Are Deaf Child road signs embarrassing?

society's_child said:
I'm not deaf so I can't put my two cents in but...well, look at the sign below and tell me if angers you.
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i think they need to rephrase this one tho.... the one down the street from me says deaf children playing
 
Got two on either side of my parents' house on a dead end dirt road and they didn't bother me. But some stupid people still went fast because it was in the middle of nowhere. I don't remember if they are still there. They were when I was off at RIT.

There is one on the one way street where I live now, but I don't know who it was put up for.
 
I have never had such a sign, thank goodness. I did not and still do not need for everybody who passes through my street to pity me for being Deaf when they see that sign in front of my house....uh no thanks. A sign such as "Drive Slow and Carefully, Small child/ren Area" would be better or instead, have the city put in speed bumps every 25-30 feet which will force drivers to slow down drastically. We have lots of speed bumps in my part of town here. Yes, they are quite annoying, but they are quite effective and I would rather have those than get pity from everybody for being Deaf or some other disability because of some sign.

My childhood best friend's parents had a "Deaf Child" sign put up when she was a child. I've never asked her how she felt about the sign, though. I have not been to her neighborhood in quite a long time as I no longer live in Milwaukee so I do not know if it is still up there, I would have to ask another friend of mine who is planning on visiting my best friend when she goes to Milwaukee this summer.

I have never had a "Deaf Child" sign up on my street while growing up and I have never gotten hit by a car. Know why? My mom made damn sure that I knew to ALWAYS look BOTH ways before crossing a street, and that I was NOT to cross the street without my mom's permission, in fact I was NOT to leave the front yard ever without her permission. She even went as far as to teach me how make the appropriate decisions as to whether it is safe or not to cross the street whenever our family is out on a walk - my mom has me do it every time we get to a street that we have to cross so that it has been hammered into my head and made it an automatic habit out of looking both ways and making it was safe before WE ALL crossed - she asks me "Lucia, is it safe to cross or not?" and I answer "yes" or "no" and she asks me why. That was to get me to think before crossing, not to do it impulsively. That was the rule back then. It has served and protected me very well. Therefore, a "Deaf Child" sign was really not necessary in my case.

If I and my fiance have Deaf children, which I think is likely if we do have children, we will put up a sign that says "Caution - Watch out for Children" which I think will do just as fine as a "Deaf Child Area" sign but without all the pity. We will also take it upon ourselves, as it is our responsibility as parents to do so anyway, to teach all our children, regardless of hearing loss or no loss, never to leave the front yard without our permission (and to always stay within my or my fiance's sight), to always look both ways before crossing, and doing what my mom had done with me as a child. We should not really depend on a yellow piece of metal to keep our children safe - it is OUR responsibility. I also just really hate it when people pity me for my being Deaf and for my disabilities as well. Plus, the first sign I mentioned would do better than the "Deaf Child" sign because it will then apply to all the children on our street instead of just our own children. People have to watch out for hearing children too, anyway.
 
Frisky Feline said:
I was hit by a car while there was no a sign. If it were there, it would not make me embarassed at all. I understood why the sign was established. In my neighborhood, there were too many kids around and elders, they keep telling to slow down whose driving were too fast in our local streets years ago.
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Get the city to put in many speed bumps. That will make the drivers slow down drastically.
 
deafbajagal said:
Technically - we should always be cautious of children, but sometimes if there's an area that is concentrated with deaf children, they like to put a sign indicating that children cannot hear if a car comes behind them, etc. It has good intentions.

I wish there was a road sign that says "Watch out for kids; Parents are not supervising." Nothing irritiates me more than kids being on the roads or near the roads without supervision...hearing or deaf.
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I agree. I have actually seen a 2 year old toddler with nothing on but dirty diapers on and a 4 years old child in a dirty t-shirt and underwear only playing on the "island" area on a busy street while I was passing through on my way to the university on the public transit bus. No grown adults or even teenagers were around at all. I was shocked. I was thinking, "where are the parents?" I believe the CPS stepped in that day, though, because I never saw those children again after that point.
 
Bottesini said:
More likely to get a sign funded as it is much cheaper for the city.
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True, but Deaf children aren't the only ones at danger - hearing children are too as well so it would be better to have a sign that says "Caution - Children Area" than to have a sign for one specific Deaf child. It would serve the whole street better.
 
I wouldn't think people would get embarrased over that. I myself had a "Slow children at play" sign next to my house and that was a little embarrassing. I know me and my brother were not the smartest as kids but they didn't have to announce it to the world
 
me had one when little. now me 17 took sign down hang on bedroom wall with stop sign.

COOL! :thumb:
 
Squirt said:
me had one when little. now me 17 took sign down hang on bedroom wall with stop sign.

COOL! :thumb:
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:P It is also illegal. Since we all know you as Byrdie's nephew, you probably should not confess too much wrongdoing.
 
Night me took sign.

No deaf kids all gone. Byrdie ask me where me get sign, me told him me went out night took sign down. Eyes his got big! HAHAHA . He looked mad!

Opps! He nothing say.
 
I was hit by a car that was going too fast in the 25 mph street I was riding my bike and was hit .... I had a bad head concussion and was hurt badly. . My parents went and bought a Slow Child Deaf sign in the front yard of our house .... I was little embarrassed to have that sign ...everyone get to see it and ask me why .. I told them I was hit by a car so I had to agree with my parents that it is a good idea and safe . Cuz it also helps let the drivers know there are other children on the street .
 
