Deaf, but New to the Deaf Community.

[Whiskerberry]

Hello. I'm 25, I was born deaf into a hearing family who equipped me with hearing aids and spoken language. I didn't meet another deaf person until my son was born. I started learning ASL when I was about 18. I had to wait because my parents forbid it in their household. I'm still learning because I didn't have many resources when I first started. I've have moved out of state away from my family and have beeing diving into the Deaf culture. I still have a lot of questions since I've been trying to do personal projects within the community.

My projects correlate around interest and professions that I have taken up and have found that don't have much accessibility for ASL. An example is that I'm a museum studies and Art history major. I have a hard time keeping up in class because many terms, and (literally) every name of the artist in our past, to modern-day have very complex and long names and are usually french/ Italian based. I have started making name signs for rather popular artist such as Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci (to only name a few.) So that I and my interpreters can better stay up to speed during class.

My other project is revolved around Dungeons and Dragons. this one is especially more difficult for me to keep up during. Since the terms are much more complex than even art history. I haven't been able to find much information or advice on how to start or continue these kinds of projects, so I'm hoping I can get more advice here. I have generally started making small videos for some terms to better help myself stay organized, but that is about all.

This is a long introduction, but I have SO MUCH on my mind ^-^

 

[smidgentigre]

Hi,
im sorry your parents forbid using sign language at their house. I am the one going deaf in my house. 3 of us are taking a beginning ASL class next month. (My daughter, 17, hates to participate in anything remotely related to any disability. She has many herself, fetal alcohol syndrome, adhd, ptsd, anxiety, thyroid disease, etc.) our son is interested to learn it so he can talk across rooms!

I became single sided deaf in 2009. I had an acoustic neuroma, a slow growing inner ear tumor. I needed inner ear/brain surgery to remove it. My other ear is losing hearing because it runs in the females of the family. My mom needed hearing aids when she was 7. That was back in 1940! As her ears got worse, she refused to wear her hearing aids. My aunt, my mom’s sister, didn’t need aids till her 30s. She kept up with technology & is still active at 92. I decided to be like my aunt, staying up with technology but also showing off my hearing aid with charms and learning ASL. I want to be able to talk to any people, hearing, deaf or in between!

are you teaching your son ASL? I can imagine all those long names in the history of art must really need some good nicknames! LOL! Do you ever use a speech to text app? I’m just curious.

well, welcome! I’m new here too.