Martha's Vineyard Research Paper

Deafness on Martha’s Vineyard, phenomenon in which a disproportionate percentage of the population living on Martha’s Vineyard, an island off the southeastern coast of Massachusetts, U.S., was affected by a hereditary form of deafness. The overall rate of Vineyard deafness peaked in the 19th century at an estimated 1 in every 155 islanders, which far exceeded the rate of deafness in the American population generally.

Vineyard deafness appeared as complete deafness at birth with no associated anomalies. It was caused by a recessively inherited genetic mutation that was traced to Kent county, England. Emigrants from that region, some of whom came specifically from an area called The Weald, settled on Martha’s Vineyard in the late 17th century. It is thought that a history of genetic relatedness among some parents, combined with intermarriage on the island, contributed to the spread of the genetic defect

The last individual affected by Vineyard deafness who used the island’s unique sign language died in 1952 island of glacial origin off the southeastern coast of Massachusetts, U.S., 4 miles (6 km) across Vineyard Sound from the mainland (Cape Cod). It accounts for most of the territory and population of Dukes county, Massachusetts. constituent state of the United States of America. It was one of the original 13 states and is one of the 6 New England states lying in the northeastern corner of the country. Massachusetts (officially called a commonwealth) is bounded to the north by Vermont and New Hampshire, to the east and partial or total inability to hear. The two principal types of deafness are conduction deafness and nerve deafness. conduction deafness, there is interruption of the sound vibrations in their passage from the outer world to the nerve cells