2.2. Sign language users
It is hard to provide concrete numbers for every group of sign language users in the Netherlands, not just because various sources provide different numbers, but also because these sources have differences in categorizing degrees of hearing loss. Below, we provide characteristics and, when available, numbers of the different subgroups within the sign language community.
Early onset deaf people
Prawiro-Atmodjo et al. (2016) looked into the exact number of people who were born deaf or became deaf in their first three years of life. Based on a study of Korver et al. (2011 in: Prawiro-Atmodjo et al. 2016), which included data from children born in 2003, 2004 and 2005, combined with literature about the prevalence of deafness in more recent years and studies on the prevalence of early deafness abroad, they conclude that, at the time, there must have been between 11,900 and 20,400 early onset deaf people in the Netherlands.
As for current indications of prevalence of hearing loss among newborns, numbers from the national neonatal screening from 2011-2018 show that, on average, 0.07% of the children who underwent this screening turned out to have a hearing loss of at least 40 dB in two ears (and 0.1% in one or two ears). In 2018, more than 99% of all newborns were screened.
Regarding deaf people with a cochlear implant, it is known that up until 2019, 7,610 people received one or two implants in the Netherlands. However, the actual number of people currently wearing a cochlear implant is probably lower, since not everyone continues using it. Also note that this number does not only consists of early onset deaf people, but includes deafblind, sudden and late deafened people as well.
As for elderly deaf sign language users, it is worth mentioning that the Netherlands has a special home for elderly deaf people who identify as part of the sign language community: the Gelderhorst. This home is unique in the world, and includes 117 independent apartments, 60 apartments inside a care home, and a nursing home. It is a cherished part of the Dutch deaf community (van Veen 2013).
People who are born deaf or become deaf early in life are the most likely candidates to become sign language users, but the exact current number of (near-)native deaf sign language users is unknown. The European Union for the Deaf mentions that there are 15,000 deaf NGT users in the Netherlands but we believe this estimate to be on the high side. Following the line of reasoning from Johnston (2004, 2006[2], who provides several good arguments to assume that the number of (early onset) deaf people is often lower than previously assumed, and, specifically, that the number of deaf sign language users is again considerably lower than the number of (early onset) deaf people, we estimate that the number of deaf NGT users is certainly smaller than the group of 11,900-20,400 early onset deaf people mentioned above. Johnston (2004) writes about Australia in particular, but uses data from other (developed, by lack of a better term) countries as well. Most of the factors he discusses also apply to the Netherlands – e.g. health care development, rate of children receiving a cochlear implant, educational system. He reacts to other scholars’ comments in Johnston (2006). Based on all the sources we consulted (see also Information on Data and Consultants), we would estimate the number of deaf NGT signers to be at most 10,000 people.
Hard of hearing people
As mentioned in the section Early onset deaf people, 0.1% of the newborns have a hearing loss of at least 40 dB in one or two ears. Exact numbers on what percentage of the Dutch population is hard of hearing, however, are hard to come by. The National Hearing Foundation reports that, in 2003, there were about 1.5 million people with a hearing loss (varying from very mild to very severe) in the Netherlands. They also provide (old) numbers from registrations from general practitioners in the Netherlands, and imply that only people with a certain degree of hearing loss are registered there. The Institution of Public Health & Health Care indeed reports two lower numbers of people with general hearing loss in the Netherlands: (i) in 2018, 761,600 people were registered by general practitioners as having a hearing loss (this number includes people who were already registered before 2018.) (ii) in 2016, 4.5% of the Dutch population of 19 years and older reported to have a hearing loss – note that 4.5% of a population of 17 million people is 765,000 people.
The majority of hard of hearing people in the
Netherlands has become hard of hearing as a consequence of ageing or exposure
to noise, and these people are usually not involved with the sign language
community. Younger people, or people with severe hearing loss, however, may
be(come) part of the sign language community. Factors that play a role here
are, among others, the degree of hearing loss, the age of onset of hearing
loss, their type of primary education (mainstream school or school for hard of
hearing children), and their social circle. There is also a group of hard of
hearing people which uses SSD, mostly with people close to them.
Sudden and late deafened people
Most people who become deaf late in life have no intention of getting involved with the sign language community. However, there are organizations which specifically aim at providing communication courses to individuals experiencing sudden or late deafness, and offer courses in SSD or NGT. By gaining access to signs or sign language, some sudden or late deafened people may get involved with the sign language community.
According to an (old) report of the ‘Committee Recognition NGT a population examination between 1986 and 1990 showed that, at that time, 1,000 people were sudden deaf, and 6,000 had gone deaf as a consequence of age (CBS/NIMAWO 1986/1988, 1990 in: Commissie Erkenning Nederlandse Gebarentaal 1997). To the best of our knowledge, no recent numbers are available.
