First, thanks to you all for allowing me into this community. I am a hearing person with just a few deaf and HOH friends, with a love of languages and a fascination with ASL that exceeds my proficiency in it.
What motivated me to join was looking for the answer to a question when none of my deaf friends happened to be online. When I found AllDeaf.com I realized it would make sense to join.
My day job is as computer programmer; but in my spare time I write. I've written four technical books and three novels, and am working on a fourth. This is my first book with a deaf character, and it's the main character so it's really important I get him right. I also want treat to the Deaf Community with the fairness and accuracy it deserves.
My main character is a lawyer who specializes in cases involving deaf individuals. Although that's not actually the main thrust of the story, it's his background (so I have to also brush up on my knowledge of lawyers! No wonder I've put off writing this story for 14 years!).
In preparation I took a short 6-week course in ASL, which I loved. Sadly I now remember about six words but I intend to start brushing up.
The initial questions I wanted to ask my friends, and may as well ask here, are these:
1. Should the word "Deaf" be capitalized in the way one capitalizes "Black" or "Romanian"?
2. What term do deaf people use to refer to hearing people?
There will be many more, I'm sure, but that's what came up as I wrote my first chapter. (It's a courtroom scene, so I also have a slew of coutroom questions...maybe there's an "AllLawyer.com"?)
Anyway, thanks all for your welcome and your patience.
What motivated me to join was looking for the answer to a question when none of my deaf friends happened to be online. When I found AllDeaf.com I realized it would make sense to join.
My day job is as computer programmer; but in my spare time I write. I've written four technical books and three novels, and am working on a fourth. This is my first book with a deaf character, and it's the main character so it's really important I get him right. I also want treat to the Deaf Community with the fairness and accuracy it deserves.
My main character is a lawyer who specializes in cases involving deaf individuals. Although that's not actually the main thrust of the story, it's his background (so I have to also brush up on my knowledge of lawyers! No wonder I've put off writing this story for 14 years!).
In preparation I took a short 6-week course in ASL, which I loved. Sadly I now remember about six words but I intend to start brushing up.
The initial questions I wanted to ask my friends, and may as well ask here, are these:
1. Should the word "Deaf" be capitalized in the way one capitalizes "Black" or "Romanian"?
2. What term do deaf people use to refer to hearing people?
There will be many more, I'm sure, but that's what came up as I wrote my first chapter. (It's a courtroom scene, so I also have a slew of coutroom questions...maybe there's an "AllLawyer.com"?)
Anyway, thanks all for your welcome and your patience.
