The year after Liz was born, Tom Humphries, then a deaf graduate student and now associate director of the Teacher Education Program at University of California San Diego, coined a term for discrimination against the deaf and their culture: "audism."

I'm writing in response to "Deaf studies net funds" (Feb. 26) which described deafness as "one of society's most depressing disabilities."

I am deaf, and I am not depressed. I am not isolated, stressed, or unsafe because of my deafness. Any barriers to inclusion, equality, or social contribution are imposed upon me by others. I, and my deaf peers, are proud of who we are and what we have to offer our countries.

Comments from individuals such as Denis Piquette smack of paternalism and audism.

Hearing people, Lane says, view deafness as a disability — but the deaf see themselves as a linguistic minority, feel that they have a richer social life than hearing people, marry each other, and celebrate the birth of a deaf child as a precious gift. After developing these preconception-shattering revelations, Lane reveals the meshes of paternalistic control exercised by ''audism'' — that institution of school administrators, speech therapists, psychologists, and social workers that authorizes views of the deaf, governs where they go to school, and exercises authority over their community.