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Deaf Community - Blog Posts
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!
Hey y’all!
I’m about to make a website for an organization I’m creating to help those with hidden/invisible disabilities and illnesses.
I want to be able to make this website accessible for people with all types of conditions and wanted to reach out on here to get any suggestions from people with those types of conditions.
I also created an Instagram for the organization but it’s still in the very early stages so I won’t be sharing yet…
Let me know if you have any suggestions or questions!
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.
AUGH where do I learn ASL from a deaf person??? I have been researching and all I can find is hearing people’s videos and not so trustworthy paid subscriptions
Deaf Representation in Media (Image Description Included)
Full Disclosure, I am a Hearing woman so all information in these slides are from online Deaf resources (I linked below), but if anything is inaccurate or needs tweaking please let me know! I’ve also never written out the Image Descriptions so please let me know if I need to fix anything!
[ID 1: Four hands using ASL to spell out “Deaf.” The background has various still images of people signing “I love you,” Fingerspelling “Hawkeye,” and a title card from a show reading “The Boy from 6B.”
Then reads “Representation in Media” / end ID1]
[ID 2: Stock Photo of mother and child with Hearing Aids.
There is a statistical chart in the bottom left corner that reads “New Study of Hearing Loss among US adults aged 20 to 69. Who has hearing loss? 14% of adults aged 20-69 in 2011-2012. Prevalence of hearing loss has declined slightly from about 16% in 1999-2004.”
The caption around the picture reads “What is Representation? Representation is the portrayal of another culture or people/person in media that is done respectfully and not stereotyped.
Why is Deaf representation so important? Approximately 48 million Americans have some degree of hearing loss (Hearing Loss Association of America). Good Deaf and Hard of Hearing Representation can be very validating to those in the community because they can see themselves in these characters. Accurate representation can be educational for people outside the Deaf community to learn more about it in a non-stereotyped way.” / end ID 2]
[ID 3: Photo of the National Association of the Deaf logo.
The caption over the logo reads “ According to the National Association for the Deaf (NDA) proper media portrait of deafness should include:
The production should be accessible. Clear cooperation between Deaf individuals and all media personnel, interpreters, etc.
All terminology, when referring to Deaf or Hard of Hearing people, should be up-to date and not offensive.
All descriptions of Deaf individuals should be based on the people’s personalities and not be patronizing by including terms like they are “overcoming,” “inspiring,” “special,” etc.
Media should listen to the knowledge and ideas from those in the Deaf or Hard of Hearing communities, and not from those outside the community (even if meant well).
Media should make conscious steps to work with the other groups a Deaf individual might be part of such as other cultures, religions, ethnicities, sexualities, etc.
All media should be made accessible and available for all Deaf and Hard of Hearing folks.
/End ID 3]
[ID 4: In the Background is the poster for the movie “Coda.” Four people are looking into the camera and holding up the sign for “I love you.”
The caption over the poster reads “Recently, there has been an increase in the general public’s interest in Deaf stories with the success of the Movie “CODA” (2021)... But we still have a long way to go with Deaf Rep…” /end ID 4]
[ID 5: The image shows two sheets taken from the Deaf West theater. One shows What TV genres see the most and least Deaf representation? While the other is on what types of Deaf characters have hearing audiences seen represented in media.
At the top the caption reads “According to NRG and the Deaf West Theater…”
The caption below the charts reads “Depending on the type or genre of media an individual consumes may determine how much exposure they get to seeing Deaf people represented.
Even within the already small portion of Deaf people represented, there are even smaller subsections of minorities shown less in the Media.” /end ID 5]
[ID 6: The screen shot is of the NRG webpage article “NRG and Deaf West Theatre release roundtable film on Deaf representation”
The caption above the image reads “Linked below is a video from NRG and The Deaf West Theater where they are interviewing Deaf people in the creative industry (Writers, directors, actors, ect.) talking about their experiences with and the state of Deaf representation in today’s media. https://www.nrgmr.com/our-thinking/entertainment/nrg-and-deaf-west-theatre-release-roundtable-film-on-deaf-representation/” /end ID 6]
[ID 7: Caption at the top reads “Good examples of Deaf representation!”
Below we have pictures of 4 different Deaf characters. On the top left is Theo from Only Murders in the Building. Top right is Jackie from Craig of the creek. Bottom left is Marvel comics Hawkeye. And on the bottom left is Daphne from Switched at birth. /end ID 7]
[ID 8: Caption at the top reads “My personal favorite… Linda Bove (Sesame street from 1971-2002)”
Below the caption are 16 pictures of Linda throughout her time while on sesame street. Mostly she is with her co-star Bob. /end ID 8]
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