AllDeaf.com - View Single Post - Deaf-Hearing Marriage

***VamPyroX*** · 10-22-2006, 03:58 PM

I'm not married, but I can give my opinion on what I've seen.

I don't care what the marriage is like, as long as communication is still there and both get along great.

I've seen students here at RIT date others of the opposite deafness. A deaf girl would date a hearing guy or a deaf guy would date a hearing girl. Yet, some of them go through problems that's bad enough that they shouldn't even be together.

One issue is communication. If the deaf person uses sign language as a primary language, then the hearing person should be able to know sign language and use it frequently as the deaf person might use his/her voice at times as well. I'm deaf, but considered "hard of hearing". I can speak for myself and hear pretty well. However, I can't always understand what's being said 100%. It's more like 80% to 90%. It depends on how the other person talks. Do they talk clearly? Do they move their mouths clearly? Do they have a beard or other facial features that may interfere with lipreading? Even though I talk a lot with hearing people, I still struggle with what I'm missing out. Yet, they can't communicate with me on the things that I missed out. For a hearing person, he/she won't be able to communicate if the deaf person isn't wearing his/her hearing aids or something.

The other thing is getting along. In order to get along, both would have to be comfortable with what the other does. If the hearing person has hearing friends around and the hearing person starts talking without signing, how will the deaf half understand or feel? In my case, I would feel left out if my wife/girlfriend was talking with her hearing friends all the time and not involving me because I can't understand what's going on. The hearing half would feel the same way as well if the deaf half was signing all the time and the hearing half couldn't understand what was going on.

10-22-2006, 03:58 PM	#22 (permalink)
*VamPyroX* bloody phreak from hell Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Hell Posts: 31,473	I'm not married, but I can give my opinion on what I've seen. I don't care what the marriage is like, as long as communication is still there and both get along great. I've seen students here at RIT date others of the opposite deafness. A deaf girl would date a hearing guy or a deaf guy would date a hearing girl. Yet, some of them go through problems that's bad enough that they shouldn't even be together. One issue is communication. If the deaf person uses sign language as a primary language, then the hearing person should be able to know sign language and use it frequently as the deaf person might use his/her voice at times as well. I'm deaf, but considered "hard of hearing". I can speak for myself and hear pretty well. However, I can't always understand what's being said 100%. It's more like 80% to 90%. It depends on how the other person talks. Do they talk clearly? Do they move their mouths clearly? Do they have a beard or other facial features that may interfere with lipreading? Even though I talk a lot with hearing people, I still struggle with what I'm missing out. Yet, they can't communicate with me on the things that I missed out. For a hearing person, he/she won't be able to communicate if the deaf person isn't wearing his/her hearing aids or something. The other thing is getting along. In order to get along, both would have to be comfortable with what the other does. If the hearing person has hearing friends around and the hearing person starts talking without signing, how will the deaf half understand or feel? In my case, I would feel left out if my wife/girlfriend was talking with her hearing friends all the time and not involving me because I can't understand what's going on. The hearing half would feel the same way as well if the deaf half was signing all the time and the hearing half couldn't understand what was going on. __________________ Check out my city... CLICK HERE! (If you already visited yesterday, visit again today!)