Can people be Mute and not Deaf?

Question

I got confused at school the other day. Someone said that there were only deaf-mute people, or deaf people, and that there was no such thing as just a mute person. Is that true???

Answer 1

yep muteness is usually a speech disorder, doesnt mean you cant hear though, you just dont have the power of articulate speech.

Answer 2

Oh yes, there can be people who are mute that are not deaf. I have a friend who has a psychological disorder, and he just won't speak! He has the ability, he just will not do it for some reason. He is only 8 years old, and the doctors say that one day he may out grow it, but no one really knows if he will or not. He doesn't have a hearing problem, and he understands English perfectly well. He reads and writes, he just won't speak.



There are also some people that are born with defects in their vocal chords, so yes, it is very possible to be mute and not deaf, and it is also very possible to be deaf and not mute. A lot of my deaf (who do not have Cochlear Implants) have been taught how to talk.

Answer 3

Ummmm most deaf people are not mutes. Its actually offensive to call a deaf person a mute as its equivalent to calling them dumb.



The only deaf people who are mute are those who have something physically wrong with the way speech is made. Whether its their brain, voice boxes, whatever, they cannot physically produce sound.

Answer 4

Sure people can be mute without being deaf. Just as the Deaf are not always mute.

Answer 5

Stephen Hawking is unable to speak with his mouth, which would make him mute. But he is not deaf. So there is such a thing as a mute person.

Answer 6

You can be mute and not deaf, deaf and not mute, or both. Being mute has nothing to do with being deaf. If you were deaf, you might feel like your mute because you can't hear yourself talk.

Answer 7

One can be deaf and not mute and mute and not deaf. (However, the two things have tended to be connected in the past because few profoundly deaf people were given the extra help they required to learn to speak.)

Answer 8

Of course someone can be mute and not deaf. Being deaf means you can't hear and being mute means you can't talk. You CAN be mute and def though. They need to get their facts straight..

Answer 9

It's not true. People can just be mute. I actually know a girl who is only mute. She can hear what I say, but she replys with sign language. =] So those people don't know what they are talking about! <3

Answer 10

Nope someone can be mute and be able to hear.....Alot of people back in the day got their tongues cut out b/c they talked bad about the gov. in some countries and they couldn't talk but they could hear.

Answer 11

most mutes can hear





some people cannot physicaly speak. their vocal cords are somehow messed up.



most have extreme anxiety problems and cannot speak to strangers they are so afraid.



Yes, most deaf people are mute because they never learnd to speak (u need hearing usually). but not the other way around.

AND: deaf people who lost their hearing later in life usually can still speak.

Answer 12

i dont know anyone personally but i have seen in storylines before of movies...where there has been mute characters but they have perfect hearing =]



being mute is just people not talking/not being able to talk



deaf people aren't mutes, but the majority of them cant talk, as they aren't able to hear how to actually say specific words..so they arent mutes technically.

Answer 13

No it's not true. Hearing people are wrong to calling mute deaf, they are deaf. Does not mean MUTE! How dumb people called it.....

Answer 14

No. You can be mute and not deaf. Ever heard of a mime? Mutism is actually a disease.

Answer 15

If you have no voicebox or a highly damaged voicebox you won't be able to speak. Also what if you lost a large portion of your face to cancer or a car accident? You would be considered mute in this case.

Answer 16

Grab the blind person's arm to feel for pulse/heart beat, then when the blind person looks shocked put his hand on the ear of the body to show that it's the deaf person dead.

Answer 17

Yes sometimes people refuse to talk for certain reasons, or sometimes are too tramatized over certain things so they cant talk. However this may not be a terminal effect and with some therepy 'might' be able to be cured.

Answer 18

No they could be born mute ,perhaps a deformed toungue.Muteness can also be psychological.

Answer 19

Some people just physically cannot speak because of their vocal chords or something. But obviously it doesn't affect their hearing.

Answer 20

It is possible to lose the ability to speak without losing the ability to hear. You can still taste if you lose your eyesight can't you?

Answer 21

no not true.

Answer 22

idk bout tht but im blind