Writing a Deaf Character in my Book...

Crothall

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I was wondering if I could get some advice and tips off of any deaf people here in terms of a character I'm writing who's deaf.
If I list of random facts, perhaps you can tell me if it's believable, factual, or just doesn't sit right.

Her name is Jennifer, she was in a vehicular accident when she was about 5, lost her hearing at that time. (no specifics mentioned)

She comes from a strict and rigid Christian family who treated her disability as more of a curse and soemthing to be ashamed of.

She learned some ASL, but has since left it when she realized she had a knack for reading lips.

Only about 30% of the English language can be lip-read. She basically picks out key words and 'fills in the blanks' to get the jist of your statement.

She can talk, albeit with a slur (is there a better term?).

Here's my biggest question - is it easy for a deaf person to talk in long sentances, or do they tend to keep it to short statements? I have her talking away in some points, and I keep myself (and the reader) reminded of her effort in speaking and understanding, but she tends to talk away at times like anyone else would. Should I have her speaking in shorter sentances?

I'll probably have more questions, but I'll wait to see if anyone has been able to help me out here.

I really appreciate it!

- Jamie Crothall
 
Crothall said:
I was wondering if I could get some advice and tips off of any deaf people here in terms of a character I'm writing who's deaf.
If I list of random facts, perhaps you can tell me if it's believable, factual, or just doesn't sit right.

Her name is Jennifer, she was in a vehicular accident when she was about 5, lost her hearing at that time. (no specifics mentioned)

She comes from a strict and rigid Christian family who treated her disability as more of a curse and soemthing to be ashamed of.

She learned some ASL, but has since left it when she realized she had a knack for reading lips.

Only about 30% of the English language can be lip-read. She basically picks out key words and 'fills in the blanks' to get the jist of your statement.

She can talk, albeit with a slur (is there a better term?).

Here's my biggest question - is it easy for a deaf person to talk in long sentances, or do they tend to keep it to short statements? I have her talking away in some points, and I keep myself (and the reader) reminded of her effort in speaking and understanding, but she tends to talk away at times like anyone else would. Should I have her speaking in shorter sentances?

I'll probably have more questions, but I'll wait to see if anyone has been able to help me out here.

I really appreciate it!

- Jamie Crothall

Wow sounds like a good book in writing!

You asked about talking in long or short sentences. Actually it is more about certain words. I talk in long sentences but I avoid long words because I stumble over it. Thus, I use easier words to pronounce so I could be more understood. In some cases when it is unavoidable, I write the word down on a paper so they would get what I m trying to say.

However you mentioned that your character lost her hearing at age 5 so that means she has a good grasp of language skills unlike me who was born deaf at birth and have no recollections of sounds. She is what you call "post lingually" deaf so that is different from being " pre lingually deaf" like me for instance.

To make your character more believable, I would suggest that you focus on what words she uses in her sentences, than the length of it.

Hope this makes sense!
 
Snazzy!
Thanks!
So I should have her avoid using big words, or at least have some trouble on them?
Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it.
I'll likely be checking in for other responses and with more questions of my own.

Actually, I have a question which may seem odd, perhaps a tad invasive.
Does anyone here have a mic and the ability to record sounds, such as your voice?
I mean, if I give you some text to read and record, I might be able to writer her dialogue better with that audible reference.

.......anyone?

*politely smiles*
 
If she has a "knack" for reading lips, well, that sounds fine, but reading lips is not an easy task even for the most expert. I do not read lips very well, and I too can only speak short, easy-to-pronounce words (and even so, I hardly speak at all because I'm too embarrassed to use my voice anyway). I'm also aware that many people have a way of speaking in their own dialect that may be a bit confusing for a deaf person trying to figure out what he was talking about. For example, if a deaf (or HOH in this case) person were to meet another person from a foreign country (and even if the foreigner could speak fairly good English), it may not be easy to follow his way of speaking if he is speaking with an accent or the way he mouths each word or his favorite use of idiom or slang or even sprinkle his speech with his favorite foreign words! And it depends if the hearing people is speaking really fast. Now that is VERY difficult to read their lips at all! :O

Well, it is how I see it. Just thought I'd throw in two cents, lol. :)
 
Well thank you for not recommending my book before it's even finished being written.
I understand your points, just not the vigor through which you relayed them.
While I'm always open to critique, I feel the need to defend myself on two points;

1) Her disability is NOT the focus of the story. I don't know enough, obviously, to make it the focus. I just want to have this one character believable.

