Deaf Community - Tumblr Posts
I haaaate this. ASL IS A LANGUAGE. To learn it requires years of study and a fluent teacher! It's not something you can pick up in a month and it's not something most schools are equipped to teach. I think it would be fantastic if it was offered as a language at more schools and to young children especially but it's not just "signed English" (which is a whole other thing). It is a living language with complex grammar and vocabulary.
Also, many US schools are no longer teaching languages, cursive, or even basic civics because those subjects are not tested, so, uh, let's deal with that shit first.
I am a hearing person with a question to the Deaf community:
I wrote a story and am thinking of making it become a podcast with voice actors for the characters. There is a deaf character in the story and she communicates via sign language. Whenever she says something, should I get a voice actor for her, should I narrate what she says or something else? Please let me know if this offends someone
As a Deaf person, I appreciate this person’s want to offer some form of representation of the Deaf community despite them being hearing themself. However, I don’t believe it’s correct to do so without having the most basic knowledge on the language we use to communicate. It’s easy to know when the author doesn’t know anything about the culture they’re trying to write. Like OP mentioned, it’s not to be fluent in sign language, but it’d be nice to actually delve into your character enough that you learn a little bit. Otherwise, this lack of investment makes the Deaf reader feel very used and/or like you didn’t really bother getting to know us as a community to begin with — a feeling we know all too well. We’re so much more than what people think, I guarantee you’ll be surprised.
Something I think could be helpful is to ask yourself why you want to write a Deaf character?
Anyway, I wish you and anyone else who wants to write Deaf characters well.
I have a question, if it's not too much of a bother. I'm a hearing writer who describes tones and voices more than anything, maybe. I have a character who is deafened near the end of my story and learns sign language to communicate. I've read posts saying that instead of describing a loud voice, for example, I should talk about exaggerated movements in sign. Now, I don't understand sign (the particular character learns BSL). How do I do the description anyway? Thanks, Luna 💛
Hi! I answered this ages ago but Tumblr is a piece of shit and didn’t upload the answer (•ˋ _ ˊ•) But anyhow, take two:
Don’t worry about the description until you’re ready to edit your manuscript over with a fine tooth comb, or you’ll never get anything written. Being a hearing writer, you’ll be used to sounds, and that’s okay! I’ll come back to the actual craft in a moment, but before I do, your ask has a few points in that I’d like to address.
Firstly, make sure you understand at least some sign. I’m not saying that you need to learn to speak the language fluently or anything, but it would be awesome if you could do some research into the basics such as grammar and facial punctuation. Once you’ve got those straight in your head, it ought to be easier to describe the signed dialogue in a more natural way.
Secondly, I highly doubt your character is 100% Deaf. That is incredibly rare. It’s more likely that your character will have a limited amount of residual hearing–ie, they can hear noises that are low-pitched and high-volume, but the sound is “murky” or unclear. So while some background sounds could filter through to them, others wouldn’t even register. Whether they can hear human speech or not depends on the levels of hearing loss. (I talk a bit about the levels of Deafness in this post; you should do some further research yourself)
As for the craft itself, here’s the method I use for editing:
Find all of the instances where you’ve described a sound and highlight them (either by hand or with something like Word’s highlighter tool)
You could also use the Find or Search tool to hunt down any sound descriptors by searching for hearing buzzwords like heard, sound, loud, quiet, noise etc
Some of these descriptions won’t even be necessary, which is a normal part of editing whether you’re writing a Deaf character or not
But once you’ve found the necessary descriptors, see if there is something that they can be replaced with
For example, instead of “The leaves on the trees whispered in the wind” you could write about the source of the sound: “She could see the tree branches shiver in the rising wind out of the corner of her eye.”
Or maybe focus on another sense–there are four left, after all!
Sight, taste, smell and touch will all be compensating for the lack of sound. Use them.
It’ll take some re-training, but you’ll get there eventually. Practise and experimenting is key
And for dialogue, here is a list of what you’ll want to be taking note of:
facial expressions
body language
proxemics (ie, does one character move nearer to the other or away?)
tics or non-sign actions (fiddling with clothes, tugging hair, shifting weight from foot to foot etc)
Hope this helps!
