Finding Deaf Community!?

Hi, do you still live in Longview? I have a friend who just moved to Longview from Seattle, WA and she's looking for a friend. I am also from Seattle but moved back to my old hometown Snyder last year. If you are interested in making friends with her, I'd be happy to give you her facebook page.
 
Another thing you can do is look up the closest Deaf Chat Coffee to you, or Deaf Night Out/Deaf Professional Happy Hour (DNO/DPHH). Those are all events that most states have.
 
Has anyone noticed the "irony" about trying to "find the deaf/Deaf community"? I guess "it will continue to decease" with more and more persons get Cochlear Implants.
Duly discussed in Micheal Chorost's book Rebuilt re the United States. True of other countries?

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07 "non ASL user"
 
drphil said:
Has anyone noticed the "irony" about trying to "find the deaf/Deaf community"? I guess "it will continue to decease" with more and more persons get Cochlear Implants.
Duly discussed in Micheal Chorost's book Rebuilt re the United States. True of other countries?

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07 "non ASL user"
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There are many deaf who are late-deafened. They likely had no need to seek out other deaf prior, so it takes time to find other deaf, deaf meets. And there are plenty at my deaf club with CIs. Then there's all those who grew up deaf but had no school or social interaction with the deaf (plenty of those here). The deaf community hasn't dwindled here. It only continues to grow. I don't see your irony.
 
The original question. I have mentioned this before re about learning Intro ASL way back in 1997-98. I do live in Toronto where I understand there are "lots of deaf/Deaf" persons. None known to me except at Cdn Hearing Society.

Today I asked 7 persons at Main Centre swimming pool- do you know ANY deaf/Deaf persons? Answer: no one knew personally any deaf/Deaf person except me. of course.


I have also randomly done this at a number of Singles dances in the past-same answer. Not surprised. This does suggest that they there isn't a "great number of Deaf/Deaf persons" in the first place. Further in the past I asked at Cdn Hearing Society/Toronto various Hearing Help classes-the same question: same answer excluding those in the "deaf classes" which were unknown to other persons taking the Hearing Loss courses. Time frame-1992 to 2007.

As I mentioned before still true for me today-yeah I am bilaterally deaf though don't use ASL.



Perhaps it depends on the section of the country one's lives.

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
 
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drphil said:
The original question. I have mentioned this before re about learning Intro ASL way back in 1997-98. I do live in Toronto where I understand there are "lots of deaf/Deaf" persons. None known to me except at Cdn Hearing Society.

Today I asked 7 persons at Main Centre swimming pool- do you know ANY deaf/Deaf persons? Answer: no one knew personally any deaf/Deaf person except me. of course.
Perhaps it depends on the section of the country one's lives.

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
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Nah, you just didn't ask enough people.....
 
drphil said:
The original question. I have mentioned this before re about learning Intro ASL way back in 1997-98. I do live in Toronto where I understand there are "lots of deaf/Deaf" persons. None known to me except at Cdn Hearing Society.

Today I asked 7 persons at Main Centre swimming pool- do you know ANY deaf/Deaf persons? Answer: no one knew personally any deaf/Deaf person except me. of course.
Perhaps it depends on the section of the country one's lives.

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
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I have even asked local medical professionals and hospitals and they could not give an answer. At least I know where the deaf club is. That's all and they are mainly senior citizens. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem there, but there are times when I want to spend time with someone my own age.
 
KristinaB said:
At least I know where the deaf club is. That's all and they are mainly senior citizens. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem there, but there are times when I want to spend time with someone my own age.
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agreed it would nice to meet some hoh and low vision teens in my arena
 
drphil said:
The original question. I have mentioned this before re about learning Intro ASL way back in 1997-98. I do live in Toronto where I understand there are "lots of deaf/Deaf" persons. None known to me except at Cdn Hearing Society.

Today I asked 7 persons at Main Centre swimming pool- do you know ANY deaf/Deaf persons? Answer: no one knew personally any deaf/Deaf person except me. of course.

I have also randomly done this at a number of Singles dances in the past-same answer. Not surprised. This does suggest that they there isn't a "great number of Deaf/Deaf persons" in the first place. Further in the past I asked at Cdn Hearing Society/Toronto various Hearing Help classes-the same question: same answer excluding those in the "deaf classes" which were unknown to other persons taking the Hearing Loss courses. Time frame-1992 to 2007.

As I mentioned before still true for me today-yeah I am bilaterally deaf though don't use ASL.
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There's a LOT of deaf people everywhere. Like you, not all of them sign. I used to be completely oral too, so many people did not know about my deafness. That's another factor contributing to the idea that not many deaf people are in your area--there's probably plenty of deaf people near you, they just might not "seem" deaf because they don't sign. They also might be hard of hearing and just use speech with the help of hearing aids. Those people aren't OBVIOUSLY deaf, so most people probably look at them and think they're hearing.

Deafness isn't something visible, so it's not as easy to pick out. You could easily say you've seen a person in a wheelchair, because it's pretty hard to miss. But you can't look at someone standing around and truly feel sure enough to say "That person is deaf." Most people I grew up with never knew about my deafness, so they think thought they had never met a deaf person.
 
I have commented before-the problem seems to be exactly what does one mean when one defines "deafness". To me from my direct experience: silence! That is how I knew I became deaf-December 20, 2006. My hearing aid was working. Now just disconnect my Implant-still silence!

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
 
drphil said:
I have commented before-the problem seems to be exactly what does one mean when one defines "deafness". To me from my direct experience: silence! That is how I knew I became deaf-December 20, 2006. My hearing aid was working. Now just disconnect my Implant-still silence!
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When I'm talking about the deaf community, I'm also including those who are hard of hearing and use ASL. When I talk about ANYTHING related to deafness at all, I'm including those who are deaf OR hard of hearing unless I specify otherwise.

The NAD is the National Association for the Deaf, but in their About Us section, it says that it serves deaf AND hard of hearing people. Regardless of the fact that the title says Deaf, they are including an entire spectrum of deafness, and not just complete silence. That's like saying to be autistic, you MUST flap your hands, or you aren't autistic. Autism comes in varying degrees, and so does deafness. Some deaf people sign, some don't. Some can hear something, others can't. There isn't one absolute definition, drphil.
 
I guess the verbal merry-go-round continues-"deaf" means whatever anyone assigns. Clarity unimportant apparently-smile.

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
 
My experience hasn't changed in 4 1/2 years. Right don't expect it will in the future. Excluding AUDITORY MEMORY-of course which I don't define as current hearing.

Is this another instance of what I have said previously?

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
 
drphil said:
My experience hasn't changed in 4 1/2 years. Right don't expect it will in the future.
Is this another instance of what I have said previously?

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
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Yes it absolutely is.
 
drphil said:
My experience hasn't changed in 4 1/2 years. Right don't expect it will in the future.
Is this another instance of what I have said previously?

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
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We don't expect your experience will change, either, but not for lack of opportunity. Here's a sign for you:

**five hands held at temples with fingertips pointing out; hands move forward and palm together**
 
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