Thanks for the rep. To be honest, I thought deaf mute would have been more acceptable. But I texted a few deaf people with doctorates about the "preferred" term, and they mentioned "Deaf" or 'Hard of Hearing'. The following link explains a bit regarding the "mute" and other terms. http://www.nad.org/issues/american-sign-language/community-and-culture-faq
Anyway, thanks for asking. You're all good in my book.