The National Deaf Center estimates that about 11-million people ‘consider themselves deaf or have serious difficulty hearing.’ The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders estimates that – ‘Approximately 15% of American adults (37.5 million) aged 18 and over report some trouble hearing.’
Forbes Health statistics worldwide tell an even larger story –
- More than 1.5 billion people worldwide are currently affected by hearing loss in at least one ear.
- Around 430 million people worldwide require rehabilitation for disabling hearing loss.
- Approximately 13% of adults ages 18 and older experience some difficulty hearing even when using a hearing aid.
- On average, people with hearing loss wait seven years before seeking help.
- Around 22 million Americans are exposed to hazardous noise levels in their workplaces.
- Nearly 60% of hearing loss in children is due to causes that can be prevented through proper health interventions, such as improved maternal and neonatal care.
- Among adults between the ages of 45 and 64, 2.8% of men and 1.9% of women use a hearing aid.
- More than 14% of adults ages 65 and over use a hearing aid.
- Over 25% of adults worldwide ages 60 and older are affected by disabling hearing loss.
- An estimated 700 million people worldwide will be affected by disabling hearing loss by 2050.
How Many People Are Deaf?
- About two to four of every 1,000 people in the U.S. are “functionally deaf,” with the majority of them aged 65 years or older.
- More than 70 million people worldwide are deaf, with more than 80% of them residing in developing countries
- More than 1,700 babies in 2020 were estimated to have been born deaf.
Self Defense for Deaf People
Not being able to hear well, or at all, can be frightening to many people when it comes to personal safety. You may have the occasion to teach deaf or hard-of-hearing people in your martial arts classes. I’ll share some ideas with you in the next part of this series that will be similar to our series about teaching people who are blind (legally or totally).
You may also find an opportunity in your community to teach special self-defense clinics through a local church that has a program for deaf people. Some members of Grace Martial Arts traveled to Columbia several years ago and taught deaf children how to defend themselves against physical attack. That is certainly something you and your martial arts group and/or church could consider.
My father-in-law was an interpreter for the deaf in his church decades ago, and we had ministries to deaf people in other churches through the years. That opened the opportunity to teach some of them self defense. I am slowly losing hearing because of an inner-ear disease, so I’m even more sensitive to the challenges of the deaf.
I found that deaf people are very open to members of the ‘hearing’ community who are interested in them. Once you make friends with a few deaf people, they will often invite you to join them for special church services or social gatherings. They also appreciate anything you do to better understand what it’s like to be deaf or have difficulty hearing.
More on that next time as our special series continues.
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