#Actually Deaf

[necrotic-nephilim]

after seeing the poll about who in the batfam could be Deaf, I am now obsessed with how the masks could affect their sign. If they use their signing space differently when in the vigilante persona or not. Signing is so distinctive to each person that the code switching they do would be interesting to see play out in their ASL. Also thinking about what family signs the family would use to refer to batshit things in their lives. q

YEAH YOU GET IT.

(the poll in question) i am deeply fascinated by the mechanics in which Deaf culture could play into the Batfam. bc most of them are wearing masks that would heavily inhibit ASL (given ASL is an expressive language) so i think it's more likely they'd use something akin to Makaton or Military Hand Signals that are not a fully developed language, but a communication aid, with a given set of signs for the typical things that need to be communicated in the field. meanwhile they'd be more likely to use ASL casually. (i'm unsure who all in the Batfam is confirmed to know ASL, but i know at the very least Bruce and Tim are)

i'm also very drawn in by the idea of other firms of assistive communication/tech used aside from just ASL. i personally find it believable that the masks of any of the Batfam could include automatic captioning tech that only they see through the inside of the mask, similar to captioning glasses at movie theatres, if they were Deaf/HoH. also how you would modify the concept of comm links to be more accessible, potentially projecting the message visually through the person's mask or maybe a wrist communicator sort of situation, depending on their personal preference. how the Batfam in general would interact with each other if one or multiple of them were Deaf would be heavily shaped and i think it's so fun. and i *love* the thought of personal signs they'd have to come up with bc well, ASL is hardly equipped for their lifestyle. also fun to consider sign names and if sign names are unique to the person or unique to the mantle. (eg, would the sign name for Robin be specific to which Robin, or just the mantle at large) there's so many little things that would change and i just think it's Neat. most people are approaching the poll from the perspective of their character of choice having hearing loss from vigilante work (which is a super valid way to approach it and i love those headcanons) but personally i find it fun if the deafness is a pre-existing condition and already something the Bat has been dealing with for years and thus approaches vigilantism needing to modify their gear slightly from the standard norm. how they could influence how Bruce trains them, emphasizing other senses. how they'd likely be far more tactical on the field, pressing their hands against something to feel for noise, ergo their gloves may be designed to more easily pick up vibration. (cannot tell you how much i do that irl) whether or not they'd hide it from the larger hero world is also an interesting question. it's all a fun internal struggle as well, internalized ableism and all. so much you could do with it!!

[wheelie-sick]

people like to fearmonger about deaf children who never get cochlear implants/get them late never learning to speak and it's literally not a concern I have. I am largely voice off in public and it's fine. I'm fine. Deaf people have been living without speech since time immemorial we are fine.

[raccooninapartyhat]

you know how every few months someone tries to invent captioning glasses and sign language gloves for Deaf people and they're almost always useless and never what people actually want? yeah the Blind equivalent of that is smart canes

[rickypersnickety]

Happy Deaf awareness month to:

D/deaf people who use sign language

D/deaf people who use spoken language

D/deaf people who use spoken language and sign language

D/deaf people who use AAC

D/deaf people who aren't fluent in sign language

D/deaf people who are learning sign language

D/deaf people who lip-read

D/deaf people who have comorbidities

D/deaf people who don't have comorbidities

D/deaf people who are physically disabled

D/deaf people who aren't disabled

D/deaf people who are mentally disabled

D/deaf people who are intellectually disabled

D/deaf people who are sensory disabled

D/deaf people who are deaf and blind

D/deaf people who go to speech therapy

D/deaf people who don't go to speech therapy

D/deaf people in special education classes

D/deaf people who need an aide

D/deaf people who need an interpreter

D/deaf people who use transcription

D/deaf people who use FMs

D/deaf people who are forced to use aids they don't want

D/deaf people who can't access medical care

D/deaf people who go to Deaf schools

D/deaf people who grew up in Deaf culture

D/deaf people who grew up in hearing culture

D/deaf people who grew up in hearing and Deaf culture

D/deaf people who make Deaf art

D/deaf people who make music

D/deaf people who love music

D/deaf people who use hearing aids

D/deaf people who use CIs

D/deaf people who don't use hearing aids or CIs

D/deaf people who have Deaf family

D/deaf people who prefer the term hearing impaired

D/deaf people who prefer the term hard of hearing

D/deaf people who prefer the term Deaf gain

D/deaf people who prefer the term Deaf

D/deaf people who prefer the term deaf

And to all D/deaf people, have a good September from your local Deaf person <3

[bluenoo42]

Shoutout to people with balance disorders

I'm currently at home and not able to work today because of a flare-up of my balance disorder (bilateral vestibular hypofunction/loss). Apparently, the flare-up is happening because I had COVID-19 a few weeks ago, and it has caused my brain to de-compensate for my lack of vestibular function. This is (according to my doctors) super common for people with this after they have any sort of illness.

