Rosanie,
In some cases (such as my husband's), he was not allowed to learn the language of the Deaf. His parents expected him to learn to lip read and speak. He was mainstreamed early and spent years in speech therapy.
While no one would ever mistake him of having perfect speech, he is often treated as if he should be able to hear because he can speak. He can't "hear". His hearing aids capture and amplify sounds but not the shapes of words. He relies so heavily on lipreading and body language that after a long day of talking, he'll pass out from exhaustion. And you can imagine the frustration he can feel when he encounters those who think he should be able to hear them. You know the type: impatient, rude, and self-serving. (I'm married to him and I have days when I am that person
)
My husband didn't have the choice, he was raised "Oral". He only learned sign at RIT (signed English). To this day he says he feels "neither Deaf nor Hearing". He says, "In my perfect world, everyone would sign to me and let me talk to them."
I thank you for educating the board on this issue. There are many facets to it and my husband is one example. I hope we can build more bridges between Deaf and Hearing relationships (in the workplace, socially, etc.) It really IS another language and culture!!
If you want to communicate effectively with someone who can't hear, slow down and let them see your mouth clearly so they can lipread. Be patient and willing to write things down or repeat if need be. This is IF you can't sign. Don't give the Hearing population a bad name (sort of like the Ugly American.)
MaineGirl
