Sensory Orientations and Sensory Designs in the American Deafworld

ABSTRACT

In order to understand the meaning of deafness, one needs to understand the role of senses in culture. The DeafWorld is a sensory world. People who are d/Deaf create their own sensory profile. There are three principal sensory orientations among d/Deaf people in the American DeafWorld: visual, auditory, and tactile. These orientations have led to the invention of visual, tactile, and auditory sensible objects and architectures to fit the d/Deaf world and d/Deaf subjects' needs. These objects are also partly generated through interaction with the audist sensory orientation of the hearing world and thus constitute a kind of bridge between the two worlds while at the same time contributing to their distinctive contours.