HOW TO: Use Deafness to Your Advantage

Funny thing that you asked us how to use Deafness to your advantage.

I went to DMV yesterday to renew my drivers license and there was a long, long line. A man asked me why I was there and I told him that I am Deaf. He guided me to another man to check out my birth certificate, ss card, and lease agreement for 6 point system verification, then I went straight to license photo area and paid $24 for renewing my driver's license and waiting for a brand new license, then I was all done..about 10 minutes comparing to others..maybe 1-2 hours.

:giggle:
 
You all have no idea how I use my DeafBlindness to my advantage!! :giggle:

Double the benefits!! :lol:
 
jazzy said:
I will be blunt with you guys, I believe we should not take advantage of our deafness to get away with so many things. I will tell you something in my past with one group of deaf people at amsument park. We were standing in line for 3 hours to get that ride just alike everyone else whether they are hearing or deaf but this group of deaf cut the line to join other deaf friends that anger some people who were waited behind them for hours. I got them kicked out of the park becuase they were taking advantage of their deafness. I got threatened by one of them.
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Did they know each other?

How is this different from a group of family members? We have done this before.
 
deafbajagal said:
A good one is to babysit for a friend who has a baby who is colic. Since I'm deaf, the cries don't bother me, and it helps my friend to get a good break from hearing it consonantly. Friends with colicky babies love me! lol
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Never thought about that one! I bet they do love you!:giggle:
 
Oddball said:
Funny thing that you asked us how to use Deafness to your advantage.

I went to DMV yesterday to renew my drivers license and there was a long, long line. A man asked me why I was there and I told him that I am Deaf. He guided me to another man to check out my birth certificate, ss card, and lease agreement for 6 point system verification, then I went straight to license photo area and paid $24 for renewing my driver's license and waiting for a brand new license, then I was all done..about 10 minutes comparing to others..maybe 1-2 hours.

:giggle:
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Nice! That is so fortunate of you!
 
Tell them the truth...

If a 'hearing' person who apparently feel that they know what your range of deafness 'really is' and they come up and tell you that 'you only hear what you want to hear'--(especially when they most annoyingly do this when they been trying to get your attention from behind you--DUH!!!)--just tell them the truth...Tell them "That may be true..because apparently--I didn't want to hear you!"

Aggravating!!!!!
 
FEELSTHEVIBES said:
If a 'hearing' person who apparently feel that they know what your range of deafness 'really is' and they come up and tell you that 'you only hear what you want to hear'--(especially when they most annoyingly do this when they been trying to get your attention from behind you--DUH!!!)--just tell them the truth...Tell them "That may be true..because apparently--I didn't want to hear you!"

Aggravating!!!!!
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I'm just going pretend I didn't read this ignorant post.
 
Alex said:
Here's some stuff that used to work for me in the past by just being the deaf person that I am. This might or might not work for you.

- If a hearing person came up to you to try and sell you some crap, just point at your ear and do the cut-throat gesture and he will leave you alone.
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That one works good for Mormons too. :D
 
jazzy said:
I will be blunt with you guys, I believe we should not take advantage of our deafness to get away with so many things. I will tell you something in my past with one group of deaf people at amsument park. We were standing in line for 3 hours to get that ride just alike everyone else whether they are hearing or deaf but this group of deaf cut the line to join other deaf friends that anger some people who were waited behind them for hours. I got them kicked out of the park becuase they were taking advantage of their deafness. I got threatened by one of them.
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Sometimes its just hearing people being ignorant about the deaf and/or how to communicate with the deaf. And that's not our fault, even if it works out to our advantage.
 
iavswn said:
That one works good for Mormons too. :D
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I've gotten Mormons knocking on my door and they turned out to know ASL, too... :roll:

I have few hearing friends who are very fluent in ASL, they like to take advantage of that and pretend to be "deaf." I don't know why they even do it... A friend tried to get out of the speeding ticket that way, but it didn't quite work for him.
 
deafbajagal said:
A good one is to babysit for a friend who has a baby who is colic. Since I'm deaf, the cries don't bother me, and it helps my friend to get a good break from hearing it consonantly. Friends with colicky babies love me! lol
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I hope this does not mean you just let the baby cry and not take care of it!
 
