Exposés

In this area of the blog, you can see a list of areas of law that have been exposed.  Click on an area of law on the left menu for more information about how deaf legal theory (DLT) has been applied.

By way of reminder, how DLT works in practice is to provide a lens or a pair of glasses for anyone who examines a particular area of law and how it applies or doesn’t apply to deaf people.

In order to determine the extent of ‘hearing-subjectiveness’ (Bryan & Emery, 2014) in any legal system or area of law, we have designed a new model: the DLT Method, as follows:

1. The frame of understanding within society in relation to deaf people (e.g. deaf people, the health and medical profession, charities, hearing people).
2. What assumptions have been made regarding deaf people in the shaping of the law (e.g. using the medical or social model of disability, or the language minority model)?
3. The participation of deaf people in the shaping of the law and/or policy (e.g. was there meaningful consultation with the Deaf community on their own terms).
4. To what extent has society imposed its cultural order on deaf people in relation to the law (e.g. hearing culture, other cultures)?
5. The application of the law to deaf people (e.g. the relevant legal principles and how they or should be applied to deaf people)?
6. The impact the law has on deaf people and their allies.
7. Do deaf people experience further oppression rather than liberation or are they afforded rights (e.g. does the law reinforce the status quo or does it portray deaf people on their own terms)?
8. What do we learn about how the law can and should bring deaf people within its purview?

Each time this process is undertaken, the area of law will be the subject of an ‘exposé.’

While the focus of this blog is on UK law, DLT can be applied to any legal jurisdiction the world over, and the principles of application will remain the same.