How do ppl treat you when your deaf?

[questionsplz]

are they rude and mean?

what is it like to be deaf. is it very scary?

is it hard to learn sign language?

 

[Jiro]

are they rude and mean?
it's same for bully picking on little/weak kid at school. there are some people who are not nice and MANY people who are very nice

what is it like to be deaf. is it very scary?
nothing since most of us were born with it or gotten it when we were very young. as for becoming deaf at later age, i can say it's scary and discomforting because it's a life-changing experience. this applies to anybody who were permanently injured such as motorcycle/car victim (spinal cord injury or serious bone injury) or cancer patients

is it hard to learn sign language?
same as any language like spanish. if you're a good learner, it's easy

Good luck! It's not really that bad but it's only bad if you make it worse yourself. As long as you stay positive and not let it ruin your life, it's no big deal.

 

[Hear Again]

are they rude and mean?

Most people I've met have been very understanding of my deafblindness. If I'm willing to meet a hearing-sighted person halfway by politely explaining how they can best help me with communication, they are more than willing to comply. Sometimes I've come across people who are rude or insensitive, but fortunately they are far and few between. Only a handful of times have I ever come across a person who was unwilling to communicate with me in the ways I need them to. Most of the time (pre-CI), when they start to see that there is no way I can communicate by hearing alone, they use the alternative communications methods I request.

what is it like to be deaf. is it very scary?

When my hearing loss progressed into the severe-profound range and I found that hearing aids no longer helped me, it was a very scary experience because I'm also totally blind. I was at a complete loss as to how I would communicate with others or travel by myself. However, once I attended my local deafblind center and learned alternative communication techniques for the deafblind, I knew I'd be allright and that my lack of hearing wouldn't get in the way of my happiness or ability to have a successful career. I now have CIs, but my reasons for making that choice had to do with the issues I had with communication. Some communication methods I used (for example, print-on-palm -- tracing block letters into the palm of one's hand, Braille/raised print alphabet card in which my finger would be placed on individual letters to spell out words) were very slow and it was also difficult to find tactile interpreters.

is it hard to learn sign language?

Some people have an easier time learning sign than others. I picked up on it quite easily.

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[RedFox]

are they rude and mean?

The people who had been the meanest to me were deaf people in university. Some of them happened to be immature people too. I had a hearing person hang up on me when calling through relay once, apparently because they didn't get that kind of call before. It was fine when I called back. I haven't see any hearing people go out of their way to be mean to me except for the one in my high school who saw me and said that sign language wasn't real. It was my sister who told me what he said.

what is it like to be deaf. is it very scary?

I was deaf since birth, so I haven't felt like missing the sense of hearing. It's not scary if you've lived your whole life that way.

Yesterday, I went to a workshop by someone who counseled deaf people, including late deafened people. He had plenty of stories about how scary it can be for late deafened people and advised people to accept what they couldn't change and try to improve what is possible to change.

is it hard to learn sign language?

[/quote]

It may not be so hard if you use it every day and keep learning. I've seen some people at university go from nothing to where you won't realize that they didn't know any before within months. It'd be harder if you don't have people to practice with.

 

[SimplyMints]

I thought since I'm "late deaf" as I've seen it put here (sounds like I'm dead), maybe I can offer a slightly different perspective.

are they rude and mean?

People are most mean to me on YouTube because I've chosen to learn SEE first, and they think I should have chosen ASL. Other than that, the most common reaction I get is uncertainty. Nobody seems to know how to treat a deaf person. You can always tell when people are suddenly switching from normal mode to what they've only been trained to do and have never done before mode in work places. They suddenly get really uncomfortable. I feel like telling them to relax. It's not like I'm gonna hit them if they do something wrong.

what is it like to be deaf. is it very scary?

When I first found out I would one day be deaf, the idea was scary to me. However, the process took several years, and I was able to gradually adapt. The most scary point in the process was that one time I turned on one of my favourite songs, and I couldn't hear the little background sounds that I liked so much, and realising I would never hear them again. It wasn't very long after that what remained of my hearing finally slipped away. Being deaf itself isn't scary, but it's just annoying when people are always making noises and asking me if I can hear them. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! STOP ASKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

is it hard to learn sign language?

As I mentioned, I'm in the process of learning SEE, and that's extremely easy. I went from knowing nothing of it to 5th grade level in less than a month, and I don't think I'm gonna be slowing down very much any time soon. I imagine it would be a lot more difficult to learn ASL because I would have to learn a whole new language for that, but since I haven't started that YET, I can't tell you how difficult that would be.

 

[SimplyMints]

as for becoming deaf at later age, i can say it's scary and discomforting because it's a life-changing experience.

Good point. That's right, it is. Deafness itself isn't the scary part, but in very few ways is my life as it was before. It's changing beyond my comprehension. I'm not afraid of not hearing, but I find that I don't even know who I am any more, and that part is scary. As a result of my confusion and uncertainty, even though I thought I was taking it really well, I've been doing a lot of whining and fussing on AD, and I hope I'll eventually stop and everybody will forgive me

 

[Hwy99]

are they rude and mean?

Depends on their patience or knowledge of the deafies, but most of the times they were patient and being nice to me while I request a paper and pen to communicate. Once a worker in a store was rude to me, I could complain or reducing my attend to that store.

what is it like to be deaf. is it very scary?

Very scary? I am not sure what make you think that way, but there is nothing meant to be scary just because of deafness. We just don't hear, that's it, really. Try make a group of hearies to get in a soundproof room and don't make any voice, stay there for couples of hours, maybe play the board games or try write on the paper to communicate, or watch a TV with no sounds except closed captions on, any ways that you will not get any of sounds in that room, then there you will understand what it is like to be deaf.

is it hard to learn sign language?

Nope, anyone can learn it