deafhood
The concept is empowering for Deaf people because of the history of discrimination deaf individuals faced. Many deaf individuals faced audism, a new term meaning to discriminate based on the inability to hear. Deaf people historically have often been considered incapable of abstract thinking, since they lacked speech to express thoughts.
I am not deafness because I am not sick! I was born to be deaf and have a great journal in my life. It's my Deafhood!