This image recognizes the influence of Paddy Ladd in the development of the social and political movement now commonly known as Deafhood. Dr. Paddy Ladd is an English Deaf scholar, author, activist and researcher of Deaf culture.

Ladd was one of the first presenters of BBC's See Hear and presented the earliest programs from 1984 in both sign and speech. He has been a core campaigner for Deaf rights since the 80s, and was involved in the National Union of the Deaf, one of the earliest British Deaf activist organizations.

Deafhood is a term coined by Paddy Ladd in his book Understanding Deaf Culture: In Search of Deafhood. While the precise meaning of the word remains deliberately vague—Ladd himself calls Deafhood a "process" rather than something finite and clear—it attempts to convey an affirmative and positive acceptance of being deaf.

Unlike deafness, which is often used to describe deaf people only in terms of their hearing loss, Deafhood asserts being deaf has a positive value for humankind and does not need to be cured like a disease. Many other Deaf people, like renown sign language instructor and folklorist, Ella Mae Lentz, have used this term to explain a deaf person's unique personal journey to discover and understand themselves as a Deaf person. The Deaf Community has accepted this concept to unite the varied segments of the hearing-impaired community.