Deaf BSL users refer to themselves as Deaf spelled with a capital ‘D’ because they are part of a community, a cultural minority.
Deaf BSL users are usually born deaf.
The majority of people who are deaf lose their hearing as they grow older. They are not usually BSL users.
Those who are Deaf will see deafness as the norm but those who are deaf or hard of hearing will see deafness as a disability.
People in the Deaf Community use BSL as their first language, whereas other deaf people use English as their first language.
People who are Deaf are proud to be users of BSL whereas deaf people tend to hide their deafness
