The Silent Cafés Bringing Deaf Culture to the Hearing

A new café culture’s emerging, but you won’t hear Paris’ 1000 & 1 Signes bragging about its pioneering role. Its hearing-impaired owner and staff began offering its silent dining experience in 2011, compelling customers to use nonverbal communication, including sign language and writing on whiteboards. Now such establishments are operating from Zagreb to Bogotá, and even include a silent Starbucks. It’s a far better opportunity for workers than some places in India, where employers cash in on government incentives to hire the deaf, but offer only dead-end jobs.