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Deaf Culture/Community/ASL and Me

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by WillowMaiden, Jan 2, 2012.

  1. WillowMaiden

    WillowMaiden Guest

    Hey! I'm a first year sign major on the interpreting track. I'm just curious to know if anyone on here knows sign language, Deaf people, or sign interpreters? I really enjoy signing. I've been home since mid December for break so I haven't had anyone to sign with in a really long time and I miss it. :frowning2: I sign to myself when I'm watching tv or just during the other random moments of my day when I'll start talking to myself, but I miss signing with people. I had never met or seen any Deaf people in my everyday life until I went to school (two of my teachers are Deaf and I met a few older Deaf students.) No one in my family is deaf or knows any sign. My reason for learning sign language is that it is one of many I want to learn. I'm a huge language nerd, which is one reason why I take to it so and I want to be an interpreter for many languages. At least 3 out of the 7 to 10 I want to know.

    From what I've learned about the Deaf Community I think it really suits me. The quiet, the closeness. I wish I had been exposed to it earlier in my life. I've been a quiet loner all my life. I actually didn't speak until I was 4 years old. My Mom's friends used to call me the perfect kid because I would always just sit quietly and people watch or day dream. I lived in my head a lot and still do sometimes. I remember very vaguely having the hearing test because my family was worried. I only remember the beeps in each ear, thinking "this is a fun game," and trying to visualize what the inside of my ear looked like as the sound traveled through it. I passed the test and shortly after starting to talk at home, my stutter was discovered. I don't think my stutter was bad really (I inherited from my Dad) it just made me uncomfortable speaking to people and I would get so frustrated, especially in school around my peers, that my words (even if I wasn't stuttering) wouldn't come out right. Speaking of school, it was hell, pretty much all the way through. I rarely spoke in class, even when teachers would ask me questions, I would just stare, too afraid to speak because I didn't want to mess up my words and have everyone laugh at me or I would write my answers down. During middle school, mainly 6th grade, I was put in two classes, one for my regular courses and one that was actually counseling session for the "special kids" who needed a little extra attention. My teachers were worried that there was something mentally wrong with me because I wouldn't talk and my classmates thought I was retarded, so I was put in middle school group therapy. Oh the days.

    Around 7th and 8th grade I started talking more in class, meaning I answered questions when asked, but during free time when everyone socialized I just grabbed a book and went back inside my head. It was so rare for me to speak that whenever I said something or made a loud enough noise people would say things like "wow, she actually said something" or "wow she laughed did you hear that?" Believe it or not, this happened all the way up and through high school too. And of course there was the bullying. No one wanted to play or hang out with the scary-possibly-serial-killer kid (the quiets are always the most dangerous remember? :icon_wink) or the retarded girl. It was harsh sometimes, not so much other times. Depended on the day and the bully. On the harsh days, I read in my old journals (the only way I truly expressed myself, which is why I'm also a writer) that I used to wish I could be deaf if only for a day so I wouldn't have to almost hear, but not quite the snickers and the jokes. That never made me think of deaf people to seek comfort in though because I just didn't know of their existence really. Anyway, through most of the bullying I stayed quiet, I'm not going to lie there were some times where I just exploded, screaming and kicking. I've only just finished my first semester in college and me not talking in a new environment has happened yet again, but only in one class and I'm trying not to let it happen socially. What can I say? I'm just a naturally quiet person.

    Living in my head so much, being quiet and watching people I liked and at the same time I didn't like. What I liked is that it made me observant. I pick up on body language and facial expression really well, maybe not as good as a Deaf person, but I would never know it, I picked up good enough for me. Some might even call me paranoid because whenever I see the smallest shift in physcial expression I think it means something and worry about it for a long time. I'm also very awkward, to the point of social assassination awkward. When I meet one person I like and want to know (because it's so rare for me to be talking with people in the first place) I tend to overshare mostly or ask them too many questions, it makes them uncomfortable and I come off as a weirdo. I can never keep a conversation on the surface. You see, despite fearing speaking with them most of the time I really do want to know people. I say I don't like people because I'm not good around them, but when I find persons that I am good around I want to be around them as much as possible. Anyway, I can tell when the person wants to stop talking and the conversation just falls flat on its face. I also do this weird thing where while trying to talk to someone, when I can feel myself getting nervous and maybe about to stumble, I start day dreaming right there in a middle of a sentence, lose my thought and just look like even more of a weirdo. And for some odd reason even when I talking with a person, it would make them uncomfortable if I stared at them too much, I think I might have come off as a creeper so I tried not to do that. If there is one thing I don't like it's me giving the wrong impression to people. I think about it all the time. All that's still just the tip of the iceberg (Owl City reference here. :grin:)