2) Miracle cure? Come on now. More respect, please! :p

I am open to better suggestions to the cause of her deafness (is that a word) other than 'car crash'. I don't really go into the cause, I just had to mention SOMETHING at one point.

Gotta jet, daughter wants to go outside.
I'll post more later, as previously promised.
 
Crothall said:
I was wondering if I could get some advice and tips off of any deaf people here in terms of a character I'm writing who's deaf.
If I list of random facts, perhaps you can tell me if it's believable, factual, or just doesn't sit right.

Her name is Jennifer, she was in a vehicular accident when she was about 5, lost her hearing at that time. (no specifics mentioned)

She comes from a strict and rigid Christian family who treated her disability as more of a curse and soemthing to be ashamed of.

She learned some ASL, but has since left it when she realized she had a knack for reading lips.

Only about 30% of the English language can be lip-read. She basically picks out key words and 'fills in the blanks' to get the jist of your statement.

She can talk, albeit with a slur (is there a better term?).

Here's my biggest question - is it easy for a deaf person to talk in long sentances, or do they tend to keep it to short statements? I have her talking away in some points, and I keep myself (and the reader) reminded of her effort in speaking and understanding, but she tends to talk away at times like anyone else would. Should I have her speaking in shorter sentances?

I'll probably have more questions, but I'll wait to see if anyone has been able to help me out here.

I really appreciate it!

- Jamie Crothall


:jaw:.. are you sure its not about me?
hehe.. :)
 
I agree with Librarian, why cast a light of negativity upon the deaf character? For example, she abandoned ASL when she had a knack for reading lips. It sounds like an implication that reading lips is better than ASL. The truth is that if she will not be able to have many hearing friends, because it will be difficult for her to socialise with many hearing people by just reading lips. And that fact that she abandoned ASL will mean that she wouldnt have many (probably none) deaf friends. I think its a recipe for isolation.

As for the "slur", we do not say "slur" but rather "deaf accent." Some of us are mistaken as foreigners cos of the way we speak. Yes, a deaf person will speak differently than a hearing person, because some words are just hard to say. For example, today I was telling my boyfriend something then had a hard time saying a specific word, so I reworded it. My problem is that I sometimes add a sylable here and there. It doesn't matter about the length of the sentences. Sometimes its better to say longer sentence, rather than trying to say a complicated word.

Let me go back to my first paragraph- a lot of "D"eaf people view themselves as normal. They accept their disability with pride and do not view themselves as having the need to be able to hear. That is what the librarian means, when she felt that it gave an air of negativity reading what you wrote.
 
One more thing...will "Jennifier" be the main character, or will she be just a minor character who appears only for a few pages? :confused:
 
Kay, a few things to help clear up, and by the way I do appreciate all the replies.

MsGiglz....what do you mean? Does this character sound like you?

Jennifer is one of the five 'main' characters who shares what I guess you could call "equal time in the spotlight".

I'm not trying to cast her disability in a negative light, rather I'm showing how SHE casts it in a negative light - something that ruins her life - when in truth she makes it harder than it has to be. She thinks of herself as a reject, someone no one would want, when in truth men do find her attractive - she ends up pushing them away. This is a result of parents who were ashamed of her disability and tried to hide it. They felt that ASL only brought attention to herself, or rather THEMselves. Her life isn't easy, but it's her own self-conscious that makes it a prison, like solitary confinement.

The whole story kinda focuses on five characters, each with their own issues that, for the most part, are things they do to themselves. They are all separate, but end up interacting with each other durng the course of the story.

Yeah.
So.
Keep them comments coming.
Cheers, all.
 
Jamie,

Go for it!

My parent did everyting they could to get me in the hearing world. My 4-6 grade teacher forbid me to use my hand at all. I spent 12 year in speech training to lip read. Only time I sign was when I went to the deaf college.

As far as having a knack in lipreading, My wife, who was deaf at birth, started learning lip reading at 2 1/2. Her parent sent for info how raise a deaf child and they sent a lipreading bookets. Both of us were born around the time that we could be classified as mental retarded in the early 60's that might give the reason to think who would be treat disability as more of a curse and something to be ashamed of (yes a docter said my wife was a retard at 2 and friend's mother beat up a doc for telling her that her son was a mental retard)

As far as accident goes - i dont know about it. Maybe a high fever would look more likly make the parent to think of God curse (i know someone who went deaf at 17)(but as a true christian wont think of it curse today but in the 60's who knows)

As far as becoming deaf at 5, try interviewing 5 year olds for how much they have grasp in the speaking language. The person i know who went deaf at 17 now speak in some kind of mono tone voice with little variation(sp) in the tone of the voice because she cant hear what she is saying. Also in my experience, many deaf and hearing impaired will speak in simple, easy to say words which sometime make look like they have low education level of communication but are one of the smartest people are in other area of life.

