Guide To Interacting with the Deaf Community!

By: Emma Nelson

Following the announcement of ASL III coming to Jenks next year, as someone who has been learning ASL for six years and plans to pursue American Sign Language as a career, there are some things I've learned on my journey that I think new signers should know before learning this beautiful language. Specifically, when interacting with the deaf community, it might be a whole lot different than you expect!

First things first, learn the alphabet. The alphabet gives you access to the whole language! There will always be words you don't know, so having the alphabet is crucial to learning new words. Plus, there are lots of words in ASL that are only fingerspelled, such as names, brands, places, and titles. Remember, the best place to start is the basics! The ASL Alphabet | ASL - American Sign Language - ABCs

Now that you know the alphabet, you can go out into the deaf community, where the real learning begins! The deaf community is super open to new students and loves when people learn to communicate with them, so don't worry about getting out of your comfort zone! Putting yourself out there can be uncomfortable, but this is a feeling D/HH people feel all the time. It's completely normal/okay to feel this way, and you´ll get accustomed to it as you go.

Before you go out, here are some cultural norms in the deaf community you should know.

People may be more blunt. Deaf people are very visual people, so calling out changes in someone's appearance is totally normal! Because the deaf community is so tightly knit, connections are a lot deeper than most average hearing people, so it is much more acceptable to make comments on things that might be viewed as more personal in hearing culture.

This leads us to our next point: people may share more personal details about their lives. When interacting with hearing people, deaf people tend to get shut out. Phrases like “never mind,¨ or ¨I´ll tell you later,¨ do not fly in the deaf community because of how common it is to hear them from hearing people. Due to this, when they talk to someone who can communicate with them, they want to really get to know them, and learn everything about them! Deaf people are also known for being chatty. For example, lots of deaf communities will meet for coffee on a weekly or monthly basis as an opportunity to meet up and meet new people in the community. In these meetings, people will even stay after the coffee shop has closed to continue talking!

Deaf people are more physical. It's not uncommon for deaf people to hug or be touchy during greetings, goodbyes, getting someone's attention, or even just during conversations! Also, a huge asset in ASL is facial expressions. They’re used for grammar and emphasis, so deaf people will often be super expressive. The language is also very visual; it's less about words, and more about ideas, especially with storytelling! One thing that makes ASL such an incredible language is that you can communicate with people even if you don't know a ton of words because a lot of signing is acting things out and showing the story instead of telling it.

Here are some major do's and don'ts when interacting with deaf people. Whether communicating in the community or if you encounter a deaf person in your everyday life, there are some things that are some things to be aware of to avoid being disrespectful or rude.

DON’T…