Hello I am a hearing senior at NAU in the Interior Design program. I'm working on my capstone project which is to design a facility that enhances a user's experience. I have decided to design a Deaf community center/restaurant which aims to connect Deaf and hearing people by providing services such as ASL classes, common areas, and a staff of deaf employees to increase job opportunities. These services would aim to strengthen the community by providing a space for hearing and Deaf people to connect. However the main focus is to provide a community space for Deaf people.

I'm currently in the process of gathering research and conducting surveys to better understand Deaf design through the perspective of Deaf people and those who are hearing Impaired and would greatly appreciate your thoughts and inputs.  

DISCLAIMER! - All of the information gathered from this survey will not be disclosed publicly. All data collected will be used for a private senior capstone project at Northern Arizona University 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfc08oG_kippFprg4ENziq03MJnjEGIfUKkCBEJhrewEPsYFw/viewform?usp=dialog

Okay, hi im a 24f that has been told she was “born deaf”, but recent events have made me question if my deafness resulted in my older brother beating me relentlessly, throwing me down stairs, and trying to waterboard and drown me multiple times.

I no longer have contact with my family because they think that I’m the problem, but in cutting ties with my father and family meant cutting ties with his insurance and bank account and ultimately my access to a lot of medical care. I wouldn’t trade my decision for the world, but I also don’t want to drown myself in debt for something I might not even like or be able to rationalize as a need.

I’m a candidate for a Baja, and am completely against the cochlear implant due to the patient reviews, but a Baja is $15,000 without insurance. I really want to get it, but I don’t want to set my heart on it and be let down.

I also can’t imagine looking at my husband and basically saying “hey can I drown us in optional medical debt just because my older brother might have beat the hearing out of me?” And making him fix something he didn’t break.

Idk I could use any advice tbh, it’s not like I have a family to ask lol.

Hi! I consider myself a hearing person but have a range of sound frequencies with “hearing impairment” that affects my ability to understand people speaking. The funny thing is that for most other stuff I am on the hyperacusis side and I can hear a lot of little things that others cannot. I have found that wearing a badge with a symbol and label and “please be patient and speak clearly” is very helpful. I am a student doctor and work with many different people that are constantly changing over. I have a passion for disability rights (and I also have physical disabilities) and am learning introductory ASL but am not really part of the Deaf community. I know that the phrase “hearing impaired” is not favored by the community, but I am wondering about using it for myself as someone who feels outside of the community. I think the essence is to emphasize that Deaf/HoH people are not damaged hearing people, but there are many people who have “loss” or “damage“ to their hearing, such as from an acoustic trauma or barotrauma, so is it that still offensive? To me, I am a hearing person with an impairment to my hearing.

A little context:
I need people to face me when speaking. I need subtitles for videos and lyric sheets for songs. I need to look at people’s mouths to help me figure out what they are saying. I need reduced background noise to understand.

My mother and I and possibly her mother as well have notched audiograms that do not follow typical patterns of hearing damage. We all have lived the lives of hearing people and have either used or are getting hearing aids. I hope to get a Roger device.

I am so sorry if this does not meet the criteria for this subreddit. I am an ASL interpreting student and I have to interview a Deaf person for an assignment. I've reached out to several different Deaf people that I know and I have had no luck. I'm trying Reddit as a last resort. The interview would be 15-30 minutes. If someone is available at anytime from today to tomorrow please let me know!

We live in a state that has a fully funded school for the deaf. We have a 9 month old that is hard of hearing, wears hearing aids, currently receiving EI therapies, and parents learning ASL as we go along.

I think having the baby attend the school for the deaf would be great for her in many ways—socialization, education, communication, community , etc.

However my partner is against this and wants them to attend public school. I don’t really understand the “why”. Perhaps there is a benefit to being exposed to education this way?

What was your experience with education, and looking back do you think it was overall positive or do you wish it was different ? How did it contribute to your life now? If public , what were resources like for you?

Thank you for any feedback.

