Being Deaf?

Question

Anyone out there who is Deaf and could answer a couple questions for me....its for my sign language class, im writing an essay...i'd sincerely appreciate it!!!

Were you born Deaf? What was is like growing up? Have any major difficulties in school; friends, classwork? When did you learn ASL? How did your parents deal with it? Did they support you?

Answer 1

No I wasn't born deaf, I been getting deaf over the years, I have 70 decible loss, can't have conversation, can't use the phone, can't hear tv, but I have never learned.  I don't know sign language so I have a very quiet world.  I have hearing aids but when I wear them and hear things it makes me sick to my stomach, I mean its nauseating to hear sound because I have not been used to hearing anything for a long time.

Answer 2

yes i was born deaf but did not find out till i was older my parents never had me tested and yes i had a very hard time learning in school and learning to speak .i remember crying a lot be cause i did not under stand way i could not learn like the other kids in my family my dad was all ways surporting me and never got mad be cause of my grades but my mom on the other had was not under standing .any way now i wear one hearing aid but helps a little .i have a hard time still with math and nder standing a lot of things but i over came a lot by my husband teaching me words and under standing things i thought i would never would . when i was young i was told i would never be like others well they were wrong .just like now people on here helped me a lot under standing computers and i thank them and i am still learning . just be cause some one can not here does not mean we can learn or be like other people . to me i think any one can learn and there is no such thing as a dum person we all can learn even if it is just one thing .so for those who have a hard time learning or what ever you are having trouble with in your life don,t give up .be live in your self .

Answer 3

I am not deaf but my BF of 13 yrs is and was born deaf. If you email your email address or even better if you have aim im to me, I'll ask him if he could answer your questions.

I just ask him he will.

Answer 4

I am not Deaf, but many people in my family are.  I can tell you about my Mom though...

My Mom went to a school where she was not allowed to use sign language.  So she grew up oral and struggled very much to communicate.  The school she went to was abusive, so she struggled with that too.  Since it only went up to the 8th grade, she was able to choose what school she wanted to go to for high school... and she chose a school that used sign language.  It was fascinating to her and she quickly learned how to communicate with an English-based sign language when she was 14.... her world opened up right then because she had access, she could communicate, and she had such a thirst for knowledge.  It wasn't until she had children and my younger brother was born Deaf... she wanted to "experiment" having a Deaf child learn sign language from the start at a school for the Deaf that allowed its use, and that's where she learned ASL - in her early 30's.  Even to this day, her family of 8 brothers and sisters cannot communicate with her - because she could not speak clearly enough growing up oral or even now none of them know a signed language and so it's a real struggle for her.  Her parents dealt with it the best way they knew how when she was growing up.  The oral approach was the common method used before bilingual-bicultural programming.  They hate that she struggled growing up and wished they could do things differently because she was obviously not happy with her childhood education, but even to this day... they still don't really understand why ASL is so important to her and rarely get an interpreter for major family functions.  They still believe in the importance of using speech and still don't really know what ASL is all about.  But her experiences were a blessing in disguise because she often taps into them when she's helping hearing families of Deaf children learn ASL, etc. as a Deaf Mentor.

I hope this helped...