Mute and learning ASL

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Hi! I've been all over the internet looking for a place where I can connect with other adults who cannot speak. Since there isn't much of a community for mute adults I thought I'd try a deaf forum since we seem to run into similar situations and difficulties.

Is anyone else here mute? I was in an accident that left me unable to speak but I can still use my vocal chords to make noises to express feelings by humming in different tones. I whistle to get people's attention which, until they find out that I cannot speak, sometimes annoys people. I also whistle to control my dogs, one of whom is specially trained to respond to different kinds of whistles for different actions that I need her to perform.

I've also read that a portion of the deaf community does not like mutes because they believe that we are misrepresenting the deaf. I can't understand why this would be an issue but, if you are "against" mutes, please do not contact me about how I *should* be able to speak. I just simply cannot change what has happened.

I look forward to joining in conversations and making new friends :)

--Soul
 
Soulvei said:
Hi! I've been all over the internet looking for a place where I can connect with other adults who cannot speak. Since there isn't much of a community for mute adults I thought I'd try a deaf forum since we seem to run into similar situations and difficulties.

Is anyone else here mute? I was in an accident that left me unable to speak but I can still use my vocal chords to make noises to express feelings by humming in different tones. I whistle to get people's attention which, until they find out that I cannot speak, sometimes annoys people. I also whistle to control my dogs, one of whom is specially trained to respond to different kinds of whistles for different actions that I need her to perform.

I've also read that a portion of the deaf community does not like mutes because they believe that we are misrepresenting the deaf. I can't understand why this would be an issue but, if you are "against" mutes, please do not contact me about how I *should* be able to speak. I just simply cannot change what has happened.

I look forward to joining in conversations and making new friends :)

--Soul
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I have a text to speech app on my iPad . I type, it speaks what I say.

It seems that would be even more useful if you can hear what the other person is saying, but it even works great for things like restaurant ordering for me, although I am deaf.
 
Bottesini said:
I have a text to speech app on my iPad . I type, it speaks what I say.

It seems that would be even more useful if you can hear what the other person is saying, but it even works great for things like restaurant ordering for me, although I am deaf.
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Those TTS apps are great! Do you have any specific recommendations of which one you like best? There are lots of them out there... I use an Android device so it has to be through the Play Store.

--Soul
 
Soulvei said:
Those TTS apps are great! Do you have any specific recommendations of which one you like best? There are lots of them out there... I use an Android device so it has to be through the Play Store.

--Soul
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No, I don't have an Android based app, sorry.
 
I only know of one- Verbatim. It seems to work well for text to speech I think. I don't know of any other Android apps but looking in Google Play there seems to be a lot of them including Dragon Dictator and Google's text to speech.
 
DeafDucky said:
I only know of one- Verbatim. It seems to work well for text to speech I think. I don't know of any other Android apps but looking in Google Play there seems to be a lot of them including Dragon Dictator and Google's text to speech.
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There are a TONNE of them! It's nuts! :eek: But I hadn't checked out Verbatim. I'll definitely give that one a look! Sifting through apps used to be so easy... now they just make me feel really old LOL I just want one that has a sexy British accent. The Google TTS is really... ugh... she sounds so bland. Even a Valley Girl accent would be preferable to that horrid droning sound the female voice makes.
 
I think you can download other 'voices'- I did that for googlemaps as some voices were hard to understand... seems the British female was better than the American (or was that the other way around...I can't tell anymore :hmm: ).

I would have to go back and figure out how I got them as it was a while ago. I don't know if you can pick other sound/voice files for text to speech apps or not though.
 
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DeafDucky said:
I think you can download other 'voices'- I did that for googlemaps as some voices were hard to understand... seems the British female was better than the American (or was that the other way around...I can't tell anymore :hmm: ).

I would have to go back and figure out how I got them as it was a while ago. I don't know if you can pick other sound/voice files for text to speech apps or not though.
Click to expand...

I used an app called Acapela TTS Voices to find a nice speaking voice because Verbatim, at least on my version of the Play Store, was a file beaming app. I downloaded a soft British accent and another with an American accent that was a lot less jarring than the one that comes with Google's TTS app. The only downside was that each adult voice was 4 quid :confused: So I spent 8 quid on two voices. I don't mind paying for a more pleasant speaking voice. The odd thing was that it was 12 GBP for the children's voices. I felt like that was kind of... exploiting the market. I know a kid doesn't want to sound old but 12 quid seemed pretty steepo_O especially since you can make the kid's voice sound more adult by messing with the pitch in the TTS app.

--Soul
 
Ouch! really? I think mine were free- don't recall paying anything. That may have changed since it was a while (at least a year as I got my phone in Dec 2014).
 
