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Ask a deaf guy anything

I have profound hearing loss but mine happened quite suddenly in my late 30's when I came down with the same thing Dana White has, Meniere's Disease. I don't know sign language yet but have inquired about taking courses on it. Problem with that is I have nobody to practice with and I'm not part of the deaf community.
Losing the ability to enjoy music sucks b out it would have been worse if this happened in my teens or early 20's. Stupid things annoy me like no hearing the toast pop or going to movies. Television sucks too, the subtitles are never in sync. I usually end up downloading the shows I watch from torrent sites and then going to subscene.com for subs.
Can't really say much more other than it can be an isolating condition but I'd rather lose my hearing than my vision.
 

You're quite welcome!



Are you immune to women nagging because you are deaf?
Lol nope. They will find a way!


Describe your inner monologue....

When you think about stuff in your head, is it a pair of hands signing or letters forming words?

For instance, when I think the words writing right now, I'm thinking them as I would speak them. Do you think words how you would sign them or right them?

I usually try to imagine sitting across from the person or people and knowing what they are saying, but would try to imagine how they would gesture, their face expression, and other things as they are talking.


people who weren't born deaf can hear their thoughts in the voice they remember having, and maybe with other voices they've heard. i know you wouldn't be able to recall sounds and mimic them in your head, but is it possible for a deaf person to create a noise from a blank slate?

For me... Since I'm good at picking vibrate up. I sorta of have a rough idea of what certain noise must sound like and stuff like that.
Best example would be, put a blind fold on and try to feel the object. You will have a idea of what it probably would look like but you won't know exactly how it look until you take the blind fold off and look at it.


My mom is deaf and when she is thinking aloud she signs to herself. But in a real inconspicuous way, its hard to explain. But when I was a kid I would always see her her right hand signing on the shifter while she was driving.

Yeah some deaf person do that. Sometime if I'm pondering, my hand would shift or move as I'm thinking but nothing that would stand out to others.


Aren't there certain words you don't use when you sign? Like "the" for instance?

Also, isn't there an implant you can get that will allow you to hear?

Yes there are certain words. For example words like "is", "the", "a", and so don't exist in sign language. Also some words are so rarely used or modern that it don't even really have a sign such as route and others I cannot think of. To make thing even more complicate, some signs are use for more than one words so you have to know what the signer is talking about to be able to tell the difference. Also some words in English use same words for more than one thing, in signing, sometime we use same sign for same words sometime we use different sign.
That's one main reason many people who try to learn how to sign get really confused. In fact first thing that is drilled in their head by sign language teacher is that American Sign Language is a whole different language of its own and is not related to English in any manner or any way. The sooner people accept that, the faster they can learn sign language.

As for implant, yes there is and it have improve greatly in last few years. However it really depends on individual. I've know some who have great success with it and is almost at point where they don't even sign any more while it don't do a thing for others.

They still have to learn to read. Think about how much of learning to read involved hearing for you. The teacher would give you instructions and corrections that you could hear and apply. People are able to talk before they read. Now imagine having no means of communication with somebody who is teaching you to read. Sure they may be able to sign, but to what extent. They still need to know how to sign for the instructor to teach them to read, and the signing is basically like learning to read on it's own.

Exactly! Thanks.


Is sign language all the same or is spanish sign language different then american.

Also can deaf people be schizophrenic, I imagine they cant hear voices in there head because they cant hear, but I could be wrong.

There are different sign languages. America doesn't use English signing at all, American Sign Language is similar to French sign language, so it is much more close related to French language than English.
Also just to get this out of the way, nope, I cannot understand any other sign language beside American Sign Language.

AS for schizophrenic, honestly I don't know... I have never knew of any deaf person who have it.


Also I have deaf neighbors and I work with a deaf guy who Ive seen flinch when I slam a pallet on the floor buy him, Is that because of the vibration?

Yes he flinch because he wasn't expecting it and when he felt the vibrate, he wasn't sure if something fell or if it was done on purpose.
Similar to how people would flinch if they hear a firearm going off.


can you hear in your dreams?

