Over the years the deaf community has been called “deaf and dumb” or “deaf-mute”. Little do people know that they that in reality they are very intelligent people. Not only are they intelligent but they are not mute. It is impossible to speak if you cannot hear those two go hand in hand. Just because they cannot hear does not mean that they should be called such a thing. Hearing does not necessarily mean that you are smart nor does not hearing mean you are dumb. Over the years these terms became politically incorrect because deaf people were never entirely mute. Most were hard-of-hearing and could speak well; others. Deaf people began disliking the word “mute” it began to mean an inability to speak on one 's behalf, the lack of having a voice. …show more content…
They began doing plays where both the deaf community was signing and the hearing was speaking. Many productions began hiring deaf people with little or no experience in acting. This movement changed the expression and intimate acting style of the deaf actors. We all know facial expressions is an essential part of signing well with acting i 'm not sure if it was that important for the deaf, they were trying to change this part. The thought that signing and speaking was going on at the same time while acting sounds a little overwhelming, well it was. The deaf audience became confused on where they should look, the actors speaking or the ones signing. The voice actors who would normally be in the background were not more prominent. Tensions began amongst the Deaf actors and the hearing. They found themselves competing with hearing actors for the audience’s attention. Soon this kind of theater fell apart it was to complicated. In 1966 several laws were passed which guaranteed access to the deaf and disabled. A very important one was the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which prohibits discrimination against the disabled in any federal agency. Television manufacturers were then required to install captioning decoder chips in all televisions larger than thirteen inches. Hotels as well, had to provide televisions equipped with chips for the disabled. Because of this act the American Postal Workers’ Union today provides