As far as the critical response above, use it to make the story plot more believable and interesting by showing how she attempt to overcome or in the process of overcoming the disablity. Do a little research on deaf people on the job and look at what had to do to get there. And research on any physical reality to make the story blievable.

Hope these suggestion help to move more on your thinking plan of the book.

bill
webArtist
 
Actually, car accidents can cause deafness. Believe it or not.
 
why dont u guys put a list of whatt cause deafness other than illnesses at age 5?

and add at least one barriar that a deaf person had to face and how they overcome the barriar

(try to be creative) it might help him understand how it truly work?
 
I go to school with a girl whose nephew went deaf at age 3 due to a high fever. My own niece had several severe ear infections and now has fluid built up in her ears. She has so much that she cannot hear and her doctor said that if they are unable to correct it soon, the buildup can cause damage to her eardrums and inner ears, causing permanent deafness or hardness of hearing (I don't know if those are real words either, Crothall. Also, I don't know the specifics of my niece's problems, so you'd probably want to do your own research as to the causes of deafness.)
 
car accidents can cause deafness.
Yes, I. King Jordan went deaf b/c of a car accident.
Oh, and DON"T FORGET......don't use the word hearing impaired to describe the charecter...I hate it when hearing people use that term. Use the term deaf or hoh. Impaired makes it sound like we're broken. Also don't make this a pity party " Oh the poor little deaf girl...she can't hear" Show that we deafies can live rich full satisfying lives and we can ADAPT to being disabled, and that being dhh is just as good as being hearing!
 
car accidents can cause deafness.
Yes, I. King Jordan went deaf b/c of a car accident.
Oh, and DON"T FORGET......don't use the word hearing impaired to describe the charecter...I hate it when hearing people use that term. Use the term deaf or hoh. Impaired makes it sound like we're broken. Also don't make this a pity party " Oh the poor little deaf girl...she can't hear" Show that we deafies can live rich full satisfying lives and we can ADAPT to being disabled, and that being dhh is just as good as being hearing!
 
car accidents can cause deafness.
Yes, I. King Jordan went deaf b/c of a car accident.
Oh, and DON"T FORGET......don't use the word hearing impaired to describe the charecter...I hate it when hearing people use that term. Use the term deaf or hoh. Impaired makes it sound like we're broken. Also don't make this a pity party " Oh the poor little deaf girl...she can't hear" Show that we deafies can live rich full satisfying lives and we can ADAPT to being disabled, and that being dhh is just as good as being hearing!
 
Jordan went deaf in a motorcycle accident....
 
I find this topic fascinating. I am a lifelong reader and jelous of those who are able to create believable charactors. I have begun writing a book myself, working on it off and on.

I am late deafened, therefore post lingual. My language skills were well developed by five and I could read so started the first grade then. I used words too big for my own age group, and even for some of the kids two years older than me. The idea of studying the language development of hearing five year olds sounds logical to me. I would think that even if she learned more complicated words later in life, they would be difficult to pronounce and vocalize understandably. I may be wrong about this, as I have known some people who were born without their hearing who spoke better than a lot of hearing people. They worked harder to properly pronounce words.

The conflict with a hearing family is a very interesting and realistic angle to play on. Their misguided perceptions of how intellegent she is and how much she comprehends her world around her. I would think that you have a very real chance to educate hearing readers on the reality of hearing loss, and the ingenious "work arounds" and adaptations that even children with hearing loss are capable of. You have a chance to inform the public too on the correct way to refer to and communicate with the HOH and deaf.

There are so many ways a person can loose their hearing that it boggles the mind. Genetic disorders (families feel guilt and denial here), high fevers, prolonged or untreated infections, accidents, the list goes on and on. My own cause is partly genetic nerve deafness and mechanical (explosives, jackhammers, etc.).

IMHO, while the girl is not THE main character in your book, you can use her virtues to contrast with the other characters failings, both in dealing with her and with the way they view life.

But That is just my opinion as a prospective reader and a very recent newcomer to the deaf culture. My opinion may be way out in left field and offensive to some. :Oops:
 


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