In my dream, I seems to be able to hear. For example if person is talking to me, I can understand them but cannot hear them.


how do you visualize words in your mind? when i read text i pronounce it in my mind, and i think everyone has a voice they think with, as illustrated by thought bubbles in cartoons. how would your thought bubble look like? i assume you are able to vaguely reproduce these sounds, so you have some understanding of the association between speech and written words. i always have a hard time imagining this.

Already covered that above. Hope that answer your question. Let me know if you want anything cleared up.


you mentioned you fight. how do you communicate with the ref when the fight has to be stopped (end of rounds, opponent taps)?

The ref are told ahead of time and they often would meet with me and my coach beforehand to go over any question they may have. Then during fight, the ref are very hand on and use lot more big gestures and stuff. Never really had a problem, only time I really had a problem was when I swept a guy in clinch and the ref called me on it. I don't quite understand why though.


Why do deaf people don't like books?

Because lot of them have very poor reading skill. Many cannot read or write beyond maybe 5th or 6th grade level, many even lower. Big percentage of them cannot even read at third grade level.
So in the end, lot of them just don't have the skill to read.
Personally I don't have tv but have tons of books... *shrug*

Why haven't my questions been answered yet?

I apologize, I must have missed it. Can you repost please? I will make sure to answer it.

Btw it is really weird that your cousin didnt know the vacuum was turned on. Thought she'd have been able to feel it running.

Day-to-day, what is the most frustrating thing about being deaf? Is there some routine task that most of us take for granted that ends up being a real pain in the ass for you (other than using the phone, of course)?

Tell us something that the average person would be most surprised to know about being deaf.

Meeting people! It is incredibly frustrating! It is extremely difficult to make friend, get a date, get a job, and all sort of things. People often end up acting really awkward and question everything. It suck!!! To make it worse, I try to get out of house as much as possible. But I often would try to decide if I want to try and make myself invisible just to avoid awkward situation with people or if I want to try look more approachable than others in hope people would at least make some effort to carry out conversation with me.

Something average person would be most surprised to know about being deaf? Hm... Tough one... Probably that even though USA have a incredibly strict ADA law, it is absolutely worthless in most case. Out of all countries in the world, it is Europe that treat deaf people the best.
Also other thing, deaf community are extremely close knitted and everybody know each other so it is pretty much like being part of a small city. So they most likely know of almost all deaf people who live in their area. However there are few deaf people that pretty much distant themselves from the deaf community for various reasons.


This got me thinking: what is the proper, most polite, or correct way to communicate with a deaf person? Obviously if they're my friend I would take up sign language, but what if its somebody I'm meeting for the first time? Would they be able to lip read well enough? Would it be rude to communicate with pen and paper?

Paper and pen is the best way to go. Also you can use your phone to communicate via typing in stuff. Some can read lips well but this really depend on the person. For me... I cannot read lips that well at all, so paper and pen would be the best way to go.


Thanks again for sharing stuff and inputs!

Sherdog is giving me a hard time right now, so I'm gonna put this in and try to get back to it.
 
Meeting people! It is incredibly frustrating! It is extremely difficult to make friend, get a date, get a job, and all sort of things. People often end up acting really awkward and question everything. It suck!!! To make it worse, I try to get out of house as much as possible. But I often would try to decide if I want to try and make myself invisible just to avoid awkward situation with people or if I want to try look more approachable than others in hope people would at least make some effort to carry out conversation with me.

Something average person would be most surprised to know about being deaf? Hm... Tough one... Probably that even though USA have a incredibly strict ADA law, it is absolutely worthless in most case. Out of all countries in the world, it is Europe that treat deaf people the best.
Also other thing, deaf community are extremely close knitted and everybody know each other so it is pretty much like being part of a small city. So they most likely know of almost all deaf people who live in their area. However there are few deaf people that pretty much distant themselves from the deaf community for various reasons.

Thanks - that was my 3rd question.
 
Wow...my younger brother had spinal meningitis when he was two also...scary shit. The doctors told my mom that he would probably be deaf. His eye ended up swelling up so bad it looked like it was hanging off his head.

Yeah it is a awful disease. Glad he made it through. It can really mess people up badly.


