For deaf individuals, repeated mistreatment and poor quality of healthcare treatment can cause them to avoid seeking out health care. The exposure of deaf people to these microaggressions and avoidance of healthcare as a result can cause a magnification of health related issues, inadequate treatment, and increased length of treatment.

State University of New York at Buffalo

Early literature regarding deaf individuals described them as emotionally and cognitively deficient compared to hearing people. Many of these beliefs were drawn from research that used psychological measures unfit to access deaf individuals. There was and continues to be a lack of adequate cognitive and emotional assessment measures developed or standardized for the deaf population.

Historical Misinformation and Mistreatment of Deaf Individuals

Anderson ML, Wolf Craig KS, Ziedonis DM. Barriers and Facilitators to Deaf Trauma Survivors' Help-Seeking Behavior: Lessons for Behavioral Clinical Trials Research. J Deaf Stud Deaf Educ. 2017 Jan;22(1):118-130. doi: 10.1093/deafed/enw066. Epub 2016 Nov 23. PMID: 27881479; PMCID: PMC6083920.

Barriers and Facilitators to Deaf Trauma Survivors’ Help-Seeking Behavior: Lessons for Behavioral Clinical Trials Research

Deaf avoidance of healthcare

There is a conflict between the deaf and research community surrounding the meaning of "deafness".

Researchers tend to follow a "medical modal" which focuses on finding ways to cure, fix, or alleviate problems of hearing loss

Many deaf individuals however follow a cultural modal towards deafness. They do not believe that they need to be fixed, and hold a sense of pride and value their community of deafness. They value the rich culture with shared experiences, art, literature, and history. 



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