ASL and Deaf Culture

I would explain to them that we use American Sign Language and body language included in American English speakers do not have our emotions and body language express our feelings through our language we may be able to use more than one language our first language is American sign language we use English as well and some people are able to speak English they may be able to use language in 3 different ways other people are monolingual with my family we have more homemade sign language it's kind of like lazy signing when we talk to one another we invent signs just for our home communication we understand it but if I do the same thing here at school my friends are like what's that I have to remember to leave these home signs at home some of my friends families are predominantly hearing some maybe of different cultures so they're signing style could be different they may sign just very limited a few words and real american sign language could be difficult for them my favorite class is ASL American Sign Language the reason is it's very challenging ASL has rules and structure just as English has rules and structure my first day of school when I looked at my schedule and I saw that I had ASL class I thought why I already know American Sign Language so I had know everything there is to know but then when I was in class and started to learn I learned about glossing I learned the name of the different structures in American Sign Language it really there was a lot more to it than what I thought it's not easy at all it's a lot more difficult than I expected sometimes I have a difficult time with people that can hear I say the wrong word or mispronounced the word or they say a word that's very long and complicated and I'm not able to understand it and I get frustrated with that American Sign Language is much easier for me it's a better way to communicate sometimes I use my voice as well sometimes I do not but it's hard communicating with hearing people one example is my family they can all hear I'm the only deaf person to my family I will tell people that can hear or that deaf world is a small world but it's easy to recognize and meet new deaf people through friends through many different people deaf people tend to stay together they have a lot of access to communication when they're with one another deaf people can go on and on and on hearing people have a conversation short short sweet to the point and they're done deaf people during their conversation they'll remember something they'll talk about that they'll drift off point they'll come back to what they're originally talking about also our body language is different many deaf people are very comfortable with being touched they're fine with it it's not a problem but if you were to touch a hearing person many of them are like what are you doing they're not accustomed to this hearing people speak of course we sign we're more visual people can imagine what we're talking about I also feel very proud that my family is deaf personally I feel more unique being a deaf person I'm different than other people my community and my culture is different as well they may not understand my culture I would tell the people that could hear about Deaf culture and what it's like I would say first of all just be yourself in Deaf culture for courageous we have American sign language we enjoy life we make memories we do everything we do feel different but if you want to be part of the deaf community just be yourself be motivated to learn and eager to learn and you'll learn about Deaf culture but be yourself in Deaf culture our communication is paramount we depend on our hands for our language and our eyes we are comfortable to touch one another to get someone's attention we may need to tap on a table there are different ways that we get attention whereas people that can hear they will speak quietly they will be less animated with their conversation we use space for a body language we use movement within the environment we use a lot of things with the sign language that is not used in spoken English hearing people tend to stand closer together the deaf people do when they converse they also if they need to interrupt a conversation or walk between people while they're conversing they will say excuse me where's deaf people go right through they don't feel a need to say excuse me that's something that's acceptable in Deaf culture even though we it is a sign of respect it's different but our hands provide our communication through American Sign Language this is what shows our intelligence and of course our eyes are key for us when comes to communication deaf culture is our lifestyle and it's different our home life we have a device connected to the doorbell so in some rings the doorbell light flashes we know someone's there we have the same setup for landline or videophone when someone calls the light flashes I would say that deaf culture includes American Sign Language many deaf people cannot hear anything but some can hear very loud noises we are very visual people deaf culture people like to chat they're more wild speak loudly they sign large we have more fun in Deaf culture people are more immature of course Deaf culture is special not a lot of people are involved in Deaf culture it's a small community we have our language that we use to communicate and socialize with other people I would explain about deaf people's behaviors such as they like to be touched they like hugging they need eye contact belonging to the deaf community has benefits if I meet a stranger who happens to be deaf automatically we make friends very quickly I think that's a great benefit it's a benefit because even though I don't know what who that person is we're both deaf we both use sign language we'll make friends fast it's very simple even though I've just met this person we've introduced ourselves we started to talk I feel like I've known this person for a very long time I wish people that could hear would view us as being just like them nothing different it's not like we're creatures that they need to be afraid of because we're deaf really we're all the same we're all human I would want to tell people that could hear that they need to understand deaf people that there's no rivalry between deaf and hearing people there should not be any barriers between us honestly we're all the same we're all humans it just so happens that we cannot hear we're visual people we use our hands to communicate and you know hearing people can sign they can learn for example they already use gestures like that same calling call me communication is important and for us our hands are key we will not dismiss any hearing people we welcome them we would like them to be involved in our lives I wish at a job hearing people would just approach me and talk to me not to be afraid of me this is what hearing people tend to do it seems that they don't really respect us or understand who we are deaf people can do many things hearing people at jobs often don't focus on their work they're too busy speaking to one another whereas we focus and get our work done I think people just don't give us a chance sign language and gestures are important that's how we communicate people can learn new signs can learn about the Deaf culture they need to have patience to do so we understand that it takes patience and we don't like to be viewed as being disabled we were born deaf we don't consider ourselves disabled so don't view us as disabled people just the u.s. is being deaf

Channel: Connecticut Museum of Culture and History

Views: 121,443

Keywords: american school for the deaf, connecticut historical society, deaf culture, american sign language, asl, deaf community

Id: witq6XzLWQk

Length: 11min 12sec (672 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 28 2017