I have profound hearing loss but mine happened quite suddenly in my late 30's when I came down with the same thing Dana White has, Meniere's Disease. I don't know sign language yet but have inquired about taking courses on it. Problem with that is I have nobody to practice with and I'm not part of the deaf community.
Losing the ability to enjoy music sucks b out it would have been worse if this happened in my teens or early 20's. Stupid things annoy me like no hearing the toast pop or going to movies. Television sucks too, the subtitles are never in sync. I usually end up downloading the shows I watch from torrent sites and then going to subscene.com for subs.
Can't really say much more other than it can be an isolating condition but I'd rather lose my hearing than my vision.

Can't imagine how much it must suck to lose your hearing quickly. Yeah it is incredibly difficult to learn sign language if you're not any part of deaf community. However you need to decide why you want to learn sign language. It can be worth the time and trouble or it can be worthless. It really depend on your intention.
It is interesting how it has affected you. I never knew that small thing could be so annoying. However the movie is a big problem! But good news is... they are starting to coming out with goggles that the theater can loan so you can see the subtitle on movie.
Thanks for the suggestion on subtitle. Will have to check it out sometime.
Yes being deaf could be a very isolating condition at a time. But I definitely agree it is better than losing your vision!
 
Do you get a lot of pussy?

God I hope so, because the best part of that is you don't have to listen to them bitch and moan when you aren't all up in it.
 
Because lot of them have very poor reading skill. Many cannot read or write beyond maybe 5th or 6th grade level, many even lower. Big percentage of them cannot even read at third grade level.
So in the end, lot of them just don't have the skill to read.
Personally I don't have tv but have tons of books... *shrug*
I can not wrap my head around that. I've always assumed deaf people were voracious readers because they dont have music or tv [unless closed captioned, but then they're reading too]. The written word seems like it'd be the most convenient medium for the deaf.
 
Do you sleep in the dark? I think I'd be terrified of the dark if I was deaf.
 
Social actions. What are your typical responses from hearing people? Are they nice, awkward, etc. Any examples. Also what can hearing people do to make social interactions more pleasant other than learning sign language?
 
You are very inspirational with you honest answers and your thread is one of the best I have read in the 5 years I have been around this site. I have learned more about the hearing impaired than I ever did reading books on them and hopefully you stick around here for a while!
 
Lol, was joking on the "why haven't you answered my questions" but here's the repost.

Are you completely deaf, can you hear some things?

Can you read lips?

Do you ever wonder what music is like?

When did you go deaf?
 
Well I have had some pretty bad ear problems. Reconstructive surgery on my eardrums a few times. I have been lucky enough to still have "ok" hearing. In noisy restaurants and bars I can't really hear much which has made me learn to read lips. I have recently made friends with someone who has been deaf from a really young age. He has hearing aides so he can hear some stuff. He does have the deaf "accent".

I guess my question is, I have been trying to learn ASL because I think I may need it at some point and my friend who knows it won't sign with me. He has said he doesn't want to because he can hear. But he he like won't even teach me certain signs or anything as if he is embarassed. Should I just leave him alone about it?
 
Also is there regional slang in sign language or does every keep it uniform across the board?
 
Social actions. What are your typical responses from hearing people? Are they nice, awkward, etc. Any examples. Also what can hearing people do to make social interactions more pleasant other than learning sign language?

In USA, it variety. Some quickly get it down and are pretty cool. Some just never get it no matter what and keep try to yell at top of their lungs or whatever. Most people are rather awkward and uneasy around me but will make some effort to communicate with me. Honestly I think lot of them think I'm a retard, slow, or something.

In Europe, they pick it up right away and treat me pretty much normal.

Best thing people can do is, if you see someone ask for paper and pen, hand you a paper and pen, or phone, read it and if they are communicating, communicate in the same way. Also treat them normal. They have their own personality, life, story, interest, and on and on. So it isn't like they just step out of a asylum or day care.
They desire to be treated normal and give a fair chance and opportunity much more than anything else.


You are very inspirational with you honest answers and your thread is one of the best I have read in the 5 years I have been around this site. I have learned more about the hearing impaired than I ever did reading books on them and hopefully you stick around here for a while!

Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad I can give you some insight. Feel free to ask anything or send me a message or anything if you ever need anything or have any question.