So from what I know, BSL, ASL etc do not necessarily follow the grammar of spoken English.
For those who grew up with Sign as their first language, did this affect how you learned to write? As written English follows the grammar of spoken English.

Just a genuine question that randomly popped into my head.

I don't know what it's called in English, I think it's Information Processing Disorder? Anyways, I have a neurologic diagnostic where if more than one person talks at the same time (or if I'm given more than one instruction at a time), I basically hear gibberish. I just don't understand.

I've been struggling an awful lot with it as an adult. I've been remembering about when I was a kid (elementary school), I was placed in special classes that had speakers and headphones I could wear so I could listen better to the teachers.

All that's been making me think that I could maybe benefit from having some kind of earphone that could make people's voices louder to me.

I know my disorder is very different from the deaf spectrum since I'm not deaf, but I was wondering… Would a technology like that be similar to hearing aids deaf people have? I imagine not really since hearing aids aren't so much for boosting people's voices rather than a prosthetic for ear parts, I think?

Thank you for letting me ask this question, I know it's a bit weird but I've been trying to Google answers to no avail.

Hi! I have a super specific memory of the youtuber Jessica Kelgren-fozard and her wife claudia talking about how they communicate in the dark (jessica is Deaf). They say that Claudia puts her mouth against Jessicas skin and talks and jessica is able to feel the lip movements and understand her. My friend said she also remembers Jessica saying she sometimes puts her hand on Claudias throat for the same result. Does anyone have more information on this? Is this perhaps a false memory I have had? I find the concept fascinating and would love to know more about it, or other ways deaf people communicate in the dark.

sorry if theres a more polite term for the voice inflection. my thought process was that deaf people who know, say, english, but can still kind of talk, learned to talk that way. but then if you gain hearing and are learning a new language, would it still be as severe of an “accent” if you will? because the sounds would be novel? so youre learning from scratch almost.

i hope this makes sense lol

Hello all!

I am a HoH student at a large university and I was thinking about creating an ASL tool that involves randomly matching Deaf/HoH/Hearing individuals to one another with the intent that they use the space to communicate and practice their ASL. This would help Deaf/HoH/Hearing individuals who don't have a large deaf community around them to interact with, as well as be a platform for those who feel more comfortable communicating online. Could be a fantastic way to make friends and learn more.

Please let me know your thoughts on this.

Thank you.

TITLE: How do you prefer to access media (captions, ASL, etc.)?

Hey Everyone,

I am new to this community as a hearing person living in the US and trying to read all relevant posts pertaining to the topic.

I’m trying to better understand how people in the Deaf/HoH community experience media (streaming, film, TV, online video). Outside of captions, and very few main stream titles, there doesn't seem to be a lot of options or variety.

I know not everyone uses ASL so I wanted to ask more broadly:

• What do you usually rely on when watching content (captions, audio, ASL, something else)?

• Are there situations where one format works better than another?

• What are the biggest frustrations/pain points when it comes to accessibility in media, just in the world, or everyday life?

I am trying to learn and make sure I’m not making incorrect assumptions.

I would really appreciate any insight. I am really open to learning.

Thank You All 🙏

I'm a hearing person in Canada and I've been studying American Sign Language for years. In 1870, Samuel Thomas Greene, a graduate of Gallaudet University and The American School of the Deaf before that, came to Ontario to become Canada and became the first teacher at what is now Sir James Whitney School of the Deaf. So obviously he was teaching using ASL.

Meanwhile in French speaking Canada, Catholic educators for the Dear from both France and the USA used both French Sign Language and American Sign Language and created LSQ which, in English, stands fro "Quebec Sign Language."

Just like I can't say "In Canada we speak English," I must say "In Canada we speak English and French." I can't say Deaf Canadians use ASL. I say Deaf Canadians use ASL and LSQ.

Now here is my question: how do I describe the difference between the two? ASL is not English, but how do I describe an English Deaf person? They don't speak English, but they can read and write in English. Can I say "English Deaf" and "French Deaf"?

