Deaf Epistemology
Also known as: Deaf Ways of Knowing
A body of theory and practice that recognizes Deaf communities as producers of distinct knowledge grounded in visual-spatial modalities, embodied interaction, sign language, and community experience. Deaf epistemologies foreground visual primacy, sightlines, and shared cultural practices as legitimate sources of knowing, pushing back against hearing-centric assumptions that treat spoken and written language as default. In design, adopting Deaf epistemologies means treating Deaf community members as epistemic authorities rather than as users to whom hearing-designed systems must be adapted.