The view of our society on deafness has changed and is inclined to divide the future of deaf child into two parts. The institutional recognition of deaf people is taking place just as medical sciences propose new ways to detect the auditory deficiency. The goal is to place a cochlear implant to aide the learning of speech.
However, this evolution is proposing an ethical question that our society cannot neglect. There is a paradox between two norms: the norm of deafness, the norm of the hearing world.
So, the paper will explain the necessary conditions to succeed in the social integration of deaf children to become “citizens” in the hearing world. To succeed in their integration, deaf people have to accomodate with the paradox of recognition :
- realizing that the other is equal
- realizing that the other is different

Recognizing deaf people means recognizing their culture. Does this culture really exist? How can a positive and receptive “culture” of deaf people develop, if it has to refer to a physiological difference? How do deaf people have their place in our hearing society that is said to be communicative? Are we open-minded to deaf people and their ways of communication? Or on the contrary, do modern societies want them to assimilate to the hearing majority?