AmitMY
commented
2 days ago In terms of numbers, I would like to include citations for everything, otherwise we are no better than the competition.
Here are the numbers I find, on the first category, they are solid (facts). On the second category, they are more subjective.
As for a funnel of numbers of hearing loss -> disabling hearing loss -> deafness
https://www.who.int/news-room/facts-in-pictures/detail/deafness
Globally, 1.5 billion people live with some degrees of hearing loss. It is anticipated that this number could rise to 2.5 billion by 2050.
Unaddressed hearing loss is expensive to communities worldwide and costs governments US$ 980 billion annually.
It is estimated that up to five out of every 1000 babies are born with hearing loss or acquire it soon after birth.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/deafness-and-hearing-loss
Over 5% of the world’s population – or 430 million people – require rehabilitation to address their disabling hearing loss (including 34 million children). It is estimated that by 2050 over 700 million people – or 1 in every 10 people – will have disabling hearing loss.
WHO estimates that unaddressed hearing loss poses an annual global cost of US$ 980 billion.
https://wfdeaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/WFD-Deaf-women-and-girls-submission-17April2013-FINAL-.pdf (FROM 2013!, Can't find a better source for this number)
The World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) is an international non-governmental organisation representing approximately 72 million deaf people worldwide
70 million deaf people. 200+ sign languages.
Can't find a stronger resource for 72 million at the moment.
Literacy
In general, there is a literacy gap. However, it possibly can be solved through education
Here is a political position by https://cad-asc.ca/issues-positions/literacy/
We reject the concept that deafness is the major cause of literacy problems in Deaf children. We attribute the literacy and educational problems of Deaf Canadians to the impaired communication environment surrounding them; to the deficit model orientation of early intervention, education, and teacher training programs; and to the lack of qualified Deaf professionals and educators in all such programs.
Based on https://harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1477-7517-9-16
Linguistic deprivation also diminishes one’s educational and career possibilities, since the cognitive factor that correlates best to literacy is a foundation in a first language [40-52] - and without literacy one’s professional opportunities are highly circumscribed. Additionally, linguistic deprivation leads to psychosocial problems due to the isolation and frustration one experiences from diminished linguistic and cognitive capability. This also results in the inability to express oneself fully, and to easily understand others completely [[53,54], among many]. Clearly, linguistic deprivation constitutes a multi-faceted harm to the individual
I am saying this is a political position, because https://www.e-helvetica.nb.admin.ch/api/download/urn%3Anbn%3Ach%3Abel-1549978%3AThe_Education_of_dDeaf_and_Hard_of_Hearing_Children.pdf/The_Education_of_dDeaf_and_Hard_of_Hearing_Children.pdf
The development of the English language and literacy has been one of the most long-standing contentious issues in the education of these students. This development has continued to challenge theorists, researchers, and educators because a significant number of d/Dhh students do not read or write as well as their typical literacy peers. Even more distressing, a number of these students may not even reach a level of functional English literacy upon graduation from compulsory education (i.e., high school).
It is now reported that 40% to 50% of the children who were deaf or hard of hearing have additional disabilities [7,8].
The population of students who are dDeaf/hard of hearing with disabilities (DWD) is difficult to characterize and quantify, yet is thought to comprise between 40% to 50% of the population of students who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) in the United States [1–4].
[7] refers to https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joanna-Cannon/publication/302554698_Deafness_and_Diversity_Reflections_and_Directions/links/5941f9200f7e9b1d452df281/Deafness-and-Diversity-Reflections-and-Directions.pdf which doesn't seem to give hard numbers, though I do admit I only skimmed it
We find an example of this in the case of Maria (see Baker & Scott, this issue), who exhibited second-grade literacy levels on graduation from high school, but may not have ever fully acquired an L1 on which to scaffold multilingual acquisition
[8] refers to https://www.academia.edu/87405807/Children_with_complex_needs_and_cochlear_implants_The_parents_perspective?auto=download Which only does qualitative analysis
https://library.iated.org/view/FERNANDEZVIADER2015DEA is a low-trust resource in my opinion, wanting to inflate numbers for their consortium proposal.
In most countries, illiteracy rates among the deaf are above 75%.
Finally in the medical domain https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10755641/
The literature informs us that people who are deaf frequently struggle with health services, which contributes to lower health literacy due to communication and language barriers [2]. For instance, a study shows that 76% of surveyed deaf adults did not know the normal body temperature. Also, 41% of the original group cannot understand simple medical prescriptions [10]. If patients are unable to sufficiently convey the history of their condition, there is a possibility of failure to make a correct diagnosis and prescribe appropriate treatment [1]. The resulting inequalities make the health outcomes of deaf patients likely to be worse than hearing people with the same condition [11].
Which is worse because:
Few health professionals understand SL, and therefore, communication between a Deaf person and a health professional may rely on a mediator, usually a family member or an interpreter, to provide communication assistance [1]. Although interpreters help overcome language barriers, inappropriate use of escorts as interpreters may steal patients' independence and confidentiality rights [4]. In the absence of communication assistance, HCWs usually communicate in writing [12], despite knowing the disadvantages of this method, such as patient literacy-level dependency and time consumption [13]. According to one study, only 20% of deaf people have fluency in written English [14].
TimothyRbz
New Section: Numbers and relevance
Title: Vision: Improving the life of 72 million deaf individuals worldwide
+50% Over half of deaf individuals struggle with complex text, highlighting a critical need for accessible translation.
72'000'0000 Globally, 72 million people are deaf. By 2050, over 700 million will have disabling hearing loss.
$ 33,7b The deaf translation market in developed countries is valued at $33.7 billion.
4x+1million Our PoC is under review with 4 enterprises, reaching 1M+ retail customers.
+150 Languages Our solution translates all major sign languages, ensuring universal access.
X Awards Y reviews Independently validated and recognized with awards for innovation and effectiveness in NLP.