Hi everyone. I'm Rebecca and I'm a deafie.
I've had some interesting discussions, over the last couple of years, about the fact that I don't *think* in English. I think in deafie. Hearies are dumbfounded by that and one person even suggested that it was a load of crock but he's a yahoo so ignore that comment.:roll:
While my typing skills are fairly accurate I often find that I have to edit in the little words that hearies use in sentences to make it readable for them. Even when I speak I find that I have to pause to remember which little word needs to go where when I'm talking.
I'm curious if this is common for other deafies or is this experience exclusive to me? Thinking in deafie all the time and having to translate to English (or Australian or British, etc.) hearie in order to communicate effectively with them. This isn't meant to be about conforming to the hearing world as I know that's a heated topic for some in our community. To me, it's no different than going to a different country. You learn the language so that you can communicate.
Incidentally, I was raised in a hearing family, ASL was not allowed so I went to mainstream school, I learned to read lips, body language and I also taught myself how to speak properly. Hence, my sometimes funny, but unique, accent.
Actually, this is very common no matter what environment you were raised in. That is a testament to the fact that the deaf person uses different cognitive processes to access understanding. It is also why we need to look at those differences so that education can address their strengths.
[trying to translate here]
It is very common everywhere.
True that is how deaf think while they try express themselves to hearies.
We need to explain that area where deaf try to communicate to professors so we can make our schools better for the deaf.
Hi everyone. I'm Rebecca and I'm a deafie.
I've had some interesting discussions, over the last couple of years, about the fact that I don't *think* in English. :
Thanks jillio. Could you expand on that just a little so that I can understand better what you mean?
I will certainly try.:P
All people perceive information through sensory avenues such as vision, hearing, touch, etc. That information is then sent to particular areas of the brain to be processed. Seeing, hearing, feeling are the result of that process. Then we translate that information into something that we can relate to in order to give it meaning.
The deaf tend to use different avenues in processing various types of information than the hearing do. For instance, hearing people tend to process sound exclusively in the auditory centers and to give it meaning by relating to something they have heard before. The deaf tend to process sound in both the auditory and the visual centers and give it meaning by relating it to something they have seen before.
Also, the deaf tend to use a technique known as top down processing more often than the hearing. That is the process of seeing something as a whole and then breaking in down into the elements that make it up. Hearing people rely on bottom up processing more, where they first see the elements and then put them together to form the whole.
This can get confusing, I know. But I am happy to answer any questions you have, and to keep explaining until I make it understandable.
I will certainly try.:P
All people perceive information through sensory avenues such as vision, hearing, touch, etc. That information is then sent to particular areas of the brain to be processed. Seeing, hearing, feeling are the result of that process. Then we translate that information into something that we can relate to in order to give it meaning.
The deaf tend to use different avenues in processing various types of information than the hearing do. For instance, hearing people tend to process sound exclusively in the auditory centers and to give it meaning by relating to something they have heard before. The deaf tend to process sound in both the auditory and the visual centers and give it meaning by relating it to something they have seen before.
Also, the deaf tend to use a technique known as top down processing more often than the hearing. That is the process of seeing something as a whole and then breaking in down into the elements that make it up. Hearing people rely on bottom up processing more, where they first see the elements and then put them together to form the whole.
This can get confusing, I know. But I am happy to answer any questions you have, and to keep explaining until I make it understandable.
Don't worry. I told her already. Above yours.
Can you rewrite that for 4th grade audience? I'm not saying that we are 4th graders -- but readable everywhere.
Sorry. I assume that the deaf posters are literate and able to understand until they ask me to phrase it differently. I have had many ask me not to change the way I put things because they learn English skills from my writing.
But I will try to put a complex concept into simplfied terms:
We get information from hearing touching and seeing things. This goes into the brain so the brain can change it into something we understand. For the hearing it goes one place, for the deaf, it goes another place.
Your writing is EXCELLENT, beyond impeccable. Something that I can use on my own thread. But for this thread, abase ourselves. =) Good flexibility to possess.
With whom? Why not understand now?
Those little words called "articles."
LinuxGold said.