
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The little boy in the sculpture grew up to be Sir Arthur Henderson Fairbairn, a baronet, and one of the leaders of the Deaf community in England.

He is shown here about 36 years later.

Robert Browning, one of the greatest of Victorian poets.
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Boy With Rabbit --and-- La Muta

One of the most beautiful portraits of a Deaf person is perhaps the least known as such---- because all official listings leave out the word "Deaf". This 1814 portrait of the "deaf-mute" youth, Henry Raeburn Inglis, is by his step-grandfather,
Sir Henry Raeburn
(d.1823).

Sir Henry was Scotland's greatest portrait artist. In his prolific output, this is one of his most important works. We haven't found anything on the young boy's life, other than that he was well cared for in his youth.

You can buy a beautiful 1939 lithograph of this work for framing, for about $10 (including shipping) on eBay. Interested? Go here for an example:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1939-Vintage-A-BOY-WITH-A-RABBIT-by-RAEBURN-LOVELY-Color-Art-Plate-Lithograph-/121675423895?hash=item1c546ba097:g:rFcAAOSwECZUm2pk

~~~~~

Another masterpiece is
La Muta by Raphael, the Italian Renaissance artist, in ca. 1507. It is considered one of his three greatest portraits.

The sad, reserved woman with the strange stare, is a mystery. The painting was forgotten somewhere in storage for a few hundred years. When found and realized to be by Rafael, Benito Mussolini ordered it back to Raphael's birth city, Urbano.

She is, via visual hints, a widow under 30 from a noble family. By some academic's guess, she might be Maria or her sister Giovanna, from the dellaRovere family of Urbano. It's unknown if either was Deaf. Whatever, she remains unknown.

La Muta is the name it was marked with when found.

"La muta" defines a woman unable or unwilling to speak. No one knows for sure if this title refers to:
(a) a mute Deaf woman, or to
(b) a hearing one, physically unable to speak, or to
(c) a hearing woman merely of very quiet disposition.
In the latter two cases, for a noblewoman, it would have been unflattering to name it "La Muta". For (c), there are gentler and more accurate terms in Italian, such as La Donna Molto Tranquilla.

La Muta was and is, a common term in Italian for a Deaf and mute woman, just as "the mute" is (impolitely) used here today. We believe she is Deaf. It might be wise for the international Deaf community to claim her for its own.

We aren't sure if we posses the talent to say so, but yes, she looks Deaf. There's a post on Page 11 by someone named "Audiofuzzy" (excerpt below). We'd love to have his opinion on this one.
"I ....sort of can sense a deaf person just by looking at them. I don't know what it is - the way they move, hold their face - but something different is there. Sometimes even when I look at the photo of a stranger I think to myself - "this person looks deaf to me" - and presto! they are!"
~~~~~~~~
If you believe there might be a "Deaf look", would you say she's deaf?
Please let us know via the survey below. Click on your opinion, then click on SUBMIT.

If you didn't vote just above, please go back and do so. We are getting a poor response in this.

~~~~~~

In an odd twist ..........
.........a novel came out in 2003, Waking Raphael, by Leslie Forbes (Weidenfeld/Bantam, 2003/5). It has to do with complex circumstances related to the painting, but says nothing factual about the woman.
In the plot, while the painting is on display, a crazed Deaf and mute cleaning woman in the museum, plunges a knife through it.
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Raphael (at left) was friendly with two well-known Deaf
artists----- Pinturicchio (actally a knickname meaning
"the short painter"), and Sordicchinio (a knickname meaning "the deaf painter").
Sadly, Raphael died relatively young, at age 37 in 1520.
~~~~~~

Another magnificent work with deaf subjects, is:

"The Lord is my Shepherd" by the American artist, Thomas Hart Benton.
It was painted at Martha's Vineyard.

Go to Page 14 for more about this painting.

~~~~~~

Ear Trumpet Art
If you think an ear trumpet is an object d'art
(we don't), get this enormous (2 ft .X 3 ft.) print on framed canvas from Amazon, for your living room, to wow your guests. It's a mere $198.00.
Type into Amazon.com:
GreatBIGCanvas"Ear trumpets" by Arno Massee
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Now How About Deaf Magicians?

A Deaf anthropologist with a super-serious avocation of magic, originally thought he was history's only Deaf magician. In 50 years of research, he discovered many others (deaf, Deaf, and HOH), 112 of them from many countries. He put their remarkable stories into
a 400 page whopper of a book, Invisible Magic.
http://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Magic-Biographies-Magicians-Countries/dp/0989588203

In the Fall of 2014, 38 deaf magicians and assistants from ten countries, including ours, came to compete at the 15th biennial World Deaf Musicians' Festival near Chicago (third time in this country). Watch them here on YouTube at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9BSBp697Bc

....and watch the related YouTube videos as well.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After 24 Years of Effort............

-------- by the Deaf Community, the first US postage stamp related to Deaf Culture, has the portrait of Rev. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet
(d. 1851). It had to wait until 1983 for a "Great Americans Series" to be issued. For this stamp, proposals were solicited and one came from a Deaf artist, but it was not the Postal Service's choice. (It is for 20 cents, Scott #1861).

There has been a long ongoing effort for likewise honoring Louis Marie Laurent Clerc (d. 1869). He is well up with Rev. Gallaudet in the history of American Deaf culture.
~~~~~~

Much Pushing.......

...........from Deaf people and organizations resulted in this quite lovely 1993 "se-tenant" pair of US postage stamps (Scott No. 2783). They commemorate Deafness and Deaf com-munication (and it might be said Deaf motherhood as well).
It was designed by a hearing artist, with no solicitation of designs from the Deaf Community (as far as we know). There were capable Deaf artists available, the foremost applicable in our opinion being Ann Silver, above). This was not long after the Deaf President Now event, and using (or at least considering) a Deaf artist would have been most fitting.

Both mom and baby are Deaf. The appearance of the two models (an actual Deaf mom and son in the photo at left) had to be disguised by the artist. Living persons could not be shown on US stamps at that time. Mom is Mary Lou Novitsky. Her baby (Michael) has already graduated from Gallaudet University.

~~~~~~

Another US postage stamp related to deaf culture, is due in 2017, in the latest "Great American Series". It is of Robert Panara, who died in 2014 at age 94. He was the first Deaf faculty member of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID). Read about him here.

http://wxxinews.org/post/us-postal-service-honors-rochester-man-distinguished-american

~~~~~
"Deafness Connections on US Stamps Are Much Wider than Originally thought..."

http://www.linns.com/news/us-stamps-postal-history/2016/may/deafness-on-us-stamps-sign-language.html

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There are many international stamps related to deafness, fully or partially. Here are some.

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Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds (d. 1792), the great English painter, acquired progressive deafness from a severe cold when in his 20's. He immortalized the fact in this famous self portrait in 1775, now hanging in the Tate Gallery. He used an ear trumpet most of his adult life.
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Some unknown artist's corny
idea of a deaf guitar, representing
one of those loud musical instruments
that can make listeners deaf. It accompanied
an article on hearing damage caused
by protracted listening to loud music.

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