The deaf and hard of hearing community is a cultural and linguistic minority with variations in the type and severity of hearing loss (Pertz). Researchers estimate that 35 million people in the United States identify as having some degree of hearing trouble, ranging from having a little trouble hearing to profound deafness (Galludet).
Of the 35 million, an estimated 300,000-500,000 use American Sign Language (ASL) (Mitchell). Despite the large need for interpretation services, the United States only has about 16,000 ASL interpreters (Nimdzi).
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