Hearing person investigating deaf community mental health

When I was in elementary school there was a deaf boy and no one else in my school knew asl, so he didn't have any friends. One of my biggest regrets is not taking a more active role in trying to befriend him but in my childish immaturity I didn't really understand what being deaf actually meant. Now as an adult I've thought a lot about that experience and have worked really hard to try and learn asl on my own by reading books, watching videos, reading articles. I was hoping at this point that someone would be willing to befriend me so I can better understand the language and culture by chatting with me, but after reading these threads I'm nervous to ask anyone to do so. I don't mean anyone harm or offense and I try to celebrate differences, and I certainly wouldn't want deaf and hoh people to feel "driven away". What can I do to help the deaf community feel supported?
 
When I was in elementary school there was a deaf boy and no one else in my school knew asl, so he didn't have any friends. One of my biggest regrets is not taking a more active role in trying to befriend him but in my childish immaturity I didn't really understand what being deaf actually meant. Now as an adult I've thought a lot about that experience and have worked really hard to try and learn asl on my own by reading books, watching videos, reading articles. I was hoping at this point that someone would be willing to befriend me so I can better understand the language and culture by chatting with me, but after reading these threads I'm nervous to ask anyone to do so. I don't mean anyone harm or offense and I try to celebrate differences, and I certainly wouldn't want deaf and hoh people to feel "driven away". What can I do to help the deaf community feel supported?
Just tell us to get in single file and stop being lazy.
 
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