    It's funny now that think about it. My teachers had told the class in the very beginning that we'll never understand what life is like for Deaf people and that made me sad and a little angry because I then I started to think of the Deaf community as this secret club, one of many, that I won't be able to get into because I'm too different. I'll be the weird one in the group again who won't be able to communicate. I imagined getting mocked, only visually, and just being uncomfortable. But I've learned a lot since that first day. I learned that the community generally accepting and welcoming of people learning sign, which would make feel tons more relaxed when socializing (I won't feel like I have to alter myself or make myself invisible.) I don't deny that one day I might run into a douchebag or two, I mean they exist every where. Not being able to hear doesn't make anyone immune to the douchebag bug. I also learned that even though I don't know what it's like to not hear, I can empathize with being an outsider and having poor communication with those around you. I just went through those things for different reasons that had nothing to do with my ears.

    Also, I'm more comfortable using sign language itself because even though I'm nearly 19 years old, I still don't really like talking and whenever I get too excited while talking the stutter comes back a little and then I really don't like tallking. Sign gives me confidence when talking. I can't hold my head down and mumble like I would usually do. It forces me to look people in the eye and most importantly pace myself. I can also be more expressive without having to increase the volume of my voice (I hate doing that because I don't feel comfortable having people stare at me when I talk, I always think they're making fun of me and it distracts me from hearing what the person in front of me is saying, kinda like when I randomly day dream in the middle of a sentence and come back a wee bit lost.) I will be honest though, some of my awkward mannerisms when talking, I have brought over to signing in the beginning. Like the nervousness, trying to talk (sign) fast so that all my ideas are out before I can mess up my words (which is a silly method because it only makes me mess up my words--signs--more. :rolle:slight_smile: But I'm becoming more patient with myself and as a result am becoming a better signer. It was definitely a good idea for me to start with sign language with my interpreting career because it helps me prepare to be around people and talk a lot without dying inside. Yay! (!)

    Well anyway, I don't know what the point of this is. I just wanted to talk about how much I miss signing and maybe meet some other signers or Deaf community peoples on here. I just finished watching the 1st season of the show "Sue Thomas F.B.Eye." It was really good, made me miss signing with the girl who gave it to me. In the one class I mentioned that I was the most silent and got the "oh my god, she talked" reaction from about 2 months into class, yeah that one, only one girl in that class signs. She's not a sign major or anything. She picked it up at church and studied alone at home. She's the only girl I talk to a little in class when we first met, but I was mainly silent. Then one day she started signing at me and I lit up! From that day on every week, we would always sign. Oh the days, I miss her. I can't wait to go back to school so I can start signing with her and others again. Well that's all. Feel free to share your own Deaf experience or community story. I'm always so jealous of people who have known Deaf people for years, who have Deaf family members or friends. I can't wait to start making my own Deaf friends. :eusa_danc I am still a little nervous about that initial meeting because I'll always be a nervous wreck around crowds and new people, but I actually look forward to these meets still.

    Well, take care now bye, bye then. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer whatever I can. I'm what's called a sign baby so I won't know much, but like my teachers say a closed mouth doesn't get fed (or something to that affect.) :lol:
     
  2. solarcat

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    I don't think I count as deaf, since I'm not, but I am hearing impaired. Naturally, when I was little, I was taught some sign language. I have a medical report from when I was a year and a half old that says that I had a spoken vocabulary of ten words, but knew about twenty signs. Since then, I've forgotten all but a few (I'll still use a few signs to communicate if there's too much noise), because thanks to my hearing aids (which I've had since I was about two months old) I don't really need to sign. I've been wanting to learn signing again, but haven't had the time to take classes.

    I actually went to a special ed class in the fist grade. It was a small class (my parents thought a small class size would be ideal given my condition), and everyone in it was hard of hearing (except for one girl who was mute). Turns out I didn't need a special ed class, so the next year I was put into a gifted magnet class. But even though I was in a "normal" (albeit scholastically advanced) class, I still had to go to hearing therapy, as well as speech therapy (I have a mild speech impediment that makes hard to understand sometimes unless I speak slowly and deliberately, and also have problems saying my L's and S's) and an "adapted physical education" class, just because I was clumsy, I guess.

