There are many organizations that support and promote Deaf Awareness. The most prominent organization in the United States is The National Association of the Deaf.
“The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) is the nation's premier civil rights organization of, by and for deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the United States of America.
Established in 1880, the NAD was shaped by deaf leaders who believed in the right of the American deaf community to use sign language, to congregate on issues important to them, and to have its interests represented at the national level. These beliefs remain true to this day, with American Sign Language as a core value.
Discrimination against the deaf, hard of hearing, and/or those with a hearing impairment is called audism. This form of discrimination can occur in a number of different ways with physical harassment, making negative cultural connotations, and mimicking people being a few among many.
One common form of physical audism occurs when a given person with hearing loss is judged as incapable of a given behavior, occupation, skill, ability, or achievement due solely to that hearing loss, whether or not there is evidence of that incapability, and usually without the person who engages in such discrimination entertaining the possibility of change on the part of the victim. This form of audism is a reflection of a widely-held naturalistic belief by people who can hear in their own superiority.
