We’ve all heard the saying, “don’t judge a book by it’s cover.” But that is easier said than done. Everyday our behaviors and decisions are influenced by our unconscious mind, hidden and obstructed from our view.
Subconsciously we can generate judgments of a person’s competence, education, class, status, and values based on our perceptions of a person's gender, ethnicity, age, and audiological status. These judgments lead to implicit biases, which significantly impact interactions among hearing, CODA, Deaf and Deafblind providers, consumers and stakeholders.
Even though no one is exempt from the pitfalls of implicit bias, we can make a concerted effort to align our behaviors with our intentions. In this interactive workshop, I will address implicit bias through research-based data through a narrative and social cognitive lens. I look forward to an open dialogue that shines a light on these hidden biases, and strengthen our ASL community.
