Can *all* deaf people read and write?

Excellent guys. Thanks for clearing things up.

I really am here to learn, so if I say anything wrong again, please don't be offended and just let me know that what i've asked or said is offensive.

With the exception of you guys, I don't know anyone who is Deaf and I really don't know anything. I'm sure there are millions, if not billions, of people like me and I hope that I can do something to get other people like me more aware, give them a better understanding and try to reduce (or git rid of) the isolation.
 
Not all hearing people can read and write. Illiteracy is a huge problem in our country, no matter the person's hearing status. If all of the majority population cannot read and write, you certainly can't expect that all of any of the minority populations will have been able to achieve literacy, as their educational oppportunities are less than those provided for the majority.
 
Yes, A deaf and hoh can read and write just as good as hearing people can. Everybody educations is different on some level. :)
 
I just took his question the wrong way. no hard feelings.
 
Yea we (the deaf and hoh) can read and write as good as a hearing person. Someone said that it depends on the upbringing, education, etc. I agree with that but I've noticed that some deaf people who grew up in a strong ASL environment ended up not having great communication skills. That's because ASL is a totally different structure than English and it's hard for them to translate from ASL to English. Not everyone is like this but some are.
 
Thanks for clearing things up.

BelleSorisa... you said...
but I've noticed that some deaf people who grew up in a strong ASL environment ended up not having great communication skills. That's because ASL is a totally different structure than English and it's hard for them to translate from ASL to English.
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That's the kind of thing which I was after. Do you know if there are any statistics on this and where I could find them.
 
Nice!!! :D Love your avatar, 1/2way man!

If anyone tries to tell you that "all" of this or that is true, then it is automatically a lie because there is always an exception to the rule. I'm Deaf myself, and in the Deaf culture, there is a significance to the use of the captialization of the letter D - it denotes a pride of the culture that we are a part of. If you see someone using a little d - as in, deaf - then it's more of a medical/pathological point of view, as in stating a hearing loss but not a part of the culture. (not all though)

HI! :D I've had people ask me if I could read and write. I remember when I was about 9, an old woman gave me a magazine full of pictures because she thought I couldn't read. The fact I had a 3 inch thick book with me apparently escaped her notice...


Someone said earlier that those with ASL communication don't usually have the skills to write in English because it's difficult to translate from one to another is partly right. We (my class) actually studied this last semester. What we found out is that the teachers - usually hearing and who learned signs in college/school - will give a very quick translation in English without details.

Let me explain: If a child asks "Teacher, how do I sign this? (signs a car driving manically around twists and turns in the road, and nearly smashes into a tree)" The teacher will say, 9 times out of 10, "The car's driving fast and it almost hits a tree." What happens is the student never learns to make that connection - that English *can* be as descriptive as ASL, and they end up writing the way they have been taught. I was fortunate that my love of reading taught me what I needed to know about writing.
 
i can understand what you are trying to understand us... my most pet peeve was some hearies were shocked..."Deaf can drive a car".. my reply to hearie Can you drive a car BLINDFOLDED?? they realize we use eyes more than hearies...

Many hearies had asked me few stupid questions..OFC i was offended.. What hell was i doing in here.... most of us are well educated and even graduated from colleges... I am glad i see some AD'ers were so nice to you...
 
There's no hard and fast rule. I know some strong ASL users who have excellent English reading and writing skills, and I also know some signed English users who have minimal English reading and writing skills. Some of the signed English users don't use conceptually correct signed English either.

I've also seen hearing English teachers with poor English grammar, who can't spell, and frequently mispronounce words.
 
I don't take offense at any of the questions. :) I understand there's so many misconceptions - I just think it's funny. Here's a classic: I get asked if I'm "death".... it's amazing how close "death" sounds to "deaf". My mom told me when she was young she thought the state school for the deaf was a school for dead kids! :laugh2:

Edited to add: Reba, too true! When I was working (before going back to school) my co-workers could always count on me to walk around loudly pointing out all the errors in the memos we were given by our supervisors. I always mocked the fact that I, a working peon, had better literacy and writing skills than the idiot above me.
 
DragonYoga said:
I don't take offense at any of the questions. :) I understand there's so many misconceptions - I just think it's funny. Here's a classic: I get asked if I'm "death".... it's amazing how close "death" sounds to "deaf". My mom told me when she was young she thought the state school for the deaf was a school for dead kids! :laugh2:

QUOTE]


LOL I actually have a shirt that says "I'm Deaf, Death is the guy with the hood and the scythe."
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Deaf people who grow up with no or limited access to language (i.e. their parents never learn to sign, nor do they provide English instruction via Cued Speech or other methods) have a very tough time learning to read and write. There is a higher incidence of illiteracy among deaf people for this reason.

However, if you put a hearing person in this position, it would be the same story. The issue is not deaf or hearing, but rather what kind of language development a child experiences. It's simply a sad fact that many more deaf children are deprived of language during the critical period than hearing children.

I teach English writing and grammar to underprepared deaf college students and there is a definite correlation between the ability of my students to assimilate new information into their writing and how much language exposure they had as kids.
 
"I'm here to learn, so please be gentle!"

I'm sure most here will meet you halfway on that request, yet gentleness is a two-way street. Courteous adults don't ask any question off the tops of their heads without thinking them over and considering consequences.

I don't blame Pepsi for taking a bit of offense. Some people blurt some really inappropriate questions.

A little thought before asking would have told you the inability to read and write cuts across all classes of people. Perhaps a gentler query may have been something like: "Is deafness a barrier to learning to read and write? If so, how do you overcome it?"
 
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