Lol, was joking on the "why haven't you answered my questions"

Ah! Lol! I thought I missed the question, thanks for clearing it up. I answered them in page 1 :)


Well I have had some pretty bad ear problems. Reconstructive surgery on my eardrums a few times. I have been lucky enough to still have "ok" hearing. In noisy restaurants and bars I can't really hear much which has made me learn to read lips. I have recently made friends with someone who has been deaf from a really young age. He has hearing aides so he can hear some stuff. He does have the deaf "accent".

I guess my question is, I have been trying to learn ASL because I think I may need it at some point and my friend who knows it won't sign with me. He has said he doesn't want to because he can hear. But he he like won't even teach me certain signs or anything as if he is embarassed. Should I just leave him alone about it?

Ah yeah I have heard lot of people who have progressive hearing loss having some similar experience. My grandpa is one of them.
It's cool you made a friend with someone who have been deaf since really young.

As for your question, well one of the biggest issue with people wanting to learn how to sign is, they seems to want to learn nothing but how to swear in signing then they are just going to teach every body how to do it. Next thing you know is, everybody is going to sign it to that person. Think about this, how funny is it gonna be if someone point at the person and sign "GAY!" for 100th time? It just put the deaf person in a very awkward situation because if they don't laugh, they look like a asshole but at same time it isn't funny any more, it is just lame.
As for learning how to sign, you can either ask him to show you one or two basic sign that you would use frequently, especially in situation where lips read isn't possible ro something. Then slowly add it on from there.
Or you can try take a signing class at community college for a semester or two (you will end up have network to deaf community which can help you learn if you want to) and use it as a way to communicate with him and he will may see you're serious and start help you from there.
As much as I hate to seems like a uptight asshole, but... Learning how to swear in signing is perfect way to get them to not want to teach you anything. So it is better to just stay away from that one.
Hope this help.


Also is there regional slang in sign language or does every keep it uniform across the board?

Good question! There are even accent in sign language and they have different slang in each area too! That's other major reason signing could be incredibly hard to learn. People would learn sign this way so when they see somebody with slight different way, they would get frustrate and think the other person is doing it wrong.
Vast majority of USA and Canada use ASL (American Sign Language) which is pretty uniform across the countries. But each area have their own minor adjustment, slang, and accent, but nothing major.


Do you remember what sound was like?
What sound do you remember?

No, I don't remember a thing about what sound is like. I only have very rough idea of what sound must be like for hearing person according to what I feel from picking up vibrate.
 
Thanks for your answer. I took an ASL class a few years back and can spell ok. Just trying to sign a bit better. I haven't really tried to work my way into the deaf community hear but I think that sounds like the best way to learn. Again thanks for the insight.
 
Thanks for your answer. I took an ASL class a few years back and can spell ok. Just trying to sign a bit better. I haven't really tried to work my way into the deaf community hear but I think that sounds like the best way to learn. Again thanks for the insight.

You're welcome. Just keep in mind, many deaf person don't want to sit and teach you. But don't get discourage, just watch and make effort to say thing or communicate and eventually you will start to pick it up as you go along.
I'm sure there are a deaf club or meeting in your place, especially if you live in major city.
Hope you find a awesome group of people who is eager to help! And don't get discourage! Good luck!

BTW I just saw you're from Bakersfield. They have a fairly large deaf community, so you should be able to find something easily.
 
BTW here's a major tips to anyone who own business... Words get around scary fast in deaf community and they rely heavily on words of mouth.

So if you as much as help one deaf person and do a good job, you can expect half of the deaf community knowing about you. Small things such as know just a bit basic signs, are extremely patient with them, make sure they are a happy customer (remember lot of them feel like hearing people are trying to take advantage of them), or a small discount toward deaf people (you can claim you're doing it to assist the disabled people to make thing safer or whatever) go a very long way.
So if you do a good job for one of them, you basically get a very good free advertisement and public press.
 
Does it make you sad ever? Or does it not bother you?
 
i can't imagine what it's like.

do you find things that inhibit or overwhelm your other, more acute senses to be more unbearable? like are farts insufferable?

serious question.
 
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