Guys, the Delaware ACLU is trying to push oralism-first in Deaf education. PLEASE sign this petition to stop that. The U.S. has a bad history with oralism based in eugenics beliefs and attempted cultural genocide. Please help preserve access to American Sign Language for Deaf students in Delaware.
Here's where you can sign the petition.
I have an idea for a story, but one of the characters is deaf/hard of hearing and the other is a victim of SA. I want to write them with special care and respect, so to people who relate to these characters, how can I write them properly?
I've been thinking of a story but the topics are a little out of my area of expertise. I've done lots of research on different sites but most of them say to ask people online. Please note that I am very sorry if I say something that is offensive, I promise I am just not very knowledgeable on the topic. Nothing here is done out of disrespect. I accept any and all criticism, though I am a little sensitive at times😅 also, English isn't my first language, and while I understand most of it, I might misunderstand some parts or not have the proper words for another. Please bare with me😅
So my idea is a wlw story about two young girls. One girl, let's call her Girl A, has been SA'd before. She hates how everyone suddenly sees her so differently, her friends are almost completely different people around her and everyone at her school sees her as a victim who should be pitied. She got sick of her friends pitying her and cut ties with all of them, so now she's all alone. She's also sick of her family constantly suggesting all sorts of self-help sites, therapists, groups she can join and all that. She's tired of being seen as a victim and wants things to go back to the way they are.
She one day meets another girl, Girl B, at her school. She's a new student, so she doesn't really know anyone. She's very pretty, but quickly word goes around that she's a rude person, who doesn't talk to anyone. People are theorizing that she sees herself as above everyone, or that she just doesn't talk to people without even getting to know them. She's quickly ostracized by everyone at school.
Everyday, Girl A lurks around the school campus. She doesn't have any friends to talk to so she spends time by herself, walking around with her thoughts. She does this for a few hours after class ends. She likes how it's quiet since everyone has already gone home. One day, she meets the infamous Girl B watering the plants. They don't talk at first, but for the next few days she sees her there, waiting till after everyone is gone, watering the plants, and leaving once the sky is dark. She doesn't know why, but she never really bothered to ask.
One day, after school, Girl A finds Girl B being harassed by some other students. She thinks about helping her, but cringes at the thought of being some kind of "hero." Instead, she waits for the bullies to leave before approaching the other girl.
She gets to know her, and realizes that Girl B is deaf. Apparently, she does know how to sign, but knows that no one else at school does. She was bullied out of her old school because of her inability to speak. Girl A learns of this from a paper Girl B wrote on. They continue to talk like this, writing on a paper to get to know one another. Girl B says she likes plants, and that her house is full of them. She noticed how the plants at school were dying, so she took it upon herself to care for them. Girl B likes bugs because they care for the plants while she's not around, like babysitters. She doesn't like furry animals because she was once scratched by a cat as a child. She still has the scar. Girl A loves cats and dogs, in fact she has many dogs at her house, but they all belong to her father. Girl A likes to eat dark chocolate, because she doesn't like sweet food. She prefers bitter things. Girl A hasn't seen her mother in a long time. Girl B lives with a single mother and has no siblings. It's just the two of them in their house filled with plants.
The two become very close. Girl A likes that Girl B doesn't treat her like a patient or a victim. She may seem very nice, but she also has times when she is angry, or upset, and she doesn't sugarcoat things to be nice. Girl B likes that Girl A is not so sensitive, as she has a darker type of humor and doesn't like when people get upset over her jokes. Nothing offensive ofc, she knows her limits and is aware of what is an actual joke and what is just discrimination. Most of her jokes are just making fun of the person she's talking to, which Girl A really likes.
Eventually, Girl A learns to sign so that she can confess to Girl B.
That's all I have for now, I'm still doing research and developing it a little more. If you have any thoughts, please share them with me! I would like to learn more before I begin drawing or writing it. Please also remember to be nice and that I am still learning!
I’ve never seen ASL in an animation online before 😭
My deaf spider OC, Marisol, isn't impressed by Mr. O'Hara