DeafDucky said:
Ouch! really? I think mine were free- don't recall paying anything. That may have changed since it was a while (at least a year as I got my phone in Dec 2014).
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It's no biggie. I got ninety-nine problems but money ain't one.
 
Soulvei said:
Hi! I've been all over the internet looking for a place where I can connect with other adults who cannot speak. Since there isn't much of a community for mute adults



--Soul
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That's b/c most "nonverbal" adults are those who are "euphanism" nonverbal. Meaning they are nonverbal b/c they are at a low functioning level. There are some nonspeaking adults, but those are kind of rare.
 
deafdyke said:
That's b/c most "nonverbal" adults are those who are "euphanism" nonverbal. Meaning they are nonverbal b/c they are at a low functioning level. There are some nonspeaking adults, but those are kind of rare.
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Well that's... really demeaning. Geez, dude, you might as well call me 'dumb', the old word for 'mute'. I am a highly functioning adult who is active in her community, owns a very successful hedgehog breeding business, owns several houses that I rent to others in a market where the average home is valued at $700k (I'm located in SoCal and in a beach community), I read at least 4 novels each month (that is not counting the graphic novels I read because, while they are now considered a respectable form of literature, they take only an hour or two to plow through), I started kidergarten when I was four years old because I was intelligent enough to skip a year of pre-school, I fought against over 2k other girls for my place in 200 admission slots at a prestigious all-girls catholic school and entered with honors... blah blah blah. I'm also a three time college drop out, I hire someone to clean my house because I hate doing it, I have a book-buying addiction (I hit up Barnes and Nobel once a week-- it's pretty bad lol), and I used to steal things because I was mad at the world for my 'disability'. Nobody is perfect. Everyone has a story. Think about that before posting "facts".

--Soulvei, a high functioning mute adult
 
deafdyke said:
That's b/c most "nonverbal" adults are those who are "euphanism" nonverbal. Meaning they are nonverbal b/c they are at a low functioning level. There are some nonspeaking adults, but those are kind of rare.
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Ugh.. I kinda went a little nuts on you there. I see what you're trying to say, you just said it in a way that was inflammatory. When I was researching this condition I found that it is mostly seen as a child's illness. While there are mute adults because of acute or long-standing stress disorders, accidents (in my case), or botched medical procedures, there really *aren't* a lot of us. It's a bit frustrating to feel so alone.

--Soul
 
:) Soulvei I think I understand what you mean about feeling alone. I do speak but spoke very late<one sign of what was to be learning disabilities; undiagnosed until college> as a child and used gestures at that time instead.

I also enjoy books and am currently reading The Gilded Hour <among others>.

I'm hoh and sign a very small amount.
 
Soulvei said:
Well that's... really demeaning. Geez, dude, you might as well call me 'dumb', the old word for 'mute'. I am a highly functioning adult who is active in her community, owns a very successful hedgehog breeding business, owns several houses that I rent to others in a market where the average home is valued at $700k (I'm located in SoCal and in a beach community), I read at least 4 novels each month (that is not counting the graphic novels I read because, while they are now considered a respectable form of literature, they take only an hour or two to plow through), I started kidergarten when I was four years old because I was intelligent enough to skip a year of pre-school, I fought against over 2k other girls for my place in 200 admission slots at a prestigious all-girls catholic school and entered with honors... blah blah blah. I'm also a three time college drop out, I hire someone to clean my house because I hate doing it, I have a book-buying addiction (I hit up Barnes and Nobel once a week-- it's pretty bad lol), and I used to steal things because I was mad at the world for my 'disability'. Nobody is perfect. Everyone has a story. Think about that before posting "facts".

--Soulvei, a high functioning mute adult
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Everyone does have a story, and as you get to know us, you will find most of us have dramatic ones. The poster who upsets you has a syndrome where most of the people who have it are lo functioning non verbal, so she has seen a lot.

I have one grandchild who has apraxia, which is common in deaf families, and she is delayed. DDvdidnt mean anything demeaning, she was just telling you a fact.
 
Bottesini said:
Everyone does have a story, and as you get to know us, you will find most of us have dramatic ones. The poster who upsets you has a syndrome where most of the people who have it are lo functioning non verbal, so she has seen a lot.

I have one grandchild who has apraxia, which is common in deaf families, and she is delayed. DD didnt mean anything demeaning, she was just telling you a fact.
Click to expand...

But still it would be nice if DD would ever tell us the source for the pronouncements she makes about different conditions etc. I often wonder why we should consider her an authority on the things she declares as facts.
 
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