    My problems with speaking, hearing, and people also left me to my own mind most of the time. Instead of hanging out with friends (I didn't have any, 'cause they were all jerks to me- the only exceptions being the kids who just ignored me) I'd spend my time quietly running aroud with books or my imagination. I've actually had strangers come up to me and ask me if I could speak.

    The good thing about hearing aids is that I can employ selective deafness- turning them off when a fleet of firetrucks goes by, for instance, or just to ignore the sounds of traffic. The drawback of course, is the non-selective deafness, like when they break and I have to wait a few months before they're repaired and returned.

    Oh, and while you may have found the hearing test to be a "fun game," it always terrified me. Consider this:

    A small boy is alone in a small room, which is now pitch black. And since the doctor made me remove my hearing aids for the test, that means I'm all alone, in a small room, unable to see or hear anything. Then a disembodied voice tells me we're about to begin (through the headphones, of course). The silence is broken by a high-pitched tone. I raise my hand to indicate the direction. Then the darkness is broken by a small, dim light illuminating a small monkey in a glass box on the wall, mindlessly clashing its cymbals together with a derranged grin on its face. It lasts just for a few seconds, before the room returns to darkness and silence. Another tone. I raise my hand. A small light shines on a small elephant resting in a glass box on the wall, hammering away on a small drum. Silence and darkness return. This repeats, with the tones lower and lower, until I can't even tell if that sound is real, or just a figment of my imagination. I raise my hand warily, only to be greeted by a psychotic monkey.

    Perhaps your test was a little different from mine?
     
    #2 solarcat, Jan 2, 2012
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2012
  3. Samadhi

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    (*hug*)

    The quiet ones are also some of the ones that express themselves much more deeply and passionately in art than others!


    I'm fully hearing (though being male I'm prone to bouts of biological selective deafness :grin:), but I've learned a bit of Auslan, and I know the ASL alphabet (but I still stutter, slur, and basically butcher the form :grin:)

    I <3 sign language, but where I'm from - the Deaf Community is very cliquey (maybe due in part to their rather suppressed and belittled history, thanks to humankind's tendency of narrow mindedness and egocentric thinking), so I haven't really been involved since I stopped learning Auslan at CIT.

    I was nearly stalked by a deaf girl whom, unfortunately, was one of the people that were born deaf as a side-effect of other biological issues - one of the main reasons I stopped trying to get involved. I was thinking of becoming an interpreter, too, but I will more likely just try and master the language a bit later if (when) I get my act into training to become a doctor. How many fully qualified doctors out there do you know that can sign accurately without the need for an interpreter?

    Have you tried Skype and other chat-related programs with video? The only drawback is that a lot of Deaf are very gossipy and chatty too :lol:
     
  4. Riaan

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    There is a deaf guy in my church (gay church. Yay!) and I would love to be able to communicate with him. I feel sorry for him because he can only communicate with you through his mother. He looks like a sweet person and someone I would like to get to know better. A few of the church members went for a sign language course last year, and are now able to communicate with him, I'm happy to say. I'm just mad at myself that I didn't make use of the opportunity to attend the class. This is definitely something I still want to do.
     
  5. Fiddledeedee

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    I have a cousin who went deaf after an illness as a baby, and is also somewhat brain damaged; I think he is 12 now, though the only time I saw him was when he was 8. He didn't know any sign language, though his sisters were able to tell me what he was indicating with his vague gestures and occasional grunts. He is a lovely boy and I wish I could see him again.
     
  6. BradThePug

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    I'm not deaf, but I have 50% of my hearing in one ear and 75% in my other ear. But when I was little I was pretty much deaf, so I used to know some sign language. I have forgotten it over time though. I also had to go to speech therapy because I had some speech problems because of my hearing.
     
  7. Doctor Faustus

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    I'm completely deaf in my right ear (birth defect), but I don't really notice it so much. I haven't really had trouble communicating with hearing people.

    That said, I'd love to learn British Sign Language at some point.
     
