Deaf Weak on Cancer Prevention

The Deaf community has some wrong ideas about cancer. That’s the finding of a study at the University of Michigan. After watching a informational video in American Sign Language, participants in the study took a quiz and got less than a third of the answers correct. That was low compared to other groups. Researchers say the deaf who spoke English at home with hearing persons and with physicians scored higher than those who only use ASL. Those with hearing spouses did better than those with hard of hearing or deaf spouses. The lead author of the study says communication is so difficult that the deaf are the most likely among minorities to have misunderstandings with their physicians.