Because it's not a painful condition, I think people forget how debilitating balance problems can be. The vertigo, the nausea, the blurred vision whenever you move your head, the falls, the people thinking you're drunk, the difficulty explaining your symptoms because they are super weird, not knowing whether or not you need a mobility aid because your legs are fine but you still can't walk in a straight line.

To anyone who has never experienced this, trust me when I say it's really bad. To everyone with a balance disorder, you're all legends and super cool, and you're not alone with this. To all the disabled people out there, don't forget balance disorders this disability pride month!

[flare-dragon]

Question for those who wanna response: When's the last time you saw any media where any of the characters (major, minor, or extra) were known to be deaf?

(Bonus question: Who was the character and from what media did they originate from?)

[a-common-wybie]

deaf people deserve friendship, they shouldn’t automatically be at a disadvantage just because they are Deaf

[like-this-post-if-you]

like this post if you're hard of hearing/deaf and/or know sign language

.

[thatdeaffeel]

genuine question— why is the “d” in D/deaf sometimes capitalized? i’ve seen people say Deaf but i’ve never seen like any explanation as to why so i’m just curious

deaf is the condition

Deaf is the community

coda (child of deaf adult) often speak sign as a first language and consider themselves as culturally deaf so a lot of them use big D only because they aren't hearing impaired in any sense

in general i think it's a word game that i dont take part in largely, i say deaf and i write deaf and i specify deaf community when i need to, specifically to avoid this confusion

[tilin-forever]

Hi everyone, hope you all are doing well <3

I just wrote my first fic ever for @mcytphysicaldisabilityweek Day 2: Deafness/Hard of Hearing (please don’t mind that I handed this in literally at the last minute my time zone like a school assignment haha)

Summary: “Tallulah loves how the red poppy stickers on her hearing aids match her red toque. She loves how she can take them off if things get too noisy for her sensitive ears. She doesn't mind being hard of hearing...most days.”

As someone who is profoundly deaf in both ears (I wear a cochlear implant), I was inspired to write this, a lot of which is based on my personal experiences! While I am pretty positive about being deaf (hey, its a fun fact I get to share at icebreakers haha), I wanted to write more about what it's like being deaf without having grown up with ASL (which happens more often than you think, about 90% of deaf kids are born to Hearing families) and that comes with some communication downsides.

I am not a 100% about the characterization, but I wanted to submit this before the day is over. I was also inspired by this wonderful fandom, you guys are all so sweet <3

I am hoping to write a followup/parallel fic for FitMC about being deaf as an adult, anyways, hope you enjoy <3

[unclepolyglot]

Writing Signed Languages in Fanfics

so i recently got into learning ASL (which is amazing!! i love it so much!!) and am planning to reference it when writing a Legend of Zelda fanfic, like certain facial expressions or how quickly/forcefully a sign is made, etc.

the thing is, since i'm hearing, i'm wondering if those of you who are d/Deaf or HoH can give me some tips on how to write a signing character, like things you wish you'd see in fanfics, or things you wish writers would stop doing.

also, to show that the MC is communicating in another language other than English, i'm thinking of using these Japanese 「quotation brackets」. thoughts?

[wheelie-sick]

please remember that super hearing is not the default for autistic people.

autistic people are 10 times more likely to have hearing loss than allistic people! so many of us aren't able to hear the lights or the fridge. we're often sensory seeking for sounds because we're deprived of them. even when we are sensory avoidant for sounds our sensory avoidance frequently presents differently

hearing is not the default for autism

super hearing is not a universal autism experience

please remember deaf/hard of hearing autistics

[raccooninapartyhat]

The protactile articles raise a very good point about DeafBlindness. Why is it so often called the loneliest disability? Why are we so isolated? Why are we kept separate from the world purely because we aren't hearing-sighted?

Why can't we interact and navigate the world tactilely? Why can't we touch and explore and learn and interact? Why can't we talk and socialise with each other and everyone else? Why do hearing-sighted people shrink from exploring hands and shoeless feet walking through a room?

Why are we made to be lonely when we can experience our world through touch? Why is that somehow lesser? More dangerous? Something to be afraid of?

Why do people insist on isolating us?

[rickypersnickety]

literally begging yall this disability pride month to remember the phys. disabled deaf people. draw them with transcription computers, draw them wearing colorful CIs and HAs, draw them using FM systems, i've never seen anyone draw them and i'd love to see representation of that. i cannot count the number of times i've been excited to see disability art only to see them all using mobility aids and feel disappointed afterwards because fuck knows when the last time you saw your disability aids.

this disability pride month include Deaf/HOH people that don't solely use sign language, who wear colorful disability aids, who use things that only their own community seems to know about

(if anyone has art of those things i mentioned i wanted seen tag me pleaseeeee)

[bluenoo42]

How I do my job and accommodate my disabilities.

