Beyond the range of sound. The non-otological aspects of deafness

Historically, deaf persons were seen as less than human - as "beasts of the field" who could not speak and thus had no legal rights. With educational advances, both the achievements of deaf individuals and the attitudes of the hearing world toward them have improved. However, the total scope of impairment of early profound deafness remains considerable despite vast advances in the fields of medicine, audiology and education. Traumatic parental reaction to the diagnosis and distorted parent-child communication may contribute to the impairment. Recent research has added to our knowledge of the social and psychiatric ramifications of deafness, but a lack of mental health professionals capable of communicating with deaf persons retards progress in this area.