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Cultural Transmission <br />Deaf culture is unique because it is not <br />passed from parent to child as are most <br />cultures. The vast majority of Deaf people <br />are born to hearing parents. Because these <br />parents are not members of the Deaf <br />community and are not signers, Deaf <br />children do not have access to their <br />language or culture from birth. Instead, the <br />locus of language and culture for the Deaf <br />community is in Deaf clubs and schools for <br />the Deaf - where other Deaf people <br />connect. Paddy Ladd - an internationally <br />recognized Deaf writer, scholar, and activist <br />- coined the term "Deafhood" to describe <br />the journey through which Deaf people <br />embrace their Deaf identity and reject the <br />negative ways of deafness as a deficit which <br />needs to be fixed. Deaf people must pass on <br />the values, language, and culture to Deaf <br />children for them to become whole.[9] <br />Deaf Gain <br />Many hearing parents or professionals still <br />do not fully comprehend that being Deaf is <br />not a "loss" but rather a "gain." The term <br />"Deaf Gain" has been coined "in opposition <br />to 'hearing loss' in order to encompass the <br />myriad ways in which both deaf people and <br />society at large have benefited from the <br />existence of deaf people and sign language <br />throughout recorded human history."[10] <br />08 <br />