Paddy Ladd

Paddy Ladd (born 11 February 1952) is an English deaf scholar, author, activist and researcher of deaf culture. 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 organisations. He has a younger brother. Ladd was taught to read and write by his mother before he started school. Ladd found work in Hillingdon in London as a social worker for deaf children. Bill Cotton, director of the BBC had seen the programme and organised for it to be archived owing to its cultural and historical significance.

Ladd completed his Ph.D. in Deaf Culture at the University of Bristol in 1998. There, by 2003 he became director of graduate studies at the Centre for Deaf Studies. Despite considerable international pressure, the centre was wound down as the MSc was closed in 2009, the undergrad programme taught out from 2010 to 2013, and the centre finally closed in the July of that year.

Ladd's contribution to the Deaf world has not only been academic. For a period, he toured with the Grateful Dead as their on stage interpreter. He was also founder of the Glastonbury Festival's Sign Zone, which provided translators to sign from designated locations at the Glastonbury site.

In 2003, Ladd authored the book, Understanding Deaf Culture: In Search of Deafhood, the first book on Deaf culture to be written outside the US.

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