I had one of these signs when I was growing up and found it to be pointless as my neighbors were speed demons and could care less of where they were going much less who or what is in the way. I've come close to being run over several times by them, in cars, trucks, 4-wheelers, 3-wheelers, motorcycles, and goodness knows what else. This also happens when I am out riding my horse and one of them had actually clipped my fence when they came too close. Grr!! It all comes down to who is in the neighborhood and if they will pay attention to it or not. It didn't really affect my self-esteem since to me no one was paying attention to it and the sign was much too close to the intersection that it was difficult to notice it when approaching the road and made it quite pointless.
 
Bottesini said:
Making two threads is not allowed.

Mods please merge.

Of course no effect on the self esteem of a deaf child. It way beats getting run over.

Although I almost did get run over a couple of times as a kid anyway.
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I was hit by a car when I was four years old , my leg was in a cast for 2 months . I was not on my street , so I am not sure if a sign would had help.
 
When I was younger, my mother used to take care of 2 Deaf toddlers. Because of this, she had a "Deaf Child" sign near our home. I think it was a good idea given the fact that both of these children oftentimes ran into the street without warning. We also lived near a busy intersection. Without this sign, I shudder to think what could have happened to both of these toddlers.
 
LuciaDisturbed said:
True, but Deaf children aren't the only ones at danger - hearing children are too as well so it would be better to have a sign that says "Caution - Children Area" than to have a sign for one specific Deaf child. It would serve the whole street better.
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Blind and visually impaired children are at risk as well.
 
deafsign.jpg

w16-4_MD.jpg
I have never had such a sign, thank goodness. I did not and still do not need for everybody who passes through my street to pity me for being Deaf when they see that sign in front of my house....uh no thanks. A sign such as "Drive Slow and Carefully, Small child/ren Area" would be better or instead, have the city put in speed bumps every 25-30 feet which will force drivers to slow down drastically. We have lots of speed bumps in my part of town here. Yes, they are quite annoying, but they are quite effective and I would rather have those than get pity from everybody for being Deaf or some other disability because of some sign.

My childhood best friend's parents had a "Deaf Child" sign put up when she was a child. I've never asked her how she felt about the sign, though. I have not been to her neighborhood in quite a long time as I no longer live in Milwaukee so I do not know if it is still up there, I would have to ask another friend of mine who is planning on visiting my best friend when she goes to Milwaukee this summer.

I have never had a "Deaf Child" sign up on my street while growing up and I have never gotten hit by a car. Know why? My mom made damn sure that I knew to ALWAYS look BOTH ways before crossing a street, and that I was NOT to cross the street without my mom's permission, in fact I was NOT to leave the front yard ever without her permission. She even went as far as to teach me how make the appropriate decisions as to whether it is safe or not to cross the street whenever our family is out on a walk - my mom has me do it every time we get to a street that we have to cross so that it has been hammered into my head and made it an automatic habit out of looking both ways and making it was safe before WE ALL crossed - she asks me "Lucia, is it safe to cross or not?" and I answer "yes" or "no" and she asks me why. That was to get me to think before crossing, not to do it impulsively. That was the rule back then. It has served and protected me very well. Therefore, a "Deaf Child" sign was really not necessary in my case.

If I and my fiance have Deaf children, which I think is likely if we do have children, we will put up a sign that says "Caution - Watch out for Children" which I think will do just as fine as a "Deaf Child Area" sign but without all the pity. We will also take it upon ourselves, as it is our responsibility as parents to do so anyway, to teach all our children, regardless of hearing loss or no loss, never to leave the front yard without our permission (and to always stay within my or my fiance's sight), to always look both ways before crossing, and doing what my mom had done with me as a child. We should not really depend on a yellow piece of metal to keep our children safe - it is OUR responsibility. I also just really hate it when people pity me for my being Deaf and for my disabilities as well. Plus, the first sign I mentioned would do better than the "Deaf Child" sign because it will then apply to all the children on our street instead of just our own children. People have to watch out for hearing children too, anyway.
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Lucia these signs don't point out which child is deaf, it just simply states that a deaf child could be nearby and that honking your horn is useless as he/she won't hear it anyway. Plus I think these signs make a driver more cautious as now we have child in the neighborhood that can't hear a car coming, especially in a neighborhood that has a lot of blind corners and hills.

Besides most people can't tell a person is deaf just by looking at them. It's not about pity - its about SAFETY!

Speed bumps generally don't work as there are plenty of them at my University. The only ones that slow down are the drivers that have vehicles that sit very low to the ground and they don't want to scrape their bumpers and ruin their paint jobs. Those in bigger vehicles such as trucks just plow right over them like nothing. I have a truck and I do slow down only because I don't want to get a ticket, but I could probably hit the speed bumps going 35-40 mph in front of Ross Pendergraft Library and feel only a slight 'thud-thud'. Plus they are costly and they must be maintained as they do wear down over time, and if the road is ever re-paved new speed bumps will have to be put in place otherwise the road will just be flat again. Signs are effective and less costly, and can be made to be extremely bright and flashy without obstructing the right of way.

The average road sign costs about $55 USD, a speed bump can cost $100 or more and must be approved by the State Highway Department as it changes the structure of the roadway. A sign has little to no maintenance costs, and plus the average citizen can purchase one more readily and erect it much faster than a city council can vote on whether or not a speed bump is necessary on X street.

Now I would be offended over a street sign that read "SLOW - WOMAN WITH PINK BANGS AND SHAVED HEAD WEARING COCHLEAR IMPLANTS AT PLAY" because it would point out which person is deaf and also sounds a bit ridiculous.

People who drive through a neighborhood that see the plain "CHILDREN AT PLAY" signs often barge through assuming that all children can hear them coming. DEAF CHILDREN AT PLAY tells the driver to be more alert - not just for the deaf child but for ALL children in the area as any and all of them could be deaf, especially in areas near deaf schools or schools with a deaf population.
 
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