OBJECTIVE: We investigated opinions of normal subjects about cognitive and social issues of deaf people, as well as their knowledge of inclusion policies. The 2010 Census (IBGE) indicated that 9.7 million Brazilians reported hearing impairment. Severe hearing impairment was reported by more than 2.1 million people. Of these, 3442 were deaf and 1.7 million had great difficulty hearing. These data supported research into strategies for deploying social policies that meet the needs of this population. We conducted a study, approved by the Research Committee of Redeemer College (nº 10/2012), that focused on the attitude of the normal population towards the deaf population. There were 200 participants, including university and college employees. They answered questions about hearing impairment, communicative competence, social inclusion, and language skills. CONCLUSION: There was considerable uncertainty about deafness and the needs of the deaf. The normal individuals considered the deaf to have reduced cognitive ability. There was a dichotomy in relation to communication, because, while they considered it important to communicate with the deaf, they did not show interest in initiation conversation. The results indicate that instead of a simple legislative solution, it is necessary to plan appropriate strategies to change the public's thinking and philosophy towards the deaf as well as to implement inclusive policies in order to make the process of inclusion of the deaf a social reality.