Hi! I'm a hearing adult. I am taking an ASL class for the first time. I don't know anyone deaf or hard of hearing on a personal level, I'm just fascinated by languages.

At the first class, a teen girl who is taking the class showed up a bit late, escorted by her mom who was not attending the class. They are both hearing.

The instructor is deaf; with hearing people that don't sign, he uses writing or gestures to communicate. He seems to be able to lip read (just my impression).

The mom of the teen girl seemed a bit confused and frustrated when they interacted. It was like she didn't realize he's deaf and she maybe didn't understand why he wasn't speaking back to her. She repeated herself a few times but while looking away from him or when he clearly wasn't looking at her. Overall she was just trying to explain that this is her daughter, who is in the class, and that she'll (the mom) wait outside. The instructor got it via using speech to text app eventually. She didn't say anything outright rude, she just seemed bewildered and frustrated, and it just felt like a kind of painful interaction.

I had conflicting urges: I was tempted to jump in and explain things to her, that he's deaf, that he doesn't speak. I felt like, second hand frustrated that she wasn't understanding that. I feel like that must be a frustrating and very repetitive experience for deaf people.

But my other instinct, which I followed, was to do nothing, because he can obviously handle himself, and I'm not in any kind of position where I've been told that's expected of me, I'm just a student of his class and it's the first day we met. I didn't want to be patronizing. Was that the right thing to do (ie, just let him handle it)?

I guess my broader question to deaf or HoH folks is: in situations where a hearing person is not being very accommodating or understanding, what circumstances, if any, are reasonable for another hearing person to insert themselves to help communicate? I'm talking about relatively low stakes situations, not like life and death - normal everyday interactions between strangers or acquaintances (though welcome input about friendships too).

*** SURVEY NOW CLOSED - THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT ***

Hello,

I hope it is okay to ask this here - I am seeking people with all levels of hearing loss to take part.

I am a 2nd year psychology PhD student at the University of Salford. My interests are music and mental health / wellbeing. I have been diagnosed with mild-moderate hearing loss in both ears, and tinnitus, and have been wearing hearing aids for just over a year now.

If you are 18+, have some experience of hearing loss, and you listen to music, please consider taking part. It should take around 20 minutes and there is also the opportunity to sign up for further research studies. You do not have to be in the UK to take part - we welcome participants from around the world. This will form part of my PhD but I hope that it will also help people in the hearing loss community.

This study has received a favourable opinion from the University of Salford Ethics Panel, ref: 2025-9262-12263 To take part, follow this link: https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/salford/hearing-loss-wellbeing-and-music

Thanks for reading - I really appreciate everyone's support!

I am doing a research study for my masters of social work degree to explore the connection between deaf acculturation and educational environments. If you are willing to fill out this survey, I would really appreciate it: https://forms.gle/nK8xkZfiSAimrxLCA

If you boink your head against anything. Or tap your head with your hand. Do you only feel it or does the thud register in your brain besides just the feel?

I moved to CA from the Midwest last summer. I noticed people here are not as friendly and often don’t say hi, so I never introduced myself. But I noticed my neighbor is deaf and a bit older and she also lives alone.

I want to extend my contact in case she needs anything, but not sure how to initiate. I thought of maybe leaving a letter or something. She often has loud verbalizations similar yelling, but I think she’s trying to communicate with her cats?

Anyways, how can I go about this proper and respectful?

I’m a hearing student and have been studying ASL the last two years, recently I’ve been using the 🤟emoji for my loved ones and was just curious if you find that weird or not.

Hi! I'm a social work student working on a cultural competency/humility workshop for my final and I wanted to focus my workshop on deafness, one of the topics I wanted to touch on for my classmates is pet peeves or things that hearing people do that are perhaps well intentioned but actually make the interaction more difficult for deaf individuals! If anyone has any experiences they're comfortable sharing I'd love to use these in my project as real-world examples of this!