Ask the Deaf Person

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
61

I took a semester of ASL in college for my language credits. Our teacher told us about regional signs, one in particular which she’ll never forget.

A little background; We were taught the sign for “I have to go to the bathroom” is a “t” which you shake to define the urgency. Our teacher was subbing at a school in Erie, PA, and the children kept making a sign she didn’t understand. Naturally, they became very upset with her when she wouldn’t let them go to the restroom. Their “bathroom” sign is the back of the right hand tapping the underside of the chin. As in “I’m full up to here!” However, this sign somewhat resembles the sign for “pig,” not something you should be calling your teacher.

Once she found out what was going on, the whole room heaved a sigh of relief.

62

Something we were wondering at work (I make educational animations, and we’re finally getting better about accessibility, and feel terrible that it took us this long):

Do deaf (American) children generally learn ASL before they learn to read English? I would guess so from the other posts here, but I’m still not sure. We’re just getting into some animations for younger markets, and we realized that adding text on screen for voiceovers probably wouldn’t help most first graders, so we’re looking into the possibility/usefulness of including a signer.

63

A very prosaic question: how do deaf people wake up at the right time in the morning without the aid of alarm clocks?

64

I’m not deaf, and I awake every morning at the same time without an alarm clock.

65

The question still stands - what if you had to get up an hour and a half earlier to catch a plane?

I can set my internal alarm to a different time pretty well, but I’m told that’s an oddity.

Another quesion: how do deaf parents know when their baby is crying in the middle of the night when they’re sleeping?

66

There are alarm clocks available that flash lights instead of making noise, which deaf people find useful.

I’ve also heard of alarm clocks that shake the whole bed, but they probably aren’t portable.

67

Where does one get such a clock? (Honestly I have always wondered where blind people get their special gadgets too.)

Nowadays, I am betting on Amazon.

Also how good are the implants nowadays?

68

Travel Alarm Clock

69

This has been an interesting discussion, so far, but I really do not see a debate. As it is also not really as poll, I am sending it to MPSIMS.

[ /Moderator Mode ]

70

Do you know people who are both deaf and blind? If so, how do you communicate with them? And do they tend to gravitate more toward the deaf community or the blind community?

71

Do you and your deaf friends think I’m completely lame because I try to communicate using the alphabet, (which I happen to know because my sister played Helen Keller on stage when I was a child and she taught me)?

And may I say that I find sign language utterly beautiful and fascinating to look upon. I could watch deaf people talk for hours.

72

<hijack>

I have a friend who works with people who have both mental and physical issues. One of the people he works with is both deaf and schizophrenic. I asked him if, considering the fellow was born deaf, did he hear voices? The answer was no… instead he had hallucinations of Saints who spoke to him in sign language. Mostly they told him jokes. Sometimes they told him to get on a Greyhound bus and travel to some city he had never gone to before.

</hijack>

73

As a hearing person, what points of etiquette should I be aware of when interacting with a deaf person? We had a deaf lady at our work for awhile, and although I had limited interaction with her, I was always careful to face her and not turn my head away while I was speaking so she could read my lips. I felt awkward when she didn’t understand everything I was saying, and I wasn’t sure what more I could do. Should I speak normally? Should I speak slower? Should I write my thoughts down for her to read?

74

[QUOTE=charolem]
Gallaudet and Clerc opened their school in Connecticut, and developed a sign language that combined many of the aspects Clerc brought from France along with the signs that had been established by what was referred to, at the time, as “Island Sign.” Island Sign originated on Martha’s Vineyard, where a large percentage of the population was deaf. The two men also incorporated the use of the manual alphabet that Bell had been using.

I bought this book about the signing on Martha’s Vineyard after my ASL teacher mentioned it; ‘Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language: Hereditary Deafness on Marthas Vineyard by Nora E. Groce’. It describes what seems to me like a Utopia.

75

If it’s not too rude to ask…does your cochlear implant need an actual sound jack implanted in your skull, or are they all wireless these days? And if it’s the former, do you have to cover it up or something if you go swimming, or you’re in a bathtub?

76

I’ve always wondered just how cochlear implants work. Do they transmit electrical siognals into your brain, or do they do it some other way?

77

I understand at best 10% of a conversation, but to I just go up to a guy at the airport and sign, “I understand ASL”?
:slight_smile:

78

First, Welcome to the Dope! I hope you stay!
I have always been fascinated by sign language and deafness. I have a cousin that has extremely limited hearing and uses hearing aids and lip reading which fueled my interest early on.

In high school I made a friend with the only deaf girl in our school and really enjoyed learning signing. At one point I thought of doing it for a living. But, focusing on one thing has never been my speciality. Lack of focus seems to be a Doper Strong Point. :slight_smile:

I’ve always kept my basic alphabet knowledge fresh. ( I even came out of sedation once from having my teeth pulled and I was doing my sign language…heh.)

My hobby is writing, and I decided a few years ago (during the Sydney Olympics…whenever that was…94? 96? 98?) to write about a single mom who had a daughter that was deaf… never finished the story…got sidetracked by other…things…focus?moi?..and the ironies of ironies is last summer this happened to me for reasons that will never be understood and probably I will suffer from the vertigo again and have more hearing loss as I age.YAY!

I have 55% hearing loss in my right ear and ( this is the worst part) tinitus. Nonstop.

As long as it is not a precursor to something wicked and nasty, I’m completely fine with everything. (Yeah, it is a pain to locate noise now, espcially the telephone or cell phone. Taking all noise info in one ear is a audiotory swim.)

The specialist I went to recommended the Baha System which I know of no one who has had this done. It is relatively new. Do you know of anyone who has had this implant done?

My other questions for you are:

Are there any childrens/chapter books out there that tell the story of these two gentlemen who started it all? I’ve never found one on my own. For blindness and leader dog/braille, yes. But I haven’t seen anything for the start of sign language.
I am trying to expose my children to all areas of disability in a humane fashion. We have, in both sides of our family severe physical disabilites, so they are on the ahead of the game there from most kids their age.
And two, is there a different kind of sign language for english speaking countries; ie, do Aussies sign a little different or mostly different? Is it called the same thing?
Three, and it just popped into my head so forgive me if it is jumbled, the chinese alphabet is what, 3000 characters or so…how do they figure out how to sign it all?

Fourthly, since you are deaf, and a guy…you must be pretty good with your hands she says knowingly. :smiley:
Fiftly, do you have balance issues?

I’ll shut up now.

Shirley ‘verbal’ Ujest

79

Ha! I know that. There is a magnet that keeps the outside hardware attached to your skull and the stuff under the skin.

80

OK, this is an off the wall question:

Are there more Gay deaf men than hearing deaf men?

Before you think I am crazy for asking, I used to go to a Gay bar in Berlin where a lot of Gay deaf men would meet once a week. At that time, there was a study going on within the group to determine why it seemed that a larger percentage of deaf men were Gay than in the hearing community. One theory was that deaf men did not have to hear homophobic slurs all their life, so when it came time to act upon their sexual prefernces, they had less inhibitions and were more likely to simply go with their feelings.

Your humble opinion on the subject would be appreciated.

BTW, I once lived in a five bedroom house with some Gay guys and the guy who had the room next to mine was deaf. I quickly learned that two deaf people having sex in the next room is LOUD!