Deafness in France

Deafness in France covers the experiences, education, and community of deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) people in France. The history of DHH people in France is long. As of 2014, there were about 10,000,000 (10 million) hearing impaired people in France (16.1% of the population), of whom about 360,000 (0.6% of the population) had "very serious or total" functional limitations, meaning they were unable to hear a conversation with multiple people and identifying as deaf or hard of hearing.^[1] While French Sign Language (LSF) is the main signed language in France, American Sign Language (ASL) is also commonly used and studied. French Cued Speech, a mixture of spoken French and LSF, is also not uncommon.^[2]

DHH individuals in France sometimes take steps in early and mid-life to integrate themselves into hearing society. One of the most common steps is using cochlear implants, devices affixed to ear structures that transmit sounds to the auditory nerve. This allows certain damages in the flow of hearing to be bypassed.^[3] Many children born in France are screened for deafness within a week of birth, and when deafness is found, many doctors immediately call for a cochlear implant for the child. This is controversial, with many parents believing it is too early to apply the procedure. France is recognized as identifying DHH children earlier than most other countries, and many people say that cochlear implantation is undertaken too early, potentially alienating DHH children.^[4] Speech therapy, which can be related to alienation, is also commonplace. In speech therapy, DHH people are trained to speak. This gives a sense of abnormality to many involved,^{[clarification needed]} but it is carried out because it eases functioning for many DHH individuals outside DHH communities, and in predominantly non-signing communities.^[4]

Communities and structures exist to prevent DHH individuals from being alienated and to celebrate them. Small, informal communities of DHH individuals are common; in these relatively close-knit circles, cochlear implants, speech therapy, and other methods of conforming are unnecessary.^[4] Associations exist to represent the needs of and to celebrate DHH individuals. Examples include performances and classes at the IVT theater; the political advocacy of FNSF for DHH people; and the bi-yearly Festival Clin d'Oeil. This festival celebrates arts, parties, movies, and conversation, entirely signed and geared toward DHH individuals.^[5] These structures help form communities around deafness, and many shy away from the societally enforced conformist practices in favor of this independent community and its various subsets across the DHH spectrum.

Education

Since 1989, French law has standardized^{[clarification needed]} the education of students in a second language during primary school, but unlike other countries, prohibits DHH students’ primary or secondary language from being a sign language. This presents major obstacles.^{[clarification needed]} A 2005 law, geared as an equal rights policy, integrated DHH students into mainstream schools, removing much support they previously had. As a result, many DHH students go to schools with staff not trained or funded to effectively teach them. These students tend to fall behind. 99.6% of DHH students take English as their first foreign language; the majority who take a 2nd foreign language choose French Sign Language, the earliest time they can take their native language. DHH students therefore must generally take two foreign language courses before their native LSF. Many withdraw from their 2nd languages and put themselves behind academically in order to master French; this strategy was popularized by a 2003 study by Ivani Fuselier‐Souza. Some schools teach French cued speech, or "signed French" -- a mixture of LSF and spoken French -- to mixed classes of hearing and DFF students, but use of this technique is limited by low levels of training and/or funding^[2]

While some schools are geared toward DHH students specifically, not all DHH children have access to them, so many language-deficient DHH individuals go through their education without tools to succeed. One 2020 study on spelling errors made by DHH French students showed that while the number of spelling errors did not vary much, the severity of each spelling error ran deeper due to fundamental misunderstandings of the language, and as a result was significantly harder to understand.^[6]

History

In 1755, a French priest by the name of Abbe Charles-Michel de L'Épée opened a school for the deaf upon his own funding. This school produced LSF, which is generally considered the first completed sign language directly traceable to a modern sign language.^[7]

Around this time, with the advent of French Sign Language, caretakers of DHH people shifted from being primarily educators toward being doctors. Due to new forms of communication, many diseases and injuries became much quicker and easier to diagnose.^[8] The amount of care DFF people receive, between doctors and educators, is now even more. However, there are issues with the rate of identification of deadly diseases and infections, particularly cancer, for DFF people; in that case, the average stage of identification is roughly a full stage later than normal identifications.^[9]

World War II

A particularly tense time in deaf history was during World War II, during which many deaf people were killed as a way of culling the population under Nazi orders. France was a place where this was practiced, and while no specific numbers are available, the effect felt was not insignificant.^[10]

There were conflicts in France itself, where many deaf people applied to work in factories to aid the war effort, but were turned away unlawfully. In wake of this, letters were written and published in popular newspapers like the Gazette,^[which?] and policies that made it illegal to turn away deaf workers were put into place. However, these policies only affected French deaf males due to other policies in place.^[10]

In 1942, the French prime minister Pierre Laval conducted a worker-prisoner exchange with Germany. For every three French workers that he sent to Germany, a prisoner of war would be freed and released back to France. Deaf workers were primarily sent, and many ended up becoming prisoners of war themselves, mainly those who could not quickly learn to interpret spoken German, which were the majority.^[10]

Perhaps as a result of the active ways that DHH individuals made themselves prevalent and heard in wartime France, more deaf characters appeared in French media, leading to a flourishing of deaf arts and a fight for individuality.^[10]

Organizations

FNSF

The FNSF (Fédération Nationale des Sourds de France, National Federation of Deafness in France) is a federation involved in 89 different organizations, comprising a wide array of topics in which the stances of the DHH community are underrepresented. This federation tries to make the rights and views of DHH individuals in France more considered and helps oversee some legal processes. This federation was, as of 2021, involved in meetings with the Ministries of National Education and Social Affairs, the National Consultative Committee for People with Disabilities, the High Authority of Health, the National Institute of Prevention for Education and Health, the National Monuments Center, and the Superior Audiovisual Council, amongst others. The predominant values of the federation are culture, unity, participation, self-representation, consistency, patrimony, and solidarity. These are the values that are upheld in its decisions. They are the values placed in the center of education in the camps that it hosts across Europe to facilitate the education of LSF in underprivileged DHH children.^[11] It is a member of the European Union of the Deaf and the World Federation of the Deaf.

IVT

IVT (International Visual Theater) is based in Paris, where they have been stationed since 1981. The operation is run by Emmanuelle Laborit and Jennifer Lesage-David, who use the theater as an educational and community-building center for individuals in the DHH community. Many attend the theater to take classes, participate in performances, and be in a setting where LSF is the standard. Dozens of shows run annually, and hundreds attend classes across the same course of time. Classes regarding language, culture, various arts and more are held within the building and online, as the theater contributes as broadly as it can to the educational facilitation of DHH people in France.^[12]

DEAFI

DEAFI, founded in 2009, is a French communication organization that helps the deaf community by improving communication. To make education and communication broader, the company specializes in communication and connections and is known for the webcams that aid in the remote use of LSF. The company assists in online communication, especially during the COVID-19 outbreak. Its overall goal is to give clients the tools to move away from it and achieve independence. The company specializes further in connecting its clients with specialized education and job opportunities to facilitate independence for the future.^[13]