I actually used to do the second one you posted, worked to my advantage but considering my gf (at the time) had a lot of friends and connections at the movie theater, I usually got in for free anyways.

One thing I do at work, only try this if you're sure you won't get in trouble or fired.... is if my boss asks me to do something, and I would look at him with a questioned face and be like, "wha? I didn't hear you.." I'd repeat that two or three times and he'd finally give up and laughs..

Alex said:
Here's some stuff that used to work for me in the past by just being the deaf person that I am. This might or might not work for you.

- If a hearing person came up to you to try and sell you some crap, just point at your ear and do the cut-throat gesture and he will leave you alone.

- When you go to the movie theater, buy a senior citizen movie ticket. If the movie ticket collector won't let you in, ask to speak to the manager. Then tell the manager that you're deaf, and since the movie does not provide subtitles (make sure it's true), it's not fair that you have to pay the full price.

- If you get pulled over by the police, make sure you put a smile on your face first, and when the cop approaches you, gesture to him that you're deaf and need paper and pen to write. Most likely, the cop will either give you a warning or tell you to go fly a kite.

That's all I can think of for now. If you know of a way to use your deafness to your advantage, share it with us here!
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Captioning for new Penticton Theater

I am a member of the Quest Society for Hearing Enhancement in Summerland, BC and one of our new projects this year is to "Caption the World". I am very hearing impaired and rely on captioning. There are so many places that it should be available, ie. on airplanes, in airports, special events, etc.. If you watched the opening and closing ceremonies on TV at the Vancouver Olympics this year you might have noticed that there were two humungous TV screens that captioned everything that was said or sung during the ceremony, and also a person signing on a little stage below the screen...so we know it is possible.. We are presently working hard to convince Landmark Cinemas of Canada to include closed captioning in the new 20,000 sq. foot, six screen, multiplex cinema in Penticton, BC. Each of the six auditoriums will include DLP Digital cinema projection, providing large crystal clear images for every perfromance, stadium-style seating for unobstructed sight lines with ample leg-room and over 1,100 wide & high backed seats; Dolby Digital 5.1 Stereo Sound for unsurpassed sound quality and curved screens for that perfect picture...BUT THAT DOESN'T HELP US WHO CAN HEAR WELL. I wrote to them and they replied that they were looking into some sort of hearing enhancement.... but would not commit to captioning, because it is a distraction to the other viewers... so wierd though, because if the film is in a different language, no one complains about the captioning... I am still keeping on top of them and need more help to convince them.. Unfortunately my own family has no tolerance for captioning either... so I tend to get discouraged. I appreciate any ideas or help that anyone can give our group to get this project off the ground. It would probably be the first Theater in Canada to have this available ... let me know if you know of any others that have installed it.
 
Right deafbajagal. I have had to deal with a colicky baby for quite a while. It was my daughter and it lasted for a good 4 months. Man was that ever rough. Figured out, that I could put a warm wet washcloth on her belly or back and rock her in the rocking chair with her laying on her tummy in my lap. That would quiet her down so she could sleep. I just couldn't stop without having to go through all of it again. I spent so much time in that rocking chair, it felt like an extension of me. :giggle: I finally moved it out onto the closed in patio, just so that I could see something other than the 4 walls of the living room at the time.
 
Bless your heart! I learned some tricks that worked, too. Neither one of my own babies had colic, but like I said, I babysat several babies who did. I really admire their mothers for sticking it out. One baby, the only way I could get her to calm down, was to sit outside on the porch swing. She enjoyed it so much that I actually brought the porch swing inside so we could use it when she came over. LOL But it can be frustrating when I have tried everything and nothing works...all I can do is just hold the baby with lots of love. My friends tried changing the diet, changing the environment...we even explored the possiblity of maybe the babies having sensory issues (clothing, etc.). Eventually the babies outgrew it and they are all doing great now. But I'll tell you...during the times I was watching them, I sure was glad to be deaf!
 
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