  8. WillowMaiden

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    I'm sorry you were scared. (*hug*)

    I honestly don't know. I remember it very vaguely and I don't remember feeling fear. I might have, I mean I was four, but now I don't think back on as a scary thing. I was too busy concentrating on the beeps. Perhaps you were scared because you actually couldn't hear, so that's just another sense (hearing and sight) taken away. I haven't talked about it with my family, so I've never gotten the fine details on whether there were lights turned off and on. I don't remember if the light thing happened either. Maybe our tests were different. You had already been wearing a hearing aid, so I think there are different tests for different levels of hearing impairment or for people who the doctors already know have a hearing impairment like yourself. I was there to find out whether I had an impairment to begin with, so I think that has a hand in why our experiences were different too. Mind you I'm going off the memory of a 4 year old, so I really can't be sure. I am sorry that it was scary for you. If I had a real hearing problem, I would be able to empathize with you more. From what I've learned, some deaf and HOH (Hard of Hearing) children can go through some pretty scary procedures throughout their childhood. I wasn't deaf, so my experiences with tests was cut off right there.

    Were your tests annual? I'm just curious now. Now that you're older do you still have to go in and get hearing test every X amount of months?

    ---------- Post added 2nd Jan 2012 at 11:07 PM ----------

    Yay Gay Church! :lol: That's great! There's no need to feel sorry for him and even if you don't know sign, just getting a pen and paper and having a chat with him is cool. He might be patient. A cool sight to check out is sign savvy. Signing Savvy | ASL Sign Language Video Dictionary

    Learn a few words, some greetings and talk to him. It'll be fun. Go for it! :thumbsup:

    ---------- Post added 2nd Jan 2012 at 11:19 PM ----------

    Exactly! Very true. Quiet people are awesome. :icon_wink

    :lol: Yeah my teachers have told me about their own experiences when they started hanging out with Deaf people. It takes an hour to say hello and an hour to say goodbye. She said it's because most of them haven't been able to talk to other Deaf people all day, so they kinda just keep yapping for as long as they can. I love that. That's how I am when I finally have a person to talk to. I tend to go on and on and don't want them to leave.

    About the gossipy part, yeah I've heard that too. I've been thinking about a career as a drug rehab counselor too and I've specifically researched how I can get into this in the Deaf community. While I was researching I found out about one of the reasons why Deaf people don't get help and one of them has to do with gossip. Deaf groups are generally really tight, or cliquey, and so a person in the group with a drug problem might not reach out to another person in their group out of fear that they will tell everyone else. And in the specific ariticle I read it said something about, something bad about one person in the group reflects on the group as a whole, so the person with the drug problem doesn't want to bring that negativity down on their friends. The tightness or cliqueyness of Deaf people has it's pros and cons.
     
  9. solarcat

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    Well, the test I was describing was when I was quite little, maybe age six. It wasn't recessarily scary, but it did make me rather anxious, and I was always relieved when the doctor turned the lights on. I'm actually a little afraid of the dark anyways. After I moved to CA, the tests were usually with the lights on. It was probably just the hospital that did it that way.

    I think the tests were supposed to be annual, but they were usually conducted every couple of years, whenever the school's hearing therapist asked for more current data. I haven't had one in a while, though.
     
  10. Samadhi

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    The thing I found both most annoying and most encouraging about the Auslan course I attended for a while was that it taught, as a major component, the history and current climate of the Deaf culture and society - it's such an integral part of Deaf identity and even the language itself.

    Unfortunately, I was a bit lazy in doing the homework for that part (I found it a bit boring, actually, though that sounds a bit careless), and the teacher for that part was a feminist lesbian. At the time, I was the only male in class, and certainly far from questioning. So lessons were always a bit awkward XD

    How does your local place-of-education teach sign language, people?
     
  11. WillowMaiden

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    The teachers are really fun. They all love to tell stories and play games. They also take the course very seriously, they want the students to take it seriously too, but that doesn't make them tight asses. They're fun and productive. And I'm not saying that to like blow smoke up anyone's ass. My sign classes were the only classes I looked forward to going to during the week and they were on a Monday, 3 hours each, back to back.

    The sign teacher immediately comes in and starts signing at you (mainly because she's Deaf, so she has to.) You learn vocab and word order weekly and from that week on, create sentences using all the words and ASL syntax you've learned every week. The work is easy, it's the actual practicing that can be difficult at times. The signs and ASL order can be hard, but the class is never boring. Also there is no talking. They are very serious about that because it contributes to how well you learn ASL. My class got yelled at for talking more than signing during break (yes even during break, you cannot speak.) Other than that my teacher and the others in the sign language department are all just nice, helpful, and funny. Definitely not feminists on a mission. :lol:

    You had a mainly male class? At my school there are mainly females in the program. In my class specifically there was one guy and then he dropped the class, so it was all females, even my teacher. The other beginner's class had 2 males, two high school students, but for the most part it too was all female.