Difference, Not Deficit: Reframing the Conversation around Genetics, Deafness, and Disability

This webinar is part of a program co-organized by Personal Genetics Education & Dialogue and the Genetics Society of America. The aim of this partnership is to better equip scientists to engage in discussions about genetics with all communities, with special emphasis on those who have been marginalized, economically disadvantaged, or otherwise excluded from conversations about science.
Public engagement requires us to interrogate our language and the thinking behind it. What ideas are embedded in our language about genetics? What messages are we sending? How are people being impacted? In approaching these questions with humility, we have an opportunity to dismantle barriers that exclude people from engaging with genetics, learn about assumptions that can cause harm, and create inclusive environments in our labs and classrooms.
This program was co-organized with PGED’s colleagues from Gallaudet University and the ASL Education Center who have challenged our thinking, expanded our minds, and illuminated pathways for engaging with deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
To learn more, visit us at www.pged.org.