Silent World — A discussion group discussion

Am interested to hear opinions on how you think communication lines be improved between Deaf and hearing people?

If ASL was actually taught to those who are hearing not only would it make someone who transitions into deafness easier, but it would reduce/eliminate the stigma. Also, it would be a lot easier to communicate from far away, or in a place that’s too loud to too quiet, even if both people are hearing.

Weird And Odd wrote: "If ASL was actually taught to those who are hearing not only would it make someone who transitions into deafness easier, but it would reduce/eliminate the stigma. Also, it would be a lot easier to ..."

Interesting. So you think if hearing people were even taught basic sign language at high school, it would be helpful?

James wrote: "Weird And Odd wrote: "If ASL was actually taught to those who are hearing not only would it make someone who transitions into deafness easier, but it would reduce/eliminate the stigma. Also, it wou..."


"To expand our minds and to become more

fully civilized members of the human race,

we should learn as many different languages

as we can. The diversity of tongues is a treasure

and a resource for thinking new thoughts."

___ David Bellos

Yes. Not only would it improve communication but there would be less comments like “I don’t speak hands” and randomly flailing hands around, and it would allow deaf people to enter the work force a lot easier and be way more independent.

Iain wrote: "Facial recognition tech and software that understands "visual cues" to help guide automated cars, drones, etc., are getting better and better, so I could imagine that type of technology eventually trickling down to, say, some trivial app like Skype and being able to intepret ASL with an inbuilt camera and translating to text or voice and vice versa(designated area with animated hand-signals)...."

Yes, it seems like we are heading into a brave new world where language and communication barriers, including things that presently prevent Deaf and hearing people communicating more freely, will be a thing of the past.

Technology has the potential to give everyone an EQUAL voice eventually?

Currently, there's a watch type thing that converts voice to text and hand signs to voice so communication between hearing and deaf people is easier. Of course, that's only if you have a couple hundred dollars to dish out.

Weird And Odd wrote: "Currently, there's a watch type thing that converts voice to text and hand signs to voice so communication between hearing and deaf people is easier. Of course, that's only if you have a couple hun..."

Well maybe soon that technology can be in all smart phones, tho.

But I mean due to the stigma of disabilities, a lot of those who are either born deaf or become deaf often lose or are unable to get a job. They may not be able to afford a smartphone unless they're under 18 and/or still living off of their parents/guardians money, and they just so happen to be upper middle to upper class. Technology is great but thanks to stigmatization and dehumanization it won't be able to do anything if the people who need it can't afford it.

I would certainly hope price drops benefit those who could use this technology, but I highly doubt the government is going to subsidize anything.

I think that something as simple as the option to learn sign language could help. At my high school and middle school they offered a lot of options - German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Latin, and even sponsored Greek Club to learn Greek. But there was never an option to learn Sign Language unless you were able to pay for $400 class through community college. Something simple like the sign language in schools if students choose to take it could make a big difference.

Also I have noticed in employment a big problem too. A lot of jobs in rural areas like mine are customer service over the phone or in a factory. So either you do manual labor or nothing if you can't hear. And any job wants to do a phone interview, but if you can't hear well enough to interview over the phone, they don't want to see you in person. I worked a job where they looked for any excuse to fire me because my chat job turned to phone and they didn't want to get a headset I could use.

Jessica wrote: "I think that something as simple as the option to learn sign language could help. At my high school and middle school they offered a lot of options - German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Latin, and even sponsored Greek Club to learn Greek. But there was never an option to learn Sign Language unless you were able to pay for $400 class through community college. Something simple like the sign language in schools if students choose to take it could make a big difference. ..."

Crazy that Sign Language is not offered as a language to learn!

I think sign language classes should start early, kindergarten if not earlier, and all the way through elementary and high school. Why shouldn't people learn it as their second language instead of spanish or french? I wish there were more places to practice. In Canada there are some sign language restaurants, but it would be nice if more restaurants could do like a sign night where people could come and practice and chat with members of the Deaf community. Learn about anything new like new tech that could help communication and job access.

I feel like sign language should be a staple for any language. Letter blocks coming with their hand sign counterpart, things labeled with how to sign them, and people being fluent by the time they’re in Middle School

I agree with all the reasons listed here for teaching sign to all kids.

I wouldn't ask for/expect mastery of ASL, but I would be happy enough with all hearing people knowing the ABC's as well as commonly-used words/signs. It would help with casual/daily interactions with deaf people if someone has a question, is asking for directions, etc etc.

Of course, if someone were to date a deaf person, or become involved in the Deaf community, then they should move on from the basics to ASL. But just basic signs being taught to all kids would be really great. It'd also help people who have difficulty with talking (whether the cause is physical or mental)

Can any new technologies help facilitate communication between Deaf and hearing people?

Well, smartphones have been a HUGE boon to deaf people, they can type in questions and etc to a hearing person and email and text/chat can get a lot of things done where before smartphones usually the only option was phone, or snail mail.

Check out this. https://www.ngts.org.uk/

Amazing service and not that many know about it. The people speaking to me and typing have a good sense of humour, they need it cos I have some odd conversations. And you can use it to do banking I think.

This is a new speech to text app- App MyEar that allows captioning for personal conversations between hearing and Deaf.
https://www.rochester.edu/adv/alumni-...

I wish I could learn more sign language but I have no way to practice.