So, I have the best job in the world. I'm a fossil tour guide and basically walk around the beach with people talking incessantly about my special interest and they are actually interested and pay (extremely good) money for it. I'm living the dream guys!

As awesome as my job is, there are a few challenges due to my disabilities. Luckily, I have found ways to accommodate myself so both me and the customers all have a great time. I've decided to split this list up by disability rather than by different aspects of the job so if you have one of the disabilities that I mention you can just look at the bit that is relavent to you to see if any of the things that are helpful to me are helpful to you. If you have any other suggestions of different things to try, please put it in the comments!

Autism:

To be honest, the palaeontology field is full of autistic people so I really don't stand out. When people book a fossil tour, they expect the tour guide to be a little quirky, so I do have a bit of leeway for seeming socially awkward without too much judgement.

I don't really pick up the hint that someone isn't having fun any more, so when the weather is bad I make sure to tell people at the beginning of the tour "I know it's really (insert unpleasant weather situation here) today, so if at any time this stops being fun for you, we can always head back early, just please directly tell me 'I'm not having fun any more, can we go?' because I'm not great at picking up hints." If the family are from the UK, I sometimes make a joke about them not being my hostages, but I avoid this with foreign families because that kind of humour doesn't always land well with other cultures.

I have visual materials to help keep my talks on track and to better explain the points that I'm trying to make. I also keep my initial talk pretty similar every time so I don't have to think of the words off the top of my head every time.

I make sure I give clear factual answers to questions that give both the technical terms and a simplification to all age groups e.g."That is a fossil echinoid which is the scientific name for a sea urchin." This avoids having to guess the person's level of prior knowledge and avoids me being overly technical or coming across patronising.

I try to limit my work to around 3 hours per day to avoid getting overstimulated.

Deafness:

I always make sure to tell people about my deafness right at the start of the tour and tell them how to accommodate me. I try to make it lighthearted I'll say it like "Just so you know I'm Deaf which means I can't hear well. If I look like I'm ignoring you, I'm not, I just can't hear you. Please tap me or wave at me to get my attention and make sure to look at me when you're speaking so I can understand you." Some people just ignore the instructions, but at least then they know what they're supposed to be doing, and it normally works out okay.

I have a cochlear implant which helps me a lot, but is vulnerable to wet and windy weather. I use EarGear covers on my processor to block out the wind noise and to protect it from moisture. It works pretty well, but isn't perfect.

I probably would benefit from an interpreter, however my work schedule is pretty flexible and often there are last minute bookings, also there aren't many interpreters near where I live so it would be virtually impossible to find one, so I make do without and it seems to be working okay for me.

Balance and Mobility (HSD and balance disorder):

Luckily my hypermobility is pretty mild so I'm able to weight bear fully on both legs and climb stairs etc.

If I'm going to be walking/standing for over 1 hour, I use knee supports to help prevent knee pain. I use the ones that are thin and elasticated tubes (kind of like a sock) rather than the velcro ones because they look more sleek and I find them more comfortable, also I only need fairly light support. I recommend using the lightest support that is reasonable for you to avoid weakening your joints. If you're not sure, speak to a professional.

I use an ergonomic backpack with padded straps and try and keep my kit as light as possible. I always make sure to carry it over both shoulders to avoid an uneven load on my body. I used to just use any old backpack and cram it full of examples of every single fossil you could ever find. Don't do that. You're not on SAS who dares wins.

Trekking poles. (In my opinion) The most underrated mobility/balance aid out there. Does it make me look like I think I'm scaling Everest? Yes. Does that fact make me feel ridiculous? Yes. Am I very grateful for them when I lose my footing on a pebble bank? Also yes. Most of the time I use one pole just for balance so I can keep a hand free, but I do have two, just in case. It also allows me to point at things without bending down so much which helps with my vertigo issues. If you are considering whether you could benefit from a mobility aid for your balance, especially if you're often on uneven surfaces, I would urge you to try trekking poles. You can use two at a time for extra support, they're gentler on your wrists than a crutch or cane and they come with the option of rubber or metal tips depending on the surface you're on.

Here is my relatively comprehensive guide to how I do my awesome job. If you have any questions or you would like to suggest something that you've found helpful, please leave a comment.

[fuzzystickers]

shoutout to deaf people who don’t fit it

shoutout to deaf people who love music

shoutout to deaf people who use sign language(s)

shoutout to deaf people who don’t know sign language

shoutout to deaf people who lipread

shoutout to deaf people who wear hearing aids

shoutout to deaf people who have cochlear implants

shoutout to deaf people who don’t use disability aids

shoutout to deaf people who also have other disabilities

shoutout to deaf people who are cripple punk

shoutout to deaf people who struggle with internalized ableism

shoutout to deaf people who experience ableism because of who they are

and shoutout to deaf people who are proud of who they are