2.2.1 Deaf People

In Spain there are 1,064,000 people who are deaf or have some hearing disability (that is 2.3% of Spain’s population) according to the data from the survey of the National Statistics Institute (INE) in their study “EDAD 2008”.

Deaf people are those with hearing loss who find communication barriers in their everyday life (a limiting environment). These barriers often make difficult or impede the development of their capacities and their equal participation in society.

Deafness has traditionally only been analyzed from a pathological point of view, considering the condition as the only factor that determined everything that a deaf person is and needs. But limiting one’s understanding only to its sensorial aspect is ignoring a reality, and it has caused, and still causes, social, cultural and work exclusion for deaf people.

Deaf people are a lot more than just hearing loss, they are people who, with more or less hearing loss, have the same capacities and rights as other citizens, but have to deal with barriers that impede their full citizenship daily.