Deafblind people
The majority of deafblind people in the Netherlands became deafblind at a later age (i.e., they have acquired deafblindness rather than congenital deafblindness), and their use of signs depends on various factors, such as the degree of hearing loss, the age at which they became deaf, whether the hearing loss followed the loss of sight or vice versa, etcetera. Deafblind people who use (tactile) NGT are usually perceived as a sub-community within the sign language community (Balder et al. 2000).
Concerning the number of deafblind people in the Netherlands, available estimations have a wide range: whereas the earlier-mentioned Committee Recognition NGT estimated this number at 5,000 in 1997 (of whom a subgroup overlaps with the number of deaf-born children) and van den Dungen (1999 in: Radstake 2002) at 5,900, more recently, Marleen Janssen, Professor of Deafblindness at the University of Groningen, estimates the number to be around 50,000 (Drullman 2019), and Platform DeafblindConnect at over 80,000 people. According to Janssen, this number of 50,000 is composed of the following groups: 2,000 people who were born deafblind, about 8,000 people who became deafblind at a young age, and 40,000 people who became deafblind as a consequence of aging. Bartiméus, an organization specializing in low vision and blindness, states that this latter group comprises at least 70,000 people – although most of these people would not call themselves ‘deafblind’, but would speak of having “impairments in vision and hearing”. Two reasons to explain the discrepancies between the numbers reported here are firstly, the differences in definitions of deafblindness that the studies apply, and secondly, the scarcity of research into deafblind people in the Netherlands. Research on the use and properties of tactile NGT is, unfortunately, also scarce.
Hearing signers
As mentioned above, there is also a considerable number of hearing people who use NGT. A specific group of hearing signers are hearing children of deaf adults (codas). Some codas report that they feel as if they belong to two worlds: the deaf and the hearing world. If so, then they can feel part of the sign language community, although they do not always feel accepted by the sign language community (e.g. Handtheater 1998, Coda Nederland).
Another specific group are hearing sign language interpreters and teachers. In July 2020, there were 640 interpreters registered in the Dutch Register of Sign Language Interpreters and Speech-to-text Interpreters (Register Tolken Gebarentaal en Schrijftolken, RTGS). It is possible that this register will include deaf interpreters in the future as well, as the educational Interpreting program at the HU University of Applied Sciences is preparing a program for deaf people. More information here (in Dutch and International Sign) about deaf interpreters.
It is highly probable that every active interpreter is registered at RTGS, since registration is necessary to get paid through the government. In addition, there is an educational program at the Hogeschool Utrecht (HU) University of Applied Sciences to become a sign language teacher; this program is open to both deaf and hearing students. However, it is not clear how many NGT teachers are active at the moment. In August 2016, 47 NGT teachers were a member of the Foundation for Teachers of Living Languages (Vereniging van Leraren in Levende Talen, VLLT). Furthermore, an estimate of this foundation is that there are less than 200 active NGT teachers. Note that this number includes deaf and hearing teachers.
Considering again the total number of hearing signers, the Committee Recognition NGT estimated in 1997 that this group consisted of 5,500 people; this number was partly based on the assumption that 300 people per year learn NGT. Since many of the organizations that used to offer sign language courses to family members of deaf children switched to offering mainly SSD courses, one could assume that this number is in decline; on the other hand, the general population has grown, there are more interpreters now than there were at the time, and an educational program to become an NGT teacher has been established. In addition, there are regular NGT courses for the general public, offered for instance by associations for the deaf. Cokart et al. (2019) provide a higher number, and estimate that 60,000 people in the Netherlands know NGT, although at varying skill levels. This number includes the earlier-mentioned group of early onset deaf people, which means that the remaining 39,600-48,100 people are late deaf, hard of hearing, deafblind, and hearing signers – and, considering the characteristics of all these groups, it is likely that hearing signers make up the majority of this group.
The role of hearing signers within the sign language community has always been a point of debate (e.g. Handtheater 1997, 1998). On the one hand, many deaf signers are open to hearing signers in general and to hearing family members of deaf people in particular. This is exemplified by the current policy of the Amsterdam deaf association Stichting Welzijn Doven Amsterdam as their website explicitly states that their meeting center is a place for both deaf and hearing people. Similarly, in a short movie clip introducing the Dutch deaf community by Schuurman & Otterspeer (2013), hearing people are included and labeled “culturally Deaf”. Hearing parents of deaf children are encouraged by the sign language community to learn NGT and to raise their child bilingually. On the other hand, however, there are also deaf signers who are critical towards hearing signers, specifically if they are non-fluent signers but still work within the deaf or sign language community (e.g. as an interpreter or teacher.
As for the relationship between the sign language community and the general Dutch community, most Dutch hearing people have some notion of the concept of deafness, sign language, schools for the deaf, hearing aids and interpreters, but knowledge on these topics is generally limited and biased. Usually, people are surprised when they hear about deaf people being part of a linguistic and cultural minority, or about sign language not being international. However, in general, NGT is an accepted language within the Dutch society (Cokart et al. 2019) (see also